Let's Talk TPS
February 12, 2025
Happy 100th National Spelling Bee
Your word is “Anniversary” - as in the 100th Anniversary of the National Spelling Bee (known as “the bee”).
Our elementary and middle school students are among the 11 million spellers who participate in the annual Scripps National Spelling Bee. To get as far as the national stage, a student must win their class, school, and then regional bees. We just completed the school competitions (see pictures below) where approximately 150 of our students participated. The Regional Bee will take place in March with dreams of earning national level recognition like these previous winners:
- Frank Neuhauser of Kentucky won the first National Spelling Bee held in Washington, D.C. in June 1925. After whittling down from approximately two million schoolchildren, the 11-year-old defeated nine finalists on stage when he successfully spelled "gladiolus". For his victory, Neuhauser was awarded five hundred dollars in gold pieces, and a hometown parade was held in his honor where he was presented with bouquets of gladioli. He also had the opportunity to meet President Calvin Coolidge.
- Last year’s winner was 12-year-old, Bruhat Soma, from St. Petersburg, Florida. Bruhat won over $50,000 in cash and prizes! He also got to meet Super Bowl LVIII’s champions at a special White House event.
- William Cashore of Pennsylvania won the bee in 1954 at age 14. Today, he’s the oldest living champion of the contest. He remembers winning the title by correctly spelling the word “transept”...go ahead and look it up!
With so much texting today, accurate spelling may seem like a lost art. But these bees help to improve spelling and vocabulary. That’s something to celebrate!
Congrats to our school winners and good luck at the next level!
Yours in Education,
Michael Ben-David J.D./M.Ed.
Superintendent of Schools
Class of 2025 Valedictorian & Salutatorian Announced
A big round of applause goes to Lunette Shaw (right) and Kavya Chettur, who are the Class of 2025 Valedictorian and Salutatorian, respectively. Principal Morrison surprised both students with calls down to his office, followed by calls to their moms to share the great news! Lunette and Kavya have not yet decided where they will attend college this fall, but we have no doubt their selected schools will be extremely lucky to have them! Check out our Instagram (@TenaflySchools) for Lunette's call to her mom - it's very sweet!
Spelling Bee E-X-C-I-T-E-M-E-N-T
The drama - the courage - the suspense...this year's school Spelling Bees had it all! Approximately 30 students from each of our middle and elementary schools (see Maugham picture on top and others below) participated in the annual Scripps Spelling Bee school-level competitions. Fellow students and parents cheered on as we all waited to see who would be the ultimate school bee winner. We are excited to announce that the following names have been sent to Scripps for the upcoming Regional Bees this March:
- Mackay - Alexander de Castro, grade 3
- Maugham - Samaira Dalal, grade 5 (seen here next to Dr. Castelluber, English Language Arts Supervisor)
- Smith - Allison Hahn, grade 5
- Stillman - Zachary Tsang, grade 5
- TMS - Cailee Shin, grade 8 - and second-time school champion!
Regional Bee winners will go on to the 100th National Spelling Bee in Maryland (right outside of Washington, D.C.). We wish our school representatives the very best, and give a warm "way to go" to all of this year's participants!
THS Lunar New Year Celebration
The Year of the Snake is officially underway, and our high school students celebrated with dance, song, and traditional performances in the THS Lalor Library Media Broadcast Center. Special thanks to the Korean Cultural Club, Chinese Cultural Club, and Indian Cultural Club for putting together an outstanding show! Today (Feb. 12th) is the Lantern Festival, which is a celebration that honors ancestors and marks the start of spring! Someone needs to tell Punxsutawney Phil (the groundhog)!
THS Science Olympiad Having Another Strong Season
THS Science Olympiad (SciOly) is off to a great start, having medaled in STEM events at Princeton SciOly 2025, ranking in the top ten at the Columbia University Science Olympiad Invitational, and earning "First Place Overall" at the Yale University Invitational. THS SciOly's event results include (but are not limited to):
Columbia:
Microbe Mission: 2nd place - Jehee Nam and Hillary Xie
Entomology: 2nd place - Kiran Muttiah and Edmund Hod
Robot Tour: 3rd place - Noah Jackson and Adir Shtalryd
Optics: 3rd place - Dominick Miller and Seiichiro Takayama
Quantum Quandaries - 3rd place - Seiichiro Takayama and Gal Sternberg
Princeton:
Microbe Mission: 2nd place - Jehee Nam and Hillary Xie
Ecology: 4th place - Tony Yoo and Edmund Hod
Air Trajectory: 5th place - Noah Jackson and Yuval Amitai
Yale:
Fossils: 1st place - Kiran Muttiah and Edmund Hod
Entomology: 1st place - Kiran Muttiah and Edmund Hod
Dynamic Planet: 1st place - Soeun Lee and Hillary Xie
Codebusters: 2nd place - Seiichiro Takayama, Dominick Miller and Soeun Lee
Microbe Mission: 3rd place - Jehee Nam and Hillary Xie
Ecology: 3rd place - Joe Kuwama and Edmund Hod
Next up are the UPenn Invitationals and the State Finals in March. Be sure to read the full story on some of these recent science competitions in The Echo. Congrats to all!
Next SEPAC Meeting - March 5th
You are invited to join the next meeting of our Special Education Parent Advisory Committee (SEPAC) on Wednesday, March 5th at our Central Office or via Zoom. Our agenda topic is "Seclusion & Restraint". For more information about our next meeting (speaker information will be posted soon), visit HERE. For more information about SEPAC, be sure to also follow us on Facebook - @Tenafly SEPAC (private group)!
Tenafly 5k Run & Dog Walk: Early Bird Discount Ends Feb. 28th!
Get ready to celebrate the 27th TEF Tenafly 5K Run & Dog Walk on Sunday, June 1, 2025. The highlight of this annual community-based event is the 5K Run, one of the largest road races in North Jersey, welcoming runners of all ages and abilities. The run is followed by the 5K Dog Walk – where you can participate with your furry friends! But that, of course, is only some of what makes the event special. The day includes a variety of family-friendly events for everyone - including a 1-mile Fun Run, a Tiger Cub run for the 6-and-under crowd, a Dog Parade, and inflatable bouncy houses to entertain the kids! In addition, we invite you to visit our Family Health & Fitness Fair to meet our sponsors and share some snacks and beverages. Registration opens February 1st, with an early bird discount through February 28th. Visit www.tenafly5k.com for more information and to register!
6th Annual Healthy School Lunch Challenge
It's official! The 6th Annual Healthy School Lunch Challenge, sponsored by Pomptonian, is now underway. As we celebrate National Nutrition Month, this is a wonderful opportunity to get our students involved in the kitchen, and excited about creating healthy meals.
Here are key details about this competition:
- Students from ALL TPS schools are invited to submit a healthy recipe by February 24th.
- Submissions will be divided into three categories: Pre-K through 5th grade, 6th through 8th grades, and 9th through 12th grades.
- For each category, we’ll select two Grand Prize Winners and one Super Grand Prize Winner.
- The top three high school contestants will compete in a cooking challenge at Driscoll Foods in their professional kitchen on March 7th from 8:30 AM - 2:30 PM.
Take a look at this short video detailing the competition: 6th Annual Healthy School Lunch Challenge. For additional details about this competition - including prizes and how to submit your recipe - visit the district website HERE or contact your school principal. You can also check out last year’s High School Lunch Challenge Cook-Off video here!