Superintendent's Corner
December 1, 2015 (Bernard F. Bragen, Jr.)
The Here and Now
School Happenings
Mrs. Nealis’ 6th Grade Language Arts Class at Cove Road School
The Language Arts students have just completed their first novel and are on to the next! They are working in collaborative groups, participating in literature circles, and delving deep into the text to use important comprehension skills. The novel, Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli, tackles the tough topic of conformity. It requires the students to really ask themselves, "How important is it to "fit in" with the crowd?" The students are enjoying novel-based learning and are always looking forward to what we will read next!
Rachel's Challenge at Hazlet Middle School
On Friday, November 13, students at Hazlet Middle School participated in the Rachel's Challenge assembly and leadership training. Rachel's Challenge is an organization founded by the family of Rachel Scott, who was a victim of the tragic school shooting at Columbine High School in 1999. Rachel Scott was an extraordinary young woman who wrote in her journal that she wanted to "start a chain reaction of kindness", and after her death Rachel's Challenge was formed to continue to spread Rachel's message of acceptance. Hazlet Middle School students were asked to sign a banner signifying that they accept Rachel's Challenge, to look for the best in others, dream big, choose positive influences, and speak with kindness.
The powerful message will continue to be spread at HMS by our student leaders who were selected to begin a Friends of Rachel (FOR) Club. The FOR Club has already had its first meeting and has plans to spread kindness, support, encouragement and acceptance throughout our school and beyond. The HMS community looks forward to starting our own chain reaction of kindness!
Raritan High School Band Soars
As the season continued, the Marching Rockets saw its scores jump from a 63 to an ending score of an 88. The highlight of the marching band this year was placing First at a competition and being awarded Best Music, Best Visual, and Best Overall Effect. After taking home several trophies throughout the season, the marching band advanced to the State Championships.
Raritan’s Marching Rockets’ season is far from over! They will be performing for St. Patrick’s Day in South Amboy, on Memorial Day in Leonardo, and in Wildwood for the American Legion Convention.
The Marching Rockets will be hosting an Open House on January 14th at 7:00 pm in the RHS Cafeteria for any 7th to 11th grader interested in joining.
Hazlet Township Public Schools
Email: bbragen@hazle.org
Website: www.hazlet.org
Location: 421 Middle Road, Hazlet, NJ 07730, United States
Phone: 732-264-8401
Twitter: @hazletsupt
Beers Street Students Support RAINE's Thanksgiving Food Drive
In the beloved, bestselling tale of edible weather, Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs by Judi Barrett, the forecast delivered an assortment of tasty treats that even the best American diners would be envious of.
In comparison, it's RAINEing food at Beers Street School and the students are a big reason why shopping carts are needed as opposed to umbrellas. Unlike this fictitious tale of food haphazardly falling from the skies, this food is real and the students, not the atmosphere are causing the phenomenon.
The annual food drive sponsored by RAINE will once again utilize Beers Street School as its home for distributing food and feeding more than three hundred families. The students at Beers Street School are graciously happy to be a part of the food collection and are eager to participate in the distribution and meal packaging. Mrs. Rebecca Thal, Teacher Advisor of the Beers Street School Community Club, has reported that 622 items have been collected so far. The students are seeing first-hand how their efforts can make a positive change in their community.
So whether the forecast calls for clouds or an occasional meatball, one thing is for sure…It’s always sunny at Beers Street School.
Standards-Based Grading and Reporting by Trimester for Kindergarten Students!
This year Sycamore Drive Early Childhood Learning Center will be launching a new, Standards-Based Report Card. By using a standards based grading and reporting system, we are following the results of educational research and best practice. Research shows that standards based grading helps to raise student achievement by clearly communicating students’ progress toward learning targets.
Standards-based grading and reporting measures how well students are progressing toward achieving Common Core, grade level learning standards for Kindergarten. These standards tell teachers and parents specifically what Kindergarten students should be learning. Students’ progress is measured by how well they are achieving each standard and is based on the belief that every child can learn given the right support and opportunity. The report card identifies essential standards that students will be expected to learn by the end of Kindergarten. Parents will be provided with a clear understanding of specific skills students are expected to master, which standards they will continue to work toward, and which standards they have completely mastered by trimester.