Lyndhurst School District
District Newsletter/Fall 2018
Board of Education
Email: anthonygrieco@lyndhurst.k12.nj.us
Website: http://www.lyndhurstschools.net/
Location: 420 Fern Avenue, Lyndhurst, NJ, USA
Phone: 201-438-5683
Twitter: @LyndhurstBOE
*Board Members*
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*Board of Education Update*
I hope that everyone is having a productive school year so far. I would like to give an update on recent Board of Education activities.
In the BOE November election, Mr. Douglas DeMatteo was re elected and Mr. Jakub Golabek and Mrs. Dorin Aspras were elected to their first terms. All were elected for three year terms. In addition, Board Trustee Mr. Frank Caramagna, has been elected Mayor of Elmwood Park and the Board will be seeking a replacement for him. Interviews for this position will take place on December 11th with a probable appointment that evening. This individual will serve through December 2018.
Former Board of Education Trustees, Mrs. Sandra Balistrieri and Mrs. Lorraine Pellegrine, were elected Councilpersons.
The Reorganization Meeting will take place on January 2, 2018 at 6:30 pm in the Middle School/High School Media Center.
A new digital sign will be placed on River Drive in the spring to replace the current sign.
New windows will be installed in the Middle School/High School, in mid-December.
Winter sports teams will be beginning their seasons soon. Best wishes for their success.
The December 2017 monthly meeting will be on December 19, 2017 at Elmwood Park Memorial Middle School/High School. The Work Meeting will be at 6:30 pm in the Faculty Room and the Regular Meeting will be at 8:00 pm in the Middle School/High School Media Center. Please try to attend if your schedule permits.
On behalf of the BOE, Happy Holidays to all.
President, BOE
*High School*
Club Exposition Enhances Student Opportunities For Involvement and Leadership
Students at Elmwood Park Memorial High School have more than 20 clubs to participate in, offering everything from Anime to Creative Writing. In an effort to promote, showcase, and learn more about the program options available to students, Elmwood Park Memorial High School hosted its first Club Exposition on October 18, 2017. During this event, students were invited to explore club offerings in the Media Center during their lunch period. Club advisors and officers were on hand to answer questions and provide information to interested students.
These clubs and organizations provide our students with outlets to express their individuality, practice active citizenship, and share their interests with others. Over 20 clubs were showcased and provided students with relevant information on the organization's mission, as well as opportunities to get involved. This successful event enhanced student exposure to the diverse opportunities our school offers. The clubs and advisors look forward incorporating this event annually in order to continue the tradition of fostering a positive high school experience.
Waksman Scholars Program
Memorial High School has once again been selected to participate in the prestigious Waksman Institute Scholars Program (WSSP) at Rutgers University in New Brunswick.
The WSSP is a yearlong research program in molecular biology and bioinformatics for high school students, with guidance from their high school biology teacher – Mrs. Delores Gale. Students learn about genetic engineering, genomics, molecular biology and bioinformatics by working on a research problem that is of interest to the scientific community.
Each high school team is selected to participate using a competitive application process. High schools that are selected to participate in the WSSP are represented at the summer Institute by a team of one or two students, with leadership from Rutgers University professors. Participants commute to Rutgers daily, over the course of the 3-week summer institute. During the academic year, teachers assume a leadership role and direct the research project back at their school, with support from university faculty. All research is performed under the direction of Dr. Andrew Vershon, Professor of Molecular Biology, at the Rutgers University Waksman Institute.
In addition to a laboratory component, the WSSP includes bioinformatic analyses of clone sequences that participants generate as they conduct the research. A goal is the bioinformatic analysis of novel DNA sequence data and the publication of this information on international databases, such as GenBank.
*Middle School*
Student Congress
Mrs. White's Grade 6 ELA
Mrs. White’s sixth grade ELA classes have been given the edge they need, Time Edge that is! Mrs. White recently created a project on DonorsChoose.org to get Time Edge in the hands of her sixth graders. From there, people all over the country can view and donate to her project. Recently, some parents of past and present students got together and funded her entire project! Mrs. White was in disbelief and speechless when she found out. She is incredibly grateful for the wonderful parents who supported her project. Her students will begin using this new program, which introduces students to current event topics around the world, in the coming weeks! For more information on Time Edge or DonorsChoose.org, visit timeedge.com and/or donorschoose.org.
Cards for the Military and Toy Drive
26th Annual SNAP Conference
Mrs. DiMartino and Mr. Wartel attended the 26th Annual SNAP Conference held by the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office. The annual SNAP conference was first held in 1991 as part of a Statewide Narcotics Action Plan from which the conference derives its title. Since 1991, the SNAP conference has continued each year in Bergen County as an opportunity for law enforcement to brief educators about issues facing local youth.
Over 400 school personnel, police personnel and social services professionals attended the event. The theme for this year’s conference was combatting bias and HIB incidents in schools. Speaker topics included Social Media, Cyber Bullying, the Difference between HIB and BIAS Incidents, Juvenile Resources and Consequences after Bias Incidents, and Investigating Sexual Assaults. Mr. Wartel and Mrs. DiMartino have since shared the information provided by BCPO with their fellow colleagues.
The community can assess resources at www. BCPO.net as well as follow BCPONJ on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.
ELA Clubs
The middle school has had an influx of clubs having to do with ELA this year...and all of them are a lot of fun!
The Reading Club has gotten off to a hot start by picking what novels they want to read, along with the topics to be discussed while reading. With each passing meeting, new members find the welcoming confines of the Reading Club as a haven of reading fun. Rumor has it, too, that the comic book portion of the Reading Club has big plans for the future!
The newly introduced Creative Writing Club is certainly a club to keep an eye on. Not only will members showcase their talents to the club, but they will be distributing a school-wide magazine of their best work!
Word in the hallway is that there also might
be a Poetry Club popping up soon.
Yes, everyone...you read that right!
Room 104 is where we’ll probably commune.
*Gantner Avenue School*
COOL TO BE KIND CLUB
Kindergarten Reading Workshop
Kindergarten Reading Workshop is in full swing! The students are embracing the newly
adopted program with much excitement and enthusiasm. The workshop structure is comprised of the mini-lesson, work time, and share time. The mini-lesson is where the teacher teaches the students a skill or strategy through demonstration and direct instruction. Work time is the time when the students are reading independently and directly applying the lesson they just learned. Share time is the time when students get the opportunity to share their stories with their partners. Within the workshop structure, teachers are able to confer with students and address both the whole group’s needs as well as differentiating for the needs of small groups and individuals.
During the launching of readers workshop, the kindergarten students learned how and where to gather, how to hold a book and turn the pages one at a time, and to look at and use the pictures to help them tell the story. Students were encouraged to look more closely at the details in pictures and reread. Students are now beginning to recognize high frequency words and use their basic phonics skills to read text.
It is truly a pleasure and a thrill to see children fully engaged in and excited about reading at such a young age.
Debbie Burniston
Kindergarten teacher
Gantner Avenue School
Gantner Avenue Grade 5 Book Club
The Grade 5 Book Club takes place for an hour during the lunch and recess periods every two weeks on Fridays. Mrs. Jackter, the school principal, the grade 5 teachers, and grade 5 students participate. We all read books and discuss them while we eat. To remember more, we use a “post-it” strategy to jot down what we are thinking (a word, sentence, page, etc.)
When we meet, we will talk a little bit about our predictions, but focus on what we found interesting. Sometimes we don’t read up to the same page, but we still talk about everything that we enjoyed, or thought was emotional. We also try to relate to our characters, and make text-to-text, text-to-self, and text-to-world connections. We expand on others’ responses and think about things like: if we can change one part of the book, what would it be? Our love for reading expands slowly but greatly as the year goes on.
We all enjoy talking about our opinions and every detail of the book. If there is a funny part, we would all talk about it, then laugh. Even though our opinions are different, we all can relate to at least one character in the story. We try to finish each book in 1-2 months. Sometimes we all read different books with different characters with different personalities, but there is most likely a connection we can make.
The Grade 5 Book Club is very interesting, because of the fact that we all think differently and have different opinions. We all enjoy sharing our thoughts, ideas and what we think of the books. We make text connections and piggyback on each other’s ideas. It helps expand our minds while listening to each others’ ideas as well as expand our love of reading! Also it is so fun to be able to read and talk about the book all together.
*Gilbert Avenue School*
What’s Happening in 4th Grade English Language Arts?
This year, district elementary teachers are using Lucy Calkins Units of Study - a new, comprehensive, and research-based resource to support the Reader’s and Writer’s Workshop Models. Jenalene Cornely (Reading), and Lindsay Fitzpatrick (Writing) provide instruction to 80 fourth graders at Gilbert Avenue School. This year’s fourth grade class is “diving right into” the units of study and learning how to push their higher-order thinking skills to become better readers and writers.
Over the last month, Mrs. Cornely has tasked the students to read their individually selected fiction books, while Ms. Fitzpatrick has charged the students with creating realistic fiction pieces of writing. Nadia Diaz, fourth grade student, loves language arts, and has articulated some of the things that she has learned. “In reading class, we are having a great debate on the book Tiger Rising. For example, we discussed whether or not Rob and Sistene, the main characters in the story, should let the tiger go or keep the tiger in the cage. Most of the class has sided with keeping the tiger in the cage. I think Rob and Sistene should let the tiger go, because it is not fair to keep a wild animal in a cage.”
Nadia continued to discuss the lessons that she learned from Unit I, as the class was working on the skill to interpret characters. Nadia stated, “We are also learning how to develop theories about characters and motivation. For example, when Bri, the main character in my story, thinks that she can't make candles, her best friend, Tom, supports her by saying that she can 'make anything that she wants.' My theory behind this is that Bri will be going to sleep for 100 years, so Tom wants to spend every minute and hour with her.” Nadia further explained that it isn’t enough to just provide a theory on the story. Nadia knows that her teacher requires the students to support their thoughts and ideas with textual evidence and details directly from the story.
One of the instructional benefits of Lucy Calkins Units of Study is how well the lessons are aligned with each other to enhance teaching and learning. Both content areas of Unit I are planned and executed to complement one another. The fact that Nadia notices this provides teachers with feedback that this new resource is working effectively. Nadia expounds on this by stating, “What we have been learning in reading class is to think deeply about the character(s) in the story. This totally helps us in our writing class, because it helps us develop characters when students write their own stuff.
Nadia continued, “We have been making story booklets. They are guides to help us along as we go through the writing process. We write so many details about our characters like their looks, thoughts, and the characters’ motivations. We work together to revise our stories to improve our writing. I am really looking forward to writing my final draft.”
What is Happening with Technology at Gilbert Avenue School?
Gilbert Avenue Teachers make great efforts to implement technology throughout the school day to enhance instruction and to improve student engagement. Over the years (and thanks to the Gilbert Home and School Association!), Gilbert Avenue School has purchased a variety of technology devices for the school. After several successful technology initiatives supported by the Board of Education, all homeroom teachers have access to an Interactive Smart Projector, except for four classrooms remaining that have older devices that are scheduled to be replaced soon. In terms of individual devices that students can utilize, ample Ipads and new Chromebooks are readily accessible to be shared among staff via mobile carts. Students also work on their computer skills in media center, where there are 30 Mac desktop computers. This is where the majority of students take the PARCC exam. The teachers cannot thank the Board of Education, and the GHSA enough for supporting all of the technology initiatives over the years, and for providing our students with the tools to compete in the 21st Century.
If you walk down the third floor corridor, and pop your head into room 22, you will most certainly find Mr. Calissi and his students using Smart Notebook Software with his projector. This technology helps deliver high - interest, student – centered instruction to every student who walks through the door. When asked about his experience in Math class, Rishi Thakkar emphatically stated, “Let me tell you, Mr. Calissi’s Math class is the best class in the world. We learn all sorts of things like 2-digit multiplication, fractions, and even angles. Math is really – a lot of fun!” When asked about her experience, Ava Dennis was quick to reply, “I like Math class. Recently, when learning about division with remainders, Mr. Calissi used the interactive projector to help us figure out how to divide. We used dry erase work mats and counters with partners. He gave us a division problem, and then we were asked to divide the counters into groups to help us figure out the answer. We love when our name is chosen from the “Random Name Generator” because we get to come up to the front and show how to solve different problems.”
Collaboration, group work, and partner work are also important to learning in the Math classroom. There are many benefits to student learning when peers work together to solve problems. The Random Group Generator provides students with the opportunity to regularly work with a slew of different learning styles. Ava continued, “We also get to work together to solve the problem/s as a group. We get to try on our own first, but if we make a mistake, we can talk to our group to try and figure out what went wrong.” Mathematical thinking and problem - solving in action!
New this year, teachers will have the opportunity to use Measuring Up 2.0. This adaptive program will benefit students and teachers. The program can be utilized from any device and will adjust to each student’s strengths and weaknesses in Math and adapt to his or her individual needs. Students are excited to begin using the new program because it will support them and challenge them at their own level. Teachers are exited too, as the program will provide them with valuable data on specific student needs, strengths and weaknesses, as well as detailed information on their progress. In fact, some teachers have already begun implementing this phenomenal program. Teachers will continue to utilize this program, and all that it has to offer to tailor instruction to meet the needs of their students.
*Sixteenth Avenue School*
Multiply–Disabled (MD) Special Education Program at 16th
The district has adopted a new web-based ABA curriculum for the 2017-2018 school year. “Rethink” allows our special education staff in the MD classes to deliver comprehensive, evidence-based instructional materials and supports for learners with disabilities. The program targets a variety of areas, including but not limited to academic, social/emotional, transition, behavior and life skills. All programs can be customized to suit the individual needs of each learner. Additionally, Rethink’s automated reporting function allows data to be tracked, measured and reported in real-time. Student progress can be shared across the child study team with anyone who has program access. This function will improve our ability to ensure that IEP goals are being addressed and met in a timely fashion and reassessed as needed.
Occupational Therapy (OT) at 16th
Elmwood Park Public Schools is excited to announce we have hired two full time school-based occupational therapists this year – shared staff member, Laurie Zeltzer, MS/OTR/L and at 16th Avenue School, Taylor Meurer, MS OTR/L, as well as a part-time per diem therapist, Linda Charles, COTA/L.
Occupational Therapists are health professionals who discover and recognize disabilities across the age span from neonate to the elderly. They work with individuals to facilitate their participation in everyday meaningful activities and daily functions. In the school systems, these therapists work with children to ensure they are able to maximize their performance in the classroom and their overall independence. They improve skills such as fine motor, visual motor and self-care skills through play and occupation-based activities. OT staff often collaborate with teachers to incorporate tools into the classroom that are helpful to all students so not to put any disabled child in the spotlight.
As the new occupational therapists, they are working hard to continually improve the occupational therapy program in our schools. Many new therapy supplies were suggested and ordered, which will promote skill development within therapy sessions. They are working to provide more in-class support therapy services to promote the carryover of skills learned in therapy sessions into the classrooms. Employing therapists directly by the board of education facilitates more accessibility to the therapists by teachers, case managers, administrators and parents. It has been a positive experience for our students.
NEW PRESCHOOL PROGRAM at 16th
The NEW “integrated preschool program” is off to a great start with a total of twelve students in the morning session at 16th Avenue School. This program, taught by Ms., Gjokaj, promotes the development of all children in a setting, which integrates students with and without special needs. Students are making friends quickly, learning, and growing through the use of our newly revised curriculum. We have noticed considerable social and academic progress with these students. In the integrated program there are a lot of “positive role model” students, who encourage positive interaction and productive classroom skills. This has shown to help our special education population with skills that include; listening, following directions, speaking, playing and self-help. We are looking forward to our Thanksgiving Feast in November. All preschool parents will be invited to visit our classes and spend time in our classrooms!
Kindergarten Classes at 16th
In kindergarten, we recently had a fun, exciting writing celebration during Writer’s Workshop! All the students shared their teaching book that they spent a few weeks working on. We all learned so much from our celebration. Some of the students taught us about trains, stores, cookies, Halloween costumes, and much more! We are looking forward to write more during Writing Workshop!
NEW – Basic Skills Instruction (BSI) Mathematics Classes at 16th
Basic skills math classes have been off to an excellent start! Since September, Mrs. Sammarco has been working in the classrooms, observing students to identify who may benefit from BSI math classes. Students were identified through classroom observations, teacher recommendations and entry-level, baseline criteria assessments. Currently, groups of students are meeting with Mrs. Sammarco twice a week for 30 minute sessions. These small groups are student-centered, reviewing skills to reinforce mathematical concepts learned in class. Students are working within data-driven lessons, measured this year by our principal’s goals for NJPARCC math scores. Mr. Silla has observed these classes and works closely with Mrs. Sammarco’s role with BSI classes and her support of Intervention and Referral Services (I&RS) data used to assist students with math achievement.
Speech Classes at 16th
This year, Ms. Soto and Ms. D’Agostino have been working diligently to utilize technology throughout the speech sessions. Most activities that are used in therapy can be used at home as well. There are many applications for the iPad that are used in speech to help foster language, vocabulary and articulation growth. The children tend to gravitate towards these types of activities because they are engaging, fun, interactive, and colorful. Some of the apps that are incorporated into the sessions are: Feed Maxi, Splingo, Speech with Milo, and Articulation Station. Additionally, the therapists use songs to elicit language production. Some of their favorites include, “The Wheels on the Bus,” “Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes,” and “The Alphabet Sound Song.” Our speech therapists use other holiday-themed songs to target vocabulary expansion based on specific holidays. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to email or look at their website links for more information.
Resource Classes for Grades K-3 at 16th
Ms. Lombardi and Ms. Connolly are both new teachers working in our resource program at 16th Avenue School. They provide specialized instruction for students in kindergarten through 3rd grade. Students are currently using Orton-Gillingham (OG) strategies to help students acquire phonics skills. The OG program uses different multisensory techniques to help students learn phonemes and blends. Students have the opportunity to write letters in sand and tap-out sight words on their arms. Students are also using the Lucy Calkin's reading workshop and writing workshop programs. These are differentiated programs to enhance each child's individual reading and writing goals to enhance learning. Beyond our curricula, the identified special needs students participating with the 16th resource classes are working on building positive peer relationships with their friends inside and outside of the classroom.
Students attend these resource classes and thrive with in-class support from both of our new teachers as well as with Ms. Mileski in grade 4 and Mr. Herget in grade 5. Our resource program has continued to grow and meet the needs of a wide-array of students, including students who mainstream into resource programs from our multiply-disabled, self-contained special education classrooms. Overall, the resource program is well supported by our staff and parents with positive enthusiasm!
Grade 2 Classes at 16th
In the second grade, our students are currently becoming “expert readers” with Reader's Workshop this year. Students are “talking the talk and walking the walk” of our nonfiction topics as they learn all the different strategies to “dig deeper in the texts.” To go along with our nonfiction reading unit, grade 2 students are also writing science reports and books about topics addressed in Writer's Workshop lessons. Students are growing like beanstalks during this first part of second grade!
Grade 3 Classes at 16th
Our third grade classes have been incredibly busy so far this year, conducting our own research and working as a team! As researchers, they have learned about the different climates in the world and created posters that highlighted these areas. We’ve also worked closely together to research different hazardous weather, using technology such as desktop computers and iPads to facilitate our researcher mindsets.
The elementary schools have adopted the Lucy Calkins Units of Study, where we have integrated these units in both reading and writing. Our classroom walls are decorated with personal narrative stories and we have begun working on creating our own informational books. The staff has been hard at work to teach our readers about many different subjects such as cats, baseball, cooking, video games and painting.
Our “publishing parties” allow our class to show off our work to everyone in the class! Our students are becoming math-fact wiz kids and our multiplication is off the charts! We’ve been learning about all of the different skills that go along with multiplication, such as counting equal groups. We’ve learned so much about our roles in our communities, and are learning more about the different cultures around the world.
In reading, we are learning all about expository texts, using different structures to help organize our thoughts. Our box and bullet organizers have helped us synthesize across texts to help support our learning of main idea and details. Within our classrooms, we are focused on creating a cooperative learning environment, where our students are excited and motivated to learn and work together!