The Bethlehem Township Journal

It is that time of year again when we get to recognize our phenomenal staff through the Governor's Educator and Service Professional of the Year program. Every year, each school across the state has the opportunity to select an educator and a service professional to receive this high honor.

An educator is considered anyone who works under a teaching certification and a service professional is anyone who does not "teach," such as guidance counselors, CST members, Paraprofessionals, etc.

Anyone can nominate someone for one of these awards by filling out the NOMINATION FORM. Please review the SCORING RUBRIC that the committee (comprised of teachers, parents, BOE members and administrators) will use when evaluating the nominations that are received. If you are interested in serving on the selection committee, please email me by November 1, 2022. You will need to be available on the afternoon of Wednesday, November 16th for the selection process. Let's recognize the great teachers and staff we have here in Bethlehem Township!

DEADLINE FOR NOMINATIONS IS WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 2022.

Email: eabato@btschools.org
Website: https://www.btschools.org/
Location: 280 Asbury West Portal Road, Asbury, NJ, USA
Phone: (908) 479-6336
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Bethlehem.Township.SchoolsNJ
Twitter: @EdwardAbato

November 4, 2022: Report Cards Available on Parent Portal

November 7-9, 2022: Early Dismissal - P/T Conferences

November 9, 2022: Deadline for Educator of the Year Nominations

November 10-11, 2022: School Closed - NJEA Convention

November 16, 2022: Board of Education Meeting @ 7:00

November 18, 2022: Picture Retakes @ Hoppock

November 21, 2022: Basketball Season Begins

November 23, 2022: Early Dismissal

November 24-25, 2022: School Closed - Thanksgiving Recess

November 30, 2022: School Choice Application Deadline for 23-24 School Year

December 14, 2022: Board of Education Meeting @ 7:00

December 16, 2022: North Hunterdon High School Show Choir & Jazz Ensemble @ Hoppock

December 23, 2022: Early Dismissal - Winter Break

December 24, 2022 - January 2, 2023: School Closed for Winter Break

Dear Families,

It is hard to believe that it has already been a month that I have been a part of the Bethlehem Township Schools! I have gotten to meet many wonderful people since I started and have learned so much about what makes BTSD such a wonderful school district. During this past month, Conley students and staff welcomed me to the district with a wonderful "Clap-In" ceremony, which literally brought tears to my eyes. I have received personalized artwork and hand written letters from the students welcoming me to Hoppock! The students and staff here have truly been amazing and for that I am extremely thankful!

Along with these wonderful, welcoming moments, I have been hard at work learning about the district's policies and procedures, culture and climate, as well as curriculum and programs. I have met with teachers, counselors, administrators, parents, and BOE members to hear, from each of their perspectives, what the strengths are of the district. Having all of this information will now allow me to set a plan to address the areas in which the district is in need. This will not be done alone. Soon, I will be sending out information and a request for volunteers to join what I will call a "Guiding Coalition." This will be a great way for parents, students, and staff to get involved to help guide our district into the future. More information will be coming after the holiday season.

We have a lot of great things that are happening throughout our district and I have continued to feel blessed to be a part of it. Thank you to everyone who has reached out to me during my first month to welcome me and give me feedback on things that I have done so far. I thrive on feedback, positive or negative, so please never hesitate to reach out.

Sincerely,

Ed Abato

Chief School Administrator/Hoppock Principal

The Bethlehem Township School District is currently looking to fill the following positions:

F/T Middle School Special Education Teacher

• Approximate start date: November 14, 2022
• Orton Gillingham Trained - preferred
• Must have proper TOSD Certification
• ELA and/or Math Certification preferred

F/T Elementary Special Education Teacher

• Approximate start date: January 2, 2023
• ABA experience preferred

F/T Spanish Teacher Grades 6-8

• Approximate start date: ASAP
• Spanish certification required

F/T Elementary School Paraprofessional

• Approximate start date: ASAP

If interested in any position, please submit your cover letter, resume, and certification(s), along with a completed application to:

Margaret Andrews, Secretary to Mr. Edward Abato, CSA

mandrews@btschools.org

Bethlehem Township School District

280 Asbury West Portal Road

Asbury, NJ 08802

Do you love working with Children? Do you have a day (or four) a week free? Are you looking to make a positive impact in children's lives and help our community? Then come join our family!

The Bethlehem Township School District is looking for dedicated substitute teachers and paraprofessionals to work in our schools. All substitutes are required to apply for and obtain their county substitute certificate.

Requirements & Compensation

Teacher:

• Sixty (60) college credits
• Fingerprinting & background check
• Mantoux test

• $120 per day
• Paid training (half day)

Paraprofessional:

• High school diploma
• Fingerprinting & background check
• Mantoux Test
• $105 per day
• Paid training (half day)

If you are interested in either opportunity, please reach out to Peggy Andrews, Administrative Assistant to the CSA. She can be reached at (908) 479-6336.

We are thrilled to announce that we are working with an outside company who will be redesigning our current website. As a new employee of the district, I know how important a well organized, user friendly website is for a district. It is the "face" of our schools and is the place where parents, staff, students and community members should be able to go to easily access accurate information. More information will be coming soon regarding the launch of the new site!

Safety and security of our students and staff are our number one priority. Over the next several months, we will be doing an audit of our safety procedures and protocols and will be making changes, as needed, to them. We will be working with law enforcement throughout this process to understand from their perspective what is needed to ensure the safety of everyone who attends and visits our buildings.

While we are unable to share specifics to our security plan with parents and the community, there are things that you can do to help us keep our schools safe.

• Appointments are required for any visitor to the building. If you need to meet with a staff member, please schedule an appointment with them in order for your name to be added to the appointment sheet that is shared with our office staff.
• When you get to the building, you will need to state the reason for your visit prior to be allowed into the building. PLEASE ONLY USE THE FRONT ENTRANCE NEAR THE OFFICE.
• Once in the building, all visitors are required to sign in & wear a visitor's badge that must be worn for the duration in which you are in the building.
• When you are ready to leave, please return your visitor's badge and be sure to sign out so we know who is still in our building.

Thank you for helping to keep our students and staff safe within our schools!

The Hoppock Student Council is sponsoring a food drive that will benefit The Village Food Pantry. The food drive will take place through November 22, 2022. CLICK HERE for more information and to access the list of foods that are being collected. Thank you in advance for helping our students with this amazing service project!

Thank you to everyone who attended my first "Coffee and Convo with Mr. Abato" on Tuesday evening! It was great to meet those that came out. I greatly enjoyed the conversation and learning about what they felt were the strengths of our amazing district.

Building relationships is the key to success in life and I look forward to hosting more of these sessions in order to be able to make those connections with parents, families, and community members. While this past session did not have a focus topic as it was more of a meet and greet, future coffee and convos will have a specific focus that will guide the conversations that take place. I look forward to continuing this throughout my time with the BTSD!

The North Hunterdon High School Show Choir and Jazz Ensemble will be visiting Hoppock Middle School on the afternoon of Friday, December 16, 2022 to perform a one hour concert for our middle school students. We are excited to have these ensembles join us and look forward to the performances!

Click here to access important information regarding your child's high school transition. All registration forms are due back no later than November 9, 2022. A hard copy of these forms will be sent home with your child today.

Thank you to those that have taken the time to complete the attached survey. I know time is limited and valuable, but I appreciate the time taken to provide me with valuable, honest feedback. Having said that, there were only nine parents who completed the survey. Therefore, I am going to keep it open for one more month to hopefully get more input from you, the parents.

CLICK HERE to access a survey that will provide me with your perspective on what works and what needs to be improved upon within the Bethlehem Township School District. The survey is anonymous, but feel free to add your name in one of the open comment sections if you would like. This information will be very helpful as I begin to set goals for myself and for the district. Thank you, in advance, for taking the time to complete this survey. I look forward to reading your responses!

One of my initiatives as the new Chief School Administrator for the Bethlehem Township School District is to be more visible on our school's social media pages as well as through the use of this newsletter platform. I would like the community to see all of the amazing things that are taking place within the walls of our school. This includes photographs of our students and staff, with no names attached. Currently we have no parents that have requested to not have their child photographed for these purposes and with these parameters. If you would like to request that your child's photograph NOT be used for these purposes, please reach out and let me know. Again, only photos will be used and no names will be posted, unless permission has been given for certain circumstances.

Please be sure that your child comes to school dressed appropriately for the weather. Students will go outside as long as the temperature is above freezing and there is no inclement weather.

• This week, Conley students in grades K, 3, and 5 are participating in the NJCAP (Child Assault Prevention) Program.
• On Veterans Day, November 11th, Conley students in all grades will be making cards for Veterans that they will be sending to Operation Gratitude to disperse to Veterans across the Country, as well as service members overseas.

• On Wednesday, November 2nd, 8th graders went to see Mykee Fowlin at CTMS and really enjoyed the experience
• Peer Leaders will have their training in Character and Leadership Skills the week of November 14th
• The high school process is underway! Registration Forms due November 9th and 8th grade students will have HS powerpoint presentations on November 4th.
• Teen CAP (Child Assault Prevention) for 7th graders starts next week on Monday, November 7th and ends Wednesday, November 9th.

The BTSD students participated in Unity Day in October! If you're not familiar, it's a prevention day that aims to unite students in kindness, acceptance, and inclusion to send a visible message that no child should ever experience bullying. All students at Conley watched a video about Unity Day and everyone was asked to wear orange in some way. One of our 5th grade students had an awesome orange shirt made just for the day!

Our BT sports teams enjoyed a very successful fall season.

The Lady Longhorn volleyball team showed tremendous improvement throughout the season and finished with a winning record of 5 wins and 3 losses. The girls brought great energy and excitement to the championship tournament at North Hunterdon. In the first match, the Longhorns defeated Holland 2 games to 1 and advanced to the league semi finals against Clinton Public. The girls came from behind to garner a dramatic 26-24 victory in the first game of the match. Unfortunately, CPS captured the next two games and the Lady Longhorns had to settle for third place.

The Longhorn cross country team continued their recent dominance of the league in the league championship race. The boys team, which only included five members, finished a very respectable third out of 12 teams. The girls team, which was undefeated in the regular season, captured their 4th straight league crown by edging out their closest competitor Clinton Public.

Finally, the Longhorn co-ed soccer team enjoyed the best season in school history. The team barreled through the regular season and finished as the #1 team with a perfect 11-0 record. After disposing of Lebanon 2 to 0 in the semifinal game, the Longhorns took on an equally skilled Franklin team in the exciting championship game at North Hunterdon. Despite showing a lot of heart and effort, the team eventually fell by the slimmest of margins, 1 to 0.

All of our teams should be extremely proud of their success and display of good sportsmanship. Special thanks go to the coaches who dedicated their time and energy. Coach Race and Coach Poltrack for volleyball, Coach Wyant for cross country, and Coach Harvey for soccer.

The BT Winter sports season will begin on Monday, November 21st.

• The boys basketball team will conduct tryouts on Monday, November 21st and Tuesday, November 22nd at Hoppock School from 2:30 - 4:30.
• The girls basketball team will have tryouts on Monday, November 21st and Tuesday, November 22nd at Conley School from 3:30 - 5:30.

Please follow this link to take you to an interest survey regarding spring baseball and softball.