Well, another exciting week of football. I did not see the Super Bowl pitting the Bengals against the Rams, but I think both teams deserve the opportunity based on their play relative to the others. I am rooting for Joe Burrow. The kid is cool when the game is on the line.

Friday's storm turned out to be quite impressive. I believe the official snowfall was 16 inches in Toms River. Congratulations to Mossimo Elboukili for winning the Snow Prediction Competition! Mossimo won a free Papa Johns pizza! I'll be glad to get back into a routine this week! Looks like the weather will be relatively warmer than what we've seen the past two weeks.

If you get the chance, check out Munich, The Edge of War and Home Team on Netflix. Both are entertaining movies!

We had another productive week at the Home of the Raiders. We held a Parent Workshop Tuesday evening to discuss how parents can partner with the school to add their value. Our PTO discussed upcoming fundraisers at their meeting. We held our 8th Grade Parent Orientation Wednesday evening. Our future Raiders were informed of scheduling and graduation requirements while learning about East and our expectations to be a value-added citizen. Great job to our Guidance Team for all their hard work to put the meeting together. I participated in a workshop with the Leader in Me Organization to discuss how their group can help us to create student leaders fully accountable for their outcomes. I enjoyed the discussion and will be working with them to develop our strategic plan moving forward. We held our Activity Day on Friday where students learned the importance of goal setting. Our Math Department participated in a Professional Development Workshop on Friday with the goal to support our test preparation for the NJGPA (see below).

February is the Month of Love at High School East. It was created by our Ambassadors and Mrs. Casey Daniel to show our love and appreciation for our students and staff. We know that the challenges within the covid world have greatly impacted the social and emotional well being of our East family. We wanted to let everyone know there is Hope and you are not alone. We will be acknowledging a student and staff member every day throughout the month to let our East family members know - we see and believe in you! Special thank you to all of our donors who without your support, this activity would not be possible!

Students and staff participated in an activity on Friday to promote goal setting strategies. We believe all children have greatness locked up inside their bodies. They are capable of doing incredible and meaningful things with their lives. The key is to appreciate that success is a product of creating a vision for yourself (how do you want to be seen). Then, establishing goals that are realistic and attainable are important steps along the process to success. Goals require creativity and commitment. Once you have a vision and goals in place, establishing strategies that will help you reach the attainable goal(s) are required. In support, goals should be monitored to assess growth. Reflection is also another important component to maintain forward progress.

I cannot emphasize enough that if you truly want to be the best version of yourself, you must learn to set goals and establish a plan to achieve the goals. Overcoming challenges is a healthy part of the growth process and lifelong skills necessary for future college and career success. Parents, please discuss with your child their goals for the year. I will continue to provide resources in our newsletters to support you in the home. Check out our activity from Friday below:

• https://docs.google.com/document/d/1EhIBQou8-_nvFblzHAXF2xGZ8nt1PKrC6OOYPzi2cpg/edit?usp=sharing
  

Our Math Professional Learning Community (PLC) met on Friday, January 28th, to discuss and develop a plan to help prepare our students for the upcoming state assessments. All students in 9th grade will take the New Jersey Student Learning Assessment (NJSLA) for the mathematics class in which they are currently enrolled (Algebra 1, Geometry, or Algebra 2). This test will take place in late April. All students in 11th grade will be taking the New Jersey Graduation Proficiency Assessment (NJGPA) the week of March 14th. This is the new state assessment required for graduation (replacing the previous HSPA assessment) that includes content aligned to the New Jersey Student Learning Standards in English 10, Algebra 1, and Geometry. Our math committee of teachers discussed some potential ideas for effective and timely review of material including, but not limited to:

• Incorporating challenge questions once a week in the classroom

• Providing review sessions in the evenings

• Completing two practice tests during class to familiarize students with the testing platform

• Bringing back the “Amazing NJGPA Race”.

More details on these opportunities, including some great incentives for participating, to follow.