Woodland Park School District News

Welcome to the Woodland Park School District e-Newsletter, which is sent out weekly when school is in session. It serves as a glimpse of some of the wonderful things going on in our schools, as well as a point of reference for upcoming events.

Your Partner in Education,

Michele R. Pillari, Ed.D., Superintendent of Schools

Memorial Middle School held its annual spelling bee on Tuesday night, with 40 class champions competing. The top three spellers from each homeroom determined during in-school competitions were eligible to compete. The competition Tuesday night got down to 10 contestants by round three and was down to four by round five. The top four battled it out until round 12! Congratulations to all our contestants and our top three: 1st place - Justin Zummo, 2nd place - Tasneem Begum, and 3rd place - Sebastian Gomez. Shout out to 4th place finisher Dante Barbieri for battling it out with the top three from rounds five to 12. Winner Justin Zummo now advances to the regional spelling bee, where he will compete against students from New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania.

The day before Thanksgiving break, Mrs. Skibinski's Growing Minds and Mrs. Behnken and Ms. Omran's LLD classes hosted "Friendsgiving" at Memorial Middle School, where everyone joined together to celebrate inclusivity and friendship. Memorial's Child Study Team and special area teachers joined in on the fun too!

Under the direction of music director Mr. Schaefer, Memorial Middle School sixth, seventh, and eighth grade concert band members gathered together to perform several holiday songs prior to the Woodland Park tree lighting in Dowling Gardens last Saturday evening.

The Memorial School Health Club, led by school nurse Mrs. Carbonelli, recently learned about diabetes. Guest speaker April Westergaard, a former student, developed Type 1 diabetes in seventh grade in 2008. April went over the physical, emotional, and social hurdles that she faced along her journey. "Today, it's a part of my everyday life," she said. "I can't imagine life without it." The members of the Health Club have been researching the topic, along with lessons from Mrs. Carbonelli. They have been educating the students by giving short daily announcements about different facts about diabetes. Their next goal is to prepare a formal lesson on diabetes and present it to fourth graders at Beatrice Gilmore School.

Last week, Ms. Wittig and Ms. Balduzzi's class at School 1 voted which circumference of the two trees in front of the school was larger during their morning meeting. They went outside and used yarn to measure around both trunks to learn the answer. Back inside, they stretched out the two pieces of yarn and compared the lengths to see who was correct.

Every month, our PreK classes engage families in projects that can be done at home. Above, one project focused on what our students do at home. This gives our students a chance to share with the class the different family dynamics and traditions they do as a family. Shown above are some of our student projects. Shown below are photos of our Thankful Thanksgiving turkey projects.

Students in Ms. Morozowski class at Charles Olbon School recently participated in a fun STEAM activity. After listening to the story How to Catch a Turkey, students created their own turkey traps.

Charles Olbon School kindergarten students took part in their annual Thanksgiving Balloon Parade. Students learned about the history of the Macy's Day Parade and how originally the balloons were created from puppets. Students first drew out their own balloon design as a blueprint and then they created a real balloon.

Students in Ms. Gutierrez's third grade class at Beatrice Gilmore School practiced their cursive in Fundations. Students also practiced how to stop and jot, annotating as they read an informational text.

Congratulations to the Puppies of the Month for November! Students were selected that inhibited the PAWS promise for the month of November. They were playing safely with their peers, acting kindly to all, working together, and always smiling!

All of our PreK students received a turkey hat craft courtesy of the WP PreK Home & School Association. Shown are students in Ms. Wittig and Ms. Balduzzi's class at School 1.

Students in Ms. Odaman's class at School 1 enjoyed their pizza party they won as being one of the door decorating contest winners in the District. The contest, held for Red Ribbon Week, was sponsored by the Woodland Park Municipal Alliance for Alcoholism & Drug Abuse.

The Woodland Park Education Association hosted a Family Math Game Night which had a fantastic turnout! Over 40 families came to enjoy a few hours of math games and activities set up at Beatrice Gilmore School. Quite a few teachers and staff came out (some with their own children) to play games and enjoy some time with the community. After the games were done, snacks were had, including some special homemade treats from Ms. Yesenosky. Every family that attended left with their choice of a brand new board game to keep the fun going at home. Thank you to all who attended and we look forward to our next event!

Early Childhood Center staff members got together during the last Friday of November to have lunch together. Staff members enjoyed each other’s company and talked about all of the wonderful things happening at ECC. They even had some visitors from Charles Olbon School come and join them!

The staff at the Early Childhood Center has an attitude of gratitude! They participated in the "thankful turkey" project, where staff members took a feather and wrote about another staff member of what they were most thankful for. The staff did a wonderful job being descriptive and positive with one another.

Beatrice Gilmore School welcomed Samantha Nash, from Heinemann, for a professional development session focused on core instruction and small groups in ELA. She shared valuable strategies for targeting small group instruction and emphasized the importance of decoding support. During the training, she demonstrated how to effectively use Jump Rope Readers and the Guided Reading Library to enhance small group instruction.

Memorial Middle School Social Emotional and Educational Development (S.E.E.D) teachers recently had SILAS training. SILAS stands for Socially Interactive Learning Avatar Software. The training provided the teachers with guidance on navigating the SILAS website, exploring lessons, and creating avatars and movies. Additionally, teachers reviewed a social-emotional learning (SEL) screener and a District SEL-pacing guide.

The Woodland Park Early Childhood Advisory Council's next meeting will be Thursday, Dec. 12, virtually, from 6 to 7 p.m. All are welcome! To sign up for the council, click here. The purpose of the Early Childhood Advisory Council is an advisory group of community stakeholders interested in the education and welfare of children in preschool through grade threethat is convened by the school district (N.J.A.C.6A:13A-1.2).

The Memorial Middle School House System is holding a winter spiritwear sale until Dec. 10. All navy blue and maroon Items are dress code approved. To place an order, click here.

Get into the holiday spirit at the Alfred Baumann Library's annual Holiday Concert, featuring the Memorial Middle School choirs on Sunday, Dec. 8, at 2 p.m. in the Municipal Council Chambers, 5 Brophy Lane. Come support our talented middle school students as they sing in the season with festive cheer and holiday classics.

Help support your WP Recreation Department! ISPW Wrestling has teamed up with Woodland Park Recreation for a family-friendly live pro wrestling fundraising event, Christmas Chaos, on Friday, Dec. 6 at the WP Boys & Girls Club. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. and matches start at 7:30 p.m. Don’t miss this action-packed night while supporting our local recreation programs. Tickets are on sale at ispwwrestling.com. Enjoy pizza, snacks, and drinks for purchase, with all proceeds going back into improving sports, programs, and equipment.

Santa’s mailbox has arrived at the Alfred Baumann Library, located on the campus of Berkeley College. Children are invited to stop by and drop their letters to Santa. Santa’s elves will be stopping by to collect the letters and deliver them straight to the North Pole. To receive a response, all letters must include the child's first and last name and address clearly printed on the letter. Don’t forget to snap a picture and tag the library. Be sure to drop your letters by Dec. 13 to receive a magical reply from Santa himself.

The Alfred Baumann Library, 44 Rifle Camp Rd., will host the following programs. Visit the Library's website here or Facebook page here. Its phone is 973-345-8120. Email is library@abwplibrary.org. Register for events here.

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Email: mpillari@wpschools.org
Website: www.wpschools.org
Location: 853 McBride Avenue, Woodland Park, NJ 07424, USA
Phone: 973-317-7711