MTSD Parent Newsletter
December 15, 2018
Message from the Superintendent's Office
Dear MTSD Community,
As the holiday break approaches, I wanted to take a moment to reflect upon the successes of the first portion of the school year. Seeing these interactions reminds me how important the school-community and teacher-parent relationship are and causes me to reflect on the exemplary model Mansfield sets -- dedicated teachers, caring parents, and a supporting community.
Our students have demonstrated excellence in the classrooms and community. Academically, our students and faculty continue to shine. Visits to classrooms throughout the district give a true perspective of the examples of best practice teachers share each day.
Please note on Friday, December 21st there will be an early dismissal and school will be closed from Monday, December 24th through Tuesday, January 1st. We return to school on Wednesday, January 2nd.
Please remember to visit the district’s website at: www.mansfieldschool.com to keep up to date on all activities and events. Please also follow me on Twitter at: @MTSDsupt (if you do not have a Twitter account, tweets can also be found at the bottom of the opening page of the website) as I share events taking place throughout the district and news impacting our schools.
I am happy to announce we now have a Mansfield Township School District mobile app. You may find the app on the Apple Store and by the end of the week Google Play will also have it available. You will find the app very convenient for all your MTSD information.
I hope you all embrace the craziness and treasure this “most wonderful time of the year” with your family and friends...perhaps we can all work on “taking it easy” as our New Year resolution!
On behalf of the Board of Education and the entire administration, may the New Year bring continued success, good health and happiness to all.
~Tiffany J. Moutis
Take 8 minutes of your day...A MUST see...
2018-2019 Strategic Plan: Where are we going?
Goal 1:
- 5 year plan for new technology
- Strengthen enrichment programs
- Explore Innovative District-Wide STEM programs
- Create PLC meetings for staff
- Offering More Differentiated High Quality PD
- Communicate Grade Level Topics
- Exploring Google Classroom
- Develop a framework for risk taking, critical thinking and problem solving
- Integrate 1:1 lessons at home
- Offer Google Trainings
- Create opportunities for students to participate in competitions
- Streamlining communications - Use of Google Calendar
Goal 2: Facilities
- Upgrade building LED fixtures
- Upgrade the energy management at JHES
- Upgrade building automatization systems at JHES & MTES
- Install emergency generator at JHES
- District network capability for wireless classroom devices
- Increase the ability for staff to communicate during an emergency event.
- MTPD co-facilitate the annual Crisis Training with staff
- Implement best practices of security throughout the district
- Reassess playground equipment; remove and add equipment as needed
- Review visitor process
Goal 3: Developing the Whole Child
- Grade 2 and 6 students meet Guidance Counselor every marking period
- Develop MTES halls/lobby committee
Goal 4: Culture & Diversity
- Conduct survey for community
- Create peer schedule
- Revise interview committee to include a parent
- Research implementing digital information to community
- Lessen paper being sent home
- Be aware of posting the various ethnicities on our social media
- Publicly celebrate an administrator, teacher and students' success in effort to build culture
- Design TV studio
- Advertise job vacancies on NJHire, Jobspot and NJschooljobs.com
- Incorporate holidays in lesson plans
- No homework to be assigned on holidays
- Develop meetings for holidays
- No after-school meetings on holidays
Library Volunteers Welcome!
We are looking for steady volunteers to help with circulation, organization and the inventory of new books. With more and more books being added to circulation, volunteers would be appreciated to organize, barcode and inventory our new materials.
If you are ready to volunteer or would like more information please fill out this form.
ACT
Hot off the press is our MTSD ACT Gifted & Talented Handbook. This document will provide answers to many of the questions you may have regarding our ACT program. Feel free to reach out to the ACT Teachers in either building for questions regarding the program.
TV Production at MTES
I-Ready
Some ways to support your student(s) at home are:
- Speak with your student about i-Ready
- Encourage your student to try his/her best on each lesson and quiz
- Monitor your student's results by looking at "My Progress" together
- Allow your student to complete quizzes independently
From The Principal's Desk
MTES
The Power of Questioning
The bitter winter cold has come early this year and with it the excitement of the holidays and snow. The energy of the season is apparent amongst our students as they prepare for our upcoming Winter Break.
We began the month with the distribution of the first marking period report cards available online in our Student Information System, Oncourse. That was followed by parent/teacher conferences to discuss your child's progress thus far. And to top it off, we will end the month with our wonderful Winter Concert which will take place the evening of Thursday, December 20th. Hope everyone can make it!
A few of our upcoming events include the following:
Dec 20: Winter Band Concert @ 7PM in the Gym
Dec 21: Early Dismissal
Dec 24-Jan 1: Winter Break
Jan 18: Student early dismissal (Teacher In-Service)
Jan 21: Martin Luther King Day - Schools are closed
Thank you for all of your support of the Mansfield Township Elementary School. You can e-mail (gkershner@mansfieldschool.com) or call me at 609-298-2037, should you have any questions, concerns, or suggestions. Have a great rest of the month and wonderful holiday season.
Core Value Winners
Andrew Heil
Hannah Gierman
Tiya Patel
Saif Mattari
Anna Prewell
Colin McGarigle
Brody Lynch
Stuti Gadkari
Jovany Arreguin
Riley Martin
Lana Nam
Brendan Schwartz
Alieza Roney-Dowdy
Brian Shannon
Gavin Hoppe
Kylie Guidoti
Hailey Tamagno
Brody Stryker
Mutaal Shah
Aanya Patel
Christian Manzie
Jessica Colletti
Melania Gallina
Tyler Derboben
Jaxon Walsh
Caremela Guarraggi
Yareth Flores-Reyes
Michael Toci
Diana Michailovsky
Sofia Dileo
Aryan Oza
Kayla Stull
Nolan Bondoc
Zoey Branton
Johnathan Jones
Abby Stieber
Sabrina Feldman
Gardening Club 'Buy a Brick' Program
The brick purchased in the 'The Buy A Brick Program' will be engraved with a saying or well wish for a current student or a graduate of MTES. The brick will then be placed either in the courtyard or in front of our building.
Please contact Denise Yockey (dyockey@mansfieldschool.com) for more information.
Care Crew Club at MTES
So far the Care Crew Club has made over 200 sandwiches for the guests at Cathedral Kitchen. An organization that serves the homeless and needy in Camden, New Jersey. During our December meeting, the club created over 50 bags of trail mix. The students in the club have also made place mats for the guests at Cathedral Kitchen. Our current project is for the Guadalupe Mission in Camden, New Jersey. The club is currently collecting much needed baby wipes until December 17th. Thank you to all who donated!
JHES
Dear Partners in Learning,
It's the most wonderful time of the year; and the busiest time of the year. Remember this December, to take a moment to just breathe. You are doing a fantastic job and we thank you for your continuous support and partnership.
We began the month of December by celebrating the Kid of Character trait: Gratitude. The students have met with Mrs. Katz to receive their character education lesson on what it means to be gracious. We have seen so many students remembering to use their manners and being respectful to one another.
As you have likely heard, we have been giving out PawSome charms for students who are caught being a good friend, giving their best effort in a certain subject or special area, and for celebrating birthdays and lost teeth. Students enjoy receiving the charms to add to their bracelets and I truly enjoy handing them out.We have some of the best students here at JHES!
Although the calendar on our website has all of the dates, here are a few highlights:
- December 21st: 2nd grade visits MTES to see their holiday concert
- Dec 21: Early Dismissal
- Dec 21: Holiday/Winter Spirit Day (wear your favorite holiday/winter themed shirts)
- Dec 24-Jan 1: Winter Break
- Jan 18: Student early dismissal (Teacher In-Service)
- Jan 21: Martin Luther King Day - Schools are closed
- Jan 25: Bring a Stuffed Friend to School (Spirit Day)
Thank you for all of your support of John Hydock Elementary School. You can e-mail (scullari@mansfieldschool.com) or call me at 609-298-0308, should you have any questions, concerns, or suggestions.
Hour of Code
What is the Hour of Code?
The Hour of Code started as a one-hour introduction to computer science, designed to demystify "code", to show that anybody can learn the basics, and to broaden participation in the field of computer science. It has since become a worldwide effort to celebrate computer science, starting with 1-hour coding activities but expanding to all sorts of community efforts. This grassroots campaign is supported by over 400 partners and 200,000 educators worldwide.
Check out some of these coding sites for kids!
Kids of Character Winners
Congratulations to the following students for winning our Kid of Character Award for the month of October or November. These students were spotted showing the character traits of Respect and Gratitude.
Dominic DiPietro
Genevieve Goodwillie
Hannah Lawyer
Mason Doyle
Dennis Chopyk
Stella Tsiknakis
Oluoma Ozioma
Landon Shafer
Madison Stackhouse
Janvi Bhavsar
Kate McKenna
Jalvin Gramajo Lopez
Lucas Potts
Christopher Ramos
Casey Villabon
Aydin Kabaha
Brielle Zibbel
Makayla Ramos
Jacob Lanctot
Roman Senese
Evelyn Bochanski
Walter Silcox
Isabel Roche
Erich Uldschmidt
Lorelei Woods
Liam Bobb
Amelia Prewitt
Tae'Sean Shephard
Alexis Rivera
Camilla Reyes
Chloe Stull
Eliana Stephens
Anyia Fisher
Ella Joyce
Speaking Of Outside the Box.....
Green Team Meeting
We will continue on our journey towards becoming a Sustainable NJ certified school! Please feel free to join us at our next meeting!
Green Team Meeting #3
Wednesday, Feb 6, 2019, 04:00 PM
JHES Media Center
RSVPs are enabled for this event.
Keep Informed!
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Email: tmoutis@mansfieldschool.com
Website: www.mansfieldschool.com
Location: 200 Mansfield Road East, NJ, United States
Phone: 609-298-2037
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Mansfield-School-District-1645020699105396/
Twitter: @mtes_jhes