Long Hill Township School District

Dear Long Hill Township Community,

Thank you to our teachers for another great year! It has certainly been a busy year for our students and staff. Our teachers have thoroughly investigated and implemented meaningful lessons that have engaged our students as demonstrated in my classroom walk-throughs and school visits this year. Our teachers have taken on the challenge of greater technology integration through their Google classrooms and Google apps for education. The use of social media platforms such as Twitter has taken off among the administration and the hope is that next year, teachers will be able to also use Twitter to showcase the great things happening in our classrooms. If you are on Twitter, please consider following us: @LHTSD, @LonghillSuper, @lh_CentralMS, @LH_Gillette, and @LH_Millington. If you are not, take a look at our district website where the Twitter feeds are posted for all to view.

We are also thankful to our Board of Education trustees who are volunteers that dedicate so much of their time and energy to engage with all stakeholders to support the many district initiatives that the administrative team has put into place. Through collaborative efforts among the administrative team and the leadership and vision of the Board, we are thrilled to be able offer another section of fourth grade next year at Millington School. This will increase the number of sections to five in fourth grade. The Board and the administration have heard our parents and we are pleased to be able to offer this additional section to ensure smaller class sizes in fourth grade. Next year, the district will look to our parents for their guidance and feedback in developing our new district strategic plan which will support the district’s Future Ready New Jersey initiatives and will propel our instructional programming to new heights.

Lastly, I hope you enjoy this newsletter and the many accomplishments of our students and staff and appreciate the commitment and milestones reached by our retirees. Please take a moment to view the thoroughly creative and entertaining video below that the Millington teachers have created and shared with their students and families. The video was created by our Millington staff to thank our students who were able to raise over $6,000 in the Pennies for Patients fundraiser which will be used to combat blood cancer. It is an amazing testament to the great students, parents and staff in our loving school community. I wish you and your family a fantastic summer filled with great books.

Best regards,

Dr. Acevedo

On June 20, 2019, the 8th grade class of Central Middle School celebrated and acknowledged their many achievements while in our district. All the best to the graduating class of 2019.

Thank you to all of our parent volunteers for all that you do for our students and staff. A celebratory breakfast was held at Gillette School on June 5th and featured Mr. Rideout and our very talented and joy-filled Kindergarten and First Grade students. Check out the video below.

First grade students from Gillette spent some time touring Millington School which will become their new school next year.

Fifth grade students were treated to a musical concert by the CMS Chorus and later toured their new soon to be school. Mr. Viturello will host a 6th grade orientation for families and their children on Thursday, August 22, 2019. More information will follow from Mr. Viturello.

Thank you to Mr. Mott (32 yrs.), Mr. Barnum, (16 yrs.) Ms. Tedesco (13 yrs.) Ms. Powers (6 yrs.) and Mrs. Newcomb (23 yrs.) for their many years of dedicated and caring service to our students.

Grade eight students enjoyed the many historical sights in Washington, D.C.

First graders in Ms. Sinnott's class and seventh graders in Mrs. Vail's horizon language arts class teamed up as pen pals this year. They met at Gillette school and had lunch together. They then played a fun ice breaker game called "Find Someone Who."

Students in third grade make a commercial for a little bits toy they invented (1st picture below)

4th graders producing music with Apple's Garage Band (pro headphones generously donated by the PTO - 2nd picture below)

8th grade STEAM students completed a project involving developing and designing a paper roller coaster with twists, turns and drops that can safely deliver a marble from the beginning to the end of the ride. No marbles were injured during this experiment.

Third grade students participated in an interactive "wax museum" where the students chose an influential person to study and bring to life. See if you can guess who the true identity of our students.

On May 17th, the CMS music program competed in the Music in the Parks festival at Dorney Park in Allentown, PA. Students performed for a panel of judges in the morning and then had a fun day in the park. 7/8 Band came in 1st place with a rating of Excellent; 7/8 Chorus came in 2nd place with a rating of Excellent; and Jazz Band came in 2nd place with a rating of Excellent. Congratulations to all students!

This year, the Long Hill PTO supported three artists in residency programs at CMS.

6th Grade Residency - Students worked with poet BJ Ward on learning the history behind poetry, learning important guidelines for writing poetry, and wrote and revised a piece of poetry for their family. This residency ran for 3 days.

7th Grade Residency - Speech Doctor. Students learned important guidelines and techniques to improve public speaking. Students engaged in various activities that allowed them to self monitor their speaking and to also improve their performance. This residency ran for 2 days.

8th Grade Residency - Shakespeare Experience. Students were exposed to pieces of Shakespeare's writing so they are prepared for their future high school curriculum. Students were taught techniques on how to interpret Shakespeare's writings and acted out small segments of Shakespeare's plays in class. This residency lasted 3 days.

Below students act out a scene from Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet.

• June 20, 2019 - 4 Hour session for students only
• June 20, 2019 - Central Middle School Graduation at 7:00 p.m.
• June 24, 2019 - Board of Education meeting - 7:30 p.m.
• July 15, 2019 - Board of Education Retreat at 5:30 p.m. and meeting at 7:30 p.m.
• August 22, 2019 - 6th Grade Orientation
• August 26, 2019 - Board of Education meeting - 7:30 p.m.
• August 28, 2019 - Orienation day for teachers
• August 29, 2019 - Staff in-service day
• September 3, 2019 - First day of school for students
• September 9, 2019 - Board of Education meeting -7:30 p.m.
• September 23, 2019 - Board of Education meeting - 7:30 p.m.
• September 30, 2019 - Rosh Hashanah - schools closed
• October 9, 2019 - Yom Kipur - schools closed
• October 14 & 15, 2019 - Staff in-service days, no school for students
• October 14, 2019 - Board of Education meeting - 7:30 p.m.
• October 28, 2019 - Board of Education meeting - 7:30 p.m.