NEWS FROM THE BERKELEY HEIGHTS PUBLIC SCHOOLS

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1 NEWS FROM THE BERKELEY HEIGHTS PUBLIC SCHOOLS MARY KAY MC MILLIN EARLY CHILDHOOD CENTER First graders at Mary Kay McMillin Early Childhood Center, along with their friends and families, enjoyed reading and books at our first annual Take Your Family To The Library event during the first week of February. All families and friends were invited to visit our beautiful library during the weekly library class and everyone enjoyed borrowing books to read at home. The children and adults spent time together browsing in the library, reading books aloud, and making simple bookmarks.

2 MOUNTAIN PARK SCHOOL Fifth Grade Science Investigations are underway! Students in Mrs. Pastore s class learned that the Scientific Method is the way scientists learn and study the world around them. Scientific Investigations were performed where each child created an experiment, following all steps including: forming a hypothesis, charting observations, analyzing data, and finally reaching conclusions. Classes then took their new knowledge to think up possible questions that would build upon what they had just learned. Some experiments included finding which chocolates had lower melting points, liquids that evaporate more rapidly than others, and which conditions were best for mold growth. Finally, students transferred their data to posters where they presented these findings to classmates. A cooperative learning technique called Carousel Feedback was also used to help them practice their presentation skills. Our goal is for children to continue their enthusiasm to wonder, form hypotheses, and explore possible solutions that will make a difference in this world today and in the future!

3 MOUNTAIN PARK SCHOOL (continued) Students at Mountain Park School love their new stage. After being awarded a grant from the Berkeley Heights Education Foundation, Ms. Liming is guiding her students during Readers Theater. Students use fiction and non-fiction scripts to improve their public speaking abilities, fluency and intonation as readers. The portable stage rolls easily from teacher to teacher, and the scripts were purchased for a variety of grade levels. All of the students will benefit from this amazing opportunity.

4 THOMAS P. HUGHES SCHOOL One of the favorite annual traditions of Hughes School students is our Valentine s Day Pajama Party. Each year, students and staff are invited to Wear a Pair and Donate a Pair. Students and teachers enjoy a day of comfort in their pajamas, and the donated pajamas are greatly appreciated by the Pajama Program. This organization collects new pajamas to donate to local foster children. To date, over two million pajamas have been distributed by this group. Thomas P. Hughes School is proud to have collected over 150 pairs of pajamas and a large boxful of books and toys to contribute to this worthy cause. Thank you to the Hughes Student Council for organizing this event!

5 WILLIAM WOODRUFF SCHOOL The life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was the focus for the students on Dr. King s birthday and for two subsequent weeks. The students learned about the life and dream of Dr. King through morning announcements given by students in Mrs. Roof s classroom. The students looked to live the dream in their actions and words over the following two weeks as part of the Kindness and Justice Challenge of getting caught being kind. Each day, fourth graders presented a different character trait for the day and explained how to live it. Students were then challenged to demonstrate the character trait. When staff members recognized their efforts they were invited to add their name to the Dr. King display cloud representing Dr. King s dream.

6 WILLIAM WOODRUFF SCHOOL (continued) Second graders were busy learning and sharing their skills in writing a letter, using punctuation, and researching a topic. The students presented three skits on each of the language arts topics by using puppetry. By acting out the book, Toad and Frog, the students were able to present how writing a letter to a friend is a great communication skill and definitely can help build a better friendship. The second skit on punctuation enabled the audience to learn firsthand what would happen if punctuation took a vacation. The students third skit on penguins provided interesting facts learned through completing a research project. ****************************************************************** Ten fifth graders were the Woodruff School finalists for the National Geographic Geography Bee. Taking the honors of Woodruff School Champion was MacKenzie Calichman (center). Earning second place honors was Sam Bass (left) and taking third place was Joseph Wang (right). MacKenzie took a written test to compete for the New Jersey State Championship. The students compete with students in grades 4-8 throughout the United States for the title of National Champions and a $25,000 college scholarship.

7 COLUMBIA MIDDLE SCHOOL At Columbia Middle School during a lesson in Ms. Hess seventh grade Math class, students made maps of their neighborhoods using the properties of lines, line segments, rays, parallel lines, intersecting lines, obtuse, acute, and right angles. After the creative piece, students shared their work and described the maps using mathematical terms. Later that day, students created pictures using only geometric shapes. They then had to find the area and perimeter of their figure classifying each shape using the properties of polygons. ***************************************************************************** During a recent CMS French Club meeting, it was all about the food when students prepared different types of Crepes. Columbia Middle School principal, Mr. Geiger, agreed with the club advisor, Ms. Smith, when she said It was definitely worth staying after school.

8 COLUMBIA MIDDLE SCHOOL (continued) In other activities at Columbia Middle School during Mr. Lanni s Art class, students used multiple intelligences to create a variety of finished pieces. In the carving unit, students used chisels and blocks to create images that would be pressed onto paper using the classroom print-press. Ms. Harpster, a visiting student teacher, is shown at right assisting students. In other areas of the room, students used ipads to paint. The ipad app Brushes allowed students to complete their work and then replay the entire piece back in video format showing each brush-stroke the students used to make the image. Many of the images from this class were shared at a recent Board of Education meeting when Mr. Skara spoke about technology.

9 GOVERNOR LIVINGSTON HIGH SCHOOL Two Governor Livingston students, Cooper Truman (left) and Zack Saravay (right), have been identified as two of just over 3,000 candidates in the 2013 U.S. Presidential Scholars Program. The candidates were selected from nearly 3.4 million students expected to graduate from U.S. high schools in the year Inclusion in the U.S. Presidential Scholars Program, now in its 49th year, is one of the highest honors bestowed upon graduating high school seniors. Scholars are selected on the basis of superior academic and artistic achievements, leadership qualities, strong character and involvement in community and school activities. The candidates were selected for their exceptional performance on either the College Board SAT or the ACT Assessment. In addition, each Chief State School Officer (CSSO) was invited to nominate three male and three female candidates, based on their outstanding scholarship, residing in the CSSO s jurisdiction. Further consideration is based on students essays, selfassessments, description of activities, school recommendations, and school transcripts. A distinguished panel of educators will review these submissions and select 500 semifinalists in early April. The Commission on Presidential Scholars, a group of up to 32 prominent citizens appointed by the President, will make final selection of the Scholars. They will select one young man and one young woman from each state, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and U.S. students living abroad; 15 students at-large; and up to 20 students from the creative and performing arts. The U.S. Department of Education will announce the Scholars in May. Scholars will be invited to Washington, DC, for several days in June to receive the Presidential Scholars Medallion at a recognition ceremony and to participate in events and activities with their elected representatives, educators, and other leading individuals in public life.

10 GOVERNOR LIVINGSTON HIGH SCHOOL (continued) The four Governor Livingston High School students who were previously identified in October as National Merit Semi-Finalists, (L to R) Aaron Slepoi, Janet Monroe, Vivian Chu and Zack Saravay, have recently been named Finalists in the National Merit Scholarship Program. This prestigious honor is based upon their achievement on the 2011 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT ). Approximately 15,000 students nationwide were identified as Finalists from the pool of nearly 1.5 million junior students and more than 22,000 high schools. These Finalists have an opportunity to continue in the competition for some 8,300 National Merit Scholarships worth more than $32 million that will be offered in the spring.

11 DEPARTMENT OF SPECIAL SERVICES The Berkeley Heights Education Foundation has awarded a grant to purchase seven ipads for the Special Education department at Columbia Middle School. Mrs. Weber s class is now using the ipads in Language Arts class and Math class. During Language Arts, the students have taken interactive novel quizzes on the ipads using the Socrative application. At the start of their writing unit on personal narratives, the students brainstormed and organized their own personal narrative essays using the Inspiration application. To conclude a unit on The Black Pearl, students created, wrote and acted out their own skits to portray the five types of conflict. Students will film their skits using imovie on the ipads. Finally, the students will combine their video clips to create a short movie on conflict. During Math classes, the ipads are being used to differentiate instruction. Students are viewing math videos using The students are also using to review curriculum skills and complete interactive review lessons at their own pace. The next meeting of the district s Special Education Parent Advisory Committee will be on Wednesday, Macrh 27th at 6:30 p.m. in the second floor conference room in the Clausen Administration Complex. As always, up-todate information for the Department of Special Services can be found on the district website under Services.

12 BOARD OF EDUCATION MEETING HIGHLIGHTS At the February 7th Board of Education Meeting -Mrs. Michele Gardner presented an overview of the district s Special Education programs; -Ms. Mary Ann McAdam provided the Semi-Annual Report of District Harassment, Intimidation and Bullying (HIB) Data; -Mr. Mike Skara made a presentation about improving the district s technological infrastructure, internet connection, and access to additional learning tools. Scheduled for the February 28th Board of Education Meeting are -A reception and presentation honoring the achievements of the Columbia Middle School Girls Basketball Team; -The Semi-Annual Report of District Violence, Vandalism, Substance Abuse, Harassment, Intimidation and Bullying (HIB), as presented by Mrs. Judith Rattner, Superintendent of Schools. Please click here for an overview of the tentative proposed budget for the Berkeley Heights Public Schools