All About Alloway
Alloway Township School's E-Newsletter ~ October 2019
Character Trait for October: COMPASSION
The Spirit War is ON!!! Right now, gold has the lead.....
and 2nd Grade won the Spirit Stick!!
Annual Costume Parade ~ Thurs., Oct. 31 ~ 1:15
ATS Staff ~ 2019-20
Veterans' Day Celebration ~ Tues., Nov. 12, 2019 ~ 9:00-10:00
"Meet & Eat" during National Education Week: Nov. 18-22
We are excited to celebrate learning at Alloway Township School during American Education Week! There are a lot of exciting things happening to benefit students, and we cordially invite one parent/guardian per student to join us for a Meet & Eat with your student. The itinerary includes a classroom observation followed by lunch in the cafeteria. The class your student has before lunch is the class you will be observing. We are hosting our VIP parents and guardians as follows:
K - Grade 2: Tuesday, November 19 (10:15-11:35)
Grades 3-5: Wednesday, November 20 (10:50-12:20)
Pre-K: Wednesday, November 20 (PM - 12:00-12:45)
Grades 6-8: Thursday, November 21 (11:35-1:05)
Starting at 10:00 AM on Friday, Nov. 1, you can access Sign-Up Genius through a link on our website or through a link that will be sent by e-mail. If you are unable to sign up on-line, you can call Libby Lodge (935-1622 ext. 100) to help you sign up through Sign-Up Genius. Don't forget to bring your ID so we can check guests in as quickly as possible without jeopardizing proper security procedures. Our VIP’s will be given a badge with their name and student’s name, so the deadline to sign up is two days before.
VIP’s can bring a lunch or buy from our premier cafeteria - just like our students! An adult lunch is $4.75, and the menu is: Tuesday - chicken smackers, curly fries, corn; Wednesday - cheeseburger, baked beans, carrot coins ; Thursday - pizza dippers, veggies & dip, breadstick. Small salads ($3.00) are available all three days, and large salads ($4.75) are available on Wednesday and Thursday only. Salad choices are: tuna, grilled chicken, or hard-boiled egg. Pre-order your lunch when you sign up. We are looking forward to having our VIP parents and guardians learn alongside our tigers at our Meet & Eat events during American Education Week!
Parent-Teacher Conferences ~ Nov. 22, 25 and 26
School will dismiss early at 12:25 during the three conference days, and lunch will not be served on these days. Sign-up in advance through Sign-up Genius starting Friday, Nov. 1 @ 10:00. To accommodate family schedules, we have scheduled times both during the day and in the evening:
Friday, Nov. 22 1:00 - 2:30
Monday, Nov. 25 6:00 - 7:30
Tuesday, Nov. 26 6:00 - 7:30
Inclusive Curriculum
The first nationally recognized Black History Month, which is always in February, dates back to 1976, and the first nationally recognized Women's History Month, which is always in March, dates back to 1982. In 2002, the Amistad Mandate was signed into NJ law and requires school districts to include accurate portrayals of African Americans in social studies curricula.
In February 2019, Gov. Murphy signed into law the requirement of middle and high school boards to further include two marginalized groups, people with disabilities and lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people, into its already inclusive curricula. Effective 2020-21, instructional materials are to include accurate portrayals of the contributions made by these two groups.
At Alloway Township School, this will impact curricula for grades 6-8, but the NJDOE has not produced a guidance document yet. Speculation that the rollout of this inclusivity will include content beyond the political, economic, and social contributions of LGBT people is unjustified as that would not correspond to the intent of the law. The law only applies to middle school for us as a pre-K to 8 district, and the intent of the law is to portray underrepresented, marginalized groups with accuracy. When educators evaluate curricula for inclusivity, we ensure that the diverse peoples who comprise the landscape of any given content are represented accurately. For example, the stories of early America include the perspective and contributions of the indigenous people.
Laws, code, and the NJDOE guide NJ school districts to adopt and implement policy and procedures that result in a supportive, non-discriminatory environment for all - inclusive of LGBT people. For more information, access NJDOE's guidance document for transgender students: https://nj.gov/education/students/safety/sandp/transgender/ Without an accompanying guidance document from the NJDOE, it is not 100% clear how the curricular inclusion piece will be rolled out to students. It seems indicated, though, that the intent of the law is to include this information about a person when it has relevance on the content, and ATS intends to have instructional materials and curricula that are inclusive.
As always, the administration at ATS is available to meet with individuals. If you have questions or want to discuss otherwise, call the school to schedule a meeting with Ms. Schell, Superintendent and/or Mr. Podolski, Director of Curriculum. To review the law itself:
Communication Survey Feedback
Key Communicators - Last year we did not have a Facebook page, so we established this group to share information by word of mouth and via the Key Communicator's social media page. We asked both survey groups if this group should continue since the school now has a social media presence on Facebook. Both groups agree that we no longer need this group; therefore, we discontinue this group.
Website - Both groups reported the Website as their #1 source of information and All About Alloway, our e-newsletter, as #2.
Types of Communication
Parents/Guardians - 90% of the group said that electronic communication is the best way to communicate with them, and they want us to continue to send the weekly Tigernet with attachments. Any parents/guardians who said electronic communication is not the best way to communicate with them are encouraged to call the Main Office and ask to be put on the paper list. Our intent is to reach everyone in our parent/guardian constituent group, so we are happy to send paper copies home in students' backpacks upon request.
Community - This group wants us to continue to have paper copies of publications at board meetings and at the Township Building, and we will continue this practice. 42% of the respondents have joined the community e-mail group.
Accessing Information
57% of the community respondents say we provide enough access to school information
78% of the parent/guardian respondents say we provide enough access to school information
90% of the parent/guardian respondents say they know whom to contact for their school-related concerns
90% of the parent/guardian respondents say they feel comfortable reaching out to school staff
This data will inform the next steps to cultivate a rich partnership with all stakeholders that manifests an inclusive, engaged community.
Strategic Plan Update
To date the following actions align to implement the plan goals:
Goal #1: Academic Programs
- Bi-weekly PLC meetings for curriculum unit writing
- 10/11/19 MAP Workshop
- 10/11/19 Co-teaching Workshop
- 10/15/19 Technology Committee meeting
- Literacy SGO's
- BOE approved SMILE program
- Student Government events - ABC Fashion Show, Trunk or Treat, Veteran's Day Celebration, K Graduation
- 2019-20 after school clubs
- "Adopt a Bathroom" project
- Southwest Council provides program to prevent substance abuse for grades 1-4 and 6-8
- DARE program for K and grade 5
- New publication - Board Meeting in Brief
- Communication surveys for parents/guardians and community
- Community e-mail group
- BOE approval for outside groups to use facilities
- 10/2/19 Information Night on Addiction
About Alloway Township School
Email: contactus@allowayschool.org
Website: allowayschool.org
Location: 43 Cedar St. Alloway, NJ
Phone: 856 935 1622
Facebook: facebook.com/allowaytownshipschool