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Crossroads Monthly Newsletter

February 2023

Crossroads Monthly Newsletter February 2023
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Principal's Message

It's hard to believe that we are almost through the month of February. It has been a very busy month at Crossroads. Students have been participating in activities focused around the themes of cooperation and friendship, as well as completing projects for Black History Month.


For Valentines Day the students enjoyed an activity in the motor room where they were able to make homemade Valentines Day Cards. After finishing their card, each student had the opportunity to exchange Valentines with their friends. The event finished with an ice cream social. Students also had the opportunity to take part in the Valentines Day obstacle course. For Black History Month each classroom decorated their door featuring prominent African Americans from different fields. Various African American musicians, inventors, leaders, and artists were featured.


Crossroads was lucky enough to receive a visit from the Westfield Pediatric Dental Group this month. Ms. Bobbie, their dental hygienist, discussed the importance of tooth brushing. Students were able to view a short video clip and were also given the chance to practice on Ms. Bobbie's puppet. Each student received a toothbrush, toothpaste, and floss to take home with them.


Looking ahead to next month there are a lot of fun activities in store. March kicks off with Read Across America/School Spirit Week. Activities for the week are listed below.


Best Regards,


Matthew Fernandez

Principal
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Upcoming Dates

March 2, 2023 - World Book Day - Dragons Love Tacos Read aloud and Taco Cart 🌮


Read Across America/School Spirit Week

March 6, 2023 - The Day the Crayons Quit (Drew Daywalt) - Dress in your favorite color

March 7, 2023 - Very Good Hats (Emma Straub) - Wear your favorite hat to school

March 8, 2023 - A Bad Case of the Stripes (David Shannon) - Dress up in silly mismatched

stipes/patterns

March 9, 2023 - Don't Throw it to Mo! (David Adler) - Wear your favorite Sports Team Gear

March 10, 2023 - Pajama Pirates (Andrew Kramer) - Wear your pajamas OR dress like a pirate


March 17, 2023 - ☘️ St Patrick's Day ☘️

March 23, 2023 - PTO and Parent Education Support Group - Presentation by Crossroads Speech Department

Crossroads Staff and Student Spotlight

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Student of the Month - Nicholas

Our Crossroads student of the month is Nicholas. He has been working hard to achieve some of his goals relating to daily living, Pre-math, and social skills. Nicholas has able to take his coat off, find his lunch box, open it, and eat independently. He is also having great success with his hand washing skills. Nicholas is able to sequence, tact, and identify numbers 1 to 30. He can identify his first name and the names of days of the week. Nicholas is also able to match pictures that are the same. Nicholas knows basic shapes, primary colors, and the letters of his name.

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Certified Staff of the Month - Gabriela Valdes

1. How long have you been working at the commission?

I have been working at the commission for a year and a half. I started as a behavior intern while at Seton Hall University, and later became a maternity leave replacement teacher! I then transitioned to a paraprofessional before getting the call of full time teacher over the summer. This is my dream job and I could not be happier at Crossroads.


2. What would we be surprised to find out about you?

I have traveled to nine countries.


3. What is your dream vacation?

My dream vacation would be to visit Greece.


4. What is your favorite meal?

My favorite meal is mac and cheese.


5. What is your greatest accomplishment?

My greatest accomplishment so far is completing my Masters Degree in ABA (Applied Behavior Analysis) at Seton Hall University.

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Paraprofessional of the Month - Anna DiPaola

1. How long have you been working at the commission?

I have been working with UCESC at Crossroads School for 7 years.


2. What would we be surprised to find out about you?

My first language that I spoke was Italian, my hobbies include: crocheting, cooking, and gardening.


3. What is your dream vacation?

My dream vacation is to visit the Greek Island, Santorini one day!


4. What is your favorite meal?

My favorite meal is my mom's homemade tagliatelle pasta with homemade meat sauce.


5. What is your greatest accomplishment?

My greatest accomplishment is being a mother of 3 daughters.

Classroom Spotlights

Ms. Allison's Classroom

Black History Month

During the month of February, students learned about a variety of important figures and their accomplishments. During Morning Meeting each day, students were introduced to a different person via youtube videos including: Mae Jemison - the first African American woman to travel to space, Alfred Cralle - inventor of the ice cream scoop, Philip Downing - inventor of the mailbox, and Rosa Parks - civil rights advocate. Students completed crafts to decorate our classroom door for our theme of Black History Inventors.


Cooperation and Friendship

Students used all of the fun National Holidays of February to practice their cooperation and friendship skills. They prepared, cooked, and shared Nutella croissants for National Nutella Day. They participated in the PTO’s Valentine’s Day event by creating and exchanging valentines. They also engaged in their regularly scheduled activities that always work on these themes. Friendship skills are worked on when our girls attend playdates with students from other classrooms and during in-class play centers. Cooperative learning is worked on during Makerspace Group, and during Speech and Classroom cooking lessons.

Ms. Alexis's Classroom

Cooperation and Friendship

During the month of February the students learned about the importance of cooperation and friendship. The students worked on being able to come together as a class when completing a craft on what it means to be a good friend. The students colored a friendship house and glued words that show what a good quality friend is on the windows and doors. We talked about what it means to be a good friend and ways we can show that.



The students explored Black History Month and Valentine's Day. During our group instruction, our students learned about the impacts famous people like Martin Luther King, Jr. and Rosa Parks had on the Civil Rights movement. The students first listened to a story about Martin Luther King, Jr., read by one of their classmates and then completed a craft where they made a crown that they had to color. The students also worked on making Valentine’s Day cupcakes. Each student had the opportunity to help complete a different step in preparing the cupcakes. They students took their time when pouring and mixing the ingredients and patiently waited for their turn. Everyone enjoyed the finished product.

Therapy Spotlight

Ms. Aliza Feuerstein - Physical Therapist

During Physical Therapy (PT) we use therapeutic activities to enhance a student's ability to physically access their educational environment. We work on strengthening the body, improving flexibility, developing gross motor skills, and improving balance/coordination.


In Crossroads School we keep our PT sessions fun and engaging to allow our students to reach their goals in a motivating environment. Often we use obstacle courses to work on many skills at once such as; jumping, hopping, stepping up/down and balance. We also use movement games, yoga and other fun activities to help our students reach their full potential!


We recently applied for a UCESF education enrichment grant to enhance the motor room which is where our PT sessions primarily take place. This month we were excited to add a beautiful sensory wall and new rainbow mats to our motor room. Our students are really enjoying these new additions.

February at Crossroads

🦷Westfield Pediatric Dental Group Visits Crossroads🦷

Cooperation/Friendship and Black History Month

BLACK HISTORY MONTH

Crossroads classrooms decorated their doors to celebrate Black History Month.

❤️Crossroads Valentines Exchange, Obstacle Course, and Ice Cream Social🍦

Crossroads in the Community

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Community Based Instruction trip to Panera
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Handing out tickets at the Cranford Movie Theater.

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Enjoying the movie after working hard!

Specials Report - Ms. Jessica - ART

This month the art students are working on art projects centered around Black History month, Valentines Day and Cooperation and Friendship. We started the month celebrating Black History Month with a project based off of the book Tar Beach by Faith Ringgold, an artist and illustrator who is local to our area! We read the book aloud in the classroom, talked about where the book takes place and what colors we see. Students in the art room are working on using art based vocabulary such as recognizing colors and the materials we are using. Students also work on physical skills such as painting, drawing, cutting, ripping, folding, gluing and weaving just to name a few. Each project aims to introduce a new skill and a new material that the students have not used previously. I look forward to introducing the students to new and exciting art skills for the remainder of the year!

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