Clarendon Newsletter

Thank you to Mayor Michael Gonnelli and the Secaucus Town Council for the beautiful new Clarendon School sign our our campus!

Happy First Day of School from Ms. Holsten's 4th grade class!

Back by popular demand, the PTA Back to School Bash! DJ, dancing, food and fun! You won’t want to miss this one! Thursday, September 26th! We can’t wait to party with all our bees and their families!!

We are looking for volunteers to help us work this event! If you’re interested in helping set up, break down or serve food and drinks, contact the PTA!!

Clarendon School is happy to welcome eight new Bees to our faculty. Pictured from bottom left-to-right: James Choi (School Psychologist), Emily Imiolek (Speech-Language Pathologist), and Gregory Orlando (First Grade), Second Row from left-to-right: Samantha Ferris (ELL), Lauren Yorks (Nurse), and Molly Reinhart (Special Education) Back Row: Eric Wolf (School Social Worker) Janine Semelmacher (not pictured, Special Education).

Please join us in welcoming our newest Bee!.

Student schedules, health screening, report card access, etc. can be found on the Realtime Parent Portal. If you have any questions, please contact our main office. You can access the Parent Portal via the following link.

https://www.fridayparentportal.com/Secaucus

The federal government's universal free lunch program expired and our schools will return to offering free and reduced school lunch to only students who qualify based on family income. Families are encouraged to complete the Free and Reduced Lunch application if they believe they qualify.

As in previous years, if you would like to purchase lunch, please replenish your child's lunch account by logging into the Payforit.net (https://www.payforit.net/Login.aspx) website.

Huber Street School and Clarendon School will be serving a more traditional and expanded lunch menu. Please be reminded that students will need to input their Student ID number when purchasing items from the cafeteria (as no cash will be accepted.)

The Secaucus Board of Education requires students to wear school uniforms on a daily basis, including field trips. Students are to arrive at school wearing the appropriate clothing as defined in the dress code. The following is a list of clothing items in compliance with the uniform policy and information regarding this can also be found in the Elementary Handbook.

Please Note the Changes to the "Shoes" Section of the Dress Code

Approved Uniform Attire for Clarendon/Huber Street Schools

**ALL SHIRTS, SWEATERS, SWEATSHIRTS AND FLEECE MUST HAVE THE PROPER “SECAUCUS SCHOOL DISTRICT” EMBROIDERED LOGO

STUDENT DRESS CODE ATTIRE OPTIONS:

Tops:

• Polo Shirt - Red/White/Navy: Short Sleeve/Long Sleeve

• Turtle Neck - Red/White/Navy (NO EMBLEMS OR LOGO)

• Sweater - Red/White/Navy: V-neck, Crew neck, Cardigan or Vest

• Sweat Shirt - Red/White/Navy: Crew Neck (NO HOOD)

• Fleece - Red/Navy: Zippered Front or Pullover (NO HOOD)

• Jumper - Navy/Khaki: Cotton/Cotton-Polyester

• Peter Pan Blouse - White (NO LOGO)

Bottoms:

• Pants - Navy/Khaki: Cotton/Cotton-Polyester (NO CARGO PANTS OR LEGGINGS)

• Shorts - Navy/Khaki: Cotton/Cotton-Polyester

• Skirt - Navy/Khaki: Cotton/Cotton-Polyester

• Skort - Navy/Khaki: Cotton/Cotton-Polyester

• Capris - Navy/Khaki: Cotton/Cotton-Polyester

• Socks & Tights - Navy/Khaki/White/Red, Solid Color

Shoes:

ALL shoes must be securely fastened with a backing to the feet. Sneakers are strongly recommended for everyday use.

• Flip-flops, open toed shoes, slippers, and slide shoes are NOT permitted.

• Crocs are permitted ONLY in “sport mode”, meaning the pivoting heel strap must be utilized when worn.

• Uggs boots or shoes are permitted, but NOT slippers or slides (all shoes must have a back).

**Please note:

All students are permitted to wear knee length shorts until October 31st and again in the spring beginning April 15th, in a docker style in navy or khaki. Athletic shorts should reach the end of the finger tip in length.

Please feel free to browse our Breakfast and Lunch menus for the month!

As in previous years, if you would like to purchase lunch, please replenish your child's lunch account by logging into the Payforit.net website.

Please be reminded that students will need to input their Student ID number when purchasing items from the cafeteria (as no cash will be accepted.)

We will make every effort to have our students go outside for recess. Please make sure to provide your children with appropriate clothing for cold weather. Students will remain indoors during the following weather conditions.

• Snow, Rain, Hail, Sleet

• Thunder/Lightning

• Temperature and/or Windchill Temperature 32 degrees or colder

Dear Clarendon Families,

We hope our Bees enjoyed their first week of school as much as we did! It was wonderful welcoming our new Kindergarten families last week and we look forward to meeting the rest of our families at our next Back to School Night on Tuesday, 9/17 @6:00 pm for grades 1-5. Please see below for some important reminders and updates to our procedures:

Absences: In order to keep all our students safe, absences must be reported by 9:00 am. If the main office staff does not receive a reason for an absence as outlined below, they will call the student’s home. Note: If you know your child will be absent ahead of time, you can also send in a note to school including the child's name, teacher, date(s) absent, and reason for absence. Please do not email absences to the classroom teachers as they may be absent that day.

Drop Off: Please make sure that your students arrive at school on time. This allows students to begin their day with their peers and to not disturb the learning of others by entering the classroom during instruction time.

Dismissal: The end of the day is a very hectic time when teachers are ensuring that each student is connected with a caregiver. We respectfully ask that you do not change your student’s pick up routine on a day to day basis. Understandably, emergencies and last minute changes do arise, but for safety reasons we ask that you help us to keep our dismissal procedures consistent for both our staff and students.

If you need to pick up your student early for an appointment, or special reason, they must be picked up before 9th period which begins at 2:15 pm. Last period often includes specials, recess, and time set aside for wrapping up activities and packing up for the day which makes it difficult for our security staff to continue to monitor the building if they are also being asked to locate and get students early from their classes.

If you wish your student to be picked up by a person not on your pick-up list, you must send a note in with them in the morning, or an email to Erika Dimase edimase@sboe.org Sharon Voli svoli@sboe.org or in the main office.

Please make sure to state the person’s name, relationship to your student and a contact phone number for the person.

Sincerely,

Christine Candela

Principal

Clarendon School is an elementary school in Secaucus, NJ that educates students from Kindergarten through 5th grade.

Christine Candela

Principal

ccandela@sboe.org

201-974-2010

Erika Dimase

Administrative Assistant

edimase@sboe.org

Sharon Voli

Administrative Assistant

svoli@sboe.org