The month of October ended with quite a few “tricks”! Snow, no phone and internet service were not the treats that we were expecting. Halloween did go off without a hitch, but I would have preferred that it came and went with a lot less intensity.
October is Fire Prevention month and the children were treated to the Firefighter Phil show which is always a fun, yet educational experience. They learned many safety tips and had fun doing so. The first week of October was designated by Governor Christie as the “Week of Respect” for all schools. Our guidance counselor, Ms. Bobko, Mr. Kitchell and the Leadership Club presented a cyber awareness presentation which taught the students internet safety both for themselves and for others.
We also had the first of six Character Counts Assemblies which rewarded the students who are the most respectful in their classes. They were treated to a pizza lunch with me and together we celebrated their accomplishment. The winners were:
Boland & DeSantis AM: Madi Siminoff and Amy Yuan
Boland & DeSantis PM: Cameron Bertelin and Alison Sia
Tufte AM: Silvi Shah and Ghelsey Go
Tufte PM: Aminah Armstead and Hailey Amann
Dunham: Hena Patel and Armando Camacho
Happel: Angel Purcell and Kyle Valor
Gillis: Makayla Valor and David Lowe
Pecce & Ash: Lucas Tindall and Ingrit Martinez Perez
Sanchez: Anna Yuan and Akshat Kamath
Latham & MacIntyre: Cindy Saavedra and Neha Patel
Ohlson: Miles Banks and Esmeralda Erazo
Concodora: Brittney Hernandez and Lyle Go
Brotspies & Zalinsky: McKayla Grogan and Dylan Maida
Costello & Stern: Emon Nazari and Alyssa Stoddard
Drude: Andrew Lowe and Angelina O’Connor
Mitchell & Moran: Beena Prajapati and Madeline Joyce
Collins: Diana Koszelnik and Jeanine Vidola
Galligan & Kitchell: Francesca Salzone and Maya Komatsuzaki
Konar & Tsirikos: Yohelys Caridad and Jack Calabrese
Rivenburg: Avni Patel and Lamar Fitz
Mullan & Sorkin: Sierra Dyke and Samantha Ciabatoni
Bonner: Justin Disney and Jamie Brennan
Perillo: Kacper Koszelnik and Sarah Hardy
Hart & Tanzi: Gabriela Hernandez and Gnaneswar Chundi
Also during the assembly we rolled out the Math-a-thon to benefit St. Jude’s Children Hospital and the new school-wide initiative, “Tiger Stripes”. I “prowl” the building catching classes lined up quietly, working diligently and just doing the right thing. They are rewarded with a “tiger stripe”. After earning 7 stripes, they get to pick a reward that only their class gets to enjoy. This reward can be extra recess time, sitting in the lunchroom with their friends, a homework pass, etc. The children are very excited and I love rewarding great behavior.
Our annual Student Council elections were held and we have new officers for the 2011-12 school year. Samantha Belle was elected President, Fumika Hasegawa will be our Vice President, Gracie D’Amato is Treasurer and Hafsah Shaik is our Secretary. All of the candidates did an amazing job with their speeches. The speeches will be streamed on the internet. Please check the website periodically for the date and times.
Three fantastic functions occurred in October, thanks to the PTO. The “Book Fair” under the direction of Mrs. Karvaski, earned us over $1600 in credits towards books for our school. The “Book Fair” also donated books for prizes for our Bingo night. We also had another great “Boogie Bash”. Mrs. Kentos and Mrs. Pena organized this fun family event. Thank you to all who volunteered their time and efforts for these great bonding times. Please try to volunteer some time or energy and assist with the PTO events. The profits benefit all our children by providing them with buses for trips, assemblies and many other opportunities and materials that the annual school budget does not provide. Many hands make the workload light. Please help.
November begins with our first of four Tiger Ticket Shops which has a new feature. The students can not only purchase lunches, prizes and extra recess time, they can now use their tiger tickets to enter a raffle for a major prize. The prize this time is a “Razor Scooter”. Good luck to all the students. The winner will be announced on Friday, November 4th.
You should have received the forms to request conferences with your children’s teachers. Conferences are November 15th, 17th and 29th. Please call the office if you have not received a form. Remember that all three of those days are early dismissal days. Grades 1-5 will be dismissed at 1:30 along with the PM kindergarten students. The PM students will arrive at 11:30 and the AM kindergarten will be dismissed at 11:00.
The First Grade “Pow-Wow” will be on November 21st and Thanksgiving break will begin with a 1:30 dismissal on Wednesday, November 23rd.
I want to remind everyone to please label your child/ren’s belongings. We already have quite a collection in our lost and found box. The articles of clothing and other belongings will be displayed in the hallway opposite the multi-purpose room during conferences for you to peruse and claim lost items of your child/ren.
On behalf of the faculty, staff and myself, I want to wish all of our Lindeneau families a happy and healthy Thanksgiving. I know that I am truly thankful for working with such a talented staff of educators and support staff who make everyday an amazing experience for your child/ren. I am also so very blessed to be a part of
your children’s lives.
Happy Thanksgiving,
Rosemary Schutz
