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The Washington Star ⭐
October 30th, 2023
Hello, Washington Families!
This month, school has been abuzz with all the Fall vibes! As I visit all of the classrooms, I am seeing so much creative learning happening. Our teachers here at Washington School do such a wonderful job at infusing hands-on and sensory-related activities into their lessons each day. From painting 3D pumpkins made out of paper bags, to building a scarecrow and life-sized tree, to decorating cookies - our kiddos are doing it all!
One of our focuses this month has been about thoughtful engagement of our students through meaningful, play-based learning. At this age, we are fortunate to see huge growth in not only academic skill acquisition, but language and social-emotional development in a short period of time - and we see it happening during play time. Our staff has been working on enriching center time and infusing language and problem-solving into their classroom routines. While it may look like we are all just "playing", we know that relationships are being formed, language is being developed and problem-solving abilities are being fostered. Check out this article which does a great job in explaining some of the objectives we keep in mind when using play as a teaching tool: https://www.edutopia.org/article/young-kids-power-play-based-learning/
We would love to hear about something your child has learned or improved upon since starting this school year, so please feel free to share with us! There is no accomplishment too small!
This month we celebrated the Week of Respect by focusing lessons on what it means to be a friend, and demonstrate "respectful" behavior. Individual classes put their own preschool spins on how to tailor these lessons for our three and four year old audiences!
Ms. M's class made a respect and kindness chain highlighting all of the things you can do to demonstrate these character traits!
Mrs. Hanenberg visited all the classrooms to read the story "I Can Be a Super Friend".
Ms. Stefanie worked hard to introduce our new School Wide Positive Behavior Support system to all of our classes! This system, centered on reinforcing STAR behavior, will focus on exhibiting kindness and being a good friend and a responsible student!
🚒 👨🚒 Fire Safety Week brought important lessons, but also big excitement to Washington School with a visit from the Saddle Brook Fire Department! The children loved exploring the trucks and sporting their fire hats! 👩🚒🚒
🍁 🍂 In keeping with the Fall theme, classes took a field trip to Secor Farms in Mahwah this month for some pumpkin picking and hayrides! By the looks of it, a good time was had by all! Thank you to our teachers and staff for pulling off such a wonderful experience. 🍁 🍂
Miss Shayna's Room!
This month in speech we learned all about pumpkins in preparation for the field trip! We talked about the different parts of the pumpkin and made a pumpkin craft. We described all different kinds of pumpkins based on their sizes, colors and how they feel. We learned about how pumpkins grow and practiced sequencing skills. Last, we sorted objects in our fall sensory bin by categories and colors. It was so much fun!
PTO Corner
Thank you to all those who participated in our Fun Pasta Fundraiser! Join us at the meeting to discuss what's to come - including a holiday cookie sale!
Also, at this meeting we will be finalizing plans for our Thanksgiving Feast! You don't want to miss it!
*This is a parents only meeting*
10% of all money raised this school year will be donated to our school's playground project!
PTO President: Ariana Rodriguez
Secretary: Brielle Barnes
Treasurer: Imma Sproviero
Announcements
Halloween
Please join us for the parade at 9:15 outside the front of the building. Following this, students will return to their classrooms for their class parties and to take turns trick-or-treating around the building. 🍬🍭
📌Reminder that this day is a single session day. Half Day students will be dismissed at 10:45 and Full Day students will be dismissed at 1:00.
*If you wish for your child NOT to participate in Halloween-related activities, please contact your child's teacher directly*
SBEF Walk-a-Thon
👟🚶Thank you to all families that contributed to this wonderful event! As a school, we were able to raise $451.00 for the Saddle Brook Education Foundation!! 👟🚶
The November lunch menu is out - please be sure to logon and place your orders!
Our Thanksgiving Feast is scheduled for Monday, November 21st! Details to come.
On Wednesday, November 1st at 10am we will be conducting a test of our communication system. We will send out a test email, text, phone call, and app notification at this time.
You may download our app by searching for "sbpsnj" or "saddle brook public schools" in your app store.
If you are a parent, please log into our parent portal. Click on your cell phone number. Make sure "primary" is checked and you included your cell service provider if you wish for this to be the first phone call made and to receive texts.