TPS Families -

Happy February and Happy New Year to all of our staff and students who celebrate!

Students across our schools celebrated the Lunar New Year through song, dance, art, and reading. We hope that each of you that celebrate had a wonderful New Year celebration!

Kindergarten registration continues with our newest Tigers registering at Smith Elementary School this week and Stillman Elementary School next week. As a reminder. registration opens for all new students grades K-12 on March 3rd. For registration dates, forms, and information, please see the TPS website.

I would like to personally thank our custodians, grounds, and maintenance personnel who so diligently cleaned up after last week's snow storm. Thank you for the clean driveways, walkways, and stairs that enable us to get to school safely.

Congratulations to our THS Tigers! Our girls ski team brought home the gold, winning last weekend's giant slalom race, and our boys swim team came out victorious, winning the Bergen County champion title for the first time in a decade! Congratulations to all of our skiers, swimmers, and to all of our Tiger athletes who put in the time and effort on the courts, on the ice, and in the pools!

February is Black History Month. Follow along with us on social media and in Let's Talk TPS as we share the activities and celebrations throughout our schools.

Finally, February is also American Heart Month. Take a moment to take care of your heart by eating healthy, getting active, and managing stress.

Yours in Education,

Shauna C. DeMarco

Superintendent Tenafly Public Schools

Sending our thanks to our Buildings and Grounds Department for their dedication and hard work during last weekend's snow removal operations, including our custodians, grounds, and maintenance personnel. While many of us were just beginning to dig out from home, they were already hard at work plowing, shoveling, and salting to ensure a safe return on Monday. Thank you!

February 2nd is World Read Aloud Day, calling attention to the importance of sharing stories and challenging participants to grab a book, find an audience, and read-aloud! The global effort is celebrated annually in more than 173 countries and is all about bringing people together through the shared connection of reading aloud.

Our TPS administration, principals, and staff are taking part in the day, reading to students across the district. For a read aloud video featuring one of your favorite staff members, visit the news sections on your school's website or follow us on social media @TenaflySchools! A sample of read alouds is below.

Superintendent Shuana DeMarco Reads Aloud

TMS Principal John Fabbo Reads Aloud

Mackay Principal Brenda Yoo Reads Aloud

Parenting is one of the most rewarding experiences that we can have; however, it can also have endless challenges. Living in the world of everchanging technology-driven culture and striving to be the best parents possible is a daunting task. So how can parents be most effective in raising healthy and well-rounded children of this generation? This “Positive Parenting for Elementary School Children” workshop will explore different types of parenting styles, illustrate expectations for each developmental age, and discuss effective strategies to manage common problematic behaviors. Register to join CarePlus Clinical Program Manager Jeannine Kang-Suh, MA, LPC at tonight's SEPAC meeting, Wednesday, February 2nd at 7pm.

At last weekend's Bergen Meet of Champions, our Tigers broke a host of both county and school records:

County Titles

1. 200 Medley Relay Hayoung Choe, Jason Yi, Aaron Baltaytis and Andrew Lee (County and School record)

2. Will Kaminski - 100 Free

3. Aaron Baltaytis - 100 Fly (county/school record)

4. Jason Yi - 100 breast (school record)

Other School Records Set

200 IM Aaron Baltaytis

50 free Ella DeSalvo

100 Breast Ella DeSalvo

400 Free Relay (Will Kaminski, Hayoung Choe, Carter Miller, Aaron Baltaytis)
Way to go Tigers!

Our single most important responsibility is ensuring the safety of everyone in our schools. As you may know, New Jersey State Law specifies that all public schools must engage in monthly safety and security drills. Effective immediately, for all School Security Drills and in accordance with updated guidelines for schools, an email will be sent out following each drill to inform you that a safety and security drill took place. This applies only to Safety and Security drills and does not apply to fire drills. This notice will be sent at the end of the school day. If you have any questions, visit the Emergency/Safety-Security page of our TPS website or email jmorrison@tenafly.k12.nj.us.

Kindergarten registration packets for the 2022-2023 school year are now posted on the TPS website. Forms can be completed now and returned to the registrar during the specified week for each school:

• Mackay: January 18 - 20, 2022
• Maugham: January 25 - 27, 2022
• Smith: February 2 - 4, 2022
• Stillman: February 8 - 10, 2022

Please note that all forms should be completed online and emailed to the registrar. Proof of residency must accompany the forms. Questions? Contact the registrar at registrar@tenafly.k12.nj.us.

Tenafly Public Schools has moved to a shorter quarantine period, aligning with the guidelines provided by the NJDOH and CDC. All Tenafly Public Schools have moved to a five-day quarantine period, followed by wearing a well-fitting mask on days 6-10. Due to this mask requirement, additional guidelines are also in place for lunch and extracurricular activities. Please check the TPS COVID-19 Communications page on the website for specifics and helpful flow charts to assist you in navigating through the guidelines.

Winter weather is upon us, and although some delay, open, or close decisions are easy, some storms make it a bit more difficult. Timing or location are both variables that affect our decision. Please know that we will always choose safety first for our students and our staff and will do our best to make those decisions as quickly and accurately as possible. For some helpful tips on winter weather driving, please visit the Safety Reminders page on our website.

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