|
Our teachers, paraprofessionals, secretaries and custodians are eager to begin yet another exciting and challenging school year with your children. A heartfelt thank you goes to our custodial staff for a wonderful job of getting the building ready for the opening of school.
Academically, as previously stated, the district is incorporating the IDEAL and LEADS models to create a Literacy bloc which allows us to utilize an interdisciplinary approach to language arts and social studies. We shall continue the Lucy Calkin’s Writer’s Workshop strategies to assist us in standardizing and elevating our approach to writing across the curriculum.
Staffing changes that have occurred this year are as follows:
- Mr. Don Brady will be co-teaching in the 4/5 LLD class
- Mrs. Rosemarie Imtanios will be the G&T teacher and also provide Academic Assistance
- Ms. Amy Riello will be teaching Computer Technology
- Mrs. Paulette Rubino will be teaching Kindergarten
- Mr. Matthew Strobel is the new member of the CST
- Ms. Kathleen Zyskowski will be teaching 4th grade
Our best wishes go with the following former staff members who have accepted assignments elsewhere:
- Ms. Melissa Aussicker
- Mrs. Christine Daly has taken a Kindergarten position at Fairview Elementary School
- Mrs. Barbara Todd has taken a Kindergarten position at River Plaza School
- Mr. Dan Zykorie has taken a position as a counselor covering Village and Fairview Schools
- Mrs. Joanne Parton and Mrs. Phyllis Cicirelli are very happily retired
Harmony School enjoys an exemplary reputation for close cooperation between parents and staff. Our educational excellence relies on your providing the follow-up to the academic lesson through monitoring homework, providing an area and schedule for homework, engaging in educational family experiences and reading to your children. Maintaining a harmonious relationship allows us to better educate the whole child.
The following information is meant to supplement the District Handbook with data that may be specific to Harmony School.
- Students will not be admitted to the building before 8:45 AM and should not arrive to school before 8:45 AM unless there is a predetermined meeting with a teacher at which time the student must stop in the Main Office before proceeding to the classroom. The instructional day begins promptly at 9:00 AM.
- Walk on the sidewalks and cross Murphy Road only at the marked crosswalks where there is a crossing guard
- Cars are not permitted in the front driveway between the hours of 8:15 AM and 9:15 AM and from 2:30 PM to 3:15 PM
- According to posted signs, cars are not permitted to park on Murphy Road and may be ticketed if found there
- It is imperative that parental/emergency contact information be current and specific. Changes in emergency contact numbers must be made immediately and sent into Mrs. Tito in the Main Office
- Review after school routines with your child. The child should know where to go and with whom each day. Make sure he/she and the teacher know who will pick up or escort the student off the premises. The classroom teacher should have, by the second day of school, a written statement from the parent as to:
- Whether the child walks or will be driven home
- If driven, who will be the driver
- If the driver does not report, who shall be called
- If an older sibling within the building is escorting the younger one from the school:
- Write a note to both teachers stating this arrangement
- The older child will be dismissed to the younger child’s dismissal door and wait inside until the younger one appears with his/her teacher
- At that time, both children will be dismissed by the one teacher
- Any change in the normal routine should be reported to the Office (732-671-2111 X4100) BEFORE 12:00 of that day. Persons other than those cleared by previous written authorization may not pick up the children.
- If your child is to be dismissed early or have another change in his/her day, please send in a note with your name, your child’s name and date the note
- If your child is absent, please notify the office by 8:30 AM at X4100
- DO NOT LEAVE A MESSAGE OF AN EMERGENCY NATURE ON THE VOICE MAIL. MAKE PERSONAL CONTACT.
- In accordance with New Jersey regulations and Middletown Township Policy and Procedures, all persons who are not specifically authorized to be present in and around school buildings before, during and after school hours are excluded from the premises. All visitors must report directly to and sign into the Main Office before proceeding to any area in the building.
- The school doors are locked during and after the school hours.
- An adjunct to pupil safety is siblings. Children who do not attend Harmony School are not to be in the classrooms or using playground equipment during school hours. We welcome parental participation but, for reasons of safety and liability, we cannot permit younger children to attend classroom events. Carriages and strollers may not be brought inside the building.
- Children should wear sneakers to school on a daily basis for Physical Education activities or keep a pair in their backpack that they can change into.
- Visitors may not use the playground and equipment during school hours.
- Dogs may not be walked on or near school grounds for obvious health reasons.
School begins promptly at 9:00 AM. Arrival after 9:00 will be considered unexcused unless the student has a valid and verifiable reason for being late. A parent or guardian must sign in the student after 9:00. A child is considered present for the day if he/she is in school for four (4) hours, excluding the 30 minutes for lunch.
Excusable absences, per Board Policy, are:
- Extended illness accompanied by a doctor’s note
- Observance of designated religious holidays
- Suspension from school
- Necessity of appearing in court
- Death in the family
The following actions may be taken for students who continue to be late to school or who accumulate excessive absences:
- 4 unexcused absences or lates in a marking period result in a letter from the principal
- 8 unexcused cumulative absences or lates in the year result in a letter from the principal to be signed by the parent/guardian
- 12 unexcused cumulative absences or lates in the year result in a parent conference with the principal and district attendance officer
- 16 unexcused cumulative absences or lates result in notification from the district attendance officer of impending truancy proceedings
Students absent from school may not participate in school sponsored after-school activities. Vacations are considered unexcused absences.
Schedule
Middletown Township schools employ a 6-day rotational calendar for the following special subject areas: Art, Music, Physical Education and Health, Computer and Spanish. You will receive a monthly events calendar with your child’s grade level schedule attached at the beginning of the year. Please save this section, as it will not be repeated monthly.
Homework/Instruction
In accordance with the district policy on homework/make-up work, homework requests should only be made for students who are absent more than 1 day. Such requests should be made before 9:30 AM and the work picked up by the parent in the Main Office at the end of the school day. Requests received after 9:30 AM will be ready at 3:15 PM in the office the next day. It is not the responsibility of the office staff to inform siblings/classmates to pick up homework left in the office.
It is the student’s responsibility to bring home all his/her necessary materials each night. When a student does forget something, he/she may return to the building, accompanied by an adult, before 3:45 to retrieve forgotten items.
All textbooks must be covered. DO NOT use contact style material for this purpose as the book covers literally tear off when the contact paper is removed.
NJ 2nd Grade PASS April 19-21
New Jersey ASK Testing will occur during the month of May:
3rd and 4th grades May 10, 11, 12, 13, 14
5th grade May 3, 4, 5, 6
All students are required by state law to take these tests.
9 September Kindergarten, 1st and 2nd grades 7:00 PM
10 September 3rd grade through 5th grade 7:00 PM
are scheduled for:
November 20th through 24th daytime conferences
November 19th for the evening conference.
There will be an early dismissal for all students on those dates. If you desire a conference with your child’s teacher before this time, please call the office or send a note with your child to set up an appointment between you and the teacher(s). Contact with the teacher is the first step in resolving academic situations. If a resolution cannot be reached at this level, then a meeting with the principal should occur.
Lunch is provided on a daily basis by Chartwells beginning the first day of the school year. Lunch money is due on THURSDAY of the preceding week. The only time money should be sent in on Friday is when your child has been absent on Thursday. RED tickets are being used in 2009-2010. A monthly lunch calendar will be sent home and is also available on the district website: www.middletownk12.org Checks should be made payable to MIDDLETOWN Café ACCOUNT.
The meal prices are:
Lunch with milk $ 9.25 per week
Milk only $ 3.25 per week
Reduced lunch/milk $ 2.00 per week
Bottled water $ 3.75 per week
A packet of tickets ($37.00) may also be purchased to be used at anytime during the school year. The district is going to WEEKLY lunch orders, beginning 9/11/09 and more information will be forthcoming on that initiative.
STUDENTS WHO FORGET LUNCH WILL BE OFFERED A STANDARD SCHOOL LUNCH AND MAY PAY FOR IT THE FOLLOWING DAY. We strongly discourage parents from bringing in lunches from fast food establishments. This becomes extremely disruptive for the other students. Parents will be contacted if their child routinely forgets his/her lunch. For students bringing lunch from home, containers for liquids must be plastic and soda is never permitted. In keeping with the Federal and State guidelines on nutrition, we highly recommend limiting foods with transfats and sugar as one of the first 3 ingredients on the label.
If you do not wish to apply for free and reduced lunch, disregard the form and dispose of it.
If your child received free/reduced lunch last year, you must reapply again this year. You will, however, be able to receive free/reduced lunch through September of this year based on last year’s qualification.
Occasional parties at school, especially in the lower grades, are permitted. The following guidelines are to be followed:
Prior teacher approval
Held after lunchtime or other mutually agreeable time but not to exceed 1 hour
Class parents and the teacher will consult, beforehand, on the types of food offered as some children have allergies to certain types of food
Food of nutritional value is to be given first consideration (fruit, cheeses, vegetables)
Soda, popcorn and gum are not permitted
According to State nutritional guidelines, if sugar is the first ingredient, it should not be served in school
If a student has a party at home and wishes to distribute invitations at school, every student in the class must receive an invitation. The teacher will distribute the invitations. The school will not make addresses or phone numbers of students public. BALLOONS, FLOWERS AND GIFTS WILL NOT BE DELIVERED TO THE CLASSROOMS.
After school activities utilizing the facilities are by permit only. The person supervising the children is to arrange with the parents a specific meeting place for pick up which does not include the main entrance, i.e., students may be dismissed at doors 1, 2, 3. See Mrs. Tito for the building use form.
In accordance with state law, smoking is not permitted at any time on school grounds.
Please review and strictly adhere to the following transportation procedures.
The students are only to cross the street at the crosswalks staffed by crossing guards.
Drop off procedures in the side parking lot:
Private vehicles use the car lane closest to the building for drop off
Children disembark from the passenger side doors onto the sidewalks and go directly into the school
Do not walk around to let your child out of the car unless the child has a project or some other unwieldy item he/she does not normally use
Once the child has cleared the car, leave the line and continue out of the parking lot back onto Murphy Road
Cars behind the lead car may use the lane to their left to exit the line and proceed out of the lot
Do not walk the children between the cars. If you parked in the lot, take the children up to the sidewalk and enter the school
DO NOT PARK IN THE DROP OFF LANE
The purpose of the drop off lane is to keep traffic flowing to avoid a back up onto Murphy Road. If you have someone who is not familiar with the morning drop off routine taking your child to school for you, please explain the routine to the person.
Field trips are planned for a specific purpose. Students must have a signed permission slip for each trip. Students failing to return a signed slip will remain in the school the day of the trip. No child is ever denied access to a trip for financial reasons. Chaperones may be asked to drive themselves if the students and staff members fill the seats available on the bus. Parents may not meet the trip at the venue if they are not approved chaperones.
We are extremely fortunate to have a very active PTO here at Harmony, without which many of the extras our children enjoy would not be available. This year’s PTO Board is comprised of :
President Mrs. Stacey Stefanski/Mrs. May Fiori
Vice-President Mrs. Cathy Quiles/Mrs Bonnie Wenzel
Treasurer Mrs. Gina Hasse; Assistant Treasurer Mrs. Vita Gardiner
Secretary Mrs. Niki Wedwaldt/Mrs. Michelle Higgins
You may visit the PTO website through the Harmony School webpage at www.middletownk12.org/harmony
|
