Week 15:

Our first full week of December is behind us and it was quite an exciting one with lots of special visitors to Cucinella. Throughout the week, we had many parent volunteers come to read to their child's homerooms, thank you for volunteering your time! On Tuesday, we were joined by author Shanna Truffini who spoke with our PreK through Second grade students. Her program "You Are A Gardner" is based on her children's book which talks about how to find positive and healthy ways to manage life’s everyday stress, uncomfortable feelings, and emotions. More info about Mrs. Truffini's program can be found here: https://www.youareagardener.com/bio

On Thursday, our Third through Fifth grade students had an assembly with author Timothy Rohrer. Mr. Rohrer spoke to the students about what it was like to grow up with autism and shared stories of how people helped him feel included while going through school. Information on his program can be found here: https://tips4inclusion.wixsite.com/disabilityinclusion. We thank the PTO for their support and arranging these great experiences for our students.

At this time, I also want to introduce Mrs. Susan Schiess to the Cucinella Community! Mrs. Schiess was a physical education teacher at Long Valley Middle School before retiring a few years ago. Mrs. Schiess will take over the health education program at Cucinella Elementary. Please take a moment to welcome Mrs. Schiess, we are very excited to have her join our staff! We also want to thank Mrs. Jane Chamberlain for doing a wonderful job filling this position since the start of the school year!

Looking Ahead:

Monday, December 12th- PTO School Spirit Day/ Snow Angels/Giving Tree Staff Dress Down Day

Tuesday, December 13th- Parent Portal Opens for Report Cards 4pm

Tuesday, December 13th- Board of Education Meeting - 7:30pm LVMS PAC

Wednesday, December 14th- 5th Grade Vocal Music Concert- 6:30pm BAC Cafeteria

Wednesday- Friday, December 14th-16th- Holiday Gift Shoppe

Friday, December 16th- BAC Spirit Day: Ugly Sweater Day and Holiday Gift Shoppe After School Hours 2-4PM.

Thursday, December 22nd- Individual Homeroom Holiday parties. 12:40-1:40PM

Friday, December 23rd- BAC Spirit Day: Holiday Pajama Day and Early Dismissal Day 12:35

RELATED ARTS SCHEDULE: Monday starts our Related Arts schedule on a DAY 5.

Looking forward to seeing you all on Monday!

Christopher Perruso

PickUp Patrol has been in effect for over 3 weeks now and we are very happy with the positive feedback we have been receiving from the community. As we continue to roll out all the options this program provides us, we will now start using PickUp Patrol for recording your child's absences. Please click here to review how to use the program to record absences.

The absence line which was previously used to record absences has now been disconnected. Our secretaries are no longer checking phone messages for absences or changes in dismissal procedures. This information is now handled exclusively through the PickUp Patrol app. We appreciate your patience and understanding as we continue to integrate this new attendance management system.

All of our parents and guardians should have received a "Welcome" email with details on how to download the app and set up your account. If you have not received an email, please check your SPAM folder. If you can not find the Welcome email, please contact our school secretaries and ask for a new one to be resent.

If you have not downloaded the app or set up your account yet, please do so as soon as possible.

Click here for more information about Pickup Patrol

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact the secretaries, Mrs. Deanna Dargel or Mrs. Boomi Varathrajan.

On December 14th ALL 5th grade students are joining to create a chorus, singing together for the entire BAC school community in a morning assembly and for their families that evening at 6:30PM.

Since the concert repertoire is not holiday music (so that we may continue to work on some of it for an upgraded performance in June), families are invited to stay for an optional Holiday Sing Along after the evening performance. This will include popular winter, Hanukkah, and Christmas selections with lyrics projected for everyone's enjoyment!

Registration deadline is Thursday, December 22nd.

Please click the following link to get a copy of the PTO's newest newsletter, "Nellie's News Flash". Click here to view.

Friday Folder:

https://www.cucinellapto.com/friday-folder