Chester Superintendent's Newsletter
From Dr. Christina Van Woert, Superintendent of Schools
January/February 2020
2019 Educational Foundation of the Chesters Read-A-Thon
It's official! The 2019 Educational Foundation of the Chesters Read-A-Thon was a huge success! There were 248 students who participated this year. We celebrate our young readers from Dickerson and Bragg who together logged 217,358 minutes, which is an increase from last year! We thank everone who supported the students and their efforts to raise over $14,000 in pledges! This fundraising effort will continue to provide funding for grants, purchases of technology to support innovative classroom learning programs, new school clubs, and more!
Congratulations to the following classes for achieving the highest participation rate of their grade: Kindergarten - Mrs. Taquinto; 1st Grade - Mrs. Donlon; 2nd Grade - Mrs. Spurr; 3rd Grade - Mrs. Dolan; 4th Grade - Ms. Polkowski; and 5th Grade - Mrs. Maico. They have been awarded $100.00 Amazon gift cards.
Congratulations to the highest pledges winners at Dickerson and Bragg Schools who won a $20.00 Amazon Gift Card and also get to have their favorite book donated to their school library. They are Benjamin Rybiewicz at Dickerson School and Willon Fehling at Bragg School.
Congratulations to the following top readers in each grade. The top 3 readers in each grade were awarded a medal and a gift card. They are as follows:
Pre-K: Hudson Fink and Gianni Haight
Kindergarten: Danny and Will Ross (1st); Zoe Sorchini (2nd); Olivia Felipeli (Honorable Mention)
1st Grade: Christopher Blagoev (1st); Ben Collins (2nd); Kaya McFeely (3rd); Nikhil Salvi (Honorable Mention)
2nd Grade: Lily Relton (1st); Ava Dambrot (3rd); Berlin Pajunas (Honorable Mention)
3rd Grade: Samuel Parla (1st); Louie Tresselt (2nd); Ishaan Rana (3rd) Maggie Macias (Honorable Mention)
4th Grade: Lucas Solazzo (1st); Zach Fisher (2nd), Will Madinabeitia (3rd); Eva Nines (Honorable Mention)
5th Grade: Ella Garrison (1st); Hunter Relton (2nd); Aideen Manning (3rd); Matthew Macias (Honorable Mention)
The Educational Foundation of the Chesters wishes to thank the parents, teachers, and principals who support our children every day and who have made this program a huge success. The ultimate goal of the Read-A-Thon is to foster a life-long love of reading, and the children of Chester are well on their way!
Bragg School's TREP$ Marketplace
Bragg School 5th Grade students participated in the annual TREP$ Marketplace event in December pictured above. TREP$, short for enTREPreneur$, is an award winning project based learning program that teachers students in grades 4 - 8 how to start their own businesses. They learn the lessons in school and build their businesses at home with the support of their family and friends. They whole school community came out to the TREP$ Marketplace to support our budding entrepreneurs and to purchase their unique and creative projects. Thank you so much to Advisors Cynthia Thieringer, Sue Connelly and Principal Michele Stanton for making this engaging program possible.
January is New Jersey School Boards Recognition Month
Congratulations to Heather Ronco, Kerri Wright and Amy Collins (pictured above) who were re-elected to the Chester Board of Education in 2019 and sworn in during New Jersey School Boards Recognition Month. Along with President Mike Tomasco, Vice President Raj Shah and members Liz Madinabeitia, Rebekah Forlenza, Chris Lowry and Sara Kalashian, they make up the nine members of our Chester Board of Education.
New Jersey's local boards of education play an essential role in our students' lives. In total, they oversee 580 local school districts , approximately 2,500 schools and 1.4 million school children. They set the policies for schools and make important decisions affecting all aspects of school governance. New Jersey's nearly 5,000 school board members devote countless volunteer hours to the oversight and advancement of our children's education. Thank you so much to our nine hard working, dedicated and principled Chester School Board Members for the time and energy they continue to spend to on behalf of the children of Chester.
Chester Schools Celebrate Inclusive Schools Week
Dr. Ken Piascik Named one of "50 Directors Who Make a Difference"
Chester Teachers Give Back to the Community
Chester Educational Services Professional of the Year
Buildings and Grounds Employee of the Month
Happy National Law Enforcement Day
Chester PTO and the Educational Foundation of the Chesters
The Chester PTO and the Educational Foundation of the Chesters remain two of the most essential elements of the Chester School District for their continued support of our students and faculty. In essence, so many of our most engaging enrichment activities and many of our foundational programs come directly from their support. This includes athletic and club stipends for our teachers, cultural arts programs, school supplies and materials. This year alone, the Educational Foundation of the Chesters will be funding our Kinetics Club at Dickerson School, our Chess Club at Bragg School and our Science League at BRMS. The PTO will be funding our Dickerson School clubs - Technology Club, Arts and Crafts Club for 1st graders, Art Club for 2nd graders, Fitness Club and Chess Club; at Bragg School - Technology Club, Art Club, Robotics Club, Kan Jam and Volleyball Club; and at BRMS - Drama Club, STEM Club, Student Government, Technology Club and Volleyball Club.
I urge you to support and join both of these worthwhile organizations. We are so grateful for their funding and for the many opportunities they provide our students, such as those listed above. More information about joining the PTO and the Educational Foundation can be found on our homepage under the Parents tab.
Upcoming Dates and Events
Jan. 20th - Schools Closed for Students for Martin Luther King Jr. Day
Feb. 17th - Schools Closed for All for President's Day
Pictured above Chester Borough Mayor Janet Hoven
Chester Musicians and Vocalists Shine During the Holidays
Many thanks to our Chester Music Teachers - Dr. Piascik, Ms. Vespignani, Ms. Snow, Mr. Gruver and Mr. Jala - for the sharing their time and talents with our Chester musicians and vocalists. The winter concerts were incredible and greatly appreciated by all!
Chester Board of Education
Chester School District
Email: christina.vanwoert@chester-nj.org
Website: chester-nj.org
Location: 50 North Road, Chester, NJ, United States
Phone: (908)879-7373
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ChesterNJSchools/?ref=aymt_homepage_panel
Twitter: @ChesterSup