Dear Wildcats,

When we return from our Spring Recess on April 8, we will have a little more that two more months of the 2023-24 school year. We find that great growth in the classrooms continues to happen towards the end of the school year. We will continue to implement our CKLA reading curriculum and learning about different people and places in our society. In mathematics, we will focus on multistep word problems, fractions, and equations in the upper grades. Our upper grades will also be doing NJSLA testing in May. The dates for the grade levels and subjects being tested are below.

As always, we continue to emphasize student social/emotional learning through our morning meetings and culminating exercises. As you know from our newsletters, we continually focus on and highlight students who display responsible, respectful and safe behavior.

Our Students of the Month for March are in! These safe, respectful, and responsible Wildcats will be honored at our April 9 PTO meeting: Ashley Caceres Lobo, Aisha Qamar, Elliot Maano, Charlotte Brown, Julian Kapusnyak, Julius Ardiles, Lily Desider, Hadley Kmiec, Ja'sier Sanders, Eileen Flores Nieto, Oliver Jimenez Montes, Ava Dyer, Liam Les, Aria Knight, Olivia Marron, Gabriella Davis, Brian Velazquez, Ahmed Abdelaziz, Amy Vargas, Melanie Arboleda-Espinosa, Kinley Lopes, Anthony Mexquititla, Landon Coraggio-DiMaria, Jose Morales, Angelo Commesso, Sophia Brown, Alexandro Villalba Lopez, Jeremiah Hall, Alister Coyle, Mia Olivos, Arabella Junio, Chase Inzano, Aylelen Castillo, Bernardo Merino, Alex Eckert, and Desmond Coyle. Congratulations!

Please help me congratulate 4th grade student Stephanie Vargas (pictured with Mr. Anders and Mr. Hanaway). Stephanie will proudly represent Walnut Street Elementary School in the Junior Chef competition. Congratulations and good luck!

For your convenience and reference, I will continue to include the important documents below related to the upcoming referendum vote on regionalization with Seaside Heights. Below, you will see several documents and video related to the upcoming vote on April 16.

Regionalization Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) Sheet (English)

Regionalization Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) Sheet (Spanish)

Superintendent Citta's TV21 School Community Address

Our final two homeroom matchups are set for our March Madness Attendance initiative. Mr. Kleiner's homeroom will face off against Mrs. Steuer's homeroom in Bracket 1. Mr. Anders' homeroom will face off against Ms. Altieri's homeroom. Winners of each bracket will receive a breakfast. Nice job! #everystudentmatterseverymomentcounts

NJSLA Testing will begin in May for Grades 3, 4, and 5.

Mr. Kleiner and Ms. Herrmann won our staff employee of the week...Congratulations! Student winner pictures are below.

Save the Date! Our Drama Production will be on April 18th. Chorus concert will be held on April 24th from 6:00 - 7:30 PM.

There will be no school from March 29 to April 7 due to Spring Recess. Students and staff return to school on April 8. Please click here to see the revised district calendar. April 16 will be an early dismissal day for students.

On behalf of our entire staff, please have a wonderful Spring Recess!

Our Kindness Club has been hard at work spreading cheer around Walnut Street! Be the "i" in KIND! 4th grade members of the Kindness Club worked really hard the last 2 meetings to complete this wonderful poster that is proudly displayed at the front of the school. Thank you!

Please see these fliers below related to the Summer EBT program. The flier is in English and Spanish and there is great information in them.

5th grade students have been working hard during their WIN periods reviewing multiplication, fractions, and geometry. Before moving on to ELA after the break, we celebrated with a Multiplication Bee. Students were given a Kahoot with their classroom teachers and the Top 5 students from each class were invited to participate in the finals. Arabella Junio was the 1st place winner of the multi-digit multiplication competition and Renee Bell-Dubulis won the single digit multiplication one.

Please click link to view Mrs. Coe's Donor's Choose Page!

Please click link to view Mrs. Murray's Donor's Choose Page!

Please click link to view Mrs. DeRuiter's Donor's Choose Page!

Our next PTO meeting will be on April 9, 2024 in Cafeteria C at 6:30 PM. Please enter through Door 18. We will be honoring our March Students of the Month!

Outdoor Movie Night 5/17

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/60B0A4FABAE2AA6FD0-outdoor

Our cafeteria offers our students nutritious and tasty food items every day. The link to the food services website is below. There (along the right side), you will see menus for the month. For information on eligibility for free or reduced meals, please access the letters that are attached.

This part of the newsletter will feature important upcoming dates at Walnut Street Elementary and our district. Please see below:

• March 29 - April 7 - Spring Recess (Students return April 8)
• April 16 - Early Dismissal Day (Student day ends at 12:40 PM)
• April 18 - Walnut Street Drama Production
• April 25 - Toms River Excellence Expo (Featuring Walnut Street's Drama Club!)
• May 6 - May 10: Grades 4 and 5 NJSLA Testing (Math and ELA)
• May 13 - May 17: Grade 3 NJSLA Testing (Math and ELA)
• May 13 and 14: Grade 5 NJSLA Testing (Science)
• May 17: PTO Movie Night