CGSD Newsletter
October 2019
Dear CGSD Community,
Successful strategic planning involves collaboration, data-driven indicators of current conditions, shared ownership, accountability and communication. When we commit to this work, it's also important that we establish a vision for the future. What do we want the CGSD to look like 3 or 5 years from now? How can we leverage innovation to inspire critical and creative thinking among and between students and staff? What resources, both internal and external, do we have at our disposal?
My oldest brother, Dave, is a home improvement carpenter. He often reminds me of the importance of "measure twice, cut once," the old carpenter's credo that has undoubtedly saved (or cost!) folks lots of time and money. Well, I think this kind of thinking applies to education, as well. With limited resources at our disposal, it's critical for school districts to avoid jumping into the next best thing that comes along without first applying a series of checks and balances against their vision for the future.
And that's one way in which our new strategic plan will come in handy.
For our part, we've taken a systematic approach to creating a series of attainable, relevant and resource-sensitive goals for each of the next three school years. When you review these goals, I think you'll get a sense of how we envision our students' practices and the learning spaces within which they'll perform them. Please visit https://tinyurl.com/y2c6za5w for a detailed look at our 2019-20 District Goals.
#WeAreCedarGrove
Sincerely,
Michael J. Fetherman
Superintendent
Stop by South End School on any Friday afternoon and you may see a four-legged furry Labradoodle walking the halls and visiting classrooms! This new welcomed visitor to South End is 10 year old Abiageal, a pet Therapy Dog that lives across the street from SE with her owner, Mary Ellen Monahan. Abiageal is trained and certified by Bright and Beautiful Therapy Dogs, Inc. and has an impressive resume including spending the last five years as a volunteer for St. Barnabas Paws for Patients. Ms. Monahan was interested in sharing Abiageal with children in a school setting and decided to partner with SE to spread her joy.
Therapy dogs in schools are known to reduce stress, improve students’ reading skills and just comfort and raise the spirits of children in the classroom. Abiageal has focused on one grade level thus far each week, spending at least 20 minutes in each classroom. The students have taken turns reading to her, petting her, getting to know all about her, and of course getting that perfect picture with her!
North End 1st graders in Mrs. Scuralli's class have enjoyed studying about 2 and 3-dimensional geometric shapes. They are "shaping up"......that is making 3-dimensional shapes out of straws and pipe cleaners!
NE and SE fourth grade art classes designed "vintage style" scarecrows using acrylic paints, sepia and black charcoal chalks. So cool!
All elementary art classes at South End and North End Schools completed the "Square One" fundraiser in conjunction with the FSA. Parents should be excited to purchase homemade art masterpieces...be on the lookout for more information to follow!
Just two of the happy and hardworking students at NE School from Mrs. Miscia and Mrs. Grossman’s 4th Grade. After they researched states in the Northeast, students created Google slides containing pertinent information about the state. Then, they recorded fun facts about the area using FlipGrid to insert into their presentation.
Follow this link to one of the many interesting pieces of information they uncovered. https://flipgrid.com/s/5da53127213b
MMS 5th grade S.T.E.M. students have created the "Let There Be Light" project.
This month, MMS held it's very first Respect Rally to kick off Respect Week! Ms. Guridys and the choir energized the crowd with songs and had the rest of the school join in!
MMS 6th graders in Mrs. Poll’s Language Arts class explored the topics of segregation and racism through an introductory simulation activity. Before reading Maniac Magee, which tells the story of a young boy who does not understand the idea of segregation, students were randomly divided into two groups by selecting a piece of colored paper from a bag. Students were given a few minutes to “hang out” with other students on their side of the room without interacting with the other side at all. After a few minutes, students discussed their feelings about being limited to certain areas of the classroom and limited in their interactions with other students.
MMS 7th grade science classes have been working on the process of scientific inquiry and the new Science and Engineering processes to carry out scientific Investigations. Students went through the process to create a paper airplane to see whose would fly the furthest.
MMS 8th grade social studies students participated in an irrigation simulation in which classes participated as a team to build an irrigation system from folded pieces of paper marked levee, channel, and reservoir. The system was tested using marbles rolled in a manner meant to simulate river flooding. The simulation provoked the challenges early societies faced in attempting to achieve large-scale or societal tasks. This concept was then applied to the origin of organized government, the development of law codes and tax collection.
MMS 7th grade social studies students worked to create an American Mosaic consisting of their different backgrounds and cultures. Put together to form an American Flag, this project is meant to symbolize the extreme diversity found in America.
MMS students in Mrs. Bulmer’s ELA classes just finished their study of the play, The Diary of Anne Frank. As a culminating project, students were asked to work cooperatively to perform research in order to gain a better understanding of what other types of conditions the Jewish people hid under, in Nazi-occupied countries during World War II. The assignment required students to read an article about a specific hiding place and apply that knowledge to answer a variety of questions regarding the location and the details involved in the task of hiding. Finally, students were able to choose whether they wished to display the main ideas about their hiding places using Glogster or Google Slides, which they used to share their findings with the rest of their peers. Pictured here is the Glogster poster made by a group in response to an article about Jewish people hiding under the kitchen floor.
8th grade science students are understanding the differences between speed and velocity by performing multiple motion labs: Speed of a Toy Car, Speed of a Jump Frog, Speed of a Paper Airplane, and the Velocity of a Hockey Puck. This picture shows students working on the velocity of a hockey puck. Students had to close their eyes to take shots at each goal in hope of actually making a goal. However, this is hockey, so there are positioned players on the ice to block their shots. Students must use a compass in order to take their speed and change it to be a true velocity.
CGHS sophomores spent some quality time with Detective Carolyn Lynch assisting the Driver's Education class with a demonstration on reaction time.
CGHS students in Mrs. Rack's Statistics Honors class collected data on how long they can stand on one leg. They used the data to construct their Dot Plot.
For more information on the Longest Day event, please visit https://tinyurl.com/y52z4qbj.
Music Matters is a family-school organization supporting the music program at Cedar Grove High School. We work with the students and teachers to partner with and support community events and organizations in our wonderful town.
Please visit CGHS Music Matters online at: https://www.cgschools.org/cghs-music-matters/
On Facebook: CGHS Music Matters
On Instagram: cghsmusic
On Twitter: @cghs_Music
The mission of the Cedar Grove Education (CGEF) is to enrich and enhance the educational experiences of Cedar Grove students above and beyond the scope of the curriculum and to provide lifelong learning opportunities for the entire community.
See details below for the CGEF Fundraiser - Bingo at CGHS, Dec. 8 at 1PM. Hope to see you there!
Follow us on Facebook: Cedar Grove Education Foundation
CGSD Social Media: GET CONNECTED!
Email: fetherman.michael@cgschools.org
Website: www.cgschools.org
Location: 520 Pompton Avenue, Cedar Grove, NJ, USA
Phone: (973) 239-1550
Facebook: facebook.com/CedarGroveSuperintendent
Twitter: @Cgssuper