Brandt's Weekly Newsletter
5.7.2021
Inside this Edition
- Principal's Message
- Students of the Month
- Kindness Referrals
- Hudson County School Counselor's Caring Award Recipient
- Arbor Day Tree Planting
- Staff Appreciation Week Highlights
- Grade Level Updates
- Counselor's Corner
- Specials Updates
- Nurse's Nook
Principal's Message
As we close Staff Appreciation Week, please join me one more time in saying THANK YOU to the best staff of educational professionals in the galaxy. The efforts of every faculty member in their various roles have not only allowed us to survive, but thrive, in the middle of the most challenging and unprecedented school year in memory. Thanks as well to the Brandt School PTO for organizing a week's worth appreciation for our hard-working staff, to the Sunshine Club for being their awesome selves and brightening everyone's week, to the Hoboken Education Association for providing a bagel breakfast, to Dr. Johnson for her thoughtful and caring gifts, and to all of the individual parents, guardians, and class communities who took the time to make staff members feel the love this week!
On behalf of Dr. Pollins, our District Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, May 21st is identified by the United Nations as World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development. On May 20th, the Hoboken Public Schools will partner with the Diversity Council from Kean University to highlight the importance of celebrating diversity, in educational institutions and the community at large. Diversity is a point of pride in our district and we want to highlight you. We are so proud of the diversity found within our school community. Every family is beautiful and unique and we would like you to email a family selfie to Dr. Pollins at tpollins@hoboken.k12.nj.us and Mr. Munoz at christopher.munoz@hobokenk12.nj.us by May 12th. Please save and send photos as a.jpeg or .png.
Our amazing students speak over 20 different languages! We would also like to celebrate World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development by creating a video representative of these languages. Please join us by recording “I love Hoboken” in your home language. Videos should be saved and sent as .MP4 or .mov format and sent to Dr. Pollins at tpollins@hoboken.k12.nj.us and Mr. Munoz at christopher.munoz@hoboken.k12.nj.us by May 12th.
Please save the date for this event that will take place on May 20th from 5:30-6:30 via zoom.
Don't forget to be a hero and make a donation to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society of New Jersey. It isn't too late to set up a class or individual page for donations! The fundraiser will run next week as well, so be sure to click on the links below.
The link to our fundraising page is below. The easiest thing to do is click the blue "Donate Today" button.
https://events.lls.org/pages/cran/Joseph-F-Brandt-School-Hoboken-2020-2021
Kindness continues to be present every day in our school, so be sure to see the write-ups and photos of our kindness referral recipients below.
As the weather gets nicer, let's continue to be vigilant - remember the pandemic is not over quite yet. Keep social distancing, wearing masks, and washing you hands.
Stay safe, keep caring for one another, practice patience and empathy, and have a great weekend!
- Mr. Bartlett
Students of the Month
Congratulations to our April 2021 Students of the Month! Job well done by all. A second congrats to Lyla as she is the Brandt School Student of the Month and will be honored at the next meeting of the Hoboken Board of Education.
K - Anton Allmendinger
1 - Moni Yamooka Johnson
2 - Lyla Cademartori
3 - Gabriela Stein
4 - Charles Stropp
5 - Autumn Wiggins
Related Arts - Isabella Li for Mandarin
Liam Meade - Caring Award Winner!
Each year, The Hudson County School Counselor Association gives Caring Awards to elementary school aged children around our county. These awards are intended to recognize students who demonstrate extraordinary caring and kindness in some way during the academic year. This nominated student should demonstrate the values of helping and caring in human relationships, and is given to recognize and promote generosity and selflessness among our young people.
We are proud to honor 5th Grade Student Liam Meade as this year's Caring Award recipient! Nominated by Guidance Counselor Mrs. Hosbach, she had the following to say about Liam:
"I have had the pleasure of knowing Liam and his family for the past four years. When Liam joined us at Brandt School in 2nd grade I knew immediately what a special, kind student he is. Liam’s peers have always looked up to him. They often go to him for help if they are having a problem. Liam is friendly to anyone he comes in contact with. He often goes out of his way to help his classmates with school work if they are struggling.
In 2019 Liam’s mother helped open the Hoboken Food Pantry in our community. The food pantry has been instrumental in helping local families especially during the Covid-19 pandemic. It provides food, toiletries, diapers, cleaning supplies to families in need. Liam has been volunteering his time at the food pantry. He is often there helping sort the food and packing bags for the families during the go and grab hours."
Next year Liam will be attending the middle school for 6th grade. We are excited to see his next accomplishments but also are sad to see him leave Brandt. He is a shining example of kindness, generosity and selflessness.
The folks at the Hudson County School Counselor Association said, "What an inspiring student! I was awestruck reading about him. Wishing Liam continued success in the future!"
Congratulations Liam! The Brandt School Community is super proud of you!
IT'S COOL TO BE KIND
Jayla Davis shows kindness in the form of patience and humor. She is tolerant of others and offers emotional support to her peers when needed.
Mayla Gregory shows kindness to her peers everyday. She pays special attention to classmates in need especially when they’re having trouble with their schoolwork!
Seneca Perry invited a classmate to her group of friends at lunch. Thank you for being such a caring and understanding friend!
Annie Mahat rushed up to help multiple students with their desk shields when they fell down!
Michael Keegan was caught pushing in his classmates chairs and cleaning up around the classroom before going to lunch.
Samuel Leong shows kindness by being extremely helpful in class. His respectful behavior towards his classmates is another way to show kindness.
Annie Lynch showed kindness by working one-on-one and spending time after the school day to ensure she and her partner finished their work. She is a great role model and leader for the class through her willingness to help others.
Ms. Babilonia always goes above and beyond to better our school community. Her creation of the second Book Walk on our school rooftop is just another example of her leadership and dedication to our students. Thank you.
Ms. Gonzalez goes above and beyond everyday to assist our students. She has an outstanding work ethic and contributes greatly to the Brandt School Community.
Arbor Day Tree Planting
Last Friday, April 30th, our Brandt 4th and 5th Graders participated in planting trees for Arbor Day. They planted 50 Oak, Maple and Arrowood saplings. Thanks everyone for helping out that day, including Ms. Picone's Kindergarteners, all of the city workers on hand, the members of the city's Shade Tree Commission, especially Mr. Marcus Perry, parent volunteers, Councilwoman Jabbour, and especially Mother Nature who decided to help us water the saplings!
Extra special thanks to Josanne Ujageer of Home Depot who helped arrange the donation of the buckets in which we planted the saplings. On behalf of the Hoboken Shade Tree Commission, the Brandt Elementary School PTO, and the students, teachers and administrators at Brandt Elementary, thank you and Home Depot for your kind donation!
Special thanks as well to Jennifer Gonzalez and Amy Sommer above for helping the event come to fruition!
Highlights From Staff Appreciation Week
Kindergarten
In ELA, we are reviewing letters and sight words. We discussed what we see in the day and night sky. In Math, we are continuing recording and reading data, story problems, and skip counting. In Social Studies, we are learning about Hawaii and other Asian and Pacific Island nations for AAPI Month. We also celebrated Cinco de Mayo! In Science, we are discussing weather.
First Grade
This week in first grade, students are spelling words with the /or/ sound and identifying and using abbreviations. In comprehension, first graders are determining the problem and solution in a story and interacting with biographies and poetry. In mechanics, students are working on capitalizing days, months and holidays.
Celebrating Earth Day, Ms. Yu's First Grade Virtual Class interviewed Simon Coburg, a Marine Biologist from Switzerland. He explained how taking care of our waters and avoiding plastics can help our environment and animals. He showed pictures and videos of his adventures in the Arctic to the Caribbean waters. We saw sea turtles, polar bears, whales, and lots of underwater animals. He is currently studying the sea grass and Minke whales in Portugal.
In math, first graders are continuing to add and subtract within 100 and count by 2s, 5s, and 10s. Additionally, students are becoming more familiar with place value to the hundreds place and collecting and analyzing data. Students are continuing to enjoy interacting with the learning platform, IXL, to challenge themselves and progress their skills!
Second Grade
It was another exciting week in Second Grade! Here are a few of the things we learned:
Students have been using their note taking skills to read non-fiction books on topics they chose after a book tasting. Students have been using their good reading habits to stop and jot important facts they will use to create their very own All About book!
Students have been conducting research on a nonfiction topic to begin drafting their very own nonfiction teaching books. Students have also been learning how to take notes in order to gather information efficiently and in an organized way so they can begin thinking about the organization of their own nonfiction books!
Students began working on Unit 7 which enters the world of multiplication. They have been characterizing even and odd numbers as those that do or do not make groups of two.
This week in Social Studies we are celebrating Cinco De Mayo by learning about Mexican culture! We listened to Mariachi music and studied the holiday's origins in the Mexican state of Puebla.
The students began the week learning about the different organisms that lived in various habitats around the world. Then they learned about and created food chains and webs to help them gain a deeper understanding of the importance of biodiversity and the integral role almost every species, including humans, plays in our ecosystem.
Third Grade
In Social Studies, third grade students are continuing their study on the Lenape of New Jersey. In Ms. Dickerson's, Ms. Tainter's, and Ms. Rodriguiez's class, students are reading about where they settled, the roles men and women played within the tribes, and the names each group was given based on where they lived. Students also created a Lenape graphic organizer to assist them in their five paragraph essay about the Lenape tribe. Students in Ms. James and Ms. Kontogiannis's class have begun their study on Asian American Pacific Islanders Heritage Month. Students first learned about influential Asian American and Pacific Islanders and then chose one person who inspired them. Students will then conduct research and record information about their person. Over the next couple of weeks, students will turn that research into either a web page to help others learn about these prominent figures or create a Google Slide presentation.
The third grade mathematicians spent this week reviewing a range of third grade skills. First, students in Ms. Dickerson's and Ms. Kontogiannis's class continued their study on fractions, equal pieces, and placing fractions on a number line. Students participated in various Kahoot Fractions games to assess and review their understanding of comparing fractions with unlike denominators, determining the correct order of fractions from least to greatest, and identifying shaded parts of a figure. Next, students in Ms. James's, Ms. Tainter's and Ms. Rodriguez's class are beginning their study of measurement. Students explored liquids using various measuring cups, droppers, and containers. Students can practice cooking at home with parents to help them grow their measurement skills!!!
Our third graders have completed a total of 73,037 IXL Math questions. JOB WELL DONE!!!!
Students are continuing their novel study of Charlotte's Web . Within their study, students have been mastering many skills. They are exploring character, setting, and story events. Students have been using text, images, and dialogue to reconstruct story events and make up their own storyline or messages. Using Google Slides platform , students cooperatively worked with a partner to develop a plan and rewrite Chapter 11 from the point of view of Charlotte.
In Science, as a follow up to the STEAM tank questions that the groups were asked, students are learning about durable materials and products. They are eager to make edits on their initial project after receiving constructive feedback from the STEAM Tank judges. Next, students are beginning their study on weather. They are exploring how weather is predicted and measured, the difference between weather and climate, and are identifying the impact of severe weather on society and nature.
On behalf of Ms. James, Ms. Tainter, Ms. Rodriguez, Ms. Dickerson, Ms. Kontogiannis and our third grade students, we would like to wish all of our AMAZING moms a very Happy Mother's Day!!! Thank you for all that you do everyday :)
Fourth Grade
The month of May brings new and exciting things to celebrate including Teacher Appreciation Week, Asian Pacific Islander Month, Cinco de Mayo, and Mother's Day! As we enter this month (finally!) and take our school photos, many of us are feeling accomplished and proud, while at the same time, sad that the end of this extraordinary school year is quickly approaching. We have so much to be grateful for!
This week in ELA we are both wrapping up our study of Jim and Me, and moving on to our next novel, Ancestor Approved: Intertribal Stories for Kids. Those that are continuing on with Jim and Me were focused on making inferences as they explored pictures from the New York Times, drawing conclusions to answer the question, "What's going on in this picture?" Some students finalized their work on point of view by creating two cartoons to represent Chapter 10. They made one cartoon from the main character Stosh's POV, and the other from Bobby’s. They included thought bubbles as part of the cartoon to represent how the story might've changed if Bobby was telling it. Students are enjoying Ancestor Approved very much, as it is teaching them about Pow Wows, tribal traditions, conflict within cultures, and the meaning of spirituality.
There is a lot going on in Social Studies this week, ranging from finishing up our study of The War of 1812 to the introduction to our next unit, Westward Expansion. Wrapping up the study of the war includes exploration of famous people, which first took place in whole group, then in small groups. Through this exercise, students practiced taking clear and concise notes, and practiced how to present them to a group in a way that keeps them entertained and engaged. In addition, students have begun studying the Westward Expansion, the 19th-century movement of settlers into the American West. For some, discussion this week was based on how it began with the Louisiana Purchase, and was fueled by the Gold Rush, and the Oregon Trail. For others it was working on labeling and discussing maps of the United States during that time period.
Beyond that, we are beginning to celebrate Asian Pacific Islander Month by making our selections from the district provided prompts. Many of us have begun viewing, and discussing episode 1 of a new PBS series titled, "Asian American: Breaking Ground." This powerful series exposes children to varying topics such as the immigration of Chinese into the U.S., the excluding and segregation of them from schools and the history of the Angel Island and Ellis Island immigration stations. These deep, and thought provoking conversations among the students led to the asking of the question, "What is the American Dream?"
In Math, we are extending our amazing journey of learning fractions by meeting benchmark goals related to decimal notation. Throughout the unit students work together and independently to meet the goals of representing and comparing decimals with focus on halves, fourths, eights, thirds, fifths, sixths, tenths and twelfths. While some of us are still being challenged by multiplying and dividing fractions, particularly in the form of word problems, others are working on sorting landmark fractions on a number line! As a part of an ongoing review, we are all working on a mixed bag of exploring measurement problems, finding measurement equivalents and making measurement estimates using real life experiences.
Science study is a continuation of weeks past, enhancing their knowledge about weathering, erosion, and deposition, as well as extending their understanding of the environments of deserts and rainforests. They watched an engaging video on generationgenius.com and played Kahoot! to exercise their learning outside of basic textbook learning. Students also explored how fossils tell us about ancient environments by making inferences about ancient environments and organisms using fossil evidence. Students will move on to a research project comparing ancient fossils to modern day fossils in the weeks to come.
Finally, our IXL routine has become an integral part of our daily warm up program. As we continue working on targeted skills, student proficiency levels have been increasing, and learning has been visible based on data in both ELA and Math.
Fifth Grade
Fifth grade has had a wonderful start to the month of May!
In Social Studies, students are hard at work learning about the importance of Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month. Students are exploring significant historical figures, events, and achievements of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders through choice board activities that highlight art, music, STEM, and creative expression. We are looking forward to some comprehensive presentations and projects!
In ELA, 5th graders are jumping into their next novel study, The Watsons Go to Birmingham- 1963 by Christopher Paul Curtis. Students are exploring important events related to the novel, such as the Civil Rights Movement, to build background knowledge about Birmingham, Alabama in the 1960s. In addition, we are learning about the ways in which authors develop essential elements of the setting to analyze how the setting of this novel impacts the characters and events.
In Math, our 5th grade mathematicians are continuing to deepen their understanding of decimals in our current unit. After investigating concrete representations of decimals, students are now prepared to solve operations with decimals, beginning with addition and subtraction. Analyzing story problems that require critical thinking and logical reasoning has been a fun challenge for everyone!
In Science, students are continuing with NJDOE Start Strong Science Lessons to further explore essential scientific concepts. This week, we focused on forces and motion to discover how height, weight, and friction can all impact the speed of an object.
The Counselor's Corner
Coping statements are helpful positive statements we can use to replace the negative and unhelpful thoughts that can overwhelm us at times. In these times we are often feeling anxious, stressed, upset, etc. These Coping statements can be used whenever you or the people you care about being to feel hurtful thoughts and need help reframing their feelings. Don't forget your daily affirmations, too!
Email: jhosbach@hoboken.k12.nj.us
Physical Education
The month of May has arrived, but some late April showers caused Phys Ed instruction to be inside for a short period of time during the week. Outside on the roof, Grades K-1 are continuing to apply their movement skills in organized chase activity with the challenge of executing the skills at a faster pace. Inside the classrooms, K-1 engaged in a new interactive video called "Do It" where students mimic movements commands that appear on the screen. Also inside the classroom, we were able to take full advantage of the fun holidays such as Star Wars Day and Cinco de Mayo where students engaged in interactive workout videos revolved around those two days. Grades 2-5 continue to hone their foot striking skills by engaging in activities such as Target Practice and Castle Knockdown while other classes finished up their passing peer review activity which challenges them to improve their foot striking accuracy.
Mandarin
Kindergarten and first grade students are continuing to learn “days of the week." Second to third graders are reviewing the vocabulary of the 12 months in Chinese. Fourth and fifth graders are learning Pinyin to practice the skill of speaking.
Spanish
¡Hola!
During these weeks we’re working with cultural awareness and cultural sensitivity so we can respect and appreciate the language, culture, and everything that else makes us part of this beautiful continent.
Through team work, students will target one country as research topic, they will collect the information and later share their finding with the class.
Art
Lots of sticky fingers this week in art class! Kindergarten and 1st grade are finishing up their mosaic tile project! They mapped out their contour drawings in order to place the tiles on their artwork. They imagined what they would see in outer space or under the sea. Some classes had a sweet tooth and created drawings of their favorite desserts! We enjoyed working safely on the floor during class while gluing bright colored paper tiles.
Music
This week in music our students are broadening their understanding of complicated musical rhythms. We are looking deeper into the way these rhythms are constructed and using what we've learned about genres and styles to connect these rhythmic similarities. We've particularly enjoyed learning the difference between "straight" rhythms and "swung" rhythms in reference to Jazz music. Students are also learning to count, clap and create rhythms of their own! Our favorite activity this week was definitely participating in a class game of rhythm tic tac toe--students vs teacher!
Have a musical week everyone!
Nurse's Nook
Yesterday marked the start of National Nurses Week which is celebrated on May 6th and ends on May 12th, Florence Nightingale’s birthday, every year. Last year, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared 2020 the International Year of the Nurse and Midwife to honor the 200th Anniversary of Florence Nightingale’s birth and to advance nurses’ role in transforming healthcare around the world. Due to the pandemic and the increased awareness of nurses’ contributions, this honor has extended through 2021.
As your Brandt School Nurse, I thought I would take this week to tell you about my nursing career. My name is Nicole DeMatteo. I was born in Hoboken and raised in Upper Saddle River, NJ. When I was young, my mind often changed with what I wanted to be “when I grew up.” When it came time to pick a college and in turn, a direction, I tried to think of what types of people had an impact on my life. My older brother had special needs and we spent a good amount of time in medical facilities growing up. We did not know much about his rare condition and it was always the Nurses that took the extra time to help explain further, be a shoulder to cry on, offer advice and much more. I decided that I wanted to be that person for someone else.
I ended up choosing Fairfield University in Connecticut because of their top rated Nursing School. After college, I moved back to Hoboken and started working as a Mother/Baby Nurse at Hackensack Hospital. This was an extremely rewarding career because I got to help new parents every day fight through their fears and anxieties of having a newborn.
Unfortunately, in 2011, my brother passed away and I started to struggle with the routine of the job, and I knew it was time for me to do something different. What’s great about Nursing is that there are so many options within the career and you are needed in them all. I started working for Riverside Pediatrics here in Hoboken while I went back to school for my School Nurse Certification at Felician University. Public health was the route I wanted to take and since I love kids, I knew that school nursing would keep me on my toes.
I started working for Bayonne High School in 2013 and immediately was thrown into the fast-paced world of school nursing. A school alone of over 2500 students, I got to enhance my critical thinking skills and most importantly, my communication skills. I learned quickly that you never know what a student is going to say when they come into your office and it can be difficult to navigate sometimes, but I knew right away that I liked being the medical resource for the students, staff, and families.
In 2018, I joined the Hoboken schools in Hoboken Middle School - a much smaller district but full of so much heart. I worked in Connors last year and now, hopefully, have found my long term home in Brandt. This pandemic school year has been a year that none of us will ever forget and I am ever grateful for the support of the Brandt staff and families. I am so proud of us that we have been able to stay open since September. Oftentimes I had to make difficult calls home that I appreciate your willingness to be flexible and understanding. My job is to maintain the health and safety of your children in order to keep them in school and if that means sometimes excluding them, I couldn’t have asked for a better community to understand that. I hope to become an even more involved fixture next year as I am now very comfortable here. If you ever have any questions or concerns, I am always available to chat and help.
Happy Nurses Week to any nurse in your life. I thank them for their commitment to those they serve.
Nicole DeMatteo
Brandt School Nurse
Email: ndematteo@hoboken.k12.nj.us
Website: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/if-you-are-sick/steps-when-sick.html?CDC_AA_refVal=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cdc.gov%2Fcoronavirus%2F2019-ncov%2Fabout%2Fsteps-whe