September 28, 2013
Hello Califon community! Now that we are officially underway, I want to keep everybody in the loop on what’s happening! The first day was a huge success, not to mention exciting! Parents brought their children to the outside of the front lobby area and the teachers and staff all came out of the school on a beautiful day to greet everybody. It was the first time I heard “the bell” ring. What a great sound to start off the school day!
I held a kick off assembly for the students on their second day back to allow them to meet me, and also for me to go over some basics as far as rules, procedures, and the “three Rs” (Respect, Responsibility, and Responsible reporting). It was evident that Dr. Boyd covered this topic with all of the students well last year, as they were able to apply without hesitation the “three Rs” to my practical examples of a day at school! At the end of our message together, I held a raffle in which students were able to win prizes; congratulation goes out to the winners. I then attempted to close out the assembly by juggling piggies… you’ll have to ask them!
I have been slowly learning the students’ names. I know the 8th grade students and many others. The students are awesome! One of my messages to them, especially at the middle school level, was to never forget their manners. I told them that using their manners goes along way and adults don’t forget when you use them. They use words such as please, thank you, and good morning on a daily basis and many times this is with me when I am conversing with them. You are doing a fabulous job with them. It’s been refreshing.
In Mr. Zimmermans class, the students are continuing their quest to earn 1,000,000 grains of rice for the United Nations World Food Program. Lisa Kooger’s student teacher, Mr. Malchow, is leading a program called TaleXchange. This is a non-profit corporation of NJ which aims to promote literacy in West Africa. We will be collecting books over the next several weeks.
We have an author visiting the 6th through 8th grade students the first week of October. We also have another author visiting our 4th through 8th grades the third week of October. They are both excited to go over the process of writing with the students and to show how writing integrates with all of the other core subjects of which they learn. Our plan in the near future is to bring real authors into the students’ classroom “virtually” speaking via skype, etc. Online collaboration is essential here. Many of our technological objectives will be realized as we recently increased our Internet speed to 50 MBs.
Teachers have been meeting with the Rutger's team over the past two weeks. All of our teachers’ classrooms are full of life with books, books, and more books! They are so alive with anchor words, transitions, writing prompts; you name it, they have it. It is truly an immersion into the world of reading and writing. This "constant" immersion on a daily basis is essential for children if they want to become successful readers. Your children are experiencing this every day they come to school! We will be emphasizing the word “rigor” in keeping high expectations alive for all of our students.
Our School Advisory Committee has now met along with our School Safety team. Our middle school teachers have been meeting several times throughout each week during a common planning time. The purpose of all of these meetings is to follow a model of collaboration with each other so that we can deliver the best education your children can have.
Some of the outcomes of these meetings are as follows. Among a plethora of topics covered, we have discussed a Califon School Brochure that is now hot off the presses! We have planned for our students a great Week of Respect, which runs from October 7th through October 11th. During this week, we will have a Califon pep rally, which will consist of music, a unity pledge, a character education chain, dance, and volleyball match between the staff and students!
We will begin training teachers and staff in Scientific Learning applications with the ultimate goal of assisting students in the area of reading fluency and comprehension. The programs that we will utilize have been supported in a positive manner by many research studies in the field of reading at varying ages and reading ability levels.
In keeping with my goal of community connections, parents and family members will have the opportunity to complete a volunteer form in which you can help out in the school by reading to the class, discussing your career or hobby with the students, or assisting with literacy centers. Our hope is to strengthen the bond among students, staff, and parents.
We are always looking for other ways in which the community could become involved. Many thanks go out to Gloria Winter in her efforts to continue her grant program called WinterFall Grant. A number of teachers have responded and filled out applications in order to enhance your childrens’ education at Califon School. Many of the requests were technology based programs that interface perfectly with our classrooms’ Smart Boards.
In conclusion, I will try and keep you abreast of what is happening throughout the year in my “Principal’s Corner”. Please do not hesitate to check out the staff web pages. They have valuable information regarding the events happening in your child’s classroom as well as information about your child’s teacher. A lot is coming up with school choice, including the School Choice Night on Tuesday, October 8th at 7pm. It has been a great start to the 2013 – 2014 school year and I am looking forward to continuing in a positive direction for Califon School’s future!
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