CDW Weekly Wrap-Up

On Thursday, December 7th, the students will have a chance to visit the PTO Holiday Shop. Grades 5 and 6 will visit during the morning, and Grades 7 and 8 will shop during their lunchtime. Please make sure your child brings his/her money into school to purchase items.

The CDW Student Council, advised by Mrs. DeSciora and Mrs. Reiser, is very busy in December. Each month, the officers decorate the Student Council bulletin board around a theme; in December, the theme is generosity. This month's service project to support generosity is "Snowflakes for Strays," which will be held on December 13th, 14th, and 15th during the lunch periods. For $1.00, students can purchase a snowflake and receive a little treat as a thank you. All money raised will go to Caring About the Strays, an animal rescue organization based in Westwood. Additionally, the Student Council will be sponsoring winter school spirit days at the end of the month (more information below). All information about the student council is always posted on the bulletin board in the 200 Corridor of CDW (see picture below)

Please see the following information about the traditional December Spirit Days!

Wednesday (12/20): Live in the Present! Wear holiday hats, socks, ribbons, and bows.

Twinkle Thursday (12/21): Wear your best holiday flair!

Friday (12/22): Ugly Sweater Day

Each year, the Grade 5 students visit the Buehler Challenge and Science Center in Paramus, NJ. Students were assigned to the Rendezvous with Comet Haley scenario where they had to work in teams to complete their mission, while conducting experiments, monitoring life support, and implementing navigation orders. Students use principles of science, mathematics, and technology to complete their tasks.

The Scenario: The year is 2061. In orbit around the sun, between Earth and Mars, a Spacecraft moves towards its long awaited target: Halley’s Comet. It has not passed near Earth orbit since 1986. The crew must navigate towards the comet, sending a probe through the comet’s coma to analyze what gases make it up.

Students in Mrs. Melillo's Computer Science class were tasked with determining which type of processing an app uses to process input and create output.

After several weeks of research, 7th Grade LEAP students presented their "Passion Projects." A Passion Project is a project-based learning activity in which students research any topic they are passionate about and create a project to share. This originated at Google, and is also known as Genius Hour or 20% time. Google's 20% projects worked so well that some of their most popular ideas, such as Gmail were created during this time.

Students chose a wide variety of topics such as Memorization, Autotune, the Stock Market, the Salem Witch Trials, and Baking. They used research skills, conducted interviews with experts in the field, and practiced their public speaking and presentation skills.

On Wednesday, 11/29/23, the CDW Debate Team participated in the second tournament of the season in Cresskill. Debaters presented cases for and against the United States federal government increasing fiscal redistribution by adopting a federal jobs guarantee, expanding Social Security, and/or providing a basic income.

Congratulations to all the participating teammates, especially Jamie Kwon and Lydia Kim, who participated in their first ever Novice debate, and Michael Tang and Amy Choe, who won their Negative round against Northvale 30 to 21.

The Northern Valley Color Guard will be starting a club guard for 7th and 8th grade students that will teach basic flag, dance, rifle, and saber spinning in a fun setting. The students will have the opportunity to interact with members and staff of the award winning Northern Valley Color Guard & Winter Guard. The students will learn to perform skills similar to those that you would see in a parade or football halftime show, but inside and with popular music!

The Northern Valley Club Guard will meet on Friday afternoons from 6:30 pm to 7:30 pm at Northern Valley Old Tappan High School. Meetings will begin on Friday, December 8th, but students can join at any time. For more information, please contact NVOT band director, Amy Wilcox, at wilcox@nvnet.org. You can sign up at tinyurl.com/nvcg24 or just show up on Friday, December 8th!

8th Grade Information:

Applications for BCA/Tech were due yesterday, November 30th. I have been uploading student transcripts as I am receiving the notifications. Although the students needed to submit their applications by November 30th, teacher recommendations and transcripts do not need to be received until the end of December.

Please continue to check Ms. Adamo’s Google Classroom for information regarding applying to other high schools and/or for the transition process to NVOT.

6th Grade Information:

On Thursday, November 30th, Ms. Adamo taught a lesson on Gratitude: What is gratitude, why is it important, and how can we show gratitude toward others? The lesson also connected to previous lessons on empathy and on lessening peer conflicts.

Be sure to ask your child(ren) what they are grateful for. I was very impressed with their answers!

Reminders for All Grades:

Wellness Wednesday lunches:

Grades 5 and 6 lunch with Ms. Adamo is in room 414.

Grades 7 and 8 lunch with Dr. Polizotto is in room 308.

Should you have any questions or concerns regarding your child’s academic, social or emotional needs, please contact me at adamoj@nvnet.org or 201-664-1475 ext. 2203.

Please see the Winter Sports schedule for Girls' Basketball and Boys' Basketball HERE.

Mrs. Henriquez will continue to run Intramurals on Fridays at 3:00 PM. The first sport is volleyball! If your child(ren) is interested, he/she can see Mrs. Henriquez with any questions. Inter-Scholastic Sports and Intramurals Information can be found HERE. If your child(ren) plans on doing intramurals at all throughout the year, please make sure that his/her paperwork has been handed in to Mrs. McCarthy, the school nurse.

The Preparticipation Physical Evaluation (PPE) may ONLY be completed by a licensed physician, advanced practice nurse (APN) or physician assistant (PA), who has completed the Student-Athlete Cardiac Assessment professional development module.

• Physical Examination Form to be filled out by your Physician
• Health History Forms -to be filled out by Parents

Concussion Management Guidelines

Sudden Cardiac Death in Young Athletes

All Carousel Cakes orders need to be placed by Thursday, December 7th via OTPTO.org. All orders will need to be picked up at TBD on Thursday, December 21st. See more information below!

Order your boxes of premium cards for All Occasions, Holidays, Kids Birthdays, and Thank You.

Families and Friends can order by using the order form available on OTPTO.org under "More Info" and "Forms."

The sale is available until December 8th.

You may place your order on OTPTO.org, and 20% of all sales will be donated to the Old Tappan PTO. See more information below.

On March 7, 2024 at the White Beeches Country Club, the PTO will be hosting a Denim and Diamonds Parents' Night Out! See the flyer for more information.

This fundraiser offers an opportunity to buy premium gift wrap and other home goods. You can even buy custom gift wrap with names and/or images! Your order ships directly to you.

Use this link to order and support the PTO: Charleston Wrap Fundraiser

The first fundraiser was a success! The 8th Grade PTO Committee needs volunteers to help serve the Chick-fil-A lunches on the following dates:

January 25, 2024

March 14, 2024

Please use this link to sign up.

The CDW Spirit Wear store is available on OTPTO.org! The Long Term Store is open year round and orders are shipped directly to the purchaser. The Short Term Store will reopen in the spring.

Both stores offer different merchandise. Links are on OTPTO.org or see below:

LONG TERM: Charles DeWolf Middle School

If you would like to purchase a 2023-2024 Discount Card, visit the OT PTO website. Each card is $20.

Every first Friday of the month, the Class of 2024 will be selling candy and ice pops at dismissal for an afternoon treat. Students in Grades 5-8 can go to the Lynch Gym to purchase their treat of choice! Treats will be between $1-3 and will include, but will not be limited to: lollipops, M&M's, Twizzlers, Gummy Bears, Sour Patch Kids, etc. See the flyer below for more information.

Dates of Sales: January 5th, February 2nd, March 1st, April 5th, May 3rd, June 7th

ATTENTION: 8th grade parents, please sign up HERE to volunteer for future Candy and Ice Pop Sales!

The PTO is looking for volunteers for the upcoming school year!

Volunteers play a huge part in the PTO and what we are able to offer our students and teachers. Without volunteers, many of the programs that students, teachers, and families enjoy will not be able to happen. Volunteer descriptions can be found at: OTPTO.org under "More Info" and then "Flyers."

If you have interest in joining the PTO Board, joining or running a committee, or just want to learn more- please reach out to the PTO by visiting OTPTO.org and selecting "Contact Old Tappan PTO" under the Help tab.

Safety is always our #1 priority at CDW. Water bottles spilling continuously are making the hallways and classrooms dangerous. We ask that your child has a cover on his/her water bottle or straw to prevent spills.

Once again, the PBA will be holding its annual Toy Drive. The box for your donations of new, unwrapped toys will be in the CDW Main Lobby.

The link to the online newspaper can be found HERE. If any writers want to join the club, please see Mr. Johnson for more information!

The CDW Homework Club is offered to all students in Grades 5-8 and is FREE! Please sign your child up each week that you are interested!

If you would like to purchase insurance for your child(ren)'s school issued Chromebook, please refer to the information below, or you may purchase directly from smarttechinsurance.com/old-tappan.

New to our insurance policy this year is that all Chromebooks must be in cases or the insurance will not cover any claims.

If your child is not going to attend school, please contact Mrs. McCarthy at 201-664-1475 ext. 2103 or McCarthy@nvnet.org.

In an effort to minimize the potential spread of illness at school, please keep your child home if he/she:

• has a fever. Students should be fever-free for 24 hours without medication prior to returning to school.
• is nauseous or is vomiting.
• has diarrhea.

December

Thursday, December 7th~ Grades 7 and 8 to NVOT for Winter Concert

Monday, December 11th~ The BOE meeting will be at 8:00 PM in the CDW Lynch Gym.

Wednesday, December 13th-Friday, December 15th~ Student Council "Snowflakes for Strays" fundraiser in the cafeteria during lunches.

Wednesday, December 13th~ 5th/6th Grade Bands Winter Concert at 7:30 PM

Thursday, December 14th~ Marking Period 2 Mid-Point

Thursday, December 14th~ 7th/8th Grade Bands and CDW Choir Winter Concert at 7:30 PM

Wednesday, December 20th~ Marking Period 2 Interim Reports will be released via the Parent Portal at 12:00 PM.

Wednesday, December 20th~ Spirit Day: Live in the Present! Wear holiday hats, socks, ribbons, and bows.

Thursday, December 21st~ Twinkle Thursday Spirit Day: Wear your best holiday flair!

Friday, December 22nd~ 12:30 PM Dismissal; Holiday Party; Ugly Sweater Day; Staff vs. Student Volleyball Game

Monday, December 25th-January 1st~ Holiday Recess: School is closed.

​​​​​​​OT 2023-2024 Approved School Year Calendar

Instagram: cdw_middle

Email: santaj@nvnet.org
Website: https://cdw.oldtappanschools.org/
Location: 275 Old Tappan Road, Old Tappan, NJ, USA
Phone: 201-664-1475
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/OldTappanSchoolDistrict/
Twitter: @OldTappanSD