Mackay Newsletter

Dear Mackay Families,

I am so excited to welcome you to another amazing school year at Mackay. We have a fun filled year of learning ahead, and our teachers and staff are thrilled to welcome you back. We have a lot of changes here at Mackay this year and I feel so lucky to welcome so many wonderful new staff members, students and families into our community. My hope is that our classrooms will be filled with challenge, rigor, confidence, fervor, engagement, laughter and growth.

September is a time for our teachers to get to know our students as learners and as people. We love to discover how our students learn in order to differentiate our instruction to support diverse learning styles. We help foster relationships for our students with their new classmates and create classroom environments where students can shine and grow. My wish is that all Mackay students will love school and when they walk through our doors each day they know that they are in a positive, safe, caring, and fun place to learn and thrive.

In our first week we had a welcome back assembly where we discussed the qualities and values of a Mackay Champion: Respect, Responsibility, Kindness, Honesty and Collaboration and Teamwork. We will brainstorm together some school rules that help us to take care of ourselves, take care of others and take care of this place! Along with all of our changes this year, one of our new themes will be “Bloom with us.” We can’t wait to watch everyone grow this year.

As your principal, it is important to me that all feel welcome and included here at Mackay. I hope you will get involved in our community and look forward to meeting each one of you soon. Please do not hesitate to contact me with any questions, concerns, or ideas you would like to share at hchizzik@tenafly.k12.nj.us. I hope you will be able to join us for Back to School Night on September 19th. I can’t wait to see you all soon!

Have a wonderful September with your spectacular students,

Heidi Chizzik

Principal

Welcome Back, Mackay Families!

I hope you had a wonderful summer filled with adventures and opportunities to learn new things! The students and staff had a great start to the school year. Mrs. Chizzik and I presented our annual Back to School Assembly for students in grades 1-5 (we met with Kindergarten students in their classrooms) welcoming everyone back, reminding them of school expectations, getting them excited about Mackay Champions, and unveiling our theme for the year: Bloom with Us. We also discussed the importance of gratitude and how feeling grateful can lead to many positive feelings in our lives. Next month, we will continue our focus on growing in gratitude. We look forward to other exciting events at Mackay around this topic! I wish you all a fabulous school year and can’t wait to see all of the blooming that will be happening at Mackay!

Mrs. Angerson, MA, LAC

School Counselor

Mackay Elementary School

jangerson@tenafly.k12.nj.us

201-816-7701 X7156

- Mrs. Angerson

Please do not send a sick child to school. In order to prevent the spread of disease, parents and guardians should keep a child home when he/she shows any of the following:

Headache

Earache

Sore Throat

Fever

Coughing

Pain

Chills

Vomiting

Runny Eyes

Rashes

Diarrhea

• If your child has had a fever, he/she must be kept home for 24 hours after the fever has returned to normal, as fevers typically rise in the afternoon.

• If your child will be absent, please call the Nurse’s Office at 201-816-7703 before 9:00 A.M. A message can be left 24 hours a day.

• The State Dept. of Education discourages the administration of medications in school. However, there are circumstances where it is necessary. Medication should not be sent into school with your child to administer. Medication can only be given by the School Nurse or a parent/guardian. Medication will only be given with written permission from a physician. This includes prescription and non-prescription medication. If your child will need to take medication, please contact the Nurse’s Office for the proper forms and procedures. Medication will not be given without a physician’s note and written parental permission.
  

• Please notify the Nurse’s Office if your child has a food or bee sting allergy that requires an Epi-pen or medication.

• Please remember to dress your child appropriately for daily weather conditions. When the weather is cold, often they go outside for recess and may need gloves and boots depending on the conditions.

• The Nurse is available for conferences with parents/guardians concerning any health issues or concerns regarding their child. Parents of children with chronic illnesses are encouraged to contact the nurse and discuss the specific health plan required. Available hours are Monday through Friday 8:30 A.M. - 3:10 P.M.

Thank you for your cooperation. Together we can make a healthier environment for our children.

-Sharon Saglimbene

Hello to all our Mackay families!

I hope you had an amazing summer! I am so excited and eager to be back in the art room working with all our students. This month we are back in action learning and exploring the art room as we start our first big project of the year. For those of you new to Mackay, I like to begin the year with a school wide project where students work on an individual art piece that will be displayed to create one large piece with everyone’s work together. This month we kick that off by creating art around International Day of Peace which is on September 21st. This year’s theme is Cultivating a Culture of Peace. With the collaboration of Mrs. Chizzik, Mrs.Angerson, and I, we will be discussing this theme in our school and classes. Then in the art room, we will be creating a wall of 3D flowers made using various art mediums, techniques, and skills based on the art curriculum for the students respective grade level. We will display these flowers in the halls of Mackay on a grass and flower wall for all to enjoy!! We are so excited for what’s to come and how we discuss and connect this theme of peace and growth to the art we are creating!

Stay tuned!

With love,

-Ms. Bracero

Follow Mackay's social media platforms to keep up-to-date with upcoming events and happenings in our school and community.

Instagram - @principalmackay