Woodland Park School District News

Commencement was held on Monday evening for the Memorial School Class of 2021 for the first time ever on Memorial Field behind the school.

In 1958, the first 8th grade graduation was held in the school gym. Each year, students graduated in the gym until the event was moved to Passaic Valley High School. Graduation ceremonies were always held indoors. Last year, the Class of 2020 made history by being the first class to graduate outside at PVHS in a unique drive-in outdoor graduation. This school year, it was decided to move graduation outside this year, to bring it back home.

Principal Stephen Scholtz oversaw his first graduation and in his speech he reminisced about the students in this graduating class as students in Charles Olbon School where he served as the PE teacher. Speakers at this very special ceremony talked about the many challenges that COVID thrust upon us an educational community and how we rose to overcome the obstacles we faced throughout the school year.

Beatrice Gilmore School held its clap-out for the fifth grade students moving up to middle school. The clap-out line stretched the sideway from BG to the Memorial School blacktop, signifying the move up. Virtual students were able to take part via Zoom as well. As the school could not hold its typical awards assembly and promotion due to safety guidelines being implemented by the school district, Principal Tomback personally visited each classroom in the school building and virtually visited those students learning from home in order to present awards and promotional certificates.

The second grade class at Charles Olbon School walked the halls for the last time this afternoon, and were clapped out of the building by family and friends. The traditional clap-out path was abbreviated due to the inclement weather.

Memorial Middle School's Class of 2021 received yearbooks on the last day of school. The students enjoyed time signing books and saying goodbye to thier friends, teachers, staff and administration. The Home & School Association's 8th Grade Committee treated the students to a visit from an ice cream truck as well.

Charles Olbon School kindergarten classes held two moving up ceremonies last Friday morning. The first ceremony was held for the in-person students and the second ceremony was held for the virtual students. Students, family, friends, administration, BOE Members and Mayor Kazmark gathered on the blacktop for the annual promotion ceremony.

School #1 held a clap-out this morning for its Pre-K 4 classes as they will now move to Charles Olbon School to attend kindergarten.

Students in Beatrice Gilmore School's STRIVE program held their final class last week. Students presented their "passion projects", where they demonstrated and taught the class something that interested them. Some students presented live while others recorded videos.

Mihail taught the class about chemical reactions. Philippe built a Harry Potter world out of LEGOs and wrote a story to go with the scene. Josie created a Google slideshow about minerals and showed how to find mineral hardness. Mercedes taught the class about baking and shared a recipe.

All fourth grade students at Beatrice Gilmore School recently finished reading The One and Only Ivan. As a cumulative project, students created body biographies on one of the characters in the novel. Afterward, students presented these biographies using Flipgrid. Shown above are some projects from Mrs. Ayala, Mrs. D'Astolfo/Mrs. Seavy and Mrs. Yesonosky's classes.

Memorial Middle School teacher, Mr. Pollicino, recently hosted an outdoor ice pop party to celebrate his student's success in the Alfred H. Baumann Library's poetry contest. Gabriella Byles won second place in the 7th and 8th grade student category for her poem, “Feelings of Spring.”

The students also gathered to reflect on this past year and were asked to share something positive about themselves and their classmates as well as their best school memory, future goals, and important things they learned during their time in Memorial School. The gathering ended with some sentimental and happy tears!

Memorial Middle School students and teachers attended the Alfred H. Baumann Library's poetry contest celebration last week at Dowling Gardens to support their winning classmate Gabriella Byles. Gabriella’s poem “Feelings of Spring” took second place in the 7th-8th grade category.

Thanks to the Billson family for their morning announcement videos, which they have been doing daily and posting on YouTube every school day since the start of the pandemic. The first video aired on March 23, 2020, and 17 months and almost 250 videos later, their final daily video was posted today, which features all our District buildings, administrators and a montage of over 150 photos of District students. Alex and Anthony's "Good Morning, Woodland Park" will return next year with a weekly video. View the final announcement of the year here.

Looking for a volunteer opportunity? The Alfred H. Baumann is so excited to bring back its Junior Ambassadors and Teen Volunteers program. Kids can help with programs, library displays, shelving, and more. To apply just fill out an application and bring it to the Library.

The Alfred H. Baumann Public Library is offering a summer library program to the youth of the community to encourage them to read for pleasure and retain their reading skills during the summer months.

Summer reading programs in public libraries provide quality learning activities that are fun, and encourage some of the best techniques identified by research as being important to the reading process.

This year’s theme is Tails & Tales! To create a sense of fun and encouragement that will keep the children reading, we have created fun missions on READsquared and will be offering raffle prizes at the end of the summer. However, we hope that the true incentive for children and families is that reading during the summer prevents summer slide and continues their learning all year long.

The program will kick off on Thursday, June 24 in Dowling Gardens at 4 p.m. for "Dinosaurs Rock!," an educational and fun program which includes real, genuine dinosaur artifacts from Dinosaurs Rock. Help us turn Dowling Gardens into Jurassic Park!

If you have any questions or need additional information, contact the Library at 973-345-8120.

READsquared Registration: http://abwplibrary.readsquared.com/

READsquared Instructions: https://www.abwplibrary.org/summer-reading

The Alfred Baumann Library will host the following children's programs. All programs are VIRTUAL unless noted. To view virtual programs, click here.

Wednesday, June 23, 6 p.m. - Learn how to make a wildflower wreath. This is a guided project that involves you collecting and foraging from your own yard or other green spaces, and the base can be used again and again. Sign up and we'll call you to pick up a free pre-made wreath base, some tips for foraging, then join in on Zoom for a demo. Register here.

Thursday, June 24, 4 p.m. - Summer Reading Kick-off with Dinosaurs Rock! at Dowling Gardens. Join in as we kick off "Tails & Tales," the summer reading program for 2021. Children of all ages are welcome to attend this educational and fun program, which includes real, genuine dinosaur artifacts from Dinosaurs Rock. Register here.

Thursday, June 24, 7 p.m. - Spice of the Month Club will meet virtually. Register here.

Tuesday, June 29, 1 p.m. - Babies to Pre-K can take party in Sensory Play, a loosely guided playtime that focuses on sensory perceptions and motor skills. This program will be outdoors, on the Library lawn. Bring your own blanket if you would like, but the Library will provide a mat and seating for parents and caregivers. Register here.

Wednesday, June 30, 10 a.m. - Baby Snails story time for babies and toddlers summer session begins. Join Miss Bri for early literacy outdoor story time on the Library lawn! Each week will have a new theme with stories, songs, rhymes and more. Zoom link will be provided in the event of inclement weather.​ Register here.

Wednesday, June 30, 4 p.m. - Snails & Tales story time for ages 3 and up begins the summer session. Join Miss Sara for an outdoor story time. Each week will have a new theme with stories, songs, rhymes, and more. Register here.

Thursday, July 1, 6:30 p.m. - Board at the Library. Join in on Throwback Thursday to play old classics and new favorite games on the Library lawn. Open to patrons in grades 5-8. Register here.

Friday, July 2, 3 p.m. - Silent Book Club for grades 5-12=8 kicks off. B.Y.O.C. (Bring Your Own Chair) for this outdoor book club. Read a book of choice and enjoy a snack on the Library lawn. Don't forget to log your minutes reading on READsquared to earn points and prizes! Register here.

The Library's website is www.abwplibrary.org. Phone number is 973-345-8120. Reach the Library via email at library@abwplibrary.org.

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Email: mpillari@wpschools.org
Website: www.wpschools.org
Location: 853 McBride Avenue, Woodland Park, NJ 07424, USA
Phone: 973-317-7711