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MONROE TOWNSHIP SCHOOL DISTRICT
The Falcon Flyer Newsletter
APRIL 2019
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A Message From Mr. Robert Goodall
Monroe Township School District Acting Superintendent
Spring is a very exciting time in the Monroe Township School District. Many of our student activities shift outdoors. A feeling of renewal and opportunity that is brought by fresh air is a welcomed feeling after a long winter. Our high school seniors are excitedly engaged with college acceptances, as they plot their next journey upon graduation from Monroe Township School High School. We know the partnership between parents, teachers and community ensured a preeminent education and preparation for life in the 21st Century and to compete globally among their peers.
Our Unified Sports Programs continue to provide an inclusive experience for all students in our district. The Unified Basketball team won the state championship for high school students. Congratulations to all of the players and coaches for an outstanding season. The team will be recognized by our Board of Education on April 30th, 2019. The Unified Soccer team will be participating in a very competitive experience this spring sponsored by Special Olympics. The team has been selected to partner with a professional soccer team and has been selected to represent New Jersey in a Major League Soccer program called the MLS Unified Exchange. This program is designed for one unified high school soccer team from NJ to compete on the same playing field with professional soccer players from the Red Bulls. The MTHS Unified Soccer team will play a home and away exhibition as a Red Bulls unified team. The team will travel on April 14th to Kansas City, Missouri to play the unified team representing the Kansas City Monarchs. Our home game will be on May 4th at the Red Bulls Stadium in Harrison, NJ against the unified team representing the Los Angeles Galaxy. The games will be televised by ESPN.
April is Autism Awareness Month and our schools are fully immersed in activities throughout the district. Each school participates in inclusive and kindness activities during the month of April. Congratulations and thank you to our teachers and students for making our awareness efforts important in support of their classmates.
We were very disappointed in the results of our recently defeated bond referendum designed to accommodate more than 1,200 unhoused students. The need for an additional facility in our district continues and will grow each year due to ever increasing student enrollment. The Board of Education, led by Board of Education President Mrs. Kathy Kolupanowich, will be forming a new committee to evaluate and research a plan to address our district facility needs. The
new committee is looking to our community residents to serve on the committee. If interested in serving to collaborate on a plan of action, please send a letter of interest to the Board Office at 423 Buckelew Avenue, Monroe Township, NJ 08831 to the attention of Mrs. Kathy Kolupanowich by April 19, 2019. The letter should include your name, address, phone number and an email address. Residents may also email directly to
[email protected]
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Stay up to date with Monroe Township School District Events and Information!
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Stay connected & up to date on information, events and happenings!
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REGULAR SCHOOL DAY SCHEDULE TIMES:
| Applegarth |
9:05 am - 3:34 pm |
| Barclay Brook |
9:05 am - 3:34 pm |
| Brookside |
9:05 am - 3:34 pm |
| Mill Lake |
8:50 am - 3:19 pm |
| Monroe Township High School |
7:27 am - 2:00 pm |
| Monroe Township Middle School |
8:10 am - 2:39 pm |
| Oak Tree |
8:55 am - 3:24 pm |
| Woodland |
8:10 am - 2:39 pm |
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April 19-26, 2019
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All Schools Closed for Spring Recess
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Monroe Township School District
BOARD OF EDUCATION MEETING DATES
Special Board of Education Meeting - Superintendent Interviews
Monroe Township High School in the Media Center at 7:00pm
Tuesday - April 30, 2019
Monthly Meeting & Budget Hearing
Monroe Township High School in the Media Center at 7:00pm
Committee Meetings
Wednesday - April 17, 2019
Committee meetings are held at the Board office
Personnel - 4:00pm (*Not open to the public)
Finance - 5:00pm
Policy - 6:00pm
Buildings, Grounds and Transportation - 7:00pm
Educational Advocacy Committee Meeting
Thursday - April 16, 2019
5:30pm at Monroe Township High School
in the Media Center conference room
Curriculum Committee Meeting
5:30pm at Monroe Township High School
in the Media Center conference room
2019 Board Members
Ms. Kathy Kolupanowich, Board President
Mr. Steven Riback, Vice President
Ms. Michele Arminio
Mr. Ken Chiarella
Ms. Jill DeMaio
Ms. Patricia Lang
Mr. Andy Paluri
Ms. Rupa Siegel
Mr. Peter Tufano
Jamesburg Representative
Mr. Paul Rutsky
Student Board Members
Ms. Sreeja Mamillapalli
Mr. Manan Shah
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WOMEN'S HISTORY MONTH AT MILL LAKE
First grade students in Ms. Cormey's class have been researching famous women for Women's History Month. These students are writing questions before, during and after they read biographies. Some biographies they have read include Sally Ride, Harriet Tubman, Dian Fossey, Rosa Parks, Helen Keller and Susan B. Anthony. Next, they'll be interviewing their family members and writing biographies about them!
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MILL LAKE NEWS
Second grade students celebrated Read Across America by honoring their love of reading! Students completed a hat glyph and colored the stripes of the hat based on their reading habits and preferences. Second graders also learned facts about the life of Dr. Seuss. They were most surprised to learn that Dr. Seuss' first book "And to Think that I Saw it on Mulberry Street" was turned down 27 times by publishing companies. Good thing Dr. Seuss had a growth mindset and didn't give up!
Our 3 and 4-year-old preschool classes at Mill Lake have recently explored our"dentist office". Props and supplies for this symbolic play was acquired with a MEF grant. This realistic dentist office took over our House area for the month of February.
Children had the opportunity to be the dentist or patient, pretend to give X-rays, use a large toothbrush on a tooth model, and read books about going the dentist!
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MTHS UNIFIED
The Monroe Falcons Special Olympics Bowlers had a great showing in the
Central NJ Competition on January 23, 2019.
- Rebecca Reiser brought home a bronze medal!
- Matt Fannon and Caitlin Belko brought home silver medals!
- Sarah Butler and RJ Edwards brought home gold!
- RJ and Sarah advanced onto the NJ Sectional, where RJ placed with a bronze and Sarah Butler earned a gold medal. Sarah advanced onto the State Championships on March 23, 2019.
We are very proud of all of our bowlers!
The MTHS Unified Basketball team made history on Saturday March 2, 2019 by winning the first ever
Unified B Bracket NJSIAA State Basketball Championship.
The Falcons beat Old Bridge 37-29 to advance to the Semi-Finals where they beat Steinert High School 35-29.
The Falcons beat West Morris High School in the Championship 53-27.
The Roster for the MTHS Unified Basketball Championship Team:
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Caitlin Belko
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Sarah Butler
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Alex Daly
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Brendan Deal
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Richard (RJ) Edwards
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Megan Fannon
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Adam Goldberg
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John Herring
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Wesley Kiecka
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Justin Marcelo
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Joseph McAvoy
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Matthew Mekhail
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Matthew Pascal
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Tara Pietrulewicz
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Jaime Santiago
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Dallas Wilhalme
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Samantha Veczko
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Manager; Katherine Orefice Coaches; Kathleen Dillon, Sandy Mascali, Valerie Gazda
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OAK TREE SNUGGLES AND STORIES
Families from Oak Tree School came together for a fun night of reading and snuggles on February 27th! Students from kindergarten to third grade attended a special event where the goal was to not only inspire a love of reading, but to also practice mindfulness, yoga, breathing, and relaxation techniques. Teachers and our principal hosted mindfulness themed book readings in classrooms. Students could also snuggle up in the cafeteria which had been transformed into a snuggle zone with mats, cushions, and a cozy "fire" place so that families could spend quality time together. It was such an amazing night for all who could join us!
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Oak Tree Author Visit
On March 15th, students welcomed nationally-known author Trinka Hakes Noble for Oak Tree's 2019 Author Visit. Mrs. Noble's engaging presentation showed students the importance of personal experience in their own writing. We would like to extend our thanks to the Oak Tree/Applegarth PTA for their continued support of this annual event.
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Students in Oak Tree Become Taaluma Pals
The students in Ms. Kirner's third grade class have been asked to partner
with the nonprofit organization, The Taaluma Project, as part of their "Taaluma Pals" program. The Taaluma Project is a non-profit organization that provides financial and moral support to academically motivated and students in the coastal region of Kenya, Africa, so that they may attend secondary school. The Taaluma Project works with individuals, schools, and other companies to raise funds to provide scholarships to these deserving students in Kenya.
The Taaluma Pals program connects students in the United States with students from Kenya. It allows them to
share culture, communication, encouragement and goals. Oak Tree students will learn about Kenya, discuss compassion and care for those less fortunate, and spend time learning the skills of writing a letter. To share the love of reading, the students will also design a bookmark to send with their letter. The letters and the homemade bookmarks will be delivered by the co-founder of The Taaluma Project who will travel to Kenya this March.
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Barclay Brook's
Beautiful Oops Project
Growth mindset and the power of "yet" has been an area of focus for Barclay Brook this year. We were fortunate to receive a grant from the Monroe Education Foundation to purchase children's literature that reinforces growth mindset for each of our classroom libraries. Through the generous grant, each classroom library received a copy of the following books: Beautiful Oops by Barney Saltzberg; The Girl Who Never Made Mistakes by Mark Pett; Your Fantastic, Elastic Brain by Joann Deak; and The Most Magnificent Thing by Ashley Spires. We also received posters to display in classrooms and throughout the school.
Barclay Brook participated in a school-wide project inspired by the book Beautiful Oops. The premise of the book is that any mistake can be seen as an opportunity to make something beautiful. All teachers brought their students into the STEAMaker Lab and read the book to their students. After listening to the story, each student received one of 18 unique "oops" templates and were challenged to transform the "oops" into something beautiful using the materials in our STEAMaker Lab. As the students worked, they were reminded that there were no mistakes; even if their picture wasn't what they imagined it to be, they were encouraged to keep transforming any "oops" they made. Each class has their students' "oops" pictures displayed on their bulletin boards and students will have the opportunity to walk the hallways to view the artwork of other students. We are all so inspired by the students' creativity, and most importantly, how they have worked to "grow" their mindsets this year.
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APPLEGARTH ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
Italian Adventures in Ms. D'Agostino's Class
Buongiorno! Mrs. D'Agostino's fourth graders are reading to students in a private school named Kindergarten in Florence, Italy using Skype. While you might think, from the name, the students are just beginning their school experience, they are actually first and second graders! The name, Kindergarten, translates to "garden of children." The children are learning English, and what better way to learn than to interact with a classroom full of American students?
Each morning, the Italian students begin by introducing themselves to Ms. D'Agostino's class to practice their English skills. Then, during the month of March, Ms. D'Agostino's children read to their new friends from Dr. Seuss books, and the Italian children identified the abundant rhyming words in the stories.
The children have further opportunities to interact, as the teachers initiate conversations about time difference (+6 hours in Italy) and their plans for the school day.
The groups of Italian students rotate, as the Italian teacher works in different classrooms in the school.
What an amazing and culturally enriching experience for the students in all of the classes!
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WELLNESS WEEK AT APPLEGARTH
Applegarth School kicked off our annual Wellness Week (March 18-22
nd) with a wide variety of programs and activities to alert our community to the need for self-care. Students were treated to "The Magic of Five" assembly designed to promote good nutrition and exercise. With the aid of magic, humor, and audience participants, students found out how the color of vegetables is important for different parts of their bodies. Thank you to our PTA for this informative presentation!
Mindfulness was promoted through Brain Breaks each morning with Ms. Shanholtzer. Students traveled to the beach and other relaxing adventures in their imaginations to start their day. Other activities were games, viewing a hand washing video, doing a Bollywood dance workout, yoga, Alexa freeze dancing, and art breaks.
Each classroom also participated in a door decorating activity focusing on a healthy theme. In a difficult decision, Ms. Fischetti's interactive game board door took first place. Ms. Fleisher and Ms. Patel's classes also placed in the competition. Congratulations to those teachers and their classes.
Another exciting event was a kinesthetic lab in the Commons area, at which students could ride bikes, kinesthetically write spelling words in sand, read on bouncy seats, and more. The lab got rave reviews from staff and students!
Applegarth partnered with our food services department, Ms. Mitrocsak and Ms. Pecorino, to introduce an "I Tried It" introduction of new foods during student lunches. Foods such as breaded ravioli, blueberries, cowboy (southwestern) salad, edamame, and tabbouleh were offered at each lunch period. Students were given an "I Tried It" sticker to wear if they tasted the food.
Our special area teachers planned wellness activities during specials throughout Wellness Week, and classroom teachers implemented healthy articles and activities put together by the Wellness Committee members.
Thank you to all of the Wellness Committee members: Danielle Mazza, Adrienne Shanfield, Ania Shanholtzer, Pat Sherman, Bonnie Essig, Radhika Patel, Stacy Fleisher, Dana McGee and Maggie Fidura who, along with Nancy Mitrocsak and Stephanie Pecorino of Food Services, planned an amazing week for staff and students! Thank you, as well, to our parent volunteer, Mrs. Corrine Masters, who added so much to the planning of the program. Stay healthy!!
AMERICAN REVOLUTION TRAVELING TRUNK
Applegarth's 4th grade had the pleasure to experience the Battle of Monmouth's Revolutionary War Program. Costumed presenters stole the show by bringing in canteens, maps, prints, muskets, cards that showed the stamps from the Stamp Act and other artifacts to give the students a sense of a soldier's life during the war. The students had such a wonderful time and remained engaged throughout the presentation. A big thank you to the MEA for supporting this program each year with the FAST grant.
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WOODLAND SCHOOL NEWS
Woodland School celebrated Pi Day with a PTO Fundraiser "Pie Carumba". Dr. Layman, Principal; Mr. Goodall, Acting Superintendent; and Mr. Painter, Woodland Security to name a few were volunteers that got "pied" by our students.
In addition, the Woodland Mill Lake PTO coordinated a school assembly with the
Jenkinson's Aquarium to arrange for a penguin to visit with our students. The Jenkinson's staff provided our students with fun and educational information regarding penguins.
The Student Council has been busy organizing School Spirit Days and the MCFOODS Spring Food Drive (running from March 25th - April 5th).
The 5th Grade Character Crew Committee have been visiting all 4th & 5th grade classrooms for approximately 10-15 minutes demonstrating unique yoga sequences designed to help students regulate their emotions.
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MONROE TOWNSHIP HIGH SCHOOL MUSIC PROGRAM
112 students representing the Monroe Township High School Music Program was awarded the opportunity to perform at Walt Disney World on Saturday, March 30th. Both the MTHS Chorus and the MTHS Band performed on the Waterside Stage at Walt Disney World's Disney Springs. The ensembles did a fantastic job; preparing and performing a wide array of musical selections, culminating with a Disney Medley by the MTHS Chorus.
The Monroe Township High School Music Program operates within the Department for the Applied Arts and Careers Technology. The MTHS Chorus is directed by Ms. Arielle Klein; and the MTHS Bands are directed by Marty Griffin and Mr. Alf Hadinger.
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MONROE TOWNSHIP HIGH SCOOL ATHLETICS
CONGRATULATIONS TO:
Girls Competition Cheer for winning the State Championship!
Boys Bowling for winning the Central Jersey Group 4 State Sectional Championship!
Unified Basketball for winning the Group B State Championship!
Gabby Miller for becoming Monroe's first ever State Wrestling Champion!
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BROOKSIDE SCHOOL NEWS
BROOKSIDE CULTURAL FAIR 2019
By: Gazala Bohra
On February 8, Barclay Brook & Brookside PTA hosted the Brookside Cultural Fair. During this annual PTA sponsored event, the school gym magically transforms into a globe trotters wonderland. Countries from around the World are displayed and presented to the students of Brookside School. Like every year, there was a colorful and lively exhibition of artifacts, culture, attire and even music from various parts of the world. Every classroom visited the fair for one period and spent 5-6 minutes visiting each country on display. In those 5 minutes, the presenters shared with the students various geographical facts, historical events and interesting cultural traditions in each country. In 40 minutes, these students got a very visual, up close experience of several countries they probably had never been to before. Students were encouraged to wear the colors or the traditional attire of their own country to school that day and share their culture and heritage with their friends.
The success of this event is very dependent on parents and teachers who volunteer their time to set up a display for a country they have their roots from or even a country that they have interest in or have travelled to. The number of countries represented depends on how many people volunteer to help with this event. This year 14 countries were represented by volunteers including our Brookside teachers and our parents present and past. The cultural fair culminated with the classes participating in a Trivia contest based on the countries they had visited and the presentations they had heard. The grade level winners are 3rd Grade - Shreya Shah, 4th grade - Samya Devanahally and 5th grade - Deeya Mulchandani.
Whether it was that great barrier reef in Australia, the Western wall in Israel has little cracks through which you can put notes with prayers to God, or that the first women prime minister was that of a Muslim country, Pakistan, the kids definitely raised their eyebrows at some point as they spent a period globetrotting. Not to mention the bonus of trying a yoga pose while visiting India, learning to yodel in Germany, and for some trying their hands at Chinese calligraphy. Barclay Brook-Brookside PTA aims to support the student's educational journey by working closely with the administration. This cultural Fair is a fun yet educational event that the PTA takes pride in hosting each year for the Brookside students.
Mrs. Nagle's Class Citizenship Projects
"Helping others isn't a chore; it is one of the greatest gifts there is." -- Liya Kebede. Fourth grade students in Mrs. Nagle's class recently completed a citizenship project where their task was to help their community. The idea was inspired by two books, "Wishtree" by Katherine Applegate and "The Jelly Donut Difference" by Maria Dismondy. Each student researched an organization or a way to help their community. Then students completed the task and shared the information with their classmates. Student projects ranged from making a compost pile and cleaning up the trash in their community to donating their own clothes to a variety of organizations. Some students also asked their neighbors and relatives to donate books, canned foods, sports equipment and recess equipment that they then donated to hospitals, a pet rescue, schools and camps. When asked about this project one student summed it up by saying, "I am so proud of myself for making a difference in my community!" And that was what this project was about: students learning that helping others is one way to help themselves be better people and citizens.
THIRD GRADE'S DAY 100 CELEBRATION
Brookside's Third Graders are 100 days smarter! To celebrate the 100th day of school, we participated in many fun, challenging activities! All of the students came to school disguised as a 100-year-old or dressed in a decorated 100th day t-shirt! We started our morning with a big celebration at our 100th day breakfast. Then we rotated around to each classroom to complete various 100th Day S.T.E.M. challenges. Students had to create "100" with legos, build something with 100 wooden blocks, and construct a tower with 100 cups. We are so proud of all that we accomplished in our 100 days of third grade!
MRS. LEVINSON'S FOURTH GRADERS CELEBRATE PI DAY
March 14 is a fun time to celebrate the number pi because it is 3.14! Students learned about the number and its applications through fun exploratory centers. They worked on math problems, tried to solve an extremely difficult pi-based Sudoku, played games, graphed the digits, did experiments to find out how pi works, and got creative applying pi to art and even literature! Ashwath Ram, Freya Brigilin, and Zeeshaan Bohra worked together to most accurately calculate pi by measuring the diameter and circumference of a circle and dividing. In a contest to see who could memorize the most digits, Alyson Simon won by reciting pi out to 85 digits! How many do you know?
Elementary Students in Monroe Township District
Applying empathy to organize youth to fight hunger in the local communities
Once again, all the Monroe Township Elementary Schools participated in our annual "Souper" Bowl Fundraiser. This event works to raise awareness about hunger and to replenish the local food pantries from the busy season of supporting needy families during the Thanksgiving and Winter Holidays. As a part of this annual event, and to foster awareness about this real world issue, children engaged in lessons anchored in valued character traits such as generosity and kindness. Thanks to our students, staff, and especially parents, we were able to support many local pantries such as Jamesburg Presbyterian Church, The Friends of the Senior Center, Monroe Township, Ginny's Food Pantry, Hamilton, Trinity Church and The Center, Asbury Park and Trenton Area Soup Kitchen (TASK). We collectively were able to raise 1,735 non-perishable food items! Thanks again, to all who contributed to our "Souper" Bowl Fundraiser! A big thanks goes especially to the elementary school administrators who have supported and encouraged such an enormous and impactful project. The Monroe Township Elementary Schools continues to excel when it comes to supporting community service projects and teaching the children the value of being empathetic and compassionate.
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SAVE THE DATE for the
10th Annual Oak Tree/Applegarth PTA TRICKY TRAY!
April 12, 2019 at Forsgate Country Club
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Check Out What's Happening At The
MONROE RECREATION CENTER
APRIL 2019
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Check out FALCON ZONE
School Store for all of your FALCON merchandise!
Order Online & Pick-up at MTHS!
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MTHS College & Career Counseling Center (CCCC)
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STAY CONNECTED with ATHLETICS
Get the latest information on the
Monroe Township School District Sports Programs
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MTHS ATHLETICS ON "SCHEDULE STAR"
View
"SCHEDULE STAR" to keep current with upcoming athletic events at Monroe Township High School!
Enter Monroe Township HS in the search box for daily, weekly & monthly schedules.
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Student Registration & Documents
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Stay up to date on
township/district concerts, sports & special events!
Check out the Monroe Township PEG Channel with videos on demand!
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Monroe Township School District | 423 Buckelew Avenue | Monroe Township, NJ 08831
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