Principal Garcia's Newsletter
Friday, January 26, 2024
Torey J. Sabatini School
Important Upcoming Dates
- January 29 - February 9, 2024 - TJS Souper Bowl Food Drive...more information below!
- January 31, 2024 - District Speaker: The Impact of Screens & Social Media (info below) 7:00 PM at MJS
- February 1, 2024 - March 1, 2024 - Black History Month
- February 2, 2024 - TJS Spirit Wear Day
- February 8, 2024 - District Chorus Concert at MJS at 7:00 PM
- February 9, 2024 - Grade 3 Breakfast with the Principal
- February 14, 2024 - Valentine's Day Celebrations
- February 14, 2024 - SEPAG Meeting
- February 19, 2024 - School Closed - President's Day
- February 20, 2024 - School Closed - Staff In-Service Day
- February 23, 2024 - Grade 3 Awesome Art
EXCITING NEWS....Torey J. is now on INSTAGRAM! FOLLOW US!
We are so excited to share that Torey J is now on Instagram! Please follow us @toreyjsabatini for updates to see all of the wonderful things happening in our school community.
January Monthly Activity Calendar
Click the link below to access and print the calendar for the month of JANUARY. As a family try to do as many of the boxes as you can during the entire month of January! You will see that many of the activities are geared toward indoor activities to do inside on these cold days. You may even consider completing these during the anticipated snow this weekend! A huge THANK YOU to Special Area Teachers, Ms. D'Amico, Mr. Gerenstein, Mrs. McEachern, Ms. Obermaier, and Mr. Locke, for creating this month's activity calendar!
Announcing the TJS Souper Bowl Food Drive
Important News from School Counselor, Mrs. Bletcher
Super Bowl LVIII is taking place in just a few short weeks and with that comes the Annual TJS Souper Bowl! As in years past, we will be sending all donations to the Interfaith Food Pantry Network serving Morris County. This year, classes will not be competing against each other. Instead, students will be able to donate their food items to show support for their favorite Super Bowl contender!
Donations will be collected starting Monday, January 20th and will continue through Friday, February 9th. Morris Interfaith Food Pantry is in need of several items, please see the list below. You can find a complete list of donatable items and learn more about the pantry on their website: https://www.mcifp.org/. We are so excited for the Souper Bowl and hope you are too!
What specific food items should I purchase?
Canned fruits and vegetables
Peanut Butter – 15-18 oz preferred
Cereal – lower sugar preferred
Soup – Hearty and Condensed
Tomato products (sauce, crushed, whole, diced)
Pasta
Rice
Dry milk (1-qt. packages) or Parmalat
Tuna fish, salmon and other canned fish
Baby food – stages 1, 2 and 3
NO RAMEN NOODLES or GLASS CONTAINERS, please!
Important Health Office Updates and Reminders from Nurse Guarino
Student Illness
Cold, flu and COVID-19 season has arrived. If your child has a fever and/or symptoms of congestion, sore throat, cough, fatigue, headache, nausea/vomiting or body aches, please keep them home and visit the pediatrician for an evaluation. Your doctor will determine if a test for Covid-19 or the flu is needed. The New Jersey Department of Health Communicable Disease Service mandates that all students stay home from school if they have a fever and remain home until they are fever-free (without the use of fever reducing medications) for a full 24 hours prior to returning to school. If your child is diagnosed with Covid-19 or the flu, please contact me directly (x3184) to discuss return to school procedures and timeline. For your convenience, Covid-19 district policies and helpful Covid-19 infographics can be found here: https://www.madisonpublicschools.org/article/1228204. I have also linked the NJDOH exclusion list which provides a detailed description of communicable diseases and the required school exclusion time period (not limited to Covid-19 and the flu): https://www.nj.gov/health/cd/documents/topics/outbreaks/School_Exclusion_List.pdf.
Please help prevent the spread of illness within the TJS community by reinforcing healthy daily habits, including frequent handwashing, covering coughs and sneezes with the arm or a tissue, and limiting contact with others who are ill. If your child is home sick, please call or email the health office with their symptoms and any confirmed diagnosis. This information is very helpful to minimize outbreaks within the TJS community.
Attention 5th Grade Parents/Guardians: Mandatory 5th Grade Immunizations
As a reminder, when your child turns 11 years old they are required to have 2 additional vaccinations, Meningococcal and TDAP, in order to enter grade 6 in the fall. As you begin to schedule your child’s well visit around their birthday, please remember to follow up with the necessary immunizations and documentation that is required for entry into school. Please see the attached document for the necessary form and return it to the TJS health office upon completion. Should your child’s appointment be scheduled over the summer months, please send the form to the MJS nurse, Pauline Bliss, RN at blissp@madisonnjps.org.
Valentine's Day...Coming Soon!
Valentine's Day is fast approaching and we are super excited to begin planning for such a fun day for your children. Valentine’s Day will be celebrated in all three elementary schools on Wednesday, February 14, 2024. There will be classroom parties and Valentine’s Day cards.
Valentine’s Day Cards - We request that you adhere to the following guidelines:
No candy of any kind may be distributed with the cards.
The cards must be brought to school no later than Monday, February 12, 2024. This will allow for the cards to be distributed before the special day.
If you elect to participate in the Valentine’s Day Card exchange, it is expected that your child gives a card to every classmate.
As Valentine’s Day approaches, it is necessary to remind parents of the potentially life threatening danger of food allergies to certain students in our school.
The issue of food allergies can be incredibly serious for many students. Peanut and tree nut products are particularly problematic, but other foods such as dairy, eggs and wheat can also cause students health problems. The extreme end of the spectrum in terms of a health risk is anaphylaxis, when the bodily systems experience a shut down due to exposure to the substance in question.
This danger is particularly acute during holiday celebrations, when consuming goodies is the order of the day. If you are a child whose safety depends upon never consuming the wrong food, a party is a true obstacle course. With certain children, even bodily contact with the wrong substance can be disastrous.
As we approach Valentine’s Day and the holiday parties, please keep the following in mind:
Please refer to the elementary food allergy guidelines for additional information.
Nut products are forbidden in “nut-free classrooms”. Please carefully adhere to classroom guidelines.
Students must consume all goodies within the class during the party. Goody bags and other treats designed to leave the class with the students are forbidden.
Crafts and activities involving nut products are forbidden.
All products should be packaged with the ingredients listed.
If you have any questions pertaining to holiday celebrations, please consult your child’s teacher or the school nurse.
News from Ms. Obermaier, in the Art Room
Students have been working hard on their self portraits! I hope adults at home will enjoy them, this is a difficult task!
Kindergarten created a self portrait based on the book Snowflakes on Our Tongues by Mike Ornstien. First Grade is having fun creating a self portrait that includes bubble gum! Second grade is creating a mixed media self portrait inspired by several books including Cannonball by Sacha Cotter.
Third grade created a small detailed “scarf selfie” with mixed media. Fourth grade had messy fun making marbelized paper for a base for their ancient roman statue self portrait. And lastly, fifth grade is working on a multi-step self portrait inspired by one of my favorite artists, Bisa Butler, from NJ.
Ask your students about the process of creating their self portrait!
Portraits below by Bisa Butler.
News from Mr. Locke, Library Media Specialist
This past week, we have been preparing for Tara Lazar's author visit on March 5 by reading the picture books 7Ate9, Flat Cat and Bloop. We also read about Tara's career and biographical background on her website taralazar.com. Students wrote book reviews of her books, and questions to ask Tara when she visits. Younger students described their favorite parts of the books in words and pictures and analyzed the sequence of story events.
I also began teaching a History of Hip Hop lesson in honor of Black History Month. We read the older elementary picture book When the Beat Was Born: DJ Kool Herc and the Creation of Hip Hop, written by Laban Carrick Hill, and illustrated by Theodore Taylor III, which depicts the origins of hip hop in the Bronx in the 1970's. We also studied informational passages about the history of hip hop and answered questions. I plan to incorporate music, videos and other multimedia about hip hop in future lessons, and bring in two turntables to demonstrate "scratching", sampling, loops, mash up mixing and other hip hop techniques. Finally, students will apply the these lessons by creating their own hip hop tracks using free Chromebook platforms such as Soundtrap.
Upcoming Parent Workshop
The Impact of Screens & Social Media: Keeping Your Kids Healthy & Safe
Madison Junior School & Project Community Pride of the Madison Area YMCA hosts a parent workshop: “The Impact of Screens & Social Media: Keeping Your Kids Healthy & Safe”
Wednesday, January 31, 2024 at 7:00PM Madison Junior School Auditorium
Presented by: Lauren Muriello
Lauren will address the Impact of Screens & Social Media on Children & Teens including:
• The impact of social media on children, teens and beyond
• The social media lifestyle - tech happy, or tech terrible?
• The latest research and trends - get in the know
• To Monitor or Not to Monitor, That is the Question
• How to Teach Critical Thinking Skills
• Take Control, or Lose Control
• Your Role as Parent - How to Really Get Through
• Creating a Healthy Balance for Your Child
PLEASE JOIN US FOR A WONDERFUL & IMPORTANT PROGRAM! Any questions, please contact Christine McIntyre at 973-845-6480
Special thanks to the Madison Elks Lodge for their generous donation.
Lauren Muriello, LPC is the Founder of Well Being Therapy Center She is a licensed psychotherapist and educational speaker having presented dynamic programs on trending topics in mental health and parenting education. Lauren Muriello, MA, LPC Licensed Psychotherapist Founder of Well Being Therapy Center Montville & Short Hills, NJ
Thank you so much to Asma Coly and Emily Koh for planning a really “magical” Disney Trivia Night this week. Congratulations to our winners Margaret (1st place), Fontes Fam (2nd place) and MJP (3rd place). We look forward to doing this one more time in February!
12TH ANNUAL TJS SCIENCE FAIR - REGISTRATION IS NOW OPEN
SCIENCE FAIR OVERVIEW
This is a voluntary activity sponsored by the PTO.
The Science Fair is open to Grades 1 – 5.
Students may participate individually or in a group. Groups are generally kept to 2 or 3 students and can be across grades.
Students decide on an experiment and work on it during off-school hours.
Students are provided with a trifold display board which is used to document and showcase their experiment.
Display boards are brought in during school drop-off the day of the event. They will remain up throughout the day for the classes to view.
The Science Fair will take place from 6:30 – 7:30pm where family, friends and the broader community can view the hard work of the participants!
The deadline to register is February 16th!
Visit our Science Fair page for resources and event specifics. Reach out to Jen Standig and Laura Venuto at tjssciencefair@gmail.com with any questions.
A new month means new opportunities to help re-shelve books in the library! Times available every Tuesday and Thursday 12-1pm. If another day works better, please reach out to Madeline Smith madelineday08@gmail.com
Traditions of Chinese Acrobatics with Li Liu Assembly
Thank you to the PTO for scheduling this amazing assembly! Aspects of Chinese culture and language were embedded, and students were able to participate in ribbon dancing and plate spinning.
News from the Madison Education Foundation (MEF)
ATTENTION PARENTS OF 5TH GRADERS... PREPARE TO BE AMAZED! Drop off your 5th graders for a fun Friday night of magic and munchkins at MJS for a great cause... our schools! "Magic and Munchkins at MJS" is made possible by the The Spelker Real Estate Team to benefit the Madison Education Foundation to help fund grants in Madison's public schools. This event for students in grades 5-8 includes a spectacular magic show followed by refreshments sponsored by Sugar Rush. Purchase tickets HERE before they magically disappear!