Connors School Scoop
November 23rd, 2022
Dear Connors Families,
Happy Thanksgiving! I am so grateful for our incredible Connors Family! Our families, students and faculty are a special gift that I am tremendously thankful for.
We had an exciting week at Connors with our Personal Growth Program activities today and Thanksgiving activities throughout the week! Please make sure to review all of our exciting upcoming events!
Important Upcoming Dates and Events
- November 24th-25th-Thanksgiving/School Closed
- December 5th-Picture Day Retakes
- December 12th-20th-Families Helping Families Donation Drive for the Hoboken Food Pantry
- December 13th-Virtual PTO Meeting https://meet.google.com/ybu-sftt-tbh
- December 14th-Grades 3-5 District Elementary School Holiday Concert 7:00 pm@ HHS
- December 16th-Connors Cocoa Cafe and Bake Sale @5:00-7:30 pm, 4th and Washington
- December 20th-Connors Winter Concert @ Connors Gym; Grades K-2 @ 9:00 am; Grades 3-5 @ 10:00 am
- December 22nd-Coffee and Connect (Virtual) https://meet.google.com/ybu-sftt-tbh
- December 23rd-1:00 pm Dismissal; PGP Day
- December 26th-January 2nd-Winter Break, School Closed
Personal Growth Program
Today was our first day of our Personal Growth Program! Our Personal Growth Program (PGP) will be delivered five times per year, on early dismissal days to all students in grades K-12. On each 1:00 dismisal day, students will receive four distinct lessons; one in each of the following areas: Wellness, College and/or Career Exploration, Growth Mindset & Personal Development, and Global Schools: Education for Sustainable Development. By the time they graduate from the district, students will have a strong foundation in such critical areas of their personal growth and development. Here is the link to our Personal Growth Program (PGP) curriculum framework. There are lots of pictures below in the Connors School Scoop, showcasing the pictures from today's PGP learning activities.
Picture Day Retakes
Picture day retakes will be on Monday, December 5, 2022. If your child was absent on picture day and you want to purchase pictures, please go to mylifetouch.com to place your order. You may instead choose to bring in payment envelope with cash/check on December 5th. If you prefer to order online, please use the Picture Day ID: EVTKMQJHX If you are unhappy with your original pictures and want to have your child's pictures retaken, please send the original picture package back to school with your child on picture day so they can give it to the photographer. A Life-Touch photographer will take another photo of your child and replace your original order. Sibling pictures can only be taken with a payment envelope on retake day. Sibling pictures cannot be purchased online. There is no option at any point to change the color of the background for sibling pictures. If you are bringing in cash or check for pictures, please make sure to connect directly with your child's homeroom teacher during arrival to make certain Lifetouch receives payment.
Thanksgiving Baskets
Connors Families Give Back-Our Connors families created baskets that contained supplies to make complete Thanksgiving meals for families within the Hoboken Community. Our Connors families are so thoughtful and generous, always thinking of others! Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!
NJIT E-STEM Challenge-Grades 4 and 5
NJIT's Center for Pre-College Programs is proud to announce its 3rd annual elementary STEM challenge. The focus of the challenge is on engineering and design. This year's challenge will feature a "disruptive technology" question (involving topics such as Big Data, Artificial Intelligence, Virtual Reality, or Internet of Things) that student teams will have to solve using the Engineering Design Process. Student teams will design, build, and demonstrate (present) their working models. We will send 2 teams representing all three elementary schools. We only have slots for 4 students per school (two in 4th grade and two in 5th grade) in alignment with NJIT's guidance. In the interests of time and equity, should more than two students per school per grade be interested in committing to this endeavor, participants will be determined by a random draw. The teams will meet every Tuesday from mid-January through early March at Hoboken High School. The teams will participate in the on-campus challenge on March 24, 2023. Each team will be assigned an NJIT Student Mentor that will meet with the team on a weekly basis for 6 weeks prior to the competition to answer questions regarding rules, logistics, and to provide overall guidance. If your 4th or 5th grade student is interested in participating in the NJIT eSTEM Challenge 2023 please fill out this Google Form. Please feel free to VP Hamlin jhamlin@hoboken.k12.nj.us with any questions.
These are the challenge components:
-Engineering Design Device Demonstration: The first component of the challenge will require students to demonstrate the devices they worked on for the six weeks leading up to the competition. Judges will time, observe and evaluate the students using a score sheet during the device demonstration.
-Game Show Challenge: The second part of the challenge will be a game show style question and answer challenge where the teams will use a Computer Application to answer questions.
-Oral Presentation: The third part of the challenge will feature team members’ presentations of project overviews that include their design processes, concepts, and evidence of teamwork. The presentation will include a board/slide display and provide information on Engineering principles used as well as methodology and scientific reasoning.
-Engineer's Logbook: The fourth part of the challenge will require the team members to complete and submit an Engineer’s Logbook.
New Jersey School Climate Improvement Survey
Our school is participating in survey data collection using the New Jersey School Climate Improvement (NJ SCI) Survey to help obtain multiple perspectives on aspects of school climate. Collecting data is important for understanding strengths and needs in our school and how it feels to be a member of the school community. Your voice is important to us, and your opinions will help us to address current priorities. The survey is anonymous and it is voluntary. The results will be used to help create a plan to address school climate needs and make improvements to the school. You may submit a separate survey per child in the school building if you feel their experiences are different, but you do not have to. This survey is for you and reflects your experiences. The students and staff will all take the survey here at school. Click here to take the survey and enter the password: parent The survey will be open for two weeks and closes at the end of the day 11/25/2022, If you have any questions during or after the survey, please contact me at jhamlin@hoboken.k12.nj.us. We appreciate your ongoing support and look forward to exploring new ways to continue working together to create the most supportive and engaging learning environment for your child.
Connors PTO November Newsletter
We have the most incredible Connors PTO. If you are interested in volunteering at any upcoming event, please email connorspto@gmail.com. The Connors PTO monthly newsletter is an easy way to access information about PTO activities, school events, contact information and more. Our goal is to enable the Connors school community to easily stay connected and involved – even when you can’t join the PTO Meetings! Please click on the following link to access the November Connors PTO Newsletter
PTO General Info
Minted.Com Holiday Cards-PTO Fundraiser
We’re excited to announce that we’re partnering with Minted this holiday season to help us fundraise! Please support the Connors PTO by ordering your holiday cards & gifts from www.Minted.com using our promo code FUNDRAISECONNORS. You’ll get 20% OFF your order and 15% of every purchase made using our code will be donated back to us at the end of the year! This code is available to friends and family too, so spread the word! Happy shopping!
LUNCH
Please ensure that you check with your child regarding what they would like to eat when you place your child's lunch order on the lunch order form. Oftentimes, children may want to choose different items than what their parents order for them which causes many students to feel upset. Here is the 11/28-12/2 Lunch form. Here is the detailed lunch and breakfast menu from Chartwells, which has all of the nutritional information. https://hoboken.nutrislice.com/menus-eula.
Governor's Educator of the Year Nominations-GEOY
The New Jersey Department of Education (NJDOE) aims to recognize educators and encourage them to become champions for education. Please take the time to honor our hardworking teachers and educational services professionals. Please find attached, the Governor’s Educator of the Year Program Nomination Form & Eligibility Criteria. Please be mindful to adhere to the Eligibility Requirements as detailed in the link below. Kindly submit your completed forms to the Main Office no later than November 25th, 2022.
Here is a link to the GEOY Nomination Google Form
Governor's Educator of the Year Nomination Google Form
Here is a link to the hard copies of the form. Hard copies will also be sent home with students in their backpacks:
https://www.nj.gov/education/recognition/educators/geoy/materials/NominationForm.pdf
(Please remember the due date of 11/25 as it will not appear in this link when you are completing).
Eligibility Requirements can be found here:
https://www.nj.gov/education/recognition/educators/geoy/materials/eligibilitycriteria.shtml
Elks Poster Contest:
The Elks is sponsoring a national-wide poster contest. Here is the link for more information: https://www.elks.org/dap/resources/poster.cfm
A Message from Nurse Maddie
As cold and flu season are approaching, per New Jersey Department of Health Policy, if your child has a temperature of 100.4 or greater, that is considered a fever. Whether the fever develops at home or at school, your child needs to stay home the following day. Students must be fever free for 24 hours without fever reducing medication.
**VERY IMPORTANT**Attendance:
If your child will be absent from school, please email connorsattendance@hoboken.k12.nj.us along w/ your child’s homeroom teacher with the following information:
Child’s Name
Reason for absence
Date of expected return
Any documentation for your child’s absence (i.e. doctor’s note, court note, etc.)
School begins at 8:15 am. Please ensure that your child arrives on time to school and enters the building with their homeroom class.
Early Pick-Up
If you are picking up your child early from school, please Email connorsattendance@hoboken.k12.nj.us along w/ your child’s homeroom teacher with the following information by 10:00 am.
Time that you will be picking up your child
Who will be picking up your child. Make sure that whoever is picking up your child is listed on your child’s approved pick-up list. Connors Parent/Student Information Form 2022-2023
Parents will not be able to sign children out between 2:30 and 3:00 PM. After 2:30 PM, you must wait until regular dismissal time.
Additional helpful sites/links
Hoboken Public School District Calendar 2022-2023
Connors Calendar of Events 2022-2023
T.G Connors School Directory 2022-2023
Who should I contact for assistance?
Connors Family Manual, FAQ's Connors Elementary School 2022-2023.
2022-2023 District Assessment Calendar and Information to Parents
I hope everyone has an incredible Thanksgiving with their families and friends! I am so grateful for all of you!
All the best,
Juliana Addi, Connors School Principal
THANKSGIVING FOOD DRIVE
Connors Families Give Back-Our Connors families created baskets that contained supplies to make complete Thanksgiving meals for families within the Hoboken Community. Our Connors families are so thoughtful and generous, always thinking of others! Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!
Elementary School Winter Concert
hot cocoa stand
Connors Winter Concert with Mr. Azzarto
Our Annual Winter Giving Drive
SEPAG Meeting
Gatherings are hosted by Dr. Cecilia D’Elia, Director of Special Services.
Please contact her at 201.356.3635 or cdelia@hoboken.k12.nj.us for more information
To get calendar reminders and SEPAG updates complete this Google Form
District wide Fundraisers/ Activities
Pancakes for Prom
Cub Scouts
7-U Travel Baseball
Thanksgiving Fun
Our Connors classes discussed the many things we are thankful for in our lives. Kindergarteners read the story “Turkey Trouble”, and then disguised their own turkeys. 2nd Graders worked hard to complete their Thankful Lapbooks to bring home and share with families on Thanksgiving. 3rd grade students acted out the “Thanksgiving Turkey Theft” to figure out what happened to the Cannon family turkey!”
Connors Class personal growth program Activities
Personal Growth Program
Today was our first day of our Personal Growth Program! Our Personal Growth Program (PGP) will be delivered five times per year, on early dismissal days to all students in grades K-12. On each 1:00 dismisal day, students will receive four distinct lessons; one in each of the following areas: Wellness, College and/or Career Exploration, Growth Mindset & Personal Development, and Global Schools: Education for Sustainable Development. By the time they graduate from the district, students will have a strong foundation in such critical areas of their personal growth and development. Here is the link to our Personal Growth Program (PGP) curriculum framework. There are lots of pictures below in the Connors School Scoop, showcasing the pictures from today's PGP learning activities.
Kindergarten
1st Grade
2nd Grade
3rd Grade
4th Grade
5th Grade
Individualized Learning Pathway - Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth
On Mondays - Wednesdays during the Individualized Learning Pathway (ILP) period, students who have qualified to participate in the Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth (CTY) programming engage in a wide array of verbal course offerings that address their specific strengths and interests. Johns Hopkins CTY believes in researching and advancing ways to identify and nurture academically talented learners. CTY furthers research, guides educators and families and inspires students from diverse communities and backgrounds to pursue their intellectual passions and create the world of tomorrow.
This week, we would like to highlight one of the CTY courses offered to our Hoboken students this fall:
Johns Hopkins CTY Course: Grammar Fundamentals - Become a grammar champ! In this CTY course, students will learn different parts of speech and explore how they function in the sentences and paragraphs of various classic autobiographies such as The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin; My Inventions by Nikola Tesla; The Story of My Life by Helen Keller; and Around the World in Seventy-Two Days by Nellie Bly. Students will develop a story about a memorable personal experience, applying the grammar concepts they’ve reviewed in each unit, and learn to develop effective patterns and rhythms in their writing so they’ll emerge with a complete personal narrative and an understanding of how grammatical choices affect the quality of any piece of writing. In this CTY course, students will also interact with their classmates in asynchronous discussion forums and workshops, and have fun completing automated learning checks and playing online grammar games to enrich their learning!
Music with Mr. Azzarto
Hi Connors families,
It was a short week but our students kept on learning about notes and time values.
In Ms. Klag’s class the students used their white boards to complete some “music math” equations. They are learning that music is based on pitch and time. Each note and rest has a certain time value. In order to read music, a student of music must learn that every note is worth a certain amount of time. Whole notes are worth 4 beats, half notes 2, quarter notes 1, and eighth notes half a beat. Add them up and you get some rhythm and soon they will add pitch! Here is Ms. Klag’s class showing off their answers to some “music math” equations.
In Ms. Pokorny’s class, the students celebrated Thanksgiving with music notes. Each student had to identify the various notes and color in the correct note using the color key. Here is Stella showing off her Pilgrim turkeys with all the notes colored in. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
Art with Ms. Capalbo
This week in art we looked at sculptures by Jeff Koons. His giant stainless steel sculptures resemble balloon animals! We made paper balloon animal dogs for our artwork this week as a part of our very own Thanksgiving Day Parade! The cityscapes we drew were collaged with our parade balloons. Have a great Thanksgiving weekend!
Thomas G. Connors Elementary School
Email: juliana.addi@hoboken.k12.nj.us
Website: http://www.hoboken.k12.nj.us
Location: 201 Monroe Street, Hoboken, NJ, USA
Phone: 201-356-3684