The MLK Snapshot

Clear communication and connecting with families are two of our top priorities at MLK!

The Snapshot is our weekly information newsletter sent every Thursday afternoon. Our hope is that you will be able to use this Snapshot to stay connected with important calendar dates, events, and everything else related to MLK. If you need to - feel free to use the translation option available for all families. Please use the menu at the top of the page!

MLK Families,

Please take a moment to review the information in this week's Snapshot related to parent-teacher conferences. This opportunity is critically important to connect one-on-one with your child's teacher. However, please keep in mind that the home to school connection is not limited to events like these. If you ever have academic or social concerns related to your student our staff and administration are always ready to support.

All the best,

Andrew Kehoe, Principal

See the attachment below and be sure to check out our Friday Spirit Days!

OCTOBER

Thursday, October 31st - Halloween Spirit Day - Students may wear costumes!

NOVEMBER

Friday, November 1st - No school for students (Diwali)

Tuesday, November 5th - No school for students (Election Day)

Thursday, November 7th and Friday November 8th - No school for students (Teacher Convention)

Monday, November 11th - PTO Meeting 6PM on Zoom

Tuesday, November 13th - Marking Period 1 Ends

Wednesday, November 20th - 12:25 Dismissal, Evening Conferences 6-8PM

Thursday, November 21st - 12:25 Dismissal, Evening Conferences 6-8PM

Friday, November 22nd - 12:25 Dismissal, Conferences 12:30-2:30PM

Wednesday, November 27th - 12:25 Dismissal

Thursday, November 28th and Friday, November 29th - No school for students (Thanksgiving)

PISCATAWAY DISTRICT CALENDARS

The attached letter has been sent to all families regarding guidelines for signing up for our three parent-teacher conference days.

Please give this a look and reach out to the MLK Main Office with any questions. We hope you can make it for these important 1 to 1 conversations with your child's teacher.

Once again we are allowing students to dress up on Thursday, October 31st in their Halloween costumes. We look forward to this fun day. Please carefully review our guidelines for dress on this day at the attached document!

Did you know that October is Hindu Heritage Month? Throughout the month we have been recognizing Hindu Heritage with our marquee, special morning announcement quotes, and a book display in our library, among other items around the school.

From the PTO

Next Monday during lunches we will be speaking to the kids about a fun and easy way to raise money for the school through the School Store Fundraiser.

Each and every day our teachers and staff go above and beyond. Periodically I would like to reach out to the community to solicit some positive feedback to give to our teachers.

Do you feel your child's teacher is doing an exceptional job and you would like to give them a shout out? Feel free to click the link below and we will provide the feedback to them!

Passionate Penguin Program Feedback Form

We have seen an increase in smart watches around the school in recent years. Please take note of the handbook language regarding smart watches.

"Smart watches are expected to be silenced and not used as a communication device during the school day"

Any students wearing smart watches in a distracting way in class will be asked to put them away. Continued issues with smart watches will be addressed through the main office.

Each week you'll notice that on Friday we have designated Spirit Days. These are fun, festive days where students and staff are able to dress up and participate together in a cool theme. For students with picture permissions - we take pictures of our great outfits, put them up on school bulletin boards, and include them in the yearbook and on the school website as well!

Families are encouraged to check the monthly calendar and go all out for our Spirit Days!

You can fill out a repair ticket for your child's iPad at any time! Coming to school with a working device is important. If your child's device has been damaged in any way please use the following link to bring this to the attention of the district IT department.

iPad Repair Needed? - Click Here

You can find much more information at our school website!

https://king.piscatawayschools.org/

You can stay in touch with your child's academic information through the Genesis Parent Portal!

Genesis Portal Set-Up Guide

You can keep up with your child's classes through the Schoology Parent Module.

Schoology Parent Resources

We love to celebrate our students! If you would like to have your child’s birthday recognized in school, please be aware of the guidelines in place at MLK:

• Recognitions are brief and are scheduled at a time of the day that is convenient for the teacher’s classroom schedule.
• Recognitions are for students only (guests/family members do not attend)
• Please pre-schedule the date with your child’s teacher.
• If you would like to send in a snack:
• Store-bought
• Individual serving (nothing to cut, etc.)
• Ingredients must be visible
• No candy
• Please do not send in goodie bags or additional items for your child to distribute
• Please let your child’s teacher know if your child is not permitted to participate in their peers’ birthday celebrations.

I wanted to take an opportunity to further touch on our school-wide Social Emotional Supports at King. In addition to individual and group counseling, we provide schoolwide support to all students through two initiatives - the Second Step SEL Program and our Pillars of Penguin Pride Positive Behavior Supports (PBIS) Program.

The Second Step Program:

We want your child to be successful in school and that means supporting and encouraging their whole development. While excelling in academic classes is important, children also need skills to take on learning challenges, make good decisions, manage strong emotions, and get along with others.

Beginning in October we kick off the Second Step Program, a research-based social-emotional learning program designed to improve children’s social-emotional skills. Second Step skills and concepts are designed to help children both in and out of school. Four units will cover the following:

• Growth Mindset & Goal-Setting: Children learn how to pay attention and manage distractions, develop a growth mindset, and apply goal-setting strategies to their social and academic lives.

• Emotion Management: Children learn how to identify and label emotions and use emotion management strategies—including stress management for older students—to calm strong feelings.
• Empathy & Kindness: Children learn how to recognize kindness and act kindly, have empathy for others and take others’ perspectives, and recognize kind acts and empathy as important elements of building and maintaining relationships.

• Problem-Solving: Children learn how to identify and state a problem, recognize if a problem is an accident, and use the STEP problem-solving process.

The Pillars of Penguin Pride PBIS Program

We also want to continually recognize and celebrate our students. Positive Behavior Supports programs identify desired behaviors and recognize students that practice them around the school.

At King, we have identified a core behavior each month and are providing every staff member with recognition tickets to encourage and promote schoolwide positive behaviors. Students can then turn in their tickets by our counseling office to be entered into raffles for fun prizes. Beginning in October students will be focusing on "Respect." This provides a fun schoolwide way to recognize our students.

Counseling and Behavior Supports

Throughout the year we offer "lunch bunches" focused on specific social-emotional needs, individual counseling, and in class lessons along targeted themes for our students. Mr. Kaiafas, our wonderful school counselor, is always here to respond to any student needs. If you feel your child would benefit from any specific programming he can be emailed at nkaiafas@pway.org. You can also call the main office any time if looking for supports for your child.

Great News! Our wonderful PTO is consolidating all of our PTO initiatives into one easy to read Newsletter each month. This will be your one stop shop for many school initiatives and events, including sign-ups for many great volunteer opportunities. Please give this a look each week to stay involved in everything at MLK!

This edition includes

• PTO Membership Sign Up Information
• Spirits Sales Information
• Kastle Fundraiser Info
• Fall Festival Sign Up and Information
• Sign up and Zoom Link for our October Meeting

I strongly urge all of our families to become involved in any way possible!