Its hard to believe that March is here. When I initially wrote my remarks last week, I wrote about how wonderful the weather had been and how we are all looking forward to warmer weather ahead. I had to do a re-write based on the weather yesterday and what seems to be coming towards the end of the week. Once we get past that though, I hope we begin to start to see warmer weather move into our area. Keeping with that theme, we had four built in emergency closure days this year. As of today, we have used two of those days and have two remaining.

Should we not require use of the two remaining days, we do have to take those days in accordance with the collective bargaining agreements the district has with its associations. Here is the tentative schedule of give back days, pending final Board of Education approval:

• Friday, May 26th - Schools Closed
  
• Tuesday, May 30th - Schools Closed

Should we have to use another snow day, May 30th will revert to open. Should we use our remaining two, both days will revert back to school open.

I hope you enjoy this month's newsletter. Included below are updates from our three schools, upcoming district programs and community events.

As always, thank you for your continued support.

-Dr. Nicosia

The Bloomingdale Drug Alliance, Bloomingdale Public Schools, the Borough of Bloomingdale and the Bloomingdale Police Department are excited to announce the return of our annual "Unity Through Community" event!

Our event will be held on the evening of Thursday, March 30th @ 6:30pm at WTB for students in 5th to 8th grade. Back by popular demand, we are bringing back Dodgeball! Teams will consist of community leaders - teachers, police, fire and council members with students and against students!

Our goal is to focus on our community since the past two years have not been easy. We believe by building the ties within our community, we will continue to provide strong role models for our kids, beyond their family unit.

January and February were busy months at WTB as teachers made progress in their curriculums, as well as administering the Mid-Year, i-Ready diagnostic assessments in ELA and Math. Reports were mailed home to families in early February with results of the Mid-Year assessment. WTB students have also been very busy in the co-curricular area. The Girls Basketball team completed their season, demonstrating growth and improvement. The Boys Basketball team advanced to the end-of-season tournament championship game. Unfortunately, the team lost in the finals. However, we are all proud of their highly successful season. The Theater Arts students are rehearsing weekly for the March 15 and March 16 production of Once Upon a Tower.....the True Story of Rapunzel. Coding and STEAM clubs begin to meet in February, while the Jewelry-Making Club started to meet weekly in January. Yearbook Club, Newspaper Club, Student Council and Art Club have all been active either before or after the school day.

January and February have been full of activities at SRD. Our second graders had their winter concert and belted out some show-stopping tunes, like "Blame it on the Groundhog." It's not easy being up on the risers on stage, but they practiced very hard and gave it their all! Our third graders hosted parents for an Ellis Island Simulation, where they moved through the medical, legal, and registry stations, and ultimately found out if they would gain entry to America. This simulation allowed our students to understand what immigrants went through when they came to this country through Ellis Island and saw the Statue of Liberty for the first time. In Mrs. Giordano's science class, our fourth graders have been experimenting with sound vibrations traveling from one place to another by making paper cup phones and then experimenting with different materials/ways of using them to make it work better. She teaches them to use the STEM engineering design process: Ask, Imagine, Plan, Create, Test, and Improve. All of our students participated in our "Snowed In" activity in the gym. This team-building activity provided students a chance to flex their problem-solving skills and work together while getting some physical activity in the winter months. Students participated with their grade level in relay race-type activities created by our nurse and gym teacher, Mrs. Vogt and Mr. Peralta.

January began the start of 2023. As students returned to school we focused on a few new units of study. In Pre-K we started our unit on clothing. Students learned about clothes and how they protect us from the elements. To coincide with this unit our second community service project was to collect gently used clothing and shoes. Together as a school we collected over 10 large bags of clothes and shoes. The penny wars filled jars with many coins. In the end MBD came out winning as an entire school. Everyone celebrated with ice-pops. The first grade earned a special treat with Dr. Dennie and the first grade team.

Math Night was a great success bringing smiles to parents, teachers, and students. Creative and fun math games showcased this fun and educational evening for grades PreK-2. Keep an eye out for our STEAM night in March.

February was busy with our 100th day celebration and spirit week. We collected over 100+ plus items for the North Jersey Animal Shelter. They visited our school and shared with us the important jobs they do to keep animals safe and help them find homes. It was a fun way to help out our furry friends.

Our first Ice Cream Social was held on February 15th. We had over 150 family members and student join us for a sweet treat. Can you guess our favorite flavor of ice cream? Chocolate was the overall winner. We hope to have another sweet event in April. Proceeds are going towards "Our Hatch a Chick" program in March and field day. Thank you to our volunteers and families that participated.

Finally, MBD welcomed a special guest on February 14th. Congressman Josh Gottheimer visited Mrs. Holzli's class, where the students made valentine's with the Congressman, MBD received a special accommodation form U.S. House of Representatives. As a school we made Valentine's for Veterans actually over 208! Our special cards were distributed to local veterans.

As we finish out February, we are excited about our Hatch a Chick program coming at the beginning of the month, Read Across America, and STEAM night.

Valentine's for Veterans