PIONEER ACADEMY
Knowledge - Challenge - Integrity - Diversity
Dear Students, Faculty, and Parents,
This year sure is flying by. We just had our Halloween parade which was a huge success. The weather cooperated and allowed the students and staff to enjoy an outdoor parade. Thanks to all who attended.
As an administrative team, we continue to evaluate our safety and security measures at Pioneer. We work closely with law enforcement and conduct drills on a regular basis.
I cannot believe that Thanksgiving is just around the corner! The students have been talking about all the things they are thankful for. I love that they acknowledge all of the wonderful people and things in their lives.
GIVING TUESDAY
I am thankful and blessed with students who are kind and respectful, parents who support the school and want to work to make it better, and teachers who give endlessly of themselves to the students.
There is a team working vigorously to get Pioneer ready for Giving Tuesday on December 3. Please share the word with anyone who is interested in making a donation on this designated day of giving. There are many options such as giving to the school, Help-a-Student, Innovation and Technology, LED bulbs, Athletics, and Fine Art programs. Please click here to explore Support Pioneer.
While we are proud of these accomplishments, we are counting on your support, so that we can continue our challenging work in giving back to the community through the education and guidance of our young scholars. We trust that you share our goals and that your donation to Pioneer Academy’s fundraiser will enable us to maintain and grow our outstanding programs. Please be reminded that your charitable gift will be tax-deductible.
Thank you for your support and Go Pioneer! I wish all of you peace and happiness during the upcoming holiday season.
With Warm Regards,
Owen O. Akman
Principal
Table of Contents
- Upcoming Events in November
- Past and Upcoming ES Events
- Past and Upcoming MS Events
- MS Saturday Academy
- Past and Upcoming HS Events
- College Counseling Corner
- Past and Upcoming Montessori Events
- Basketball Events
- MS Art
- Quote of the Week
- Health Corner
- Open House
Upcoming Events In November
Nov. 16 Open House
Nov. 27 Early Dismissal
Nov 28-29 Thanksgiving Holiday
Dec 9 Faculty Meetings (No After School Clubs)
Past and Upcoming ES events
Character Education
The month of October has been very busy for the elementary school at Pioneer Academy! This month’s Character Education Pillar was Honesty. The students read “Spookley the Square Pumpkin,” made their own unique pumpkins, and wrote about ways they can be honest.
Halloween
We also celebrated Halloween with classroom activities and parties followed by trick-or-treating around the middle and high school. We concluded our exciting day with a parade to show off our great costumes. Thank you to all the parents who donated candy and treats for our special day!
In October, Kindergarten was introduced to the skill “Read to Self,” where they pick out a “good fit” book that they are interested in. With this comes many tasks, and the main goal is to work on stamina to see how long and hard the students can work for a period of time. When we first started, students read for one minute before breaking their stamina. By the end of the month, they were able to reach the milestone of 22 minutes!
Bucket Fillers
Forever-reading-friend
Second graders adopted a “Forever-reading-friend” this month. This is designed to encourage reading and to start our month-long food drive for Ramapo-Bergen Animal Refuge.
Spooky Surprise
Waterloo Village Trip
Scholastic Book Fair
Our Scholastic Book Fair will be held November 11 through November 15! There is something for everyone! Be sure to visit and purchase new books.
The food drive for Ramapo-Bergen Animal Refuge
The food drive for Ramapo-Bergen Animal Refuge will be running the whole month of November. Please consider donating to help our furry-friends in need!
We will be having our annual “Book-Tasting” on November 22. Students will have a great opportunity to “taste” books in a restaurant-style atmosphere, complete with tables, menus, and snacks. There will be a variety of books in every genre available for the students to look through while deciding if it may be something they would like to try. This magnificent event is an elementary school favorite that promotes a love of literacy for our youngest readers!
We will be having a Thanksgiving “Friendship Feast” on Wednesday, November 27. Your child’s teacher will be sending more information soon regarding this wonderful event.
Past and Upcoming MS events
On October 22, the middle schoolers went to see a play based on the writings of Edgar Allan Poe at the Pax Amicus Theatre.
The week of October 28, the middle schoolers participated in the first spirit week of the year. Monday was Jersey Day, Tuesday was Dress to Impress, Wednesday was Class Color Day, Thursday was Character Day, and Friday was Decade Day.
Next month the middle school will be going to Sky Zone for a field trip. Also next month, students will have a special Thanksgiving lunch.
MS Saturday Academy
Saturday Academy is off to a strong start. During the morning sessions, students are engaged in various different academic activities including Robotics, Creative Writing, Python Coding, Science Olympiad, and World Issues and Events. After lunch, students participate in a special activity, such as sports or a local day trip. The most recent activity was a hike up one of the High Mountain Reserve Park trails in Mahwah, New Jersey. Kids and teachers both enjoyed the teambuilding activity by spending their time outside exploring nature.
Past and Upcoming HS events
The start of November marks the second academic quarter. Good luck to all our scholars as they grow in knowledge! As always, we encourage our students to strive for excellence and to look towards the future with positivity and curiosity. This month, we welcomed Marek Romanowicz as a guest speaker for the middle and high school students. Mr. Romanowicz shared his career and education experiences. He described his childhood to our students and outlined the benefits of hard work and a career in technology.
The week of November 4 was also the first official High School Spirit Week. This week, our students participated in daily themes and competed in four competitions to win spirit points for their class. The competitions included participation in dress-down days during the week, a wall decorating contest, a volleyball tournament, and an academic competition. Dress-down days were twin day, class color, 80’s 90’s style, and college apparel or sports jersey. It was wonderful seeing students making fashion statements and displaying school spirit through their creative outfits.
Congratulations to the Freshman class for winning the Volleyball tournament, the Junior class for winning the Spirit Wall Design Challenge and the Academic Tournament held on Friday. The class with the most spirit points overall were the Sophomores! They earned their place as champions of our Fall Spirit Week! We thank all of our students for their spirited effort.
In conjunction with Spirit Week, we also welcomed our boys’ basketball team in their new Eagles gear! Go Eagles! The Student Government Association also held a pink-themed dress-down day to collect donations for the American Breast Cancer Association.
Pioneer’s SGA “Friendsgiving” lunch will take place on Friday, November 22. During lunch, high school students will share dishes and desserts brought from home. All our faculty and students are welcome to share in the abundance! Every student and faculty member who brings in a shareable dish will receive a raffle ticket for a chance to win an exciting prize!
High School and SGA Upcoming events are as follows:
Nov. 14 NHS Induction Ceremony 6 PM
Nov. 15 First Quarter Awards Ceremony
Nov. 21 School Picture retakes
Nov. 22 HS Friendsgiving luncheon
Nov. 26 School-wide Thanksgiving Day lunch
Nov. 27 Early Dismissal
Nov. 28-29 Thanksgiving Break (School Closed)
College Counseling Corner
Good Study Habits
In order to ensure a successful school year, consider whether you established the following study habits:
● Good attendance--One of the most important factors in academic success is regular attendance.
● Organization--Use an assignment planner. Fit homework into a routine. Make a plan so schoolwork doesn’t suffer during a theater production or sports season.
● Good Study Habits--Pick a quiet place to study and study at the same time every day. Set goals for what you want to accomplish. Reread notes taken in class and summarize them. Make sure to study a few days before a test, not the night before.
● Ask Teachers For Help--Be your own advocate; talk to teachers about what you do not understand. Every Thursday from 3:15 PM to 4 PM teachers are available for academic support.
● Seek Help--If you need additional assistance, see your counselor to discuss tutoring resources.
Past and Upcoming Montessori Events
This Halloween, Pioneer Academy Montessori School’s students learned how to carve faces on pumpkins! What excited the children most was putting the candle in the pumpkin and turning off the lights to watch it glow.
The children and staff trick-or-treated during school, collected a wide variety of candy from all the teachers in Pioneer Academy. The teachers enjoyed seeing everyone in their costumes, and the kids were most happy from all the chocolate they collected! The event was a very fun and wholesome day.
Basketball Events
The Pioneer Eagles closed out their preseason in the Basketball Shootout Frenzy Tournament with three winning games to claim the championship. In the first game against the Monster Basketball Team, the Eagles won handily 42-21. The team played their second game about 4 hours later, noted as the toughest of the matches. This was a come-from-behind victory over the Hawks Elite team from Reading, PA. The Eagles were down as much as 7 points with less than 2 minutes left to come away with a 45-42 victory in the last seconds. The championship game was a runaway with the whole team contributing to beat the MSB Rauley All Stars from New York with a score of 54-22.
Pioneer Basketball traveled to Connecticut for its season opener against Putnam Science Academy this past Friday, November 8th. After a rough first half (down 89-26) against one of the top 3 schools in the country, the Eagles put together a solid second half, closing the score 135-70. The Eagles will have their home season opener against Darul Arqam this Thursday, November 14, at 5 PM. All of your support would be greatly appreciated to obtain our first official win of the season.
MS Art
Quote of the Week
With so many students receiving technology as gifts for the holidays, it is a great time to check in with your children about the use, dangers, and responsibilities that come with technology and social media. Many of the issues that happen in schools across the country are tracked back to issues that started on sites like Facebook, Snapchat, and Instagram. Unfortunately, schools do not have the tools to combat social media use, so we ask for your help.
Please be sure that you know what social media sites your children are on, check their phone or devices on a regular basis, and have conversations with your children about what they are doing and who they are talking to on their devices. Common Sense Media has resources for parents on their website at commonsensemedia.org/social-media to help you learn more.