Weekly Wrap Up

Good Evening, Maple Place and Happy FriYAY!

It was an extremely busy week at Maple Place this week! We started the week with an amazing Professional Development Day on Monday with a culminating session by the infamous Gerry Brooks. Wednesday evening we celebrated the Ribbon Cutting Ceremony of the Attic Expansion at Wolf Hill. It was a great night recognizing the amazing work and renovations of our schools. Thank you to the entire community for supporting the referendum!

On Thursday, Maple Place held our annual Spelling Bee which took a field of 21 competitors down to our grand champion, 7th grade student, Ryan Carney! All of the participants did an amazing job and demonstrated such poise and concentration throughout the competition.

Friday brought us some fantastic activities in fifth grade. The day began with a gallery walk of the fifth grade ecosystems projects which consisted of slide show presentations with accompanying dioramas. This was followed by a PTO grant sponsored author visit where local author Mike Dawson wowed our fifth grade with his cartooning skills.

Next week we will be celebrating Random Acts of Kindness Week with a spirit week. Please see the flyer below for the details. Thank you to Mrs. Bonett for organizing this week for us. Additionally, this week we celebrated National School Counseling Week by recognizing our amazing school counselor, Megan Bonett. Mrs. Bonett is such an integral member of our school! We thank her for all she does for all of us at Maple Place!

Have a relaxing weekend and enjoy the big game on Sunday!

Melissa Keiser

The Champion Chargers for the month of January are:

Grade 5 - Sophia Santana

Grade 6 - Mia Ilvento

Grade 7 - Mia Painchaud

Grade 8 - Carina Reginio

The annual Maple Place Spelling Bee took place on Thursday, February 8th. There were 21 competitors to start the day. The final three spellers were 7th grader - Caroline Newman, 5th grader - Emma Appleby, and 7th grader - Ryan Carney. Emma and Ryan made it to the final two where they both spelled their words correctly for several rounds. In the end, Ryan Carney was crowned the 2024 Maple Place Spelling Bee Champion! Congratulations to all of our participants! Thank you to Mrs. LaValva for hosting and Mrs. Stout and Mrs. LaSalle for judging.

Last Regular Game of the Season:

Wednesday, February 14th - Boys - Home vs. Forrestdale - 3:30pm

Wednesday, February 14th - Girls - Away vs. Forrestdale - 3:30pm

**Playoff information will be forthcoming!

Sign ups for Spring Sports took place last week. Students in Grades 6 through 8 can sign up to try out for Softball or Baseball. Students in grades 5 through 8 can sign up to take part in the Volleyball Club. It was announced daily on the morning announcements that the students should be checking the list in the cafeteria at lunches to see if they have paperwork that needs to be completed prior to try-outs. Physicals for spring sports are due on February 15th.

If you need the sports physical paperwork, I have linked it HERE.

If you have any questions, please reach out to Nurse Dora at jdora@oceanportschools.org.

Monday, February 12th:

Charger Band - 7:15am - On Stage in the Cafeteria

Creative Writing Club - 2:45-3:45 - Room 105

Mean Girls the Musical - Lead Characters - Rehearsal 2:45-5:00 - Cafeteria

Tuesday, February 13th:

Cadet Band - 7:15m - On Stage in the Cafeteria

Jazz Band - 2:45-3:45pm - Band Room

Wednesday, February 14th:

Charger Band - 7:15am - On Stage in the Cafeteria

Maple Place Alliance - 2:45-3:45pm - Room 131

Mean Girls the Musical - Full Cast - 2:45-5:00 - Cafeteria

Thursday, February 15th:

Cadet Band - 7:15m - On Stage in the Cafeteria

Debate Club - 7:20am - Room 109

Mean Girls the Musical - Lead Characters - Rehearsal 2:45-5:00 - Cafeteria

Friday, February 16th:

NO SCHOOL!

Fifth grade spent time studying ecosystems in Science. They created a slide show for their ecosystem and crafted an accompanying diorama. Check out their great work below!

Today the 5th grade enjoyed a visit from local author and cartoonist Mike Dawson. Mr. Dawson is the author of several graphic novels and comic collections. Today, the fifth graders were treated to some first hand examples of his cartooning skills as he explained how he draws the main character, Lori, for his graphic novels The Fifth Quarter, and The Fifth Quarter Hard Court. Students had the option to purchase books from Mr. Dawson ahead of today's assembly. He even left us with an autographed cartoon of our own. Thank you to Mr. Dawson for a wonderful experience, and thank you to the Oceanport PTO for making this event possible for our fifth graders!

Wednesday, February 7th marked the celebration of the Wolf Hill Attic Expansion. Members of the Oceanport and Sea Bright communities gathered together to commemorate the Wolf Hill addition. Wolf Hill Principal Mark Maglione, Superintendent Laura Godlesky, and Board of Education President Mark Patterson spoke in honor of the momentous occasion. The Wolf Hill 4th grade chorus members sang the National Anthem. Then, the ribbon was cut, and the attic expansion was open for the public to tour. It was a wonderful celebration of an amazing addition and renovation. Pictures are below.

Shore Regional High School Honors Placement Assessments for our current 8th graders will be administered during the month of March. If you would like your child to take any of the placement assessments being offered, please click on the link below for more information. The students will need to register in order to take a placement assessment. The link for registration is below, and it is also included within the information provided in the first link.

Honors Placement Exam Information

Registration Google Link

The deadline for registering for the Honors Placement Exams is 3/1/2024.

Additionally - just a reminder to check your child's school trip account. The payment schedule was broken down into multiple payments with sums being due on 1/15, 2/15, 3/15, and 4/15. Please reach out if any assistance is needed.

Also, please know that you can keep an eye on your child's progress with their behavior contract in the Realtime Parent Portal under the discipline tab. Any and all discipline infractions are posted for you to view. If you have any questions, please reach out to Mrs. Keiser.

Monday, February 12th - Wednesday, February 14th - Candy Gram Sales

Thursday, February 15th - Spring Sports Physicals Due to Nurse Dora

Friday, February 16th - No School President's Weekend

Monday, February 19th - No School - President's Weekend

Wednesday, February 28th - Board of Education Meeting - Wolf Hill School - 6:00pm

Save the Date!

Half-Day Bagels: Mar 7 and 8 (last two days)

March 8: Spring Auction

March 16: Bowling for boys in Grades Pre K-8th with their special gal pal

April 26: Sweet Heart Dance for girls in Grades Prek-6 and their special guys

On Monday, February 5th, the district held a professional development day for the faculty. The day focused on ways to deepen student learning. There were numerous sessions for faculty members to choose from including cultural responsiveness, elevating classroom engagement, questioning & discussion strategies, building thinking classrooms through problem solving, the hidden power of read alouds, AI, LinkIt!, and more! It was an amazing day of learning which ended with a full staff presentation by renown presenter Gerry Brooks.

Be sure to follow Maple Place on our social media outlets. We can be found on Twitter at @MaplePlaceMS. You can also check us out on Instagram at @mapleplaceop.

Email: mkeiser@oceanportschools.org
Website: https://www.oceanportschools.org/Domain/8
Location: 2 Maple Place, Oceanport, NJ, USA
Phone: (732) 229-0267
Twitter: @MaplePlaceMS

Instagram: @MaplePlaceOP