Principal's Weekly Update

We finished off Friday with our first Fun-a-Thon, a well received enhancement of our prior Walkathons. Students were able to enjoy picture perfect weather as they enjoyed a variety of outside activities. You can see a couple of action shots below. The insert photo to the right is not a Fun-a-Thon photo, but rather some students in science lab safety goggles, When you see some of the actual Fun-a-Thon activities below, you might envision us incorporating those goggles in some creative way next year.

We are still collecting donations for the Fun-a-Thon (until next Friday, 10/25). To date we have raised $11,448 toward our goal of $15,000. At the bottom of this letter you will find a QR Code which allows for direct donations to this fundraiser (for those who don’t wish to register). If you do wish to register, you can still do so through Schoolfundr. The PTA will raffle off 10 additional $10 gift cards– anyone who donates up until 10/25 will be eligible for the raffles. There will also be a separate raffle for an Owala water bottle, Beats headphones, and a $50 Amazon gift card for students who received the highest number of donations as well as a Dunkin Donuts breakfast for the homeroom that has received the most donations.

As a final reminder, afternoon Parent/Teacher Conferences are scheduled for this Thursday, 10/24. It is a legal day schedule for students. Our teachers welcome this opportunity to speak in person with you about student progress, as we are now more than halfway through the first trimester. For anyone who was not able to schedule a conference for either this round, or the second date of 11/14– it is always possible to schedule a “team meeting” with teachers. Each team has a designated period during the day when they meet together– this time can be utilized if a parent wishes to speak with the team of teachers.

Thursday night’s Career Night gave our 8th grade students the opportunity to hear from professionals with very diverse job descriptions– we had a pilot, a police officer and a pediatrician among our many presenters. Students learned about the educational paths which could lead to these different careers and gained insight into what day to day life is like for people in different professions.

Announcements:

Basketball tryouts will begin in November. Please register online through Trumbull athletics if you are interested in trying out, you need to be medically cleared before tryouts.

The Student Government will be hosting the first dance of the school year on Friday, 10/25 from 6:30-8:00pm. The dance will be held outside. Tickets are now on sale through the Infinite Campus Portal for $5.00.

** The PTA is looking for parent volunteers for the night of the dance. Click here to sign up. **

Starting on Monday, 10/21, and running through Friday, 11/8, NJHS and KARE are teaming up to sponsor a Food Drive to benefit the Trumbull Food Pantry. We will be collecting non-perishable food items, paper goods, toiletries, and cleaning supplies. Collection boxes will be located in the Main Lobby, near the gym, outside the Faculty Room, and outside Rooms 225 and 232.

Community News:

Hillcrest Referendum Frequently Asked Questions: This FAQ Document provides quite a bit of information about the project and the upcoming referendum.

The Mary J Sherlach Center is hosting a Coping Strategies for Youth 6 week weekly group starting on November 7th, 2024. Please see the informational flier for more information.

ELB Assignments Calendar

Clubs & Activities:

Madison Makeover Club’s first meeting will be Monday, 10/21 in room 220 (Mrs. Yarmosh). If you like to design and paint murals, this is the club for you as we will be looking to continue to change the look of Madison. Bring your creative side with you.

The next Science Club meeting will be on Monday, October 28th, not 10/21. We will be making SLIME! Please sign up on the door of Room 217 so I know how much material I need to purchase. All are welcome!

Eighth graders, sign up for your MAKERSPACE sessions! Makerspace begins on Tuesday, October 22nd and meets during ELB. Limited to 20 students.

The next Panther Pals meeting will be on Wednesday, 10/23 in Room 109. We are looking for all existing members and any one interested in being a Panther Pal. See Mrs. Oman if you have any questions.

In our ongoing effort this year to teach morpholgy and to promote vocabulary acquisition, we now feature a "root word of the week", the first one being therm (meaning "heat"). If you are like me, the real life application of this is that you had to adjust your thermostat for the first time this season, since we had some recent mornings dip into the 30s. Not yet hypothermia inducing, but it was a little bit of a shock to the system. We are expecting a warm up for this week, which hopefully bodes well for that outdoor dance we have planned for Friday. Enjoy your weekend !

Take care,

Peter Sullivan