Woodland Park School District News

Welcome to the Woodland Park School District e-Newsletter, which is sent out weekly when school is in session. It serves as a glimpse of some of the wonderful things going on in our schools, as well as a point of reference for upcoming events.

Your Partner in Education,

Michele R. Pillari, Ed.D., Superintendent of Schools

At Monday evening's Woodland Park Board of Education meeting the most recently selected PreK Puppies of the Month were saluted. The students, and their families, were invited to the meeting to be recognized for their selection. Students selected as Puppies of the Month have demonstrated their understanding of the PreK mascot Paw's school rules - Play safe, Act kind, Work together, and Smile.

At Monday evening's Board of Education meeting, some of our PreK families talked about the recent Family Engagement Project. These projects are offered monthly to all families and they are encouraged to take part.

The Memorial Middle School Mustang Ambassadors on Wednesday visited the fifth grade classes at Beatrice Gilmore School to continue their mentoring partnership. The 25 ambassadors are serve as mentors for the fifth grader and are meeting numerous times throughout the year to take part in team-building sessions, play games, and hold reflective sessions. The goal is to assist the fifth graders make an easy transition to middle school. On Wednesday, the students did a "get to know you" activity and played some games during the indoor recess time.

Beatrice Gilmore School third grade students performed their annual choral winter concert for family and friends on Thursday, under the direction of music teacher Ms. Andresen. The classes were split up into two performances, one in the morning and the other in the afternoon.

Memorial Middle School 8th graders Darrin Aly and Lara Albajles shared some strategies with 6th graders for when they feel overwhelmed or like they are “having a meltdown." Darrin taught Preston to “dance it out” when anxious while Lara shared with Jaxson how "looking for the colors of the RAINBOW” can help calm you.

Ms. Face and Ms. Eman's PreK-3 class at School 1 recently worked on measuring and mixing ingredients to make their very own play dough!

As part of the daily Wellness Moments, Ms. Altomare’s third grade class at Beatrice Gilmore School completes a guided calming meditation. They imagine a sphere of white light traveling throughout their body and other visualizations.

The Animal Club kicked the year off with a new and extremely competent advisor, Mrs. Pecorino, a special education teacher at Memorial School. The founder and Animal Club advisor for the past 20 years, Mrs. Donato, has been guiding and helping Mrs. Pecorino at each meeting to continue its success in helping all animals. It is also the mission at these meetings to introduce guest speakers and their variety of experiences, to the students in the club.

This month the students made dog and cat toys to donate to the local animal shelters. These toys are therapeutic for the animals during their hopefully short residence waiting to be adopted into their forever homes. Additional toy donations are welcome and all student are invited to make one, To make this toy, you will need a long clean or new tube sock, parchment paper, markers, and catnip for some, or a squeaker for others. Insert the paper and catnip or squeaker into the sock and tie a knot at the top. You can draw a friendly face on the sock with a marker. Bring toys Mrs. Pecorino in Room 203 or Mrs. Donato in Room 206. If you need catnip or squeaker, they can will provide it.

Next month Mrs. Donato will be bringing in her AKC certified therapy dog Cash, and explain the many different jobs this category of dogs has. Cash is a German Shepherd who is a kind and gentle giant.

Mrs. Tobia and Ms. A's PreK-4 class at School 1 has been making art out of recycled materials. This week, the children asked to put some of their artwork in the blocks center to play with. The children in the photo made a slide and a ball pit for the block people.

The Alfred Baumann Library, 44 Rifle Camp Rd., will host the following programs. Visit the Library's website here or Facebook page here. Its phone is 973-345-8120. Email is library@abwplibrary.org. Register for events here.