Mine Hill Board of Education News
January 2021
2021 Board of Education Members
Welcome New Board Member Jennifer Antoncich
January 4th was the Mine Hill Twp Board of Education Reorganization Meeting. We welcomed back Brian Homeyer and Peter Bruseo, and NEW Board Member Jennifer Antoncich. Diane Morris was selected Board President and Jennifer Waters Vice-President. Congratulations to ALL, and we thank you for your service and support. Interested in attending a Board Meeting? CLICK HERE for meeting dates and links to Zoom in virtually.
From the Superintendent - Reopening Information
Greetings Panthers,
Presently, the State of New Jersey remains in a High Risk status, and the district will continue to follow protocols and guidelines from the CDC and Department of Health. Please note that the current quarantine guidelines for high risk areas can easily impact our staffing and our ability to maintain the supervision standards we have in place for the safety of our students. Therefore it is of the utmost importance to stay safe and healthy by maintaining a six foot or greater distance and wearing masks when out in public, and remember to wash hands often.
If your child is sick or has any symptoms related to COVID, please keep them home. If other family members within the household are ill or recently tested positive, keep your child home and always contact our school nurse to report all absences.
For school settings, the NJDOH recommends that students with the following symptoms be promptly isolated from others and excluded from school (in-person learning):
- At least two of the following symptoms: fever (measure or subjective), chills, rigors (shivers), myalgia (muscle aches), headache, sore throat, nausea or vomiting, diarrhea, fatigue, congestion or runny nose; OR
- At least one of the following symptoms: cough, shortness of breath, difficulty breathing, new olfactory disorder, new taste disorder.
Below are some of the guidelines we must adhere to while the area is in the High Risk category:
- Close contact is still defined as a person who has been within 6 feet of an infected person, for 15 cumulative minutes, in a 24 hour period. The exposure time is up to 48 hours prior to symptom onset or specimen collection (if the person is asymptomatic).
- The Department of Health still recommends a 14 day quarantine period when an individual is considered a close contact.
- Close contacts, of someone experiencing COVID symptoms, do not need to quarantine unless the ill individual tests COVID positive. Close contacts will be contacted by the School nurse and need to complete a 14 day quarantine period.
- If your child has any COVID related symptoms, he/she will need a negative COVID test result, improving symptoms, and be fever free for 24 hours (without the use of fever reducing medicine) before returning to school. If your sick child does not get a COVID test, he/she cannot return to school for 10 days.
- NEW: A doctor’s alternate diagnosis is no longer accepted as clearance to return to school.
Although our plan (as of now) is to return to a hybrid schedule on February 16th, circumstances can change quickly that could result in individual classrooms having to be placed on temporary remote only learning, particularly if staff and students are forced to quarantine. If the number of quarantined staff surpasses the minimal number of staff needed to maintain safe operation of the building, the entire school will need to transition to temporary remote learning again. Please work with us to maintain the safety and operation of the buildings by continuing to social distance and wearing masks when others are around. Thank you for everything you're doing to keep the learning going at home while our programs are temporarily remote only.
As always, if you have any questions or concerns, please contact me anytime at lnittel@minehillcas.org.
Warm Regards,
Mr. Nittel
COVID Testing at the Canfield Avenue School
From Mrs. Snarski, Guidance Counselor
Dear Parents/Guardians,
We are all living through challenging/ difficult times right now. Parents are faced with the challenges of discussing the evolving pandemic and current events with their children. There is no "right" or "wrong" way to do this! I would like to share some resources with our community how best to assist children in processing the challenging times we are living through. Please reach out to me for any support that is needed for your child or if you need additional resources.
Talking to Kids about Traumatic Events
How to Talk to Kids About the News
https://kidshealth.org/en/parents/news.htmlHow to Discuss Stressful Situations with Children
Helping Kids and Parents Cope Amidst Covid 19
Your Partner in Education!
Mrs. Lauren Snarski
Guidance Counselor
Canfield Avenue School
973-366-0590 ext. 314
Reminders From Mrs. Vetter, School Nurse
In preparation for our return to school please:
- have your child/ children practice wearing a mask covering their nose and mouth for long periods of time, proper care of their masks and when it is ok to take it off (only when eating or drinking) and where to store it when not wearing it.
- practice proper hand washing for at least 20 seconds,
- proper social distancing (at least 6 feet) .
- If your child is not feeling well please keep them home and call me.
- If you are traveling out of the state please let me know so we can determine when your child can return to the school building.
- If I call to come pick up your child please come as soon as possible.
- Remember to fill out the daily health screening each morning via the OnCourse Parent Portal.
We are all in this together and trying to keep us all safe so we can keep the school open.
Any questions please email me at nvetter@minehillcas.org
Stay well,
Mrs. Vetter, RN, CSN
Mrs. Smith's Latest Art Project
I received an email from Mrs. Smith (Future Mommy of Twins) and I thought folks would enjoy the pics below that Mrs. Smith drew based on our 3rd and 4th graders' design ideas for the twin's nursery.
From Mrs. Smith: I wanted to show you all what the students came up with for our current art project.
The third and fourth graders each chose an object to design for a potential nursery for my twins. Each thing is part of someone's idea. (For example, one student came up with the idea of the light that projects the animals onto the ceiling, a few came up with murals that were combined into one, a bunch came up with the Treehouse/Slide idea, Giant teddy bear with the camera in his eye, etc.) This weekend I threw all the ideas from each grade together into one drawing for each grade. Next, they will be using my color theme to color the sketch of the nursery!
I've been getting a kick out of this, just wanted to show you. (I know some of them would be safety hazards if done in real life, which we will talk about as well toward the end of the project).
SNOW DAY PICS
Remote Learning in the 1940's
Mine Hill Township Board of Education
Email: lnittel@minehillcas.org
Website: www.minehillcas.org
Location: 42 Canfield Avenue, Mine Hill Township, NJ, USA
Phone: (973) 366-0590
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MineHillCAS/
Twitter: @MinehillCas