

Bulldog News
January 5th, 2023

Hello Bulldog Community!
Happy New Year!
As we head into 2023, and I sit back and reflect on the past couple of years, I cannot help but feel pride. I am so proud of the staff in the Butler School District who navigate any and all circumstances, and who keep students as the focus on every effort. Despite difficulties beyond our control, the Butler School District continued to grow and thrive. We managed to fulfill our goal of renovating Memorial Field and our track; we have upgraded roofing and windows throughout our District; we have begun an extended effort to upgrade and install HVAC within our classrooms; we maintained and expanded our academic programs, offering more electives and honors coursework; and much, much more. It was a great 2022! Now, we set our sights on 2023, and we remain committed to providing our students and learning community with the best educational experience possible. We are proud to be the best small school district in New Jersey!
Some great news to share:
- Our Marching Band, under the guidance of Dr. N. and Ms. Lowndes, received a Joint Citation from the New Jersey State Senate and the General Assembly in honor of their accomplishments this year;
- Our DECA program competed at the Regional Competition this past week and 16 students who competed qualified to move on to the State Championships. Awesome work by our students and our DECA advisor and business teacher, Mrs. Chestnutt;
- Heroes walk amongst us - recently middle school Health and PE instructor, Mr. Duchensky, delivered medical attention to a student in distress. He acted calmly and decisively keeping all involved calm as well. As I always say, the Butler staff is truly phenomenal;
I wish you all health and happiness as we head into a new year. May 2023 bring you joy, may it bring you love, and may you all make many happy memories!
Be Well
Dr. J.
BULLDOG SPOTLIGHT
Butler Band
The Butler School District is so proud of our Marching Band for all that they accomplished this year - from winning first place in the region of 10-3A, being on Fox news, and hosting our first Band Competition. Dr. N. and Ms. Lowndes always create such wonderful opportunities for our students.
Live Streams
We know that everyone's schedules are very hectic, and we also know that members of the Butler Dawgpound are spread out across our Country and might now be able to make it home for an event. So...thanks to Mr. Hall and our IT departments, all home Wrestling matches, boys basketball and girls basketball games will be live streamed for free on YouTube. Use the link below to view from anywhere and cheer on our teams!
www.YouTube.com/@butlerathleticsnj
All Shook Up
Rehearsals for our Spring Musical, All Shook Up, are underway. It’s 1955, and into a square little town in a square little state rides a guitar-playing young man who changes everything and everyone he meets. Loosely based on Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, this hip-swiveling, lip-curling musical fantasy will have you jumpin’ out of your blue suede shoes with such classics as “Heartbreak Hotel,” “Hound Dog,” “Jailhouse Rock,” and “Don’t Be Cruel.” Mark your calendars for March 31st, April 1st and 2nd
Another Great Assembly
We want to thank Morris County Prevention is Key for their recent presentations to our 7th and 8th graders about the dangers of vaping. We are so happy to have this partnership, and Ms. Tagariello and Mrs. Szabo bring in wonderful programs to help our students.
Wrestling Off To Another Strong Start
Congrats to Coach Luciani and our Bulldog Wrestling Squad who are off to another great start this year as they look to hang another banner. The team recently swept Kinnelon, DePaul, and Pequannock. Keep making us proud!
NEWS FROM OUR SCHOOLS
Aaron Decker Elementary School - Mr. J. Manco, Principal
Gratitude is choosing to appreciate the people and things in our lives
ADS would like to congratulate the following students for demonstrating their appreciation for others and to be thankful for the things in our lives:
Kindergarten Vanessa Castillo, Eleanor Goddard, Anthony Guales Mendez, Rodrigo Guzman, Austin Hecht, Jose Hernandez, Avery Jorda, Sayuri Meren Cua, Natali Smith, Wyatt Vandenbos
First Grade: Aubrey Frabizzio, Violeta Herrera, Kenneth Kemp, Kelly Saavedra Espinoza, Maya Szydlowski, Palmer Valente
Second Grade: Mickey Brown, Abi Coiro, Eva Munoz, Landon Rivera, Cali Rodriguez, Justin Sanders, , Alina Suric, Joud Talas
Third Grade: Mallory Cammarota, Mi'kaiel Delatorre, Sadie Donadio, Domink Drasheff, Matthew Faber, Roman Topolia
Fourth Grade: Blaesy Acuna Garcia, Lupita Burrion Jolon, Treisi Escalante Jolon, Logan Frasca, Nicholas Hester, Jackson Jones, Abigail Jorda, Ashanty Lopez
Academic Spotlight: STEAM
This year's Hour of Code was a huge success! Mrs. Gorecki's third and fourth grade STEAM students meet with Mr. Arabia's juniors and seniors to work through and share their coding skills. Our students absolutely loved working with the high school students and cannot wait to be able to do it again!
Congratulations to Casey Collinge for being our December ADS Bulldog of the Month recipient. She is commended for her work in the classroom with her students. Ms. Collinge is always working to find ways to advance her Kindergarten students academically, socially ,and emotionally. Congratulations!
Reminder: District Delayed Opening on Friday, January 13, 2023
As part of our Character Strong curriculum, students will be participating in different activities geared toward “Perseverance” during the month of January.
ADS Counseling News- If you haven't already, please complete the following Google Form( https://forms.gle/sfuc3Aoag99EjhNC6) to provide feedback to improve our counseling services. The purpose of this form is to assess parents' perceived academic, social and emotional needs of their child. Through our tiered level of services, each student receives the individual level of support s/he needs. Students receive classroom lessons that focus on Social Emotional Learning utilizing Character Strong traits, small counseling groups are available, as well as individual support.
We have several ways for you to stay connected to ADS. Follow us on Twitter at @ADS_Bulldogs and Instagram at @ads_bulldogs for news, announcements, and celebrations. A weekly update will be sent out for upcoming events and important information through Blackboard Communications. As always, thank you for your continued support!
Richard Butler Middle School - Mrs. M. Papa, Principal
Happy New Year, Bulldog families! We’re excited to have our students back from winter break, and we’re looking forward to an outstanding 2023!
We’ll be bringing some fantastic programs to RBS during the month of January. On January 11, Mykee Fowlin will present “You Don’t Know Me Until You Know Me” to students in grades 5-8, and his session combines both his professional acting talents and his psychological training. His mission is to create an atmosphere of worldwide inclusion, not just tolerance, towards all people. Mr. Fowlin hopes that all audience members will leave his performance with that wonderful, awakening feeling of beauty: the beauty within one’s self and the beauty within others; the celebration of our differences, and the acceptance of our shared experiences. Students in 7th and 8th grade are also going to have the JBWS Healthy Friendships & Relationships presentation in mid-January. We’re proud to welcome all of our presenters to provide social and emotional support to our students.
In December, we conducted class spelling bees and have determined two winners per class. Our school-wide contest will decide which student will represent RBS in the Scripps County Spelling Bee this spring. Mrs. Krauze will be conducting the RBS Spelling Bee during the school day on January 24, so we’re looking forward to finding our winner. Our girls’ and boys’ basketball teams are well into the season, and we are excited for the upcoming games. Please consider coming out to support our teams this winter! Finally, Drama Club will start meeting this month as they prepare for their performance this spring. Stay tuned for more information on how you can get tickets for the performances on April 21-22.
It is time to begin preparing our 8th grade students for their move up to Butler High School. We will begin this process on January 19 when our 9th Grade School Counselor, Mr. Meyers, will come to RBS to speak to 8th graders about scheduling for next year. At this time, Mr. Meyers will share important dates in the scheduling process, information on courses offered at BHS, and how to appropriately fill out the course elective sheet, which will be provided to all 8th grade students. After this meeting, Mr. Meyers will return to RBS on February 1st and 2nd to hold individual scheduling conferences along with two more school counselors from BHS, Mrs. Maurer and Mrs. Urbina. All 8th grade students will meet with a BHS counselor to review their course recommendations as well as their elective selections. More information will be shared about the times of these individual conferences in the coming weeks. If you have any questions regarding the scheduling process, please reach out to Ms. Young at eyoung@butlerboe.org.
Please join us in congratulating Ms. Elvia Gaudet on being named the Bulldog of the Month for December here at Richard Butler Middle School! Señora Gaudet has been working in the Butler district for six years as a Teacher of Spanish. Ms. Gaudet is always willing to lend a helping hand to anyone who needs it. She covers classes, helps with translations, and supports our students in such impactful ways. She started the Survival Spanish for Teachers Google Classroom, which has been extremely helpful. Exposing all four grades to Spanish to prepare them for high school is not an easy task, but Ms. Gaudet makes it fun and engaging for all of our students!
If you haven’t already, please check out our RBS Review newsletter. Helpful documents like the RBS Student Handbook, Bell Schedules, and Student Activities schedules can be found there along with current announcements and events. We’ll also continue to celebrate our staff and students on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Please feel free to reach out to us anytime at (973) 492-2079 or mpapa@butlerboe.org.
Butler High School - Mr. R. Fitzgerald Principal
Happy New Year Bulldog Learning Community! We are very happy to see all of our students back at Butler High School and look forward to an awesome 2023!
January is a very busy month at Butler High School as the 2023 - 2024 scheduling process begins. Below are some key dates regarding your child’s scheduling process.
January 16th, 2023 - The 2023 - 2024 Butler High School Program of Studies will be available on the BHS Website. Please go to: Please go to www.butlerboe.org - Departments - Counseling - High School to locate the document.
January 23rd , 2023 BHS Counselors will visit social studies classes of grades 9 - 11 to distribute course request worksheets and explain the scheduling process.
February 2nd, 2023 - BHS Teacher Course Recommendations will be entered and visible on the Genesis Parent Portal Scheduling Module
February 3rd, 2023 BHS course request worksheets are due in the guidance office signed by student and parent
February 3rd - 10th, 2023 BHS Parent Portal Scheduling Module will open for students to enter their elective choices for the 2023-24 school year
February 13th - April 6, 2023 BHS School Counselors will conduct individual scheduling conferences with grade 9, 10 and 11 and go over course selections
June 1st - June 16th, 2023 - BHS School Counselors will work with any conflicts in the 2023-2024 schedule with students
August, 2023 - 2023/24 Final BHS Schedules will be released to students on the Genesis Parent Portal
As always if you have any questions regarding your child’s progress, schedule on next year's schedule, please contact their school counselor
Congratulations to BHS Social Studies Teacher, Mrs Barbara Ludwig-Fodor for receiving the December Bulldog of the Month Award. Ms, Fodor has a great work ethic and always offers a friendly face to her students. She is a true team player and is always willing to help out others when needed. Congratulations Ms. Fodor!
Congratulations to our BHS First Marking Period Top Dawgs. (Students of the marking period) Math - Angelica Mawyin, Science - Shannon Brady, Social Studies - Peter Calvi, World Languages - Veronica Brynzcka, Language Arts - Sebastian Rataj, ELL - Yostin Burrion Jolon, Art - Katherine Gallagher , Music - Victoria Keene, Foods - Isabella Limey, Physical Education - Lucas Lozano, Business - Kelly Smith, Shared Time - Joseph Mirabella
Congratulations to our Leaders of the Pack for Resilience for the 1st Marking Period
Senior-Jayden Lewis
Junior-Danial Ahktar
Sophomore-Jason Fleming
Freshman-Brady Sinopoli
Congratulations to Veronica Brynczka and Vincent Marino for being selected as Butler High School’s 2022 - 23 HOBY Leadership Award recipients.
Thank you Morris Prevention Is Key for coming to present to all of our students during their Health and PE classes on December 8th and 9th. The presentation was entitled “Don’t Get Vaped In” and it provided information on the dangers of smoking and vaping.
ATHLETICS
Wrestling is off to a great start and just recently swept the weekend at Pequannock.
Boys basketball won at the buzzer vs Hawthorne last week with PJ Coffey hitting a free throw to win by one point
Girls basketball got their first victory of the year at Hawthorne last week
Bowling is off to a 3-3 start and are rolling the ball great to start the year
Winter Track is off to a great start with Joe Henderson placing in numerous events as well at Taylor Peters and Jess Markey.
Fencing boys and girls picked up home wins vs Fair Lawn and are getting ready for the county tournament this weekend.
Fall Sports All-Conference Teams
Field Hockey
First Team - Lauren Spencer
Second Team - Aine Glock
Second Team - Annika Pierce
Honorable Mention - Bella Kloss
Girls Soccer
Second Team - Angelina Majer
Second Team - Abbi Klopchin
Honorable Mention - Haley Havrilla
Boys Soccer
Second Team - Sebastian Cruz-Lucero
Honorable Mention - Jacob Colino
Cross Country
Honorable Mention - Joe Henderson
UPCOMING EVENTS
January 9-12 - Seal of Biliteracy Testing @ BHS
January 12 - ADS School Picture retakes
January 11 - RBS Mykee Fowlin Program
January 13 - Delayed Opening Teacher In-Service
January 16 - Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day - No School
January 18 - Hidden in Plain Sight Presentation - 6pm in BHS Media Center
January 19 - BOE Meeting: GEOY and ESP Celebration
January 20 -STEM PTA Science Festival
January 20 - BHS Baby Day
January 24 - MP 2 Ends BHS
January 25 - MP 3 Starts BHS
January 24 - RBS Spelling Bee
January 27 - RBS Winter Olympics
January 27 - PTA 5th & 6th Fun Afternoon
Parents please mark your calendars for our upcoming Hidden in Plain Sight Presentation on January 18th at 6:00 pm in the Butler High School Media Center. This important event is designed to educate parents and guardians on the dangers of adolescent substance abuse. Attendees will have an opportunity to walk through a mock adolescent's bedroom and learn to identify different diversion types. For questions please reach out to Vikki Szabo or Emma Tagariello.