• October 29th- Blue and Gold Assembly at 9:20am
• October 31st- Halloween Parade at 2:15pm on SJG back field
• November 1st- Picture Retake Day
• November 7th and 8th- School Closed for New Jersey Educators Association Convention

Dear Parents,

We are looking forward to celebrating Halloween with the students on Thursday, October 31st! Class parents and teachers are working to set up classroom celebrations and our parade will be held at 2:15 P.M., weather permitting. Costume guidance is as follows:

• Costumes should be worn to school and comfortable enough to participate in all learning activities, including recess and physical education. NO gory or violent subjects (blood and/or bodily injury depictions), bodily fluids or excrement, weapons (swords, knives, guns, rifles, etc.), Covid related, and no inappropriate sayings, symbols, or offensive representations. Additionally, NO inflatable costumes for safety reasons.

• Hair and make-up should be school appropriate in accordance with the guidelines above and should not conceal a student’s identity or obscure vision. All hair and make-up should be done at home prior to coming to school. Any mask must be appropriate and follow the guidelines above and cannot be worn during the day. Masks will only be worn during the parade.

The parade will take place on the backfield. Cones will mark a large, squared off area. Parents, guardians, and family members attending the parade should stand inside the cones. Please do not set up chairs. When parking, please make sure all crosswalks remain clear and only park in lined spots. The students will exit the school through the gym doors and parade around the spectators. You may begin to arrive at 2:00 P.M. and the festivities will begin promptly at 2:15 P.M.

Once the parade has concluded, students will re-enter the building until dismissal. Please plan to pick up your child as you would any other day. If there is a change in how your child will be going home that day, please let the classroom teacher and main office know in advance. In the event of rain, the parade will be held in the gym for students only, as we cannot accommodate the large number of spectators indoors. We are hoping for nice weather and a spooktacular time!

On Friday, November 1st, we will have “Pajama Day.” It’s never easy getting up the day after Halloween, so if you can get your ghouls washed up and ready for bed that night, they can just roll in Friday morning.

Best,
Matt

We kicked off Red Ribbon Week with our Dance Out Against Drugs on Thursday. Thank you to all the parents who attended the event. Next week we have something daily to help learn about staying away from drugs, alcohol, and tobacco so that we have a healthy mind and body. See the activities below!

If you would like to submit a nomination for the 2024-2025 SJG Governor’s Educator of the Year award for a SJG staff member, please see eligibility criteria and the nomination form. Please submit the nomination form to Mr. Reiner by 11/15/24.

How often do your children come home and give you the answers of "SCHOOL WAS FINE" or "NOTHING" when you ask them what they did today? We recognize that and now our students are informing all the parents about what they are learning by completing this section of the newsletter! Each week, different students from each class will collaborate and put together what they are excited to share about their learning. Below is a picture of our reporters for the week!

Kindergarten (Mila, Ellie, Luciana): In Language Arts we are learning new letters all the time. We write our letters and use them to make words. We are also learning to write numbers and add numbers together. We love choice time and learning EVERYTHING!!

1st Grade (Madison, Addison, Leyanna): In math we are learning about number paths and number bonds. We are reading counting stories. In Fundations, we are learning digraphs and bonus letters! We are also writing about our noticings. We love free time Fridays and extra recess and Math!

2nd Grade (Adam, Kaia): In Math we are completing two step equations including subtraction and addition. We are reading on-level books from our book bins. We are writing personal narratives about real things that happened in our lives. In social studies we are learning about communities and community helpers.

3rd Grade (Camila, Camilla, Mia): In math we are learning subtraction with regrouping. We are learning one, one, one words in fundations and compound words. We are reading Magic Tree House, October Ogre, and Jigsaw Jones Mysteries. We also finished The Storm and are answering questions about it. In Social Studies we are learning about continents and oceans. For writing we are writing about times we were scared or surprised.

4th Grade (Enzo, Josuf, Kyleigh): In reading we are reading about the eruption of Pompeii and the destruction of the city. We just finished reading Frindle and each chapter we jotted notes "stop and jot" about what we imagine and predict. We are solving multiplication with bar models and on Monday we are starting multiplication and division problems with bar models. We went around the school grounds and found items to create fossils of. We also used tectonic plates using graham crackers as the plates and frosting as the mantle. And we ate them!! We did an experiment about different types of volcanoes and how the different types of volcanoes explode with different types of lava, thin or thick!

5th Grade (Isla, Matteo): In math, we enjoy learning volume, height, and standard algorithm for multiplication. We have been reading "White Bird"- When Julian's (from Wonder) grandma talks about her life and WW2 and we finished the Julian Chapter of Wonder- Learning about Julian's perspective of what happened in Wonder. We like reading Wonder because it shows us different people's views of the same situation and the story had lots of surprises. In writing, we are finishing our Wonder Essay and writing our speeches for Student Council Elections. We are learning about matter and the states of matter which is when matter goes through changes.

Phys Ed (Isla): in 5th grade phys ed we have been doing step up boxes for cardio. We have been playing swat ball: 4 cones, you sit in the middle with 4 people, and you roll a ball to try and score by getting the ball go through the other persons cones.

Music (Sofija): We made our own verses for Black Bird and we are going to sing them to Mr. Reiner next week! We also learned a song about a witch and a cauldron for Halloween!

Media (Rina): We are writing our office visit letters to the Author that we had visit. We are thanking him for coming and telling him what we learned. We are also working in partners to create slide shows on library rules.

Art (Tyler): In Kindergarten art we are painting. We are mixing colors to see what happens. Red and blue make purple, red and yellow make orange, and blue and yellow make green. We are making colors!

ESL (Doar): We are learning to put suffixes or endings on words. We are doing work on The Littles including answering questions. We love Ms. Kim!

Joseph did an amazing job this week reciting The Pledge of Allegiance as well as our kindness quote for the day. Thank you for being so fantastic Joseph!

If you are looking for future events, we update the SJG Calendar of Events as we solidify dates. You can find the calendar on our website but below is the link that we will keep in our newsletter going forward.

In the event that your child arrives at school late, please park your vehicle and come into the building to sign them in. It is essential for us to maintain accurate records of student attendance. Therefore, parents are no longer permitted to have students ring the bell and enter the building unaccompanied when they are late. Thank you for your cooperation.

Please see the handbook below for the school year.

Being present in school is super important! Full days out, 1/2 days out, being late, and leaving early affect your children's learning. See below!

Stay in the know with the HSA calendar below!

Mrs. Griffith, SJG School Nurse, will be keeping us up to date on ways to be more healthy all year.

We are at the beginning of cold and flu season. We can also see other childhood ailments.

These can include Covid, Strep throat, Coxsackie viruses and stomach viruses. There are

common things we can all do to lessen the spread of such illnesses. These include:

1. Proper hand washing. Reinforce to your children how and when to wash hands. Hand

washing is the number one way to protect yourself and others against all of

these childhood illnesses.

2. Remind children to cover their mouths and noses with a tissue or sleeve

when sneezing or coughing. Throw tissues away after each use. This is always

reinforced here at school.

3. The flu and covid vaccines are recommended and available.

4. Keep sick children home. If your child is ill, PLEASE keep them home for 24hrs -

symptom free. This means symptom free without medication like Tylenol or Advil.

Symptoms include temperature 100.4 or above, vomiting, diarrhea, consistent

coughing, runny nose, sore throat, new skin outbreaks or rashes etc. I will only have

to send them home if the symptoms continue at school. Most illnesses, if

contagious, are spread right before and right after the illness appears. Staying

home while symptoms persist can lessen the spread to others. It also protects your

child from picking up secondary illnesses while their immune system is already

working hard.

5. Have children get plenty of rest and eat a nutritious diet. While these are

important every day, it is even more important when children are not feeling well.

6. When your child is ill, please call or email the main office by 8:15am to report

an absence. The attendance line is available 24/7. I also ask that you let the

school know why your child is absent and be as specific as possible. If you

take your child to the doctor it is helpful to bring documentation of the illness

from the doctor. Let us know if your child has a specific illness.

HEALTH RESOURCES ALL YEAR ROUND

1. Below you can find some resources on these childhood illnesses.

https://www.cdc.gov/flu/pdf/treatment/flu-guide-for-parents.pdf

https://kidshealth.org/en/parents/flu-vs-cold.html

https://kidshealth.org/en/parents/hfm.html?WT.ac=p-ra

2. Below is additional information on head lice, a childhood concern that can occur any time of year.

https://www.cdc.gov/lice/about/head-lice.html

With the holidays upon us, Mrs. Griffith is sharing some healthy eating tips! Click on the PDFs below to learn about 5 ways to use pumpkin in your cooking, turkey in your cooking, and healthy eating habits for kids.

Haunted Tunnel Fundraiser

This item is a community event that is not a school event, but is sponsored by a community partner who wants to help families who are a part of our school community. The haunted house has all proceeds going to support two families in our district Here are the event details and a link to the flyer:

Date: Tunnel Opens Friday, October 25th from 7-10PM (other days and times will be posted on the The Chestnut Court Halloween Haunt Instagram and Facebook pages)

Location: 4 Chestnut Court Pequannock

Admission: Any donation appreciated

Attraction: Haunted Tunnel with scary and fun spooks.

Email: Matthew.Reiner@pequannock.org
Website: sjg.pequannock.org
Location: 59 Boulevard, Pequannock Township, NJ, USA
Phone: (973) 3055615
Twitter: @SJGPride

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sjgpride/