Toms River High School East

Welcome back! I hope everyone enjoyed their fall break. I was able to travel with my family and enjoy some sunshine! I heard the weather was beautiful here in Toms River and I hope you are were able to enjoy it! The fall sport season is coming to an end, Raider Nation had it's final debut in Christmas gear for the last home football game. We are finishing up marking period 1 this week. Students and staff are focusing on Habit #1 and daily announcements are being made by the Lighthouse Team to promote a "proactive mindset. "

November is a quick month, we have a full week this week and then 3 days before Thanksgiving. November 23rd will be a half day with dismissal being at 11:15am.

Teacher's will be finalizing grades and inputting them into Parent Portal by the 22nd. Your child's report card can bring multiple feelings such as excitement and pride, but also can bring on concern. In either case, it is a time to reflect with your child and set new goals for the marking period. Focus on the positives of the report card and ask questions regarding some of the concerning grades. Below are a few suggested questions:

• Is the work too difficult for you?
• Is the pace of the class too fast, too slow?
• Are you completing all of the homework assignments in a timely fashion?
• Are you asking the teacher for help when a questions arises?

What is the next step? Create a plan to maximize academic achievement, write it down and hang in place in the house that is visible on a daily basis. Re-visit the plan on a weekly to see if the goals are still within reach and what you can do to support your child if they are still struggling. Encourage your child to self-advocate and speak to his/her teacher regarding their grades. Utilize your child's school counselor to help facilitate conversations about academic needs and how to support them.

Until next week,

Erin Anders

Congratulations to Blake Grandinetti on attaining his Eagle Scout rank! Blake sees the value in a life of service and has learned many life lessons from this leadership experience.

We're very pleased to announce the success of the TV Production/Broadcast Journalism students' live stream coverage of the Halloween Parade.

This group of Sophomores, Juniors and Seniors braved the elements to bring a worldwide audience (Youtube) a fantastic production. I'm very proud of their enthusiasm for learning, focus on the job at hand and CHARACTER in public interactions. They represented our district in the most positive way.

Here is the link to their coverage.

Barbara Boettger

Corinne Pistol

Kaitlynn Colangelo

Meghan Donovan

Samantha Impens

Steven Discenza

Addison Murphy

Brooke Schumann

Erika Humphris

Kaydance Vogel

Leah Semanchick

Shane August

Sophia Pallen

Victor Santos

Ava Roemmele

This month we will begin focusing on Habit # 1: Being Proactive

Developing Conscience: A Treasure Hunt

• Choose a “treasure” that everyone will enjoy, making sure that there is enough for all to share. • Choose a safe spot to hide the treasure, making sure that it is accessible to everyone.

• Develop clues that lead to the treasure. To obtain clues, participants must answer questions that will exercise their conscience.

Positive answers lead them closer to the treasure; negative answers lead them away. Examples include: − Question: As you are walking to class, you notice that the boy in front of you has dropped a five-dollar bill. What do you do? (Positive responses could be: Pick it up and return it to the boy. Tell a teacher and hand it over. Negative responses could be: Keep it. Head to the store. Taunt the boy.) − Question: Someone steals the answers to next week’s math exam and offers you a copy. What do you do? (Positive responses could be: Refuse a copy and study. Encourage the person to be honest. Negative responses could be: Take it, you need the A. Tell everyone else so they will like you.)

The student Lighthouse Team will be making announcements all month promoting Habit # 1. Here is one of the announcements made:

"Don’t wait for something to happen, MAKE it happen! Truly successful people create their own opportunities, and act, not react! So what are you waiting for, get some motivation through these

quotes on being proactive, and fire away. Michael J. Fox once said, ”I like to encourage people to realize that any action is a good action if it’s proactive and there is positive intent behind it.”

Mr. Dishon's Art Appreciation class was working on three dimensional plaster figurines. Students really used their imaginations! I can't wait to see the finished products!

In Mrs. Muscillo's class students celebrated The Day of the Dead! An ofrenda is an altar decorated with lights, candles, pictures, flowers, etc. to honor the deceased. Mrs. Muscillo had one one set up in her classroom and students learned about the significance of each item throughout the month.

Thank you to Jillian Messina for coming to Mrs. Schindler's journalism classes to share her expertise in Media. Jillian works for the TRPD as the Media Relation Specialist and offered real world advice for our aspiring journalist! Thank you!

The New Jersey State Seal of Biliteracy is a graduation honor awarded to students who have demonstrated proficiency in a language other than English, through biliteracy testing in reading, writing, speaking and listening. The testing is computer-based, and completed in school.

More information about the logistics of testing, and the test itself will follow, but the first step is to indicate your interest by completing the Google Form linked here by December 3, 2022:

NJ Seal of Biliteracy Exam 2023 Google Form

NJ Seal of Biliteracy Flyer

1) Ocean County College will be having a virtual NJ Stars Information session for potential students to attend. The information session will be held virtually on November 17th 6:00pm-7:00pm.

Registration link:

2) Financial Aid Night was hosted at Toms River HS East October 26th. We are providing a link to the video for families who weren't available to attend.

2) College/University representatives are coming to HSE to conduct information sessions. Please sign up in Guidance. For a full list of the Colleges and Universities visiting our Guidance office please visit our College and Career website or click on the link: College Rep visits

We are averaging over 20 early dismissals a day at East. Although I am very aware that an early dismissal is often needed for doctor's appointments please limit them to after school hours, if possible. Please document early dismissals with doctor's notes.

Thank you to the parents that attended the Google Meet chat this month. Save the date

( November 21 @ 9am) for the next Chat with the Principal: meet.google.com/toh-iuxw-bst

The next meeting will be November 29th at 6pm in the Main Office Conference room! All parents are welcome!

Thank you to MORANO TOURS for the monetary donation to our student fund! We appreciate you!

Thank you to, Steve Waunsch from Papa John's Pizza for his donations!

If your business is interested in making a donation please reach out! We can advertise you on our social media ( almost 3,000 followers on Instagram) : Eanders@trschools.com