Tuscan Tidings

Welcome to the 2024-2025 School Year at Tuscan!

Tuscan School Hours

Full Day 8:53 am – 3:23 pm

4 Hour Day 8:53 am – 12:53 pm

Dear Tuscan Family~

Welcome back to our returning Tuscan families, welcome to our new Tuscan families and a special welcome to Tuscan’s 2024-2025 Kindergarten Class!

We are extremely excited to welcome our students to a wonderful new school year at Tuscan! Know that we are diligently working to ensure a smooth and successful opening of school, for all Tuscan students, families, teachers and staff.

At Tuscan School

We are committed to creating and cultivating a safe, supportive and inclusive learning community that affirms and uplifts our students, families, faculty and staff. We deeply want our new to Tuscan families, and all Tuscan families, to feel a sense of belonging as valued members of a harmonious school community that genuinely seeks to work together in support of all Tuscan children.

Tuscan is a Wonderful School for Learning!

Tuscan is fortunate to have a strong team of talented, caring, compassionate, and hard-working teachers and staff all dedicated to meeting the academic, social and emotional needs of Tuscan’s children. Our goal is to make the 2024-2025 school year as enjoyable and enriching as possible for all of our students.

In the delivery of instruction, we foster and encourage curiosity, creative thinking, problem-solving, persistence and perseverance. We are deeply dedicated to teaching in ways to expand our students’ capacity to demonstrate empathy, kindness, understanding, respect and appreciation for all members of our community. We are continuously working to ensure that your child’s school experience is filled with engaging, joyful and meaningful opportunities for learning. Please be assured that, Tuscan’s children will be deeply cared for and treated with dignity, respect and love.

Parent Involvement at Tuscan

Tuscan has supportive, actively engaged, and generous parents and we deeply value parent involvement and positive partnerships. Throughout the school year, the Tuscan PTA works closely with the school to provide enriching experiences for Tuscan’s children.

The Tuscan PTA website offers a wealth of information and reminders about Tuscan School and Tuscan PTA events. If you have not already done so please consider joining the Tuscan PTA and signing up for the Tuscan PTA newsletter.

We understand that as parents of school age children you face a myriad of challenges and we welcome your positive partnership, insight and voice. Please know that we are here to support you and your child in every way that is possible. Should you have any questions or concerns about the Tuscan experience please email us at RoarforTuscan@somsd.k12.nj.us. Please know that we will do our best to respond to emails as quickly as possible.

In the meantime, have a Happy Labor Day Weekend!

~Ms. Majeed, Tuscan School Principal

A low rate of teacher/staff turnover adds richly to our ability to consistently provide Tuscan’s children with high quality learning experiences. However, some school years, staffing and teaching assignment changes are inevitable. We invite you to join us in warmly welcoming the following returning and new faculty/staff members for the 2024-2025 school year.

• In the main office we are fortunate to have Tuscan School Secretary, Mrs. Fay Clark, Office Clerk Ms. Sabrina Bethea, Tuscan School Nurse Mrs. Angela Thompson and new Assistant Principal, Mr. Michael Calissi. The diligent work of this stellar team is a strong base of support for ensuring that all of our students, teachers, staff and families experience a wonderful 2024 – 2025 school year at Tuscan.

• Welcome back to our dedicated and knowledgeable Child Study Team, members include Ms. Valerie Frost, MSW, School Social Worker, Ms. L. Johnson, M.A.T., Learning Disabilities Teacher Consultant and Dr. Nicole Osher, Psy.D. School Psychologist.

• Ms. Brielle Amato is joining Mrs. Sinclair, Mrs. Fischetti and Ms. Koes on the amazing Kindergarten Team. Ms. Amato is looking forward to a fantastic school year at Tuscan while Ms. Vezza is on leave.

• On the awesome 1st Grade team, we have Mrs. Nelson, Mrs. Samson and Mrs. Terranova. To co-teach Grade 1 In-Class Support with Ms. Samson, Special Education teacher Ms. Bhatti joins the team. We wish all the best to Teacher Gray at Delia Bolden and best wishes to Mrs. Koltenuk-Clarke at Seth Boyden.

• Returning to the wonderful 2nd Grade team are Mrs. DePasquale and Ms. Giovanelli, Mrs. Dore, Mr. Paquette and Mrs. Thomas. Ms. Laura Wheeler is wished all the best at Delia Bolden.

• We are thankful to have our outstanding Academic Intervention Specialist Mrs. Murphy to advance the literacy skills of our K-2 students and support the work of the Intervention & Referral Services (I&RS) Committee at Tuscan.

• On the magnificent Grade 3 team Mrs. Boryeskne and Ms. Mondacci, Mrs. Makasakit, Mrs. Sackett and Ms. Rosenburgh have new team members. We are pleased to welcome Mrs. Smith to teach a new section and Special Education teacher Mrs. Hilongos (formerly Ms. DePaolo) to co-teach a new section of In-Class Support with Ms. Rosenburgh.

• We are thankful to have Special Education teachers Mrs. Vanessa Wilson and Mrs. Lucille Mungiello to provide Pull-Out Resource instruction for Grades 1-3 and Grade 4/Grade 5, respectively.

• This school year, Mrs. Van Wert is on a leave of absence and we are eagerly looking forward to welcoming a Special Education teacher to provide Evidence Based Reading (EBR) instruction.

• Welcome Mrs. Gina Zimmerman and Ms. Krista Bell to the marvelous 4th Grade Team with Mrs. Weber, Mrs. Kenniff, Mrs. Lee and Mrs. Kavanaugh. Mrs. Zimmerman is looking forward to a wonderful full school year at Tuscan while Mrs. Rodriguez is on leave. Ms. Bell is excited to join the team until Mrs. Silvestri returns this November.

• Special Education teacher Mrs. Jessica Wheeler is moving up to the phenomenal 5th Grade team with Mrs. Secor, Mrs. Skawinski, Mrs. Rickard, Mrs. Wrembel, Mrs. D’Alconzo and Ms. Pace. Mrs. Wheeler will be co-teaching a new section of In-Class Support with Mrs. Secor and Mrs. Wrembel.

• We are thankful to welcome back Tuscan’s sensational team of Specialists. Joining Mrs. Van Tine, Mrs. Sullivan, Mr. Panayoutou, and Ms. Popp is our new Art teacher Ms. Patience Rustomji. Ms. Cynthia Phelan also joins Tuscan to teach Grade 4 and Grade 5 Spanish as Ms. Santos returned to SOMS. Our Instrumental Music teachers Ms. Jasmine Bloch, Director of 5th Grade Band and Mr. Domenic Croce Director of 5th Grade Orchestra complete the team.

• We are also delighted to welcome our new Tuscan School Social Worker Ms. Angeli Lillman. We thank Ms. Buggy for her support and wish her all the best working in private practice.

• To keep our school building clean and safe we are thankful for our hardworking custodial staff members, Head Custodian Darrell Franklin, Juan Villanueva, Alicia Paruag and Mario Geneus.

Tuscan school administrators and support staff are profoundly grateful to have such an outstanding and talented team of teachers and specialists to work with and support in developing the academic, social and emotional needs of Tuscan’s children.

We are enthusiastically looking forward to warmly welcoming Tuscan students and families for the first day of school on Thursday, September 5, 2024.

At this time, it is certainly understandable for parents to be curious about their child’s teacher assignment(s).

The Information Technology Department plans to email information regarding Parent Portal access as soon as possible.

If you have any issues with the parent portal, please review the information found here or email parentportalhelp@somsd.k12.nj.us.

PowerSchool Addresses

PowerSchool links will be accessible under Quick Links on the district website.

Having access to the parent portal allows you to view important information regarding your child.

• View daily attendance records.
• View marking period grades.
• View printable report cards and progress reports.
• View school welcome letters (elementary schools).
• View schedules (secondary schools).
• View student Google account information (new students).
• View locker information (High School)
• Make changes to contact information.
• Review and acknowledge forms and documents.

If parents have any issues with the parent portal, please review the information found here or email parentportalhelp@somsd.k12.nj.us.

Please remember to visit the Tuscan PTA website at https://tuscanpta.membershiptoolkit.com. From there you will be able to opt-in to Tuscan PTA weekly newsletter, volunteer for events, purchase spirit wear and receive important communications.

To enhance your child’s Tuscan experience, we are fortunate to have a supportive, actively involved and generous parent community. The Tuscan PTA works closely with the school to provide enriching experiences for Tuscan children and families.

We hope all parents will become a member of the PTA. If cost is prohibiting your participation, please reach out confidentially to Social Worker Ms. Lillman (alillman@somsd.k12.nj.us) or Principal Ms. Majeed (mmajeed@somsd.k12.nj.us).

Thursday, September 12th, 2024

4-Hour School Day/Early Dismissal at 12:53 pm

&

Back to School Night at Tuscan

6:30 pm – 8:00 pm

Back-to-School Night is an opportunity for teachers to provide valuable information about the curriculum and suggestions for establishing routines at the beginning of the school year that will be essential for successful student learning throughout the school year.

Classroom Presentations

6:30 pm – 7:15 pm

Grades 1, 3 & 5

&

Specialists

(Art, Library, Music, PE, Spanish)

7:15 pm – 8:00 pm

Grades K, 2 & 4

&

Specialists

(Art, Library, Music, PE, Spanish)

Ms. Colleen Thaler

Opt-In For Text Messages

In order to participate in the text messaging service, you must indicate your willingness to receive text messages to your phone, even if you received text messages this year. You must do this whether you have a child in the school system or belong to a community organization that wants to keep up-to-date with our alerts.

To learn more about signing up for SMS text messaging visit: website: https://www.somsd.k12.nj.us/headlines/district-news/2019/12/16/sms-text-message-communications-from-the-district/

REMINDER! Update Contact Information for All Parties Via School Messenger:

In order to communicate with you through School Messenger, it is important that we have the most up-to-date contact information available for all parties.

• Parents/Guardianss, if you have not yet completed the annual online parent portal forms, we are requesting you do so as soon as possible. More information for parents is found here.
• All staff members are asked to communicate any telephone number changes to the Human Resources department using the “Change staff contact information” form found on the Human Resources website.

The district web page for Chromebooks (click here) has been updated for the 2024 - 2025 school year. Items that have been updated or are new include:

• The publication of a Chromebook Technology Handbook for families to review.
• Information regarding policies for acceptable use and care of district devices.
• Instructions on how families complete the district's device agreement form.
• General information on the upcoming launch of the district's Chromebook Insurance Information.
• Cost of repairs for broken Chromebooks that students may be charged.
• General Information regarding Chromebook Carts for students in grades K - 1 and the 1:1 program for students in grades 2 - 12.

The Information Technology Department will be sending out a general communication to families highlighting the Chromebook Technology Handbook, District Chromebook Insurance Information, and the requirement for families to electronically sign the device agreement form.

Shortly after the start of school, the Information Technology Department will also share information regarding the district's launch of the GoGuardian Parent Application. This app will allow parents to block websites and monitor their student's browsing history on district Chromebooks at home. The Information Technology Department will provide more information on this application closer to launch.

As per Board policy the "Guide to Positive School Culture, Climate, & Code of Conduct" information is to be disseminated annually to all school staff, students, and parents.

The "Guide to Positive School Culture, Climate, & Code of Conduct" is presented to assist students, staff, and parents/guardians to understand the expectations for acceptable conduct while in school or attending school-sponsored activities, on school grounds, and while on the way to and from school.

All students are expected to follow the "Guide to Positive School Culture, Climate, & Code of Conduct". K-12 Principals will review core principles and key components of the "Guide to Positive School Culture, Climate, & Code of Conduct" with their staff. In developmentally appropriate ways, beginning on the first day of school of each school year and frequently throughout the year, teachers will create and cultivate a community of learners based on the importance of kindness and respect.

We ask families to do the same with their children. It is the collective responsibility of students, staff, and parents/guardians to ensure that the expectations set forth in the "Guide to Positive School Culture, Climate, & Code of Conduct" are practiced and reinforced in our school on a daily basis.

Click the link to view the 2023-2024 SY Guide to Positive School Culture, Climate, & Code of Conduct

While we appreciate the companionship pets can provide, it is important to note some individuals may have allergies or fears related to animals. To ensure the comfort of everyone, we must maintain a pet-free environment. Therefore, we kindly request everyone's cooperation in adhering to

District Policy 7490 – Animals on School Property.

This policy is designed to promote the well-being and safety of our students, staff, and visitors. Thank you for your attention to this matter.

South Orange Maplewood School District

SOMSD Withdrawals/Transfer Out of School District

If your child will be attending a private school or if your family will be moving out of the District at any time within the school year, you must officially withdraw your child(ren) from the District.

Please email Ms. Bethea via TuscanASAP@somsd.k12.nj.us for assistance with the withdrawal process and to make arrangements to have your children’s academic and health records forwarded to your new school.

If you are in possession of a District issued Chromebook, arrangements will be made for the safe return of the device. Please advise us of the need to return the device during the withdrawal process.

• September 5: First Day of School!
• September 12: Tuscan 12:53 pm Dismissal/ Back to School Night
• October 3-4: Rosh Hashanah - District Closed
• October 22: Tuscan 12:53 pm Dismissal/ PD Staff
• November 5: Election Day (Schools Closed for Students) PD Staff
• November 7-8: NJEA Convention - District Closed
• November 27: Tuscan 12:53 pm Dismissal
  
• November 28-29: Thanksgiving Recess - District Closed

The School District of South Orange and Maplewood

Email: ROARforTuscan@somsd.k12.nj.us
Website: www.somsd.k12.nj.us/tuscan/
Location: 25 Harvard Avenue, Maplewood, NJ, USA
Phone: 973-378-5221