CDW Weekly Wrap-Up

October 28, 2022

A Message from Ms. Santa

Halloween Safety Tips

According to the National Safety Council, follow these tips to be safe on Halloween:
  • Wear costumes that do not obscure vision.
  • If allowed after dark, fasten reflective tape to costumes, or carry glow sticks.
  • A responsible adult should accompany young children on the neighborhood rounds.
  • If your older children are going alone, plan and review a route acceptable to you.
  • Agree on a specific time children should return home.
  • Remind your children never to enter a stranger's home or car.
  • Instruct children to travel only in familiar, well-lit areas and stick with their friends.
  • Tell your children not to eat any treats until they return home to avoid food allergies.
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October

Friday, October 28th~ NV Eagles Halloween Party and Haunted Mansion, 6:30 PM-10:30 PM (See more information below.)

Sunday, October 30th~ The OT Municipal Alliance Fright Night, 6:30 PM-8:30 PM

Monday, October 31st~ Halloween


November

Thursday, November 3rd~ Parent/Teacher Evening Conferences, 6:00 PM-8:00 PM (See more information below.)

Friday, November 4th~ NVOT Heroes and Cool Kids Lesson with Grade 6

Monday, November 7th and Tuesday, November 8th~ Grade 5 Field Trip

Wednesday, November 9th~ Marking Period 1 Ends

Thursday, November 10th and Friday, November 11th~ School is closed for NJEA Convention.

Monday, November 14th~ The Board of Education Meeting will be in the BOE Conference Room at 8:00 PM.

Wednesday, November 16th~ Marking Period 1 Report Cards are released at 12:00 PM.

Thursday, November 17th~ PTO Special Lunch- order at OTPTO.org

Saturday, November 19th~ Grade 8 Clothing Drive from 9:00 AM-2:00 PM at CDW

Wednesday, November 23rd~ 12:30 Dismissal for Thanksgiving Recess

Thursday, November 24th and Friday, November 25th~ School is closed for Thanksgiving Recess.

Tuesday, November 29th~ School Picture Day Make-Ups

Tuesday, November 29th~ PTO Meeting in the CDW Media Center at 7:30 PM

NEW INFORMATION

Red Ribbon Week at CDW

Thank you to Ms. Cohen and the Student Government for providing facts each day via the morning announcements, for running the poster concert, providing a spirit week, and for raising money for the Red Ribbon Campaign!

Halloween at CDW: Monday, October 31st

As in the past, the students and staff members are invited to wear their Halloween costumes to school. We will recognize Halloween at CDW on Monday, October 31st. Although teachers may engage students in Halloween-themed lessons/activities, we will follow a regular schedule.


When your child(ren) is choosing a Halloween costume, please remember:

  • The costume must allow the student to see to ensure safety.

  • If the costume has an accompanying weapon (knife, sword, gun, bow/arrow, etc.), your child may not bring it to school.

  • Your child will wear the costume for the length of the school day so it should be something that allows him/her to walk and sit comfortably.

  • Costumes should comply with our dress code (page 6 of our Student Handbook).

  • Students do not have to wear a costume. Some students might opt to wear black and orange.

Quantum Steampunk Short Story Contest

Below is a flyer for a short story contest that Ms. DiPisa introduced to the students at CDW. Submissions are due by January 15th, 2023. Please contact Ms. DiPisa at dipisag@nvnet.org with any questions or for more information.
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Grade 8 Application Information from Ms. Adamo

Any 8th grader who is applying to a Catholic High School must submit their release of record or transcript release form to Ms. Adamo on Monday, October 31st. Please reach out to Ms. Adamo at adamoj@nvnet.org if you have any questions or check her Grade 8 Google Classroom.

Grade 8 Cookie Dough Fundraiser

The CDW Class of 2023 is doing a cookie dough fundraiser now through November 21st. PLEASE CLICK HERE to submit your order, and the products will ship directly to your home.
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Spirit Wear!

The CDW Spirit Wear store is now open on OTPTO.org! Items from the Short Term Store are ordered in bulk and will be distributed to students. Orders are due by MONDAY, NOVEMBER 14th in order to receive by the holidays. The Short Term Store will reopen in the spring.


The Long Term Store is open year round and orders are shipped directly to the purchaser.


Both stores offer different merchandise. Links are on OTPTO.org or see below:

SHORT TERM: Charles DeWolf Middle School Old Tappan Spirit Wear 2022

LONG TERM: Charles DeWolf Middle School

Grade 6: Design Thinking

After a mini-lesson defining the parts of networks and the internet, students were assigned roles, such as message writer, the internet, server, return messenger, and message receiver, to complete a task. Students wrote notes and ripped them up to send in packets through the internet via wi-fi, fiber optics, or cable/DSL. Students assigned as "the internet" had to send their ripped up message to the student assigned as "the server" one at a time. They had to either balance the message on their shoulder or on the back of their hand with their other hand constantly "connected" to a surface (to mimic wired connections). Return messengers then repeated the process back to the message receiver in the same manner.


Students had so much fun learning how a URL is translated into an IP Address through physically simulating the process. Students were quite surprised at how many steps are involved in using the internet; even just connecting from google classroom to google drive on a daily basis!

NVOT Physics

Mr. Elqariani and his NVOT Physics Club students visited CDW on Tuesday to provide lessons for some of our Grade 8 Science students in Mr. Gagliano's class. The NVOT students interactively taught the CDW students about many different aspects of physics including, but not limited to, the study of matter and its motion and related concepts such as energy and force.

Grade 7 Science

Grade 7 Students learned how to make their own microscope slides and how to focus the microscope. They were tasked with preparing two slides per person: one with a sample of moss from the CDW grounds and one with a sample of their own cheek cells!

Mr. L's Corner

Reminders and Updates from CDW's Student Manager

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Boys' Basketball Tryouts

Tryouts for the CDW boys' basketball team will begin on Monday, November 7th after dismissal until 4:30 PM. Please make sure that your child(ren)'s physical has been submitted to Mrs. McCarthy and is up to date.

CDW Soccer

The soccer defeated Harrington Park on Tuesday 6 to 3. The scoring was led by Tim Mahler who scored 3 goals. Carmine Porcelli, Sean Mahler, and Josh Jin each scored 1 apiece. Every player contributed to the team win.


The soccer team then played an exciting game on Wednesday tying Norwood 1 to 1. The team was down a goal late in the game, and then Colin Talty connected on a corner kick with ten minutes left to tie the game at one. The soccer team ended its season with a record of 7 wins, 3 losses, and two ties. They will be in the playoffs next week and will host at least one home playoff game.


Great regular season Knights, and good luck in the playoffs!


Great effort Knights!

CDW Volleyball

Although the volleyball team fell short this week, the 7th graders continued the tradition of making posters and celebrating the 8th graders at the last home game.


The Knights will be heading to the playoffs in Demarest on Tuesday, November 1st at 4:00 PM. Good Luck!

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REMINDERS

TONIGHT...NV Eagles Halloween Party and Haunted Mansion: Friday, October 28th

The NV Eagles will be hosting a Halloween Party and Haunted Mansion at CDW on Friday, October 28th from 6:30 PM-10:30 PM. All proceeds will be split amongst CDW 8th graders, Eagles Cheerleaders, and football players. See the flyer below for more information.


*Please note that this is not a CDW event, and the event will be chaperoned by NV Eagles volunteers.

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Parent/Teacher Conferences

Grade 5 Parent/Teacher Conferences: Conferences are not mandatory but are available to all parents/guardians in Grade 5 on Thursday, November 3rd (day and night), Friday, November 18th (day only), and Wednesday, November 30th (day only). If you choose to sign up for a conference with the Grade 5 teachers, please use this Sign Up Genius Link.


Grades 6-8 Parent/Teacher Conferences: Conferences are scheduled on an as-needed basis. If your child(ren)'s teacher(s) requested a conference with you, it will be held in the evening on Thursday, November 3, 2022. Letters have been provided to those parents/guardians with a specific time for your conference in the Genesis Parent Portal under the Documents Module. Please RSVP at your earliest convenience.

National Junior Honor Society Volunteer Opportunities

The Old Tappan Recreation needs volunteers for Halloween Festival & Ragamuffin Parade at Oakes Park on Saturday, October 29th.

KPO: A New OT PTO Committee

The OT PTO is excited to share that a new committee has been formed- the KPO! This committee will work together with the OT PTO to help support our students. If you are interested in learning more about this committee, please email them at OldTappanKPO@gmail.com and follow them at Old Tappan.KPO on Instagram!
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The Nex-Trex Plastic Film Recycling Program is Back!

We are collecting plastic film in the three containers outside of CDW. Once a month, from October through April, our CDW students in the Environmental Justice classes will retrieve the collection bags, weigh the contents, and track our collections. Our custodians will then bring our recycling to the collection center. In April, we will find out how our school ranked in the collection of recyclable plastic film. If we collect the most in our school size category, we could win another Trex bench for our outdoor classroom! Last year we collected 1,796 lbs of plastic!


Please see the flyer below for more information!

Attendance

If your child is not going to attend school, please contact Mrs. McCarthy at 201-664-1475 ext. 2103 or McCarthy@nvnet.org.


In an effort to minimize the potential spread of illness at school, please keep your child home if he/she:

  • has a fever. Students should be fever-free for 24 hours without medication prior to returning to school.
  • is nauseous or is vomiting.
  • has diarrhea.

Art Contest

The Clean Energy and Sustainability Analytics Center (CESAC) of Montclair State University is hosting its annual Clean and Sustainable Energy Summit (November 17, 2022), and they are excited to bring back the Keep Our Planet Green (KOPG) student artwork contest! The KOPG contest is for students in Grades K-12 and will give them and their sponsoring teachers the opportunity to win an Amazon gift card and have their artwork displayed during the Summit.

Each grade group (K-4, 5-8, 9-12) will have a 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winner AND the winning students’ sponsoring teacher will receive a prize match to go towards school supplies!


Submission deadline is Tuesday, November 8th. Please have your child(ren) see Ms. Watters if he/she will be participating.


Check out the 2021 winner's here!

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Art Supplies Needed!

When you deliver the items to the main office, please label them with "Art Room." Thank you in advance for your support and generosity!
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Chromebook Insurance Information

If you would like to purchase insurance for your child(ren)'s school issued Chromebook, please refer to the information below, or you may purchase directly from smarttechinsurance.com/old-tappan.
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New Lunch Vendor

YogyBee Northvale has been approved as a new lunch vendor. Please visit the Approved Lunch Vendors list on the District Website for more information.

Dropping Off Forgotten Items

As you know, safety is always a first priority for our students. Now that the school year is underway, it's a good time to be reminded of the guidance, which can be found in the CDW Student Handbook which states: "Parents are encouraged not to bring forgotten articles to the school. In the event that a student requires a forgotten essential (i.e. medication, eyeglasses, a dietary need etc.), the parent should contact/report to the main office to arrange to have the item(s) delivered to the student. The school will not disrupt the morning or afternoon session to deliver Chromebooks, chargers, or other non-essential items to students during the school day."


Although we want your child(ren) to be successful in school and to have what they need to succeed, we also want your child(ren) to learn independence. We will continually work with your child(ren) on organizational methods if necessary. Just reach out!

CDW Clothing Drive: November 19th!

The PTO Grade 8 Committee will be hosting a Clothing Drive on Saturday, November 19th from 9:00 AM-2:00 PM. See below for specific information. Please do not drop off any clothing to the school before November 19th.


Start cleaning out your closets now!

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National Junior Honor Society Information for Current 7th Grade Students

Membership in the National Junior Honor Society (NJHS) at Charles DeWolf Middle School is open to any seventh grade student who meets all the following membership requirements at the end of the third marking period in 2023:

  • Has a minimum cumulative grade point average (GPA) of 3.70 in academic (social studies, language arts, math, science and Spanish) subjects, with no grade below a B- in any subject (including cycle classes) for ALL marking periods of the 2022-2023 school year.
  • Demonstrates outstanding scholarship, leadership, service, character, and citizenship.
  • Accumulates no more than six unexcused tardies. Tardies will only be considered excused if a doctor's note is submitted to the School Nurse.
  • Accumulates no detentions related to behavior in violation of the CDW Code of Conduct.
  • Performs eight hours of documented community service from a recognized nonprofit, community, or education organization from 9/1/2022-4/21/2023. Virtual service hours will no longer be accepted. Please note that there will be no extension of this date. Students should provide documentation on the organization’s letterhead when submitting their applications in April.
  • Completes at least three marking periods of the 7th grade year at CDW (unless a student moves into district and has been inducted as a member in another district).


During the week of April 24, 2023, eligible students will be identified and invited to apply

for admission to the NJHS by email. An email will also be sent to parents of eligible

students. The induction ceremony will be held during the week of May 15, 2023 (subject to

change).

Lunch at CDW

Students should either bring their lunch from home each day, or parents may order through one of the approved vendors for delivery to CDW. If you order lunch from an approved vendor for delivery, please make sure the vendor knows your child's first and last name and grade level. This will help to ensure your child receives their lunch on time. At times, we understand that a parent/guardian may need to drop off lunch at school. All lunches need to be placed on the table with the green tablecloth in the vestibule.


5th/6th Grade Lunch ~ 11:27AM-12:01 PM

7th/8th Grade Lunch ~ 12:10PM-12:44 PM

Morning Drop-Off and Afternoon Pick-Up at CDW

Drop-Off

  • Drop-off is on Interschool Drive. As soon as you reach the cones, please have your child(ren) exit the vehicle.
  • For the safety of all students, we ask that you stay in your vehicle at drop-off and dismissal.
  • Please do not use the upper faculty parking lot for drop-off/pick-up/or exiting of school grounds during school hours. CDW faculty and BOE-approved bus companies are the only vehicles permitted in the upper lot.
  • Please do not park in any staff parking spots when dropping off or picking up students.
  • Please do not exit your vehicle and leave your vehicle unattended on Interschool Drive.
  • There will be adult supervision starting at 8:10 AM, and the doors will open at 8:20 AM. If there is inclement weather, students will be ushered into the school gymnasiums at 8:00 AM.
  • The students in Grades 5 & 6 will line up on the blacktop in the back of the school near the basketball courts.
  • The students in Grades 7 & 8 will line up on the blacktop by the 7th and 8th Grade Wing Exterior Door.
  • Once you pull up to the cones on Interschool Drive, please have your child(ren) exit the vehicle. This allows many students to be dropped off at the same time and allows the line to move quickly.
  • Please do not park in any staff parking spots when dropping off or picking up students.
  • Please do not block any parking spots along the front side of the building at Pick-Up.

Dismissal

  • Please arrange a meeting area with your child(ren) so that you can locate them efficiently.
  • Please do not park and/or exit your vehicle regardless of your child(ren) being at TBD or CDW.
  • Please do not block designated emergency lanes that connect TBD and CDW.
  • Please use both lanes on Interschool Drive for Pick-Up. A staff member will be available to cross your child(ren).


General Traffic Rules Regarding Parking

  • Never park in a "No Parking, Fire Lane." These lanes are designated with yellow paint in diagonal lines on the pavement along with the words, "No Parking Fire Lane."
  • Never park along a curb that is painted yellow and leave your vehicle unattended.
  • Do not double park (park your vehicle beside another vehicle that is in a designated parking space).

Join the PTO!

The PTO is looking for volunteers throughout the school year!


Volunteers play a huge part in the PTO and what we are able to offer the students and teachers. Without volunteers, many of the programs that students, teachers, and families enjoy will not be able to happen. Volunteer descriptions can be found at: OTPTO.org under "More Info" and then "Flyers."


If you have interest in joining the PTO Board, joining or running a committee, or just want to learn more- please reach out to the PTO by visiting OTPTO.org and selecting "Contact Old Tappan PTO" under the Help tab.

Old Tappan 2022-2023 School Year Calendar

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