Falcon Flyer

We are pleased to announce our District Reconfiguration webpage is live. The webpage will be updated with information as it becomes available.

The Jefferson Township Chamber of Commerce honored Mrs. Barbara Platz as Educator of the Year at their annual banquet. Mrs. Platz, who has served as the elementary Gifted and Talented teacher, has guided award-winning Fifth-Grade Mock Trial and Debate Teams, spearheaded numerous innovative STEM challenges for our third, fourth, and fifth-graders, and advised the Book Club, Chess Club, and Fifth-Grade Breakfast Book Club. After twenty-five years of service to our district, Mrs. Platz will retire at the end of the school year. Congratulations and thank you, Mrs. Platz. (pictured left to right - Mrs. Jeanne Howe, Mrs. Barbara Platz, Mr. David Platz, and Mrs. Jodi Reinstein, District Supervisor and presenter for Mrs. Platz.)

The Fellowship of Language Educators of New Jersey (FLENJ) recently announced that Mr. Derek Sica is the recipient of the 2025 President's Award. Mr. Sica has been a valued member of the FLENJ community for many years, serving as President and Professional Development Workshop Coordinator. He has devoted his professional life to World Languages and currently holds the position of K–12 Supervisor of ESL, Music, Social Studies, and World Languages. As a passionate advocate for language learning, he consistently goes above and beyond to support teachers, enhance professional development, and inspire students. His leadership, tireless dedication, and lasting contributions to FLENJ and the field make him an exceptional recipient of this year’s award.

The Kindergarten Let's Go Play Club got off to a soggy start, but the rain did not stop them from having fun. They celebrated a Glow-Day Party, working together to play games and create glowing objects. They designed and crafted items from toothpicks and packing peanuts, just like the little girl in the story The Most Magnificent Things. They also set up several obstacle courses, racing through them on foot and scooters.

Ms. Brennan's preschool class is completing their Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle Unit. Families donated old clothes and shoes, and as a class, they took a mini "field trip" across the street to put the clothes in the donation bins so that someone in need can reuse them. The students did an amazing job.

Mrs. Travers's class visited the library for their kindergarten Informational Writing Unit, where they researched animals and gathered facts to include in their written work.

Miss Madani’s preschool class dug up worms outside to add to their compost bin for the Reduce, Reuse, Recycle Unit. Additionally, Mrs. La Paz’s class visited their classroom to learn more about composting.

As part of the Recycling Unit, students in Mrs. Koutouzakis’ class had a blast making tie-dye t-shirts for Earth Day. They discussed the importance of keeping our planet clean and the need to reduce, reuse, and recycle. It is never too early to start learning the significance of maintaining our planet's cleanliness!

Mrs. Trevenen’s kindergarten art classes worked on their latest projects, creating vibrant bleeding tissue paper backgrounds. Students also learned about geometric and organic shapes, drawing them on top with black markers.

Mrs. Garay's Pre-K class enjoyed their unit on Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle. They learned which items can be recycled and how to sort them properly. They have begun their unit on gardens by celebrating Earth Day and going on a nature scavenger hunt.

The Cozy Lake community celebrated Mother Earth. Mrs. Bolka’s class celebrated the day by creating plantable seed balls. The students tore blue, green, and white paper into small pieces, soaked them in water, and added flower seeds. They shaped the colorful pulp into balls resembling little Earths, ready to be planted and grown.

Miss Hartnett's class took a buddy walk around the front of Cozy Lake School to complete their Earth Day scavenger hunt. Students worked together to find or hear everything for their hunt.

Mrs. Mollitor's class had a great time making headbands and creating handprint flowers.

Kindergartners have been extremely busy creating artwork for their recent art show, which is proudly displayed throughout the halls of Cozy Lake.

When the fifth-grade students in Mrs. Gesek's class learned about the challenges many individuals face due to homelessness, they decided to take action. They organized a school-wide fundraiser with the goal of raising $500. They placed change jars in each classroom, held a teacher dress-down day, and introduced a Wear-a-Hat event for $1. When they totaled all the money collected, they raised $2,000 for the Market Street Mission in Morristown. We are incredibly proud of their efforts to consider others with hearts of empathy.

The final chapter of the Big Bad Wolf Trials at Arthur Stanlick has taken place. Mrs. Platz's unwavering commitment to creating authentic learning experiences for our students is truly inspiring. Thank you, Mrs. Platz, for your dedication and passion in providing this wonderful mock trial experience to our school community over the past twenty-five years. Additionally, our fifth-grade students excelled in every role they played throughout the trials.

In social studies classes, the third-graders have been studying early immigration. They examined the various reasons why people came to America in the late 1800s and early 1900s. They also learned about their journeys and how they were processed at Ellis Island before starting their new lives in this country. As part of a culminating activity, the third-graders participated in an Immigration Simulation, aided by twenty-eight parent volunteers who were instrumental to the event's success. The students created passports before packing their bags and dressing for the occasion. Our immigrants experienced the crowded conditions aboard their steamships and were delighted when they spotted the Statue of Liberty as they approached the entrance of Ellis Island. The immigrants faced long lines while waiting for their legal interviews, medical inspections, literacy tests, and citizenship exams. They exchanged their foreign currency at the money exchange and purchased train tickets for their final destinations. Before the morning’s events concluded, the students heard from guest speaker Maria Arrabito, who recounted her experience of being processed on Ellis Island as a young girl. The students thoroughly enjoyed this culminating activity, which helped bring their learning about early immigration to life.

Mrs. Warner's fifth-grade class studied the Age of Exploration and its impact on the world. They discussed how explorers from various countries connected different parts of the globe through trade, exploration, and colonization, uncovering how their discoveries led to significant societal changes, including new ideas, cultures, and even conflicts. Additionally, they improved their skills in reading maps and understanding how explorers traveled the world. The students talked about the reasons explorers set out on their journeys—some seeking wealth, power, or merely curious about what lay beyond—and reflected on how their actions affected the people in the regions they explored, particularly Indigenous populations. They also learned that many advancements from the Age of Exploration laid the foundation for history in America and beyond. To demonstrate their understanding, students researched various explorers and created posters and dodecahedrons to share their findings with the class. It was an enjoyable way to delve into the past and understand how it shaped the world we live in today.

First-graders completed their month-long reading challenge. Thanks to a grant from the JTEA, students adopted reading buddies to start the challenge. Parents were invited to be guest readers, and students earned rewards for each book they read during the challenge. The program was created to foster a love of reading!

Each year, White Rock third-graders have the opportunity to prepare a musical during their recess periods. This year, there were 38 actors and 23 set designers who met for 25 minutes a week to practice and create props and backgrounds for The Wackadoo Zoo, a musical about a group of silly, mixed-up animals. Thank you to the theatrical moderators, Mrs. Kirschner, Mrs. Modula, Mrs. Tamayne-Hettema, Mr. Tiedemann, and Mrs. Weiss.

This year's trials had some unexpected changes, with the addition of Judge Plotts at the last minute, but the trial concluded with the Big, Bad Wolf being found NOT GUILTY!

Our Facility's Department was VERY hard at work over the spring recess, totally renovating one of the boys' restrooms. Utilizing our staff saved the district approximately $90,000, with an initial contract estimate of $100,000. Thank you to the crew for such an amazing transformation in just a few days!

Congratulations to the following students who were recognized in March for their trustworthiness, responsibility, fairness, caring, and citizenship.

• 6th Grade: Dhruv Patel & Ryan Wasserman
• 7th Grade: Morgan Rooney & Lily Sherwood
• 8th Grade: Brianna Chrobock & Emilia Lichter

Congratulations to all the performers and staff who contributed to the recent production of Disney's Moana, Jr. The audience was truly impressed and delighted by the incredible dedication and hard work from everyone involved.

The members of the Tri-M Music Society hosted their annual Musical Instrument Petting Zoo on March 29th. Children of all ages in the community were invited to experience playing different instruments, enjoy games, and participate in other fun musical activities.

In partnership with Sparta Books, students were invited to meet the prolific author, Jennifer Calonita. Author Calonita spoke about her novels, particularly focusing on her new release, Isle of Ever, a free copy of which was gifted to twelve lucky winners thanks to a JTEA grant. Students enjoyed the opportunity to ask her questions about her characters, the writing process, and what it's like to be a professional writer. She concluded with a whole-group activity, brainstorming our very own twisted fairy tale.

Mrs. Sabella's and Mrs. DeGraaf‘s students were challenged to master 40 ALEKS topics in the third marking period. Nearly 100 students from both teams met their goals, and celebrated with ice cream sandwiches.

Christopher Filippelli, Noah Mednick, and Scarlet Melick are seniors and leaders within the school community and March's Falcon Pride Recipients. Whether it is spreading positivity or guiding their younger peers, Scarlett, Noah, and Chris have certainly left their mark and legacy on campus.

Christopher has grown into a leader within the building and the baseball program, while also assisting Mr. Kazanfer in the Video Production Department. According to Mr. K, "Chris Filippelli demonstrates competence in many areas and has the ability to perform a wide range of both technical and creative tasks. He establishes clear goals and objectives that are achievable, and his leadership skills have helped him create various productions for the good of the community."

In addition to being a leader on the volleyball team, Scarlett consistently serves as a source of positivity for those around the building. According to Mrs. Schwimer, "Scarlett consistently brings an infectious enthusiasm to the classroom. She approaches every activity with a positive attitude and is always ready to volunteer to perform. She supports her classmates by being an encouraging audience member. Scarlett’s competitive spirit elevates Drama games by bringing an exciting level of energy to the group. Her compassionate nature ensures that everyone feels included, making sure no one is left out when forming groups for scene work."

Noah has emerged as a leader among his peers both within the building and within the baseball program. He consistently strives to always put forth his best effort, and truly leads by example in and out of the classroom. According to Mrs. Daken, "Noah has emerged as an incredible role model. I have seen him step up multiple times in classes to remind his classmates about behaving appropriately."

Congratulations to Peyton Kitchell for recently placing third and to Carlton Tukov for placing second at the 2025 Blackwell High School Art Show. Also noteworthy is Zack Jackson’s acrylic artwork, All Seeing Eye, which was also selected to compete as Congresswoman Mikie Sherrill’s selection in this year’s Congressional Art Competition. Congratulations to all of our artists who were chosen to showcase their beautiful artwork and represent Jefferson Township Public Schools.

Jefferson Township High School's FBLA Chapter is proud to announce the results from this year's 2025 State Leadership Conference.

• Krish Malayiva - Top 10 in Personal Finance Objective Test
• Kenrick Kleid & Izzy Waslewski - Top 10 in Hospitality & Event Management Role Play Event
• Alina Greiner - Top 10 Scrapbook Competition

Congratulations to the cast, crew, and members of the orchestra pit of the recent production of The Little Mermaid. We are very proud of everyone for putting on an amazing show. It was a smash hit with record-setting crowds. The members are greatly appreciate to everyone who attended the shows. The production involved many months of hard work and countless hours of rehearsals to achieve the finished product. Thank you to Director, Mr. Von Essen, Set Designer, Mrs. Cantwell, and Choreographer, Mrs. Gray. A special shout-out to the Jefferson Tech guys for helping to fix and rehang the damaged light fixtures. Plans are already underway for next year's Spring musical production!

Students recently participated in "The Game of Life" during all Physical Education classes. In this activity, students received a random scenario simulating real-life situations that they or their families might encounter. Throughout the gym, representatives from over twenty county agencies assisted students as they searched for the appropriate agency to help resolve their situations. This interaction enabled representatives to discuss their agency, describe their services, and explain how they support families in Morris County. The program proved to be highly successful and engaging, as students shared their experiences while walking through the halls and entering their classrooms. After the event, students received a directory of the names and responsibilities of the county agencies. Thank you to the many presenters who took the time to contribute to this memorable experience and its success.

As part of the district’s reconfiguration of the STEP Program (18-21) this year, we have received three visits from other districts interested in modeling our program because of the comprehensive services and opportunities we provide to our young adults. This year, our STEP Program placed greater emphasis on becoming more community-based, a shift that was highlighted during local and state transition meetings. Additionally, our program was recently recognized by Mr. Bill Freeman, the New Jersey Department of Education’s State Coordinator of Secondary Transition, for our innovative approach and student impact.