In the week leading up to Veterans Day, students and staff across the Middletown Township Public School District engaged in lesson plans, special projects and building-wide programs that honored our community’s military veterans.

Family members and friends who have served in one of our nation’s six military branches were invited to campuses for recognition ceremonies, while those veterans who have passed were often the focus of assignments that helped students develop deeper connections to curricular Veterans Day materials.

The first celebration using the term “Veterans Day” occurred in Birmingham, Alabama in 1947 on Nov. 11, which was then recognized as Armistice Day. The event was organized by World War II Veteran Raymond Weeks, and included a parade and other festive activities that honored the sacrifices of all United States military veterans. Legislation to recognize Veterans Day as a federal holiday, and honor American veterans of all wars, was adopted on June 1, 1954.

We are proud to continue the tradition today in Middletown. Thank you to all of our veterans for the tremendous sacrifices you have made in an effort to maintain our freedoms and way of life.

Navesink Elementary School fifth graders in Ms. Moyer and Mrs. Newcomb’s homerooms participated in the 6th annual Kahoot World Cup this week. The event is a global culture trivia game of Kahoot played by students from all over the world. This year’s epic game of global pop culture was played by nearly 5,000 students in 57 different countries. In the spirit of the soccer World Cup, classes showed pride in their country by dressing in the colors of that country and waving flags. Although the Navesink students did not come out on the top during game three on Tuesday morning, there was an important lesson to be learned. We are, in fact, more alike than we are different! 

Students in Mrs. Carin Kuzmin’s Applied Art and Design class recently worked with clay to design their own cookie jars, just in time for the holiday season. Featured here is Caroline Price with her Winnie The Pooh-inspired jar, before it is bisque-fired and glazed to perfection.

Cookie jars date back to the late 18th century, with origins based in England, where they are also referred to as biscuit barrels. Cookie jars began appearing more frequently in the United States during the late 1930s, and became a popular collector’s item. Famed pop artist Andy Warhol amassed a collection of 175 cookie jars, which was sold for $250,000 in 1987.

Middletown Village Elementary School third grader, Cameron, was recognized by his teacher, Ms. Kara Markiewicz, for serving as a remarkable role model for his classmates. Each week, Ms. Markiewicz's class is provided an inspirational quote that helps direct their learning journey and guide their classroom behavior.

This week's quote, the MTPS "Quote of the Week", comes from the sixth president of the United States, John Quincy Adams, who served one term from 1825-1829. Adams was also the Secretary of State under President James Monroe.

"If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more, and become more. You are a leader."

Thanks to Cameron for helping to create such a fun and positive educational culture in Ms. Markiewicz's room!

This space is dedicated to the promotion of mental health resources in our schools and local community. Please refer to the district site for a comprehensive list of resources: Mental Health & Community Resources

How much do you know about your teen’s brain?  The National Institute of Mental Health has developed this important fact sheet : The Teen Brain- 7 Facts to Know.  Check it out to learn  some interesting ideas about brain development throughout adolescence.

Leonardo Elementary School hosted a Family Literacy and Mathematics Night on Thursday, Nov. 17. The evening began with pizza provided by the PTA and a welcoming address by Mr. Peter Smith and Ms. Lianne Matarese. Students, alongside their parents/guardians then rotated through a series of six stations. The stations included book tastings - where groups were able to sample different books - word study, Math and technology, Math games, and an English Language Arts technology station. As a parting gift for their participation, families were able to go home with fun resources to practice strategies they learned during the event.

Harmony Elementary students gathered more than 8,000 items for the Blessing Bag Brigade to kick off the season of giving at the school community's annual giveback event!

Students, their families, and Harmony faculty and staff assembled at school on November 17 and packed 623 Blessing Bags with the help of the Blessing Bag Brigade’s founder, Kevin Garrison.

The fifth grade class alone gathered nearly 4,000 donated items, helping Harmony achieve a record setting number of Blessing Bags packed at their packing event.

Thank you to the Harmony Elementary School community for its continued efforts to support those in need.

The Blessing Bag Brigade is an Atlantic Highlands-based non-profit organization dedicated to showing compassion and humanitarianism toward those in need. To learn more about the organization you can visit the Blessing Bag Brigade website.

Planning to take the SATs in the coming months? Meet with Princeton Review, virtually, and go over SAT basics, review your PSAT results, and learn some strategies and tips you can use on the official SAT. MTPS students can register for the free virtual session on Thursday, December 6th at 7 PM through this link:

The Middletown Township Public School District is proud to announce that High School North has met the requirements to achieve certification and a Digital Schools Star recognition from Sustainable Jersey for Schools.

Sustainable Jersey for Schools developed the voluntary certification program in 2014 as a roadmap for pre-kindergarten through grade 12 public schools to reach their fullest potential. Each school that is certified at the bronze-level must submit documentation to show it has completed a balanced portfolio of the program’s sustainability actions, attaining a minimum of 150 points. The more advanced silver-level requires a minimum of 350 points of sustainability actions.

Thirteen schools earned Digital Schools Star recognition as part of their Sustainable Jersey for Schools certification. A Digital Schools Star embraces the mindful implementation of effective digital learning and communication tools, resources and practices. Star schools document their successful digital learning strategies in the action areas of leadership, learning practices, technology access, school culture and climate, and student learning to qualify for star recognition.

“Becoming a certified sustainable school is a rigorous process that helps schools implement steps to be sustainable in their operations and proactive in preparing students for the challenges they will face in the future,” said Randall Solomon, executive director of Sustainable Jersey. “As the state is dealing with an increasing number of climate change-related threats, broad-based sustainability literacy is required to ensure that young people are equipped to recognize and respond to critical issues now and in their chosen careers,” Solomon added. Sustainable Jersey participating schools serve as learning labs and the certification program supports educators by identifying authentic learning opportunities for students and staff.