Mackay Newsletter

Malcolm S. Mackay Elementary School - February 2024

Principal's Message

Dear Mackay Families,

Can you believe it is already February? We are SO busy here at Mackay School! In February we celebrate our 100th Day of School, Valentine’s Day, President’s Day, Black History Month, and more!

Thanks to our Cultural Arts Committee and Mackay HSA we are able to have so many amazing assemblies and workshops for our students. Today we kick off Black History Month with the Pushcart Players presenting an assembly called, “Lift Every Voice.”

Thank you to all those families who have been so cooperative in the circle in the morning with our new car drop off stops. At this point in the year it is always a great time to reflect on ways we can improve! Please remember that lunch should not be delivered to school except in emergency situations. We have many students each week who do not bring lunch or order lunch through our HSA program. As a reminder we do not heat or reheat lunches here at school.

As a reminder we are in the middle of our Penny Battle to raise money for the HSA. Students are excited to participate. Our student council is also holding their annual "Souper bowl" canned food drive. We have so much going on in February, as I said! We are off for winter break from February 19 to 23rd.

Have a wonderful February with your amazing students,

Heidi Chizzik

Principal

Upcoming Events

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Jersey Day

February 9th

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NO SCHOOL

February 19th - 23rd

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Read-A-Thon

February 26th - March 15th

Counselor's Corner

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February 11th-17th is National Random Acts of Kindness Week with the 17th designated as National Random Acts of Kindness Day. At Mackay, we plan on celebrating the theme of KINDNESS all month! Students will receive a random acts of kindness calendar for the month. All we ask is that each student do ONE KIND ACT EACH DAY! We hope this will help to inspire goodness not only in our school but all across our community as well.

-Mrs. Angerson

Check out the Friendly February Calendar Here!

Art

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This month in the art room students are working hard on current and new projects. Students in Kindergarten are working on still life paintings of flowers inspired by Vincent Van Gogh. In 1st grade, students are working on a mixed media art piece using digital art and hand drawn art inspired by Vincent Van Gogh and James RIzzi. In 2nd grade, students are working hard on 3D rooms using lines and shapes. In 3rd grade, students are working on digital art projects creating character paintings. In 4th grade, students are learning how to use Space in an artwork focusing on one point perspective optical illusions. In 5th grade, students are learning about Unity in art and creating Anime inspired Eye art pieces.

-Ms. Bracero

Music Sound-Off

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From jazz to hip hop and from Louis Armstrong to Beyoncé, Black musicians have made numerous noteworthy contributions to music in America. During Music classes throughout February (Black History Month), students will learn about some of history’s most influential and significant Black musicians and the music of their time.

Second grade is in for a really sweet treat! Towards the end of February, we will start our unit about the recorder! All second grade students will receive a recorder from the school and will learn how to read notes on the staff and play their new instrument.

Kindergarten has been dancing the days away in Flex Music. First grade will resume their dance blocks later in February. Students are getting super excited to show off the dances they have learned together. Parents/guardians, stay tuned for an email to be sent later this month about our upcoming school performances!

The Tenafly Elementary Symphonic Orchestra, more commonly known as the “Super Orchestra,” has kicked off their rehearsals in preparation for their concert in June. Super Orchestra is composed of nominated Band and Orchestra students from Mackay, Maugham, Smith, and Stillman. This year, there are over 80 students in this outstanding group; although June is months away, we eagerly wait to hear them!

Musically,
Mr. Fugaban and Mrs. DeJoseph

¿Qué Pasa?

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Hola a todos/ Hello everyone,

This month in Spanish class, Kindergarten-1st grade students are learning numbers by 10 to 100, animals and family vocabulary. 2nd graders are learning numbers as well, verb forms: has/tiene, play/juega, looks at/ mira, ve, eats/come, and animals in their habitats. 3rd graders are learning numbers by 10 to 100, likes and dislikes / le gusta, no le gusta, I like/ me gusta and pastimes vocabulary. They will review the weather in the target language. 4th graders will review numbers up to 100 and will start the food unit by learning about foods from Latin America and Spain. Later, they will start working on a food project. 5th graders will start the unit on school and telling time in the target language.

-Señora Guerrero

Kindergarten Registration for 2024-2025

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Kindergarten registration for the 2024-2025 school year is now open! Please visit the Tenafly website for more information and to complete the online registration.

NOTE: Registration for all students entering grades K - 12 will open on March 4th, 2024 and will remain open and ongoing from that date.

Good Luck to Our Spelling Bee Finalist!

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Congratulations to Skyler Lee, the winner of the final round of Mackay School's Spelling Bee. He will be advancing to the next round and representing Mackay at the 2024 North Jersey Spelling Bee, taking place at Bergen Community College on March 12th. The winner will earn a chance to compete in the prestigious Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C.

Good luck Skyler, we will be C-H-E-E-R-I-N-G you on!