The TES Times April

I don't know about you but I am happy to leave the rainy and rumbly month of April behind and am looking forward to the much anticipated warm weather and May flowers!

This month we had some excitement as students experienced a solar eclipse and an earthquake right here in Tewksbury! I hope you all enjoyed the special glasses and informational notecard about the eclipse. A special thank you to Mr. Strange for live-streaming totality from Old Forge, NY! And thank you to Ms. Smith's daughter for the photo above. She is extremely talented and works as a photographer for the Pittsburgh Penguins!

And what better timing for our TEF-funded visit from scientist, John Miller. He happened to be in a fourth grade classroom when we experienced an aftershock and made it a teachable moment to reduce our student's fears. Thank you to the TEF for sponsoring this and many other valuable residencies for our students. I hope to see you at the Barn Dance on May 18th.

Also, don't forget that Tewksbury's Got Talent is tomorrow night! All are welcome to attend to see our 3rd & 4th grade performances (along with a couple of surprise acts). This event is a school wide fundraiser to help support playground improvements at TES. Thank you to the TPTA for co-sponsoring this event with us.

Please be sure to read on for upcoming events and activities at TES. See you soon!

Lisa Moore

Principal

Link to 2024-2025 Tewksbury Public Schools Schedule

The TES teachers and the PTA have been working to make your "Back to School" shopping simpler this summer! You now have the option to purchase your supply kits from the PTA. Please do so before July 1st & your child's kit will be on their desk on the first day of school.

It's soccer season! We are so happy with the HUGE soccer ball created by Second Grade Student, Chase Heydt, and his parents, Samantha and Christopher! Great job, Heydt Family!

Tewksbury has long held the distinction of being a "Tree City USA" town. The Tree City USA program provides communities with a project plan to maintain and grow their tree cover. It also shows that people in Tewksbury are committed to the mission of environmental protection and change. As part of this commitment, we participate annually in the Arbor Day Celebration.

To celebrate Arbor Day, the State of New Jersey gave Hunterdon County the opportunity for schools to request new trees. Pictured below (center) are Superintendent Dr. Jennifer Shouffler, Tree Committee Member Lauren Marquart, Township Foreman Kevin Pyatt, Township Assistant Foreman Ben Quarne, Deputy Mayor Peter Melick, Principal Lisa Moore, and members of our Safety Patrol planting a beautiful red maple near the pond. Our students thanked the Township representatives for this beautiful specimen.

Additionally, the Township's Tree Committee provided the Second Graders with a presentation by Tom Sheppard, Hunterdon County's Naturalist (pictured below on the right). Mr. Sheppard explained how animals live in Hunterdon County and brought 5 preserved animals with him to show the kids! Mr. Sheppard explained how animals can be predators or prey, on the same predatory level, and how they get along with each other and humans in Hunterdon County.

Each second grade student was provided with a sapling and planting directions to take home. This year they received either a sugar maple or a white pine sapling. This continues a decades-long tradition of the Township helping teach our children the importance of trees. We are grateful to the township's Tree Committee, for this important work. We especially would like to thank Ed D'Armiento from the Tree Committee for the excellent quality of the saplings.

If you are dropping your children off at TES, and the main entrance doors are closed (8:45am), please escort your child to the doors and buzz in. You will be admitted and asked to fill in the attendance book and tardy slip for your child. Your cooperation is appreciated!

On April 30th, after reading the book titled, “Only One You,” students and staff painted rocks that represent themselves. Early next month, parents are encouraged to visit the display of rocks (a river of rocks painted like fish) at the front of the school. Can you find the rock that represents your child? Thank you to the Tewksbury Education Association for sponsoring this project for the students of TES.

We are still in need of assistance to enhance some of the outdoor learning spaces at TES. Do you like to weed, spread mulch, plant flowers, shovel dirt, spread rocks, pour concrete? Please contact Karen Morrow (kmorrow@tewksburyschools.org) or Amanda Kouzis (akouzis@tewksburyschools.org) to arrange a time to come help us. Many thanks to the families who came out earlier in the month to get things started and to those who have donated items.

On Take Our Sons and Daughters to Work Day, we had 107 students go to work with their parents! Pictured below is Megan Ramirez, third grade student, who was busy working at Integrated Industries in Old Bridge. She is handling logistics for international shipments! It was wonderful to hear reports from students on the work they completed on this very special day!

The service dog, Brie, and her handler, Ms. Deanna, were greeted on Take Our Sons and Daughters to Work Day by Samantha Pidany and her mother, Robin Thompson, CST Supervisor; Kenzie Moore and her mother, Lisa Moore, Principal; and our soon-to-be Kindergartener, Sylvia Rose-Mason, daughter of Annie Rose-Mason, our Librarian.

Studying the lifecycle of a seed has been the topic of instruction for TES's preschool students. Whittemore's Emily McCollum and Carolyn Thow graciously provided our littlest learners with a residency all about seeds, planting, and growing. Students were excited to plant their seeds in soil. We planted a three sisters garden including beans, corn, and squash. Mrs. McCollum made a trough in the TES Garden in which the preschool students can care for their growing crops. Prepping our trough was fun hard work! Students had fun using rakes and hoes while moving the soil around. We are looking forward to watching our seeds grow indoors, until they are ready to be moved to our outdoor trough in the garden. April showers will certainly bring May flowers!

Can you believe how quickly our Kindergarten year is flying by? We've been buzzing with excitement and laughter as we dive into all sorts of fun and enriching activities. Here's a peek at what we've been up to lately:

Hold onto your hats because we went on our very first field trip! The excitement was palpable as we got ready to explore the world beyond our classroom walls. We were welcomed with open arms by our local rescue squad and police department. Our students learned so much from practicing some of the basics for CPR and exploring all the amazing tools that our officers use.

Our little learners turned into big helpers as we celebrated Community Helper Day! Dressed in adorable costumes representing various professions, we learned about the incredible people who make our community thrive. From doctors to firefighters, we're inspired to dream big and make a difference!

Math is becoming a blast as we master our addition facts! With colorful manipulatives and engaging games, we're becoming addition wizards faster than you can say "1+1=2." Watch out, world, our mathematicians are on the rise! Our students let their imagination run wild because we've been busy crafting incredible narratives! From magical adventures to silly tales, our storytelling skills are reaching new heights. Who knows, maybe we have the next great author in our midst! Our readers are spreading their wings and taking flight into the wonderful world of books! With every page turned, new worlds are discovered, and imaginations soar. Whether it's a classic tale or a brand-new adventure, we're falling in love with the magic of reading! Our sight word fluency is becoming stronger by the day and we are using fun games like “Sight Word Basketball” to practice our sight word recognition skills.

The month of April has flown by for us too! First Grade has been busy working on learning various strategies to add numbers to 20. In writing, we are working on personal narratives and learning to make characters come to life with talking, thinking, and feeling. We have so many stories to tell! We have been taking a closer look at our community, and discovering all of the wonderful things Tewksbury has to offer. It’s such a great place to live!

Along with the many earthquakes and aftershocks that everyone survived throughout April, and the disappearance and reappearance of the very sun, second grade also had some other momentous events and topics to cover. Of course, we all started April with a much needed Spring Break. Then we all worked to create some terrific poetry which we will be celebrating soon. We also went on our first field trip of the year to RVCC to see an amazing puppet show. Using black lights and some incredible puppets, the puppeteers created a very convincing illusion that we were all actually under the sea watching the Rainbow Fish on its adventures. We are all looking forward to another trip in May. Stay tuned for details on that in the May TES Times!

Third Graders have been busy learning about fractions of whole numbers (2/3 of 24) which connected to multiplication and division. We combined reading and writing by crafting responses to our reading with text evidence and details from the text. We began our science unit on life cycles and traits of plants and animals. We continue to improve our spelling and vocabulary skills through learning about prefixes, suffixes and homophones. Our classes are performing during the talent show on May 2! You are not going to want to miss this! Our field trip to Echo Hill Park is May 29. Be sure to send your child with clothes and shoes that can get wet and dirty as we will be exploring a stream ecosystem.

April brought a lot of exciting activities for the fourth grade. The TEF sponsored a four day residency with our favorite scientist, John Miller, from the Pearl Observatory. John taught our fourth graders about the history of NJ, going back two hundred million years, during a time when most of NJ was under the ocean. He also shared his knowledge of earthquakes when earthquakes were uniquely occurring here in Tewksbury almost daily! As John was leaving, our chicken eggs were arriving. For the second year in a row, we are incubating eggs and are looking forward to watching them hatch in the coming days.

With the end of the year rapidly approaching we took a trip to OTS to tour the school and meet the teachers we will have next year! That was great fun and helped to alleviate some worries. Now we look forward to a field trip to MPAC in May and a residency with the Hunterdon County Parks System.

HELLO, Tewksbury Elementary School!!! It's been wonderful during these first few weeks getting to know the students and begin our artistic journey together! Together we worked in my classroom with the PTA to submit artwork to Square One Art. Square One Art provides a unique and creative art fundraising experience and we are all looking forward to seeing the results! We have also been busy getting ready for our evening art show on May 14th from 6:30 to 8:00 PM. Each TES student will have artwork professionally framed and displayed in the Cafeteria. I can't wait to share your art with your parents, grandparents and friends! Please note that this fundraiser supports the PTA who support all of our staff and students.

Thanks again for the warm Tiger Hug welcome into your school!

Come celebrate a night for the Arts! See you there!

Art Show - May 14th from 6:30 to 8:00 PM

Jill Pecora, Art Teacher

April, despite showers, has been filled with running activities related to track and field. Students have had the opportunity to run in individual races as well as relay races of different varieties and distances. Students had the opportunity to experience individual success by concentrating on improving their own personal times, as well as the cooperation and teamwork needed to help their team be successful in relays. We are looking forward to introducing and practicing many drills and skills for baseball/softball.

FIELD DAY WILL BE MAY 31st. (Rain Date will be June 7th.) More details will follow.

Students are "springing" into reading at the TES Library Media Center! We are finishing up our biography unit with students in third and fourth grades. For this unit of study, the students sharpened their listening and note taking skills. Our younger students learned about fairy tales from across the world. Students in all grades are currently working on their “Me as a Tree” project. For this new project, students combine research from nonfiction books about trees with their imaginations to create a tree that uniquely represents them. We hope to create a forest of learners around the library. Students have also been enjoying some new furniture that has helped make the Library Media Center look even more welcoming!

Excitement reverberated through the halls of TES as our TES Tigers recently embarked on a musical journey like no other – The Beatles March Madness! In music classes, students immersed themselves in the timeless tunes of The Beatles, competing to crown champions among their iconic songs. After weeks of passionate debates and lively discussions, the results are in! The most popular songs that emerged victorious and were crowned champions in our Beatles March Madness brackets. They are:

She Loves You

Eleanor Rigby

Here Comes The Sun

Twist and Shout

These classic hits captured the hearts and votes of our students, showcasing the appeal of The Beatles' legendary music.

We are delighted to invite you to our 2024 TES Spring Concert on Thursday, May 30th. It promises to be a morning filled with joyous melodies and unforgettable performances by our talented TES Tigers.

The concert will be divided into two sessions to accommodate all grade levels. The Kindergarten through 2nd-grade concert will begin promptly at 9:00am, followed by the 3rd and 4th-grade concert starting at 9:45am. We kindly ask that you arrive a few minutes early to ensure ample time for seating and enter at the loading ramp.

As part of uniformity for the concert, students are requested to adhere to the following dress code:

• Pack Shirts

• Pants, Shorts or Skirts

• Closed Toed Shoes

We look forward to sharing this special occasion with you and celebrating the musical achievements of our students. Your support and presence mean the world to us, and we can't wait to see you there!

Musically,

Mr. Shaffer and TES Staff

Springtime in Spanish class is time to look beyond our community and learn about the wider world! Kindergarteners learned a nursery rhyme from Colombia called "La Vaca Lola" and are playing a playground game called "Mar y Tierra". First graders are learning animal vocabulary. We looked at endangered animals from Colombia and danced to a fun song called "Animales Arriba, Animales Abajo" by the artist Basho & Friends. Second graders listed all of the countries that have Spanish as their official language. See if your second grader knows how many there are! Third graders finished up learning about transportation vocabulary and will soon be starting a food unit with a focus on Mexican food and drink. Fourth graders are also working with food vocabulary and will be creating a weekly school lunch menu and comparing it with school menus from schools in Spain. A few groups enjoyed the nice weather and we went outside and practiced color and number vocabulary with a parachute. Sadly, a few classes went outside only to have to return when wind and rain ruined the fun. That's April for you! I love to take kids outside so hopefully May will bring some nice days for outdoor Spanish.

This month, students in Kindergarten through 3rd grade delved into the fascinating world of robotics with OZOBOT! They discovered how to code and control these tiny robots through hands-on learning, sparking creativity and problem-solving skills. By mastering the art of color-coded commands, they made OZOBOT move, dance, and navigate obstacles. We even coordinated an Earth Day activity with OZOBOT being the star. This engaging approach not only teaches technology but also fosters critical thinking and collaboration. Students leave our 40-minute class always asking when they can use Ozobot again. Some students even went home and pleaded with their parents to buy them their own Ozobot!

In addition, our 3rd and 4th graders went on a virtual field trip through the program Kahoot. We explored the Amazon Music: Careers Behind the Beats Tour. Students discovered how Computer Science and Science can take their favorite songs from the recording studio to their streaming devices. We met some professionals behind the technology and explored various careers around computer science. During the tour, students answered Kahoot trivia questions to test their knowledge. We even learned that it would take over 500 years to listen to all the music currently available on Amazon Music! They were shocked.

In April, all of our teachers participated in a professional development presentation reviewing the New Jersey Anti-Bullying Law. The New Jersey Anti-Bullying Law includes a specific definition for Bullying, Harassment and Intimidation. There is a clear procedure for schools for reporting and responding to all allegations. We are all dedicated to providing all of our students a Bully Free environment. More information on this law and schools response may be found here.

The sun has been shining and the weather is getting warmer! Our students will continue to enjoy outdoor recess and other outdoor activities. So it is time to practice some sun sense. (See above)

For additional information on sun safety and how to treat sunburns visit Nemours Kids Health -Sun Safety.

Some general Health Office reminders:

POLLEN: Pollen counts have been high and there has been a marked rise in students suffering from allergy symptoms. For your child’s comfort, please remember to medicate him/her with their allergy meds (including eye drops if appropriate) at home.

2024-2025 THIRD GRADE STUDENTS: All Rising Grade 2 to Grade 3 students must have a current physical exam on file at school. This is a reminder to please send in a completed Universal Health physical form for your child. A current physical is any physical exam that is done between September 1, 2023 through the August 30, 2024 school start date.

The Tewksbury and Lebanon Police Departments are joining together for the 18th annual Fishing Derby on May 4th from 8:00 AM to Noon.

Fourth Grade - Pearl Observatory History of the Earth and Earthquakes in New Jersey

Pre-K - Whittemore Life Cycle of the Seed

Kindergarten - Whittemore Native Polinator Garden

Save the Date and join the Tewksbury Education Foundation down the rabbit hole at our Wonderland-themed Barn Dance on May 18th from 7 to 11pm at LifeCamp in Pottersville! Dance the night away with cocktails, tapas-style food, an enchanting basket auction, and a live auction including student-made items! Accessories and costumes encouraged. All funds raised will go to support TEF-sponsored TES and OTS enrichment programs! Tickets on sale NOW at www.tewksburytef.org.

Tewksbury's Got Talent:

Maschio's Food Services, Inc. is the contracted lunch provider at TES. See the following links for more information about the lunch service provided by Maschio's as well as PaySchools, our point of sale service system. You can find their menu on our school website at the following link:

https://tewksburyschools.nutrislice.com/menu/tewksbury-elementary/lunch