A Message
From The Superintendent's Office
Dear Falcon Community,
Happy New Year! As we begin the new year, I would like to share my new year's resolution with you. Besides completing all of the tasks on my "to-do" list at home and agreeing that, yes, my wife is right most of the time, I resolve to continue my work with the Monroe Township Board of Education, educators, students, parents and extended community to improve upon the excellent reputation the district now enjoys. Some of those improvements include extending our offerings in the areas of Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math (STEAM);
continuing to improve our methods of communication to the community, such as the Falcon Flyer, Twitter and Facebook; utilizing technology as a tool for students and teachers to create, collaborate and expand their access to knowledge; and working with our Student Growth Advisory Committee to study the effects of our growing student enrollment on our schools and facilities.
An emphasis on STEAM offers students the opportunity to explore expanding and emerging careers, such as biotechnology, robotics, artificial intelligence, renewable energy and food technology. Integrating the arts and other subject areas into STEM promotes design thinking and creativity that can enhance students' approach when searching for solutions to real world problems. Inside this newsletter are some examples of how our students are integrating STEAM and their other curricula areas to research penguins and design apps. In addition, our MTHS Vex Robotics Team was awarded the Judge's Award at the Vex Robotics Competition hosted by the district in December.
On January 11th, approximately 100 community members, educators, parents, students and members of the board of education will begin to collaborate on finding solutions to the growing student enrollment on our schools and facilities. This Student Growth Advisory Committee (SGAC) will look at class sizes, overcrowded cafeterias, transportation and facilities to see what impact the growing student enrollment is having on our schools and the SGAC will make recommendations to the Board on how to address the growing student enrollment. The Board has the final authority on what actions will be taken. The process the SGAC uses and any recommendations made will be transparent through video recordings of meetings, ongoing communication via channel 28, newsletters, Facebook, Twitter and the district web site.
Our Winter sports teams have begun their season. The girls basketball team started off the season on the right foot by winning the MTHS Holiday Basketball Tournament in December. Basketball, hockey, wrestling and bowling teams have matches/games throughout January. Check our
web site
for times and come out to support our high-flying Falcon athletes. There are also school concerts in January. Please see our new
Google calendar
for dates and times.
Our new and returning Board members will be sworn in at the January 6th Board meeting, which will be held at 7:00 pm in the media center of the high school. We congratulate Mr. Marvin Braverman as a returning board member and welcome our new board members, Mr. Frank Russo, Ms. Dawn Quarino, and Mr. Paul Rutsky, our new representative from Jamesburg.
January is traditionally a cold month with snow, so please stay warm and check our web site and other news sources when inclement weather is approaching.
Respectfully yours in education,
Dr. Michael Kozak
Superintendent
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 Community
School Events!
Exciting...
Things....
Happening....
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Barclay Brook
During the month of January, Barclay Brook students will compete in a school wide STEM challenge. Students will work in small groups within their classes to create the tallest tower possible that can support the weight of a stuffed animal using only 100 index cards and three feet of masking tape. Each group of students will have 15 minutes to complete the challenge, at which point the towers will be measured and the results submitted to Mrs. Mahoney. The class with the highest tower will win time with Mrs. Mahoney using iPads and laptops to play games that teach students the basics of computer coding. Pictures of the students completing the challenge and the winning results will be shared in February!
Barclay Brook held its 3
rd
annual Pennies for Patients Drive in December to raise money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. During the three week fundraiser students raised a total of $2,937.63. Thank you to all who donated!
Erinn M. Mahoney
Principal
Barclay Brook School
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Brookside School
Brookside has 11 school finalists that will be completing in a school wide Scripps spelling bee on January 13th .
The finalists are:
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Aidan Alvarez
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Ayaan Bohra
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Ethan DiLascio
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Reya Gunjikar
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Sharanya Kolluru
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Sanjana Kulkarni
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Jack Neckritz
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Reyna Patel
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Disha Prasad
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Simone Purswani
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Rachel Rodrigues
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The school wide spelling bee winner will go on to compete at the Scripps Spelldown 2016 at Monmouth University on March 14-15, 2016.
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Applegarth School
At Applegarth School, Mrs. Chin and Ms. Dipierro's Reading and Writing 4
th grade classes worked on a non-fiction penguin study for the month of December. Students researched on iPads, read multiple non-fiction texts and wrote informative essays to share everything that they have learned about penguins. On the final days of the Penguin Study they put their penguin knowledge to work and completed several STEM challenges. One challenge was an Insulated Ice Box Challenge. The students were given the task of building an insulated ice box that would keep their ice cube from melting for the longest period of time. The students created their ice box using a square piece of tin foil, plastic container, a piece of paper and a paper towel tube. There were many different creative insulated ice boxes! The longest period of time was 99 minutes for the ice to melt! Engineers in the making, thanks to STEM!
Applegarth student council had an extremely busy month in December. Thank you to our teachers, students, and parents for their generosity! We were able to provide gifts for over 40 children in the Middlesex County area to help make their holiday brighter.
For the month of January, the 5th
Grade Student Council will be hosting "Self Esteem Awareness Month." As part of the project, student representatives will create self-esteem snowflakes which will have phrases and suggestions they create to show ways of boosting one's self-esteem.
The representatives for each 4th and 5th grade classroom will have the opportunity to share the snowflakes and read short stories to help bring awareness to their peers.
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Oak Tree School
Oak Tree Mixes It Up!
By Patty Dinsmore and Lauren Colflesh
Walking into a room full of people you do not know can be intimidating for even the most polished person. Now imagine asking primary aged children to do the same. Well that was exactly what occurred at Oak Tree School, but not without some preparation. During the month of November all Oak Tree classes received instruction on acceptance as part of their guidance lessons. Students were taught how to disagree respectfully and accept comments when differences arose. The underlying theme of the lesson was that everyone has feelings and wants to be happy. In order for that to occur on an everyday basis, we need to be kind, respectful and accepting toward each other.
On December 8th Oak Tree took it one step further by participating in Mix It Up Lunch Day. As students in grades 1-3 entered the cafeteria, they were each given a sticker with a planet on it or some type of celestial body. The children then found the table with a picture that matched their sticker and that is where they would be enjoying their lunch. Using conversation starters facilitated by Guidance Counselor Ms. Colflesh, students had the chance to share some of their interests and favorites in a small group. Students discovered things that they have in common despite our perceived differences and were instructed to use accepting comments toward each other
The response was overwhelmingly positive! Laughter resounded through the cafeteria and children walked out to recess with a new group of friends to play with. Children have begged their teacher to let them do it every week. Some instructors even created bulletin boards about it. Walking into a crowded room of people you do not know? Not a problem for the students of Oak Tree School!
1/14 Jump Rope for Heart Kick-off Assembly
1/19 Grand Falloons Assembly
1/29 Guest Author Dan Gutman Visits
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MTMS students create an app Jamie White, Bella Gartner, Olivia Cerbie, and Sage Elms
This year our students on Team Discovery are working on a yearly project called "Be A Boss." Our motto of Discover Yourself, Discover Our Community, Discover Our World, and Discover Our Future which has been incorporated in the yearly project. Students have been asked to think outside the box and think of a solution to a problem or something that could meet society's basic needs. We have groups working on creating community service projects, household items or creating a new app or technological advancements. One of our groups created a new Social Media App called "Quick." They created the app using the website shoutem.com. From there they expanded and made the app usable with a mobilizer app from the apple app store. Their app is a social media app, called Quick that helps expand and promote businesses and is a combination with Pinterest, Instagram Twitter and Facebook. Now the App is just a grassroots idea that requires money to put it on the App store, but it gave them the foundation down the road to really develop an App or that anything is possible. The girls worked extremely hard on the App and we are very proud of all their hard work.
Kindly,
Chari R. Chanley, Ed.S.
Principal
Monroe Township Middle School
732-521-6042
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Monroe Township High School
Monroe Township Drama Club
Murder Mystery Dinner Theater
January 21 & 22
Monroe Township H.S. cafeteria "B"
Tickets $12.00
Dinner at 6:00 PM
Show AT 7:00 PM
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Monroe Township
High School
Mock trial Team Presents:
THE STATE OF NEW JERSEY
VS.
JORDAN ABRAMS,
EX AIR FORCE SNIPER
THE CHARGE: MURDER IN THE FIRST DEGREE
JANUARY 13th AT 6:00 PM
MONROE TOWNSHIP MUNICIPAL BUILDING COURTROOM
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Testing Dates...
PARCC Grades 3-8
April 4-May 13
April 11-May 20
Administration Dates-NJASK Science Grades 4 and 8
Regular Administration Date Makeup Date
May 25, 2016 June 1, 2016
Administration Dates-NJ Biology Competency Test
(NJBCT)
Regular Administration Date Makeup Date
May 25-26, 2016 June 1-2, 2016
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Polar Plunge Time!
Would you like to start off the New Year feeling all warm and fuzzy inside? What better way to do it than getting together with friends, family and co-workers and plunging into the freezing cold Atlantic Ocean??!! On
Saturday, January 23, 2016 at 3 p.m., A.J.'s New Jersey Polar Dip to benefit Camp Sunshine,
a FREE camp dedicated to children with life threatening illnesses and their families, will be held in Long Branch and you're all invited to participate! We would love for all of you to join us! Participation from each school and the board office WOULD BE AWESOME!
. Click on Join a Team and search for
Frosty Flakes
...sign up and get your friends to donate in your name
. Click on Form a Team and start your own team made up of your family and/or friends
. Scroll down and click on Donate to an Individual or Donate to a Team and type in someone's name or
Frosty Flakes.
I know what you're thinking! You're thinking, "this sounds like a great idea! I would do this if I didn't have to throw my whole body into the ocean in January!" Well, guess what? ;) - For those of you who love the idea, but can't bear the thought of plunging there is something known as the "chicken dip." Same idea, same date...but, all you have todo is put your toe in.
J
If you can't plunge or donate money - We were also hoping to put together some baskets to raffle off at the plunge, so if during this holiday season you received what would be the perfect gift "for someone else", and would like to donate it, let me know and I will be happy to pick it up at your school.
Approximately a dozen polar plunges are held throughout the northeast in January and February to raise money for Camp Sunshine, a camp dedicated to seriously ill children and their families. Camp Sunshine provides week-long camps dedicated to various illnesses including brain tumors, oncology, sickle cell anemia, Franconia anemia, solid organ transplants and more. Each February I take some of our high school seniors to Maine to volunteer and since the first time have been hooked on this amazing place. Because I can't volunteer at camp as often as I would like, I thought the next best thing would be to work on fundraising...and this is where you come in
J
If you know a child and family who would benefit, have them contact the camp. For more information visit: www.campsunshine.org.
Thank you,
Susan Stasi
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Monroe Township Baseball Association
Spring Recreational Baseball
All children ages 4-15 are welcome to play!
(Age as of 4/30/16
All registered players receive a full uniform: cap, pants, shirt, socks and belt. Individualized instruction at all levels! All players will hit and play in each game regardless of experience or ability. There will be approximately 10 -12 games in the spring season with the final number of games depending on the spring weather.
Ten reasons to play baseball:
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Baseball increases attention span and helps children learn to focus on tasks
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Baseball encourages teamwork
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Baseball allows for new opportunities to make friends
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Practices and games provide a great source of exercise and get kids outside
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Playing baseball for Monroe increases your sense of community
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Players learn emotional control as they deal with both success and failure
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Baseball teaches sportsmanship
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Baseball provides stress relief
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Baseball develops hand-eye coordination
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Most importantly...baseball is FUN!!
Sign your child up today! Teams form in February; games will be played from April - June. Manager and coach volunteers are always needed! Please consider offering your help. If you have questions, please email
monroebaseball@gmail.com
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Monroe Township High School
College and Career Counseling Center
Office Hours Monday -Friday 7:30 - 3:00 pm
Monroe Township High School's Guidance viewpoint places the individual in the position of central importance and requires that all phases of the school program be aimed at assisting all students to achieve their maximum potential. We believe that in order to accomplish this task, a team approach involving students, counselors, teachers, parents and administrators must be utilized. Only through home and school cooperation can we fully assist in the educational, emotional and social development of our students.
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Follow us on Twitter!
Athletic Dept.
If you are looking for the latest information on the Monroe Township School
District Sports Programs, including score updates and highlights, simply text 40404 and insert follow @monroeathletic in the message box. Or, follow us on Twitter at @monroeathletic.
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Wow! Look at us...Another Twitter account to follow. This twitter feed will provide general information about our schools and community. Simply text 40404 and insert follow @mtsdfalcons in the message section of the text or Click here::M.T.S.D
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Check us out on
Facebook
Monroe Township School District would like to formally announce the official opening of our Facebook page.
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Click here to View this year's
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New Students Documents
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| Sports Center
 For information on all of our athletic schedules, forms, etc. Click here:Sports |
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HumanTrafficking
The League of Women Voters of Monroe Township will be making a presentation on human trafficking at our next monthly meeting on Monday, January 25 at 1 PM. The meeting will be held in the Municipal Building courtroom. It will feature "Chosen", a documentary aimed at helping teens recognize the warning signs of sex trafficking and protecting themselves and their peers from being recruited. Lt. Lisa Robinson from the Township Police Department will participate by fielding questions and speaking about how we are impacted locally.
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Arts and Careers Department
The Applied Arts and Careers Department has been very active in the community this holiday season. Specifically, the students and staff in the Music Program (Band and Chorus) have been making visits to different locations to showcase their talents and spread holiday cheer.
The MTHS Choir Program (under the direction of Ms. Jenne Alagna and Ms. Arielle Klein) made visits and conducted performances at the The Ponds (Monroe Township) and the Academy Learning Center (Monroe Township) to showcase their talents. (Photos Attached)
The MTMS Flute Ensemble (under the direction of Ms. Janet Kaufman) performed at the East Brusnwick mall to provide holiday shoppers with some wonderful music. (Photos Attached)
Zachary M. Morolda, MS.Ed
K12 Supervisor - Applied Arts & Careers Technology
Monroe Township School District
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