CDW Weekly Wrap-Up

On behalf of the CDW Staff, we wish you a fun-filled Spring Break! Enjoy!

The Board of Education approved our revised 2024-2025 school year calendar, which reflects the adjustment of only using 1 of our 3 emergency closure days.

• Marking Period 3 closed on Wednesday, April 9, 2025.
• Reports cards will be available via the Genesis Parent Portal on Tuesday, April 22, 2025 at 12:00 PM.
• Here is the link to the Genesis Parent Portal.

Looking for something fun and creative to do over break? Consider submitting a poem to Young American Poetry Digest! The deadline to submit is April 18, 2025. The link to submit is here:

https://www.youngpoets.org/students.html

Congratulations to Ms. Osbahr (Director/Musical Director), Ms. Watters (Set Design/Stage Crew Manager), and Mrs. Melillo (House Manager/PR Director) on a wonderful production of Guys and Dolls, Jr.

Congratulations to all of the CDW Students involved with the CDW Musical! The CDW Staff is so proud of the hard work and dedication that was shown throughout the process to put on a successful show!

Thank you to the former CDW students who came back to CDW to help with the production: Violet Oster, Matthew Mancinelli, Shawn Mahler, and Alina Sorokin.

On Tuesday, April 8th, Tommy Greenwald visited CDW. He spoke to the students during an assembly to discuss how writers come up with a subject to write about and the books that he has written.

Grades 5 & 6: Students who read any of Greenwald's books were invited to have lunch with the author. They asked questions about publishing his books, planning his writing, which characters he feels most connected to, and how to avoid writing predictable stories.

Grades 7 & 8: Students who read and enjoyed Greenwald's books were invited to have lunch with the author. They connected on a deeper level in regard to the challenges of playing sports at higher levels, which is the subject matter of his books, where he came up with the titles of his books, what it takes to be a great athlete, and the author gathered the students' perspectives on why there are reluctant readers in middle school grades.

On Monday, April 7th, Grade 5 student, Lazarus Haney, was the CDW Principal for the Day. He started his day in the OTBN studio providing the weather during the morning announcements. After checking in with some students and staff members, he surprised his classmates with a movie assembly. Then he observed an accelerated Pre-Algebra class and watched a lesson from a guest teacher in Grade 6 language arts. Principal Haney ended the day with a game in the Rossi Gym for his peers.

The 5th Grade Literary March Madness competition finished its second round this week. The Final Four include Harry Potter v. The Wild Robot and Diary of a Wimpy Kid v. Out of My Mind. Find out who the winner will be after Spring Break!

On Wednesday, 7th grade LEAP students participated in the Rube Goldberg Machine Contest at Haworth. This year’s contest task was to feed a pet. Students tested their Rube Goldberg machines and were judged on the use of simple machines, energy transfers, functionality, creativity, and original design. Congratulations to both teams for their hard work and creativity!

Students in Mr. Clark's Grade 7 Pre-Algebra classes recently completed tessellations! Tessellations cover the surface, often a plane, using one or more geometric shapes, called tiles, with no overlaps and no gaps.

The students in Mr. Clark's Algebra classes just finished up an activity on Desmos where students used their knowledge of linear and nonlinear functions as well as domain and range restrictions to build marble slide roller coasters. The functions on the left create the image on the right, and after hitting the "launch" button, marbles are launched to travel along the track. Below are some examples.

As the weather will start to get warmer, it is important to remember there is a dress code for school: Old Tappan Board of Education Policy Number 5511 - Dress and Grooming. As a reminder, students should dress in clean, neat clothes and in a manner that does not detract from the teaching and learning experience in any way. Clothing should cover the torso and legs to the mid-thigh. Examples of clothing that would be considered unacceptable in a school setting include but are not limited to halter tops, tube tops, bare midriff tops, short shorts or short skirts.

Please refer to page 6 of the CDW Student Handbook for more information.

You can order now until April 19th at OTPTO.org!

To order the James Murray book, go to OTPTO.org, click on "For Sale" and find, "James Murray Book."

8th Grade Information:

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.

Track practice will begin on Tuesday, April 22nd from 3:15-4:15. Please reach out to Ms. Fischer with any questions at fischere@nvnet.org.

Any questions, please contact Coach Brancatelli at brancatellip@nvnet.org. Check the CDW Baseball Google Classroom for any updates.

Check the CDW Softball Google Classroom for any updates or contact Mr. Gianetti at gianettij@nvnet.org.

Click HERE for the Northern Valley schedules and game locations on the CDW Website.

All games begin at 3:45 PM.

Home baseball and softball games are at Stone Point Park.

Track meet dates and locations have also been added to the website.

Mr. Ferrara will continue to run Intramurals on Fridays at 3:00 PM. The next sport is basketball! If your child(ren) is interested, he/she can see Mr. Ferrara in Room 208 with any questions. If your child(ren) plans to do intramurals at all throughout the year, please make sure that his/her paperwork has been handed in to Mrs. McCarthy, the school nurse.

Please see the information above for the necessary paperwork.

On Sunday, May 4th, the CDW Class of 2025 will be hosting another Car Wash and Clothing Drive. Please stop by CDW between 10:00 AM and 2:00 PM to support the Grade 8 class.

The CDW Class of 2025 will be fundraising for End-of-Year events with PTO Special Lunches on the following dates:

April 25th: Don Chicken

May 16th: Wendy's

June 16th: Chick-fil-A

More information will be provided for each lunch as the date approaches. All lunches can be purchased at OTPTO.org.

Buy your K-Shop Discount Card via the PTO Website. See flyer below for a list of participating vendors.

If you would like to purchase a 2024-2025 Discount Card and Dicks Sporting Goods Coupon Book, visit the OT PTO website.

The discount card is $20.

The Dicks Sporting Goods Coupon Book is $15.

Below is a link to sign up to serve pizza during your child's lunch period. This link is not to order pizza, just to serve it to the students.

CDW Jan to June 2025

The schools truly value the partnership we have with the Old Tappan PTO! Please join the PTO and support their organization. Visit OTPTO.org, click "For Sale," and then "Membership."

The PTO Meetings for the 2024-2025 school year are listed below. Babysitting is offered at the night meetings.

Thursday, April 24, 2024 at 9:00 AM in the BOE Conference Room

Tuesday, May 27, 2025 at 7:30 PM in the CDW Media Center

As we prepare for the NJSLA Testing, please make sure that your child(ren) has wired earbuds or headphones to use for the assessment. Please see the dates below:

NJSLA- Science: Grades 5 & 8--> April 29th to May 2nd

NJSLA-ELA and Math: Grades 5 through 8--> May 8th through 14th

If your child(ren) is absent on a testing day, he/she will make up the test before the end of the month.

Students are reminded that cell phone or smartwatch usage is not permitted during the school day (8:25 AM-2:56 PM). Consequences will continue to be enforced.

What can you do as a parent to ensure that your child(ren) is using his/her phone appropriately?

• Check your child's phone daily.
• Enforce rules/expectations at home about phone usage.
• Use parental controls and monitor apps to guide safe usage.
• Set up family-sharing features to manage downloads and permissions.
• Encourage responsible online behavior.

Olivia Di Santi, CDW Class of 2022 student, is running a tutoring program at no cost to middle schoolers in Grades 5-8 at the Old Tappan Library on Mondays and Wednesdays from 3:15 PM-3:45 PM or 3:45 PM-4:15 PM starting April 20th. If you are interested, please see the flyer below.

If you or your child(ren) needs a refresher on how to use Google Classroom, he/she can access a variety of videos on Dr. Sullivan's Google Classroom under, "Tools for Organizing Assignments."

Here is a video on How to Use Google Classroom for you to review.

Have you purchased Chromebook Insurance for your child(ren)'s school-issued device yet?

We highly suggest that you purchase insurance! We have already had to submit many claims! Please refer to the information below, or you may purchase directly from smartechins.com/oldtappan.

Homework Club began on Wednesday, October 2nd. Please see the flyer below to sign up!

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.

Students should either bring their lunch from home each day, or parents may order through one of the approved vendors for delivery to CDW. If you order lunch from an approved vendor for delivery, please make sure the vendor knows your child's first and last name and grade level. This will help to ensure your child receives his/her lunch on time. At times, we understand that a parent/guardian may need to drop off lunch at school. All lunches need to be placed on the table with the green tablecloth in the vestibule.

5th/6th Grade Lunch ~ 11:27 AM-12:01 PM

7th/8th Grade Lunch ~ 12:10 PM-12:44 PM

You can find the Lunch Vendors on the Old Tappan School District Website.

Linked below, please find the 2025-2026 school year calendar for the PK-8 Old Tappan Public Schools. For your convenience, this calendar will also be posted on our District website.

​​​​​​​OT 2025-2026 Approved School Year Calendar

April

Monday, April 14th-Friday, April 18th~ Spring Break: School is closed for Staff and Students.

Tuesday, April 22nd~ Marking Period 3 Report Cards available on the Genesis Parent Portal at 12:00 PM

Monday, April 28th~ BOE Meeting at 7:30 PM in the BOE Conference Room

Tuesday, April 29th~ NJSLA Science for Grades 5 & 8

Wednesday, April 30th~ NJSLA Science for Grades 5 & 8

May

Thursday, May 1st~ NJSLA Science for Grades 5 & 8

Friday, May 2nd~ NJSLA Science for Grades 5 & 8

Saturday, May 3rd~ The TBD Play is at CDW in the Lynch Gym.

Sunday, May 4th~ Grade 8 Car Wash at CDW

Monday, May 5th through Friday, May 9th~ Teacher Appreciation Week

Thursday, May 8th through Wednesday, May 14th~ NJSLA-ELA and NJSLA-Math for Grades 5-8

Sunday, May 11th~ Mother's Day

Monday, May 12th~ Student Council Baseball Day

Monday, May 12th~ The BOE Meeting is at 7:30 PM in the CDW Lynch Gym.

Tuesday, May 13th~ Student Council Bright Color Day

Wednesday, May 14th~ Student Council Career Day

Wednesday, May 14th~ 5th and 6th Grade Bands Spring Concert at 7:30 PM

Thursday, May 15th~ Student Council School Trivia Day

Thursday, May 15th~ The PTO International Food Festival

Thursday, May 15th~ 7th and 8th Grade Bands and Choir Spring Concert at 7:30 PM

Friday, May 16th~ Student Council Tropical Day

Friday, May 16th~ Marking Period 4 Mid-Point

Tuesday, May 20th~ Grade 7 NJHS Induction Ceremony

Wednesday, May 21st~ Grade 4 to Grade 5 Transition Meeting in the Lynch Gym at 7:00 PM and Parent Access to Interim Reports at 12:00 PM

Friday, May 23rd~ Grade 8 Band Trip

Monday, May 26th~ School is closed in observance of Memorial Day.

Tuesday, May 27th~ PTO Meeting in CDW Media Center at 7:30 PM

Wednesday, May 28th-Friday, May 30th~ Grade 8 Trip

Wednesday, May 28th~ Grade 5 to Grade 6 Transition Meeting in the CDW Media Center at 7:00 PM

Spring Break: April 14th - April 18th

NJSLA-Science (Grades 5 & 8): April 29th - May 2nd

NJSLA-ELA and NJSLA-Math (Grades 5-8): May 8th - May 14th

CDW Spring Concerts: May 14th and May 15th at 7:30 PM

NJHS Induction Ceremony: May 20th at 7:00 PM

Grade 8 Band Trip: May 23rd

Grade 8 Class Trip: May 28th to May 30th

Grade 8 NVOT Picnic: June 2nd at 4:00 PM

Grade 5 Trip: June 9th/June 10th (Each student attends one of the two days.)

Knights' Fest: June 10th

Grade 6 Field Trip: June 11th

Grade 8 Graduation: June 17th at 5:30 PM

Grade 8 Graduation Dance: June 18th at 6:00 PM

Last Day of School: June 24th (as of March 21, 2025; if no other snow days are used, the last day of school will be Friday, June 20th)

2024-2025 Approved School Year Calendar

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