Torey J. Sabatini
School
December 2011
Happy Holidays!!
Important Dates
January
3
13
16
17-20
20
23
24
27
27
Classes Resume
Gr. 4 “Vikings in Vinland” 9-10
MLK – Schools Closed – Prof Dev.
Kindergarten Registration
Cultural Arts “Ginga Brasileira”
PTO – 7:30
BoE – 7:30
END 2ND MARKING PERIOD
Poetry Workshop
February
1
3
8
11
14
20
20-24
28
2-Hr Delayed Opening – 10:40 start
2ND MP REPORT CARDS DIST.
Kindergarten “Winter Animals” 9-2
TJS Adult Social
BoE
President’s Day – Buildings Closed
Schools Closed – Winter Recess
BoE – 7:30
The winter holiday season is upon us and it is time
for plenty of fun and joy and reasons to reflect on
our many blessings at Torey J.
We make a point of having fun together and this season brings out that feeling of shared fun. Children
(and adults) wear holiday colors and anticipate a time
of giving and family fun. Every morning every class
at TJS has a short activity together that emphasizes fun and community. This season amplifies that
purpose. Joy comes to Torey J. in a variety of forms.
The students celebrate their skills in a holiday concert and share the joys of the holiday through reading and writing in class.
Torey J. is a school that is fortunate in many ways.
Our parent community embraces the school and supports it in more ways than we can readily imagine.
The TJS PTO has contributed volunteer efforts,
programs and funding for special projects. Our staff
is incredibly accomplished, professional and caring.
Every child is seen as an individual and their progress, socially, emotionally and academically is paramount.
We are most fortunate for our students. They are a
very special group of children and they are the
heart, the purpose of our school. Thanks to everyone for entrusting us with the responsibility of educating and nurturing your children. It is a trust we
hold sacred. Thank you all and have a wonderful holiday season!
Teacher of the Year
Torey J. Sabatini School is very proud to announce our teacher of the year , Mrs. Carolyn
Rommeihs, for the 2010-2011 school year.
Mrs. Rommeihs graduated from Kean University
in Union, NJ and taught middle school in Elizabeth, NJ for 7 years. After working as a teaching assistant at KRS, she has been a special education teacher in the Madison Schools for the
past 12 years, initially in the self-contained LLD
class and for the past five years with collaborative teaching teams in the “inclusion model” at
TJS.
Mrs. Rommeihs lives in Madison with her husband Bob and son Matthew. She had the wonderful opportunity to stay home with Mathew
until he was in first grade and feels strongly
that her experiences as a parent informed and
enriched her work as a teacher.
Mrs. Rommeihs is a teacher who, in addition to
her extensive training in academic areas, is
blessed with an empathetic, kind approach to
every student and adult in her orbit. She is the
consummate professional and the ideal colleague. We at Torey J. are very proud to have
her as our teacher of the year!
Madison Public School District Mission Statement
The Madison School District will inspire
and challenge all students to be life-long
learners, empowered with the knowledge,
skills, and character to shape their futures, realize their dreams, and contribute positively to the world.
TJS Arrival and Dismissal
Arrival and dismissal can be a challenge at
Torey J., but we can all lessen the problem by
following some simple rules.
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Please avoid taking three point turns. If
you need to turn around, just go around
the block. It won’t take long and you will
contribute to a much safer traffic pattern.
Avoid turning around in neighbors’ driveways. Let’s be aware of the occasional discomfort being a neighbor of an elementary
school can include and be extra thoughtful
of the folks that live near us.
Closely follow the directives of the school
crossing guards. They do not have an easy
job and the safety of our children is foremost in their thoughts. Please give them
the support they need to do their jobs
well.
Do not use the BOE building’s driveway as a
turn around.
The challenges of arrival and dismissal are
only increased by the bad weather that winter
can bring along. Let’s stay focused on safety
and maintaining good drop off and pick up procedures for our students’ safety.
NJ ASK 2012
Dates for the administration of this year’s
NJ ASK are May 7th through May 11th.
If you are parents of students in grades
three, four or five, please remember this
week. Attendance is crucial for this very
important assessment.
Exciting Opportunities at TJS
World Language
We have several exciting opportunities for our
students that have been generated by volunteer
parents.
The World Language program at the elementary schools in Madison has been transformed.
A year ago, through budget cuts, the elementary level World Language teachers were reassigned. However, there will still be the mandated World Language instruction!
A group of parents led by Mrs. Hadim, Mrs. Catrini and a group of volunteers have launched a
student newsletter for the fourth grade. Mrs.
Kuehn is our faculty advisor. The students have
already produced one issue and are eagerly embarking on a second one.
Another wonderful activity about to begin is the
Science Club. The Science Club is offered to
students from grades two through four. It
meets after school with a group of parents who
use each meeting to work on a specific scientific
concept. The students then work on activities
and projects in groups.
The event that is the logical conclusuion to the
Science Club is the Science Fair, which will include exhibits from all students who sign up and
develop a project either individually or as
groups. Last year’s Science Fair was a spectacular success. We look forward to this year’s Science Fair being equally as good and even a little
better.
There are a number of other ideas for enrichment activities being discussed at present. We
are fortunate to have parents who want to actively participate in our school and who are
uniquely qualified to contribute . We welcome
ideas. That is how the activities already mentioned came to fruition. Parents or groups of
parents came to the principal (me) and chatted
about the activity and how it could fit within the
school.
If you have an idea, even the germ of an idea,
please feel free to contact Mr. Post.
After visiting other schools and learning the
positives and negatives in other schools’ programs, the Rosetta Stone Spanish Language
program will be introduced for the third and
fourth marking periods in grades three
through five.
At Torey J., a world language computer lab will
be established with laptop computers. This
lab will serve students for other uses when it
is not being used for world language, so it is a
tremendous plus for our students.
The program is very exciting. Students will
learn through an online program that can also
be accessed at home using a password to log
in. Each student will use an earphone/
microphone set to interact with the computer
program.
This program extends the potential of world
language learning at TJS. By having the capacity for students to use the program at
home, it is our hope that motivated students
will bring extended language skills to the more
sophisticated programs at MJS and MHS.
Not only that, but the program assesses at
various intervals, ensuring that students never
advance without passing the previous units assessment.
We feel very optimistic that our world language program has the potential to be improved and serve our students very well.
Holiday Workshop
Thanks to everyone who contributed to our 2011
Holiday Workshop at TJS. Led by Mrs. Clark, the
event organizer, the Holiday Workshop was a rousing success. Dozens of children and their parents
and grandparents came to the Jaguar Jungle in
three morning shifts and constructed gingerbread
houses together. We even had a fine showing or
Torey J. alumni come by to enjoy with their
younger siblings.
The Holiday Workshop is a great opportunity to
celebrate the holiday season with fun and community. Parents have time to chat with friends and
the children construct impressive structures made
of graham crackers and a variety of candy that is
attached to the house, though some may be consumed by the builders :-)
This has been a yearly tradition at TJS and we are
very fortunate to have people volunteer to make it
a reality. Thank you!
Madison Education Foundation
The Madison Education Foundation has become the
very best friend imaginable to Torey J. Sabatini
Elementary School. In only our second year of our
relationship with the foundation, Torey J. is being
impacted immeasurably by the largesse of the
foundation.
Not only has the Foundation funded specific projects that include our students directly (a guest
artist who is creating a mural with our students), a
graphic novel project for our fourth grade, and a
weaving loom and display wall for our art program.
It is also funding document cameras for our second, third and fourth grades, and an FM sound system.
The Foundation has an excellent website that can
be accessed through the district home page.
Please check it out for more information regarding
the MEF and ways you may be able to contribute.
Farm Stand
The Jaguar Jungle has a farm stand! Pomptonian,
our food service provider, has instituted a farm
stand for students purchasing lunch. It has been
in place for the entire year, but we recently moved
it out of the kitchen and it has resulted in a dramatic increase in students taking items from the
stand.
This farm stand contains fruits and vegetables for
students to include with their lunches. It is like a
mini salad bar. Most days there are apples, orange
sections, carrots, pears, broccoli florets and salad
fixings. Students put items on their trays as they
are waiting on the lunch line and also are able to go
back and choose items after they already have
their lunch.
This is Pomptonian’s effort to devise ways for students to vary their lunch diets and include more
fruits and vegetables. In many cases, the cooked
vegetables went uneaten. The items from the farm
stand are definitely being eaten and enjoyed!
So...if your child purchases lunch, please encourage
them to take advantage of the Farm Stand. It is
just outside of the kitchen and brimming with nutritious food. Please also emphasize the necessity
of having a beverage at lunch. Milk is included with
lunch and we have several choices of milk flavors
and types. We also have water and Canada Pure
available.
Through Pomptonian, TJS is constantly striving to
offer a more nutritious, flavorful lunch for our students who purchase it. Each year we meet with
Pomptonian to review the lunch program. This
meeting includes parents and students and has resulted in a number of improvements, including the
farm stand!
Wrap Around Program
Fifth Grade Trip
Starting in September of 2012, the Madison
elementary schools will be having “wrap around “
programs.
This year, the PTO funded fifth grade trip experienced a major change. Instead of having the trip
in May or June, when the weather is often quite
warm and the insects are out in great number, the
trip has been moved to autumn.
These programs will enable parents with children in our kindergarten to keep their children
at Torey J. all day instead of sending them to
any of the programs they may be considering
using, or sending them to all-day kindergarten
programs.
The program will parallel the school hours for
grades one through five, starting at 8:40 and
ending at 3:15. Children will be fed lunch and
will also have ample time for recess and physical
activity. The cost of the program is $450.00
per month.
For more specific, extensive information, please
visit the district home page, where you will find
an FAQ report for interested parents.
This promises to be a wonderful service to our
parents and children who may participate.
Holiday Concert
The Torey J. Holiday Concert was held on Friday,
December 16th and was a rousing success!
The band, orchestra and chorus were sublime, led by
our own Ms. Marallo (band), Mrs. Quinlan (orchestra)
and Ms. Altieri (chorus). The students rehearse as
ensembles on assigned weekday mornings before
school and receive small-group lessons during the
school day.
The performance was the result of all of the practice and hard work. After only a few months, the
music was well coordinated and sounded great!
Thanks to everyone for presenting such a wonderful
performance. Teachers and students should be very
proud of themselves!
The purpose of the change was not limited to
weather and insect concerns. The major reason
for the trip is for the students to have a teambuilding experience that will enrich their time as
fifth graders and follow them through the year
and beyond. In order to maximize the benefits of
this experience, moving the trip to the first part
of the year made excellent sense.
The students went to Camp Bernie this year, where
they enjoyed a climbing tower, low ropes courses
and team building activities in a beautiful setting.
The weather cooperated and there was not one
bug!
This trip is funded through the TJS PTO and the
fifth grade fund raising committee, who fund raise
for a variety of fifth grade activities. Thanks go
to Mrs. Prout, who organized the trip, and the
fifth grade teaching team, who did a wonderful job
of managing the trip. It was a special experience!
TJS Turkey Trot
Torey J., led by Mrs. McCormick and Mrs. Samori,
ran our first Turkey Trot on Saturday morning,
November 19th. Students from all ages had activities and age specific races around the field. It
was a spectacular activity!
Funds generated from this event are going to the
TJS fifth grade activity fund. This supports the
trips, yearbook and various other fifth grade activities that make the students’ last year at Torey
J. so special.
Everyone agreed that this Turkey Trot should not
be our last Turkey Trot. Let’s do it again next
year!
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle….
Torey J., through the efforts of the Green
Team, has made the three “Rs” a real priority at
Torey J.
Every day at lunch, with the tremendous help of
our school custodian Pat DeNegri, who has made
it his priority to contribute, a variety of reduction and recycling, efforts are taking place.
We recycle all juice pouches and snack bags.
Mrs. Prout gathers them and sends them to
TerraCycle, a company that turns those items
into products like book bags and pencil cases.
You may have seen them in stores.
We also compost vegetable waste. The PTO
purchased two compost barrels that collect all
left over apple cores, orange and banana peels,
and all other vegetable waste that is not compromised by sauce or oil. Again, Mr. “Pat” presides over this project, making certain to encourage students to remember where to dispose
of the refuse.
Additionally, all plastic, and metal containers are
recycled, as is all paper that is not soiled. A notable addition to our recycling program are the
lunch trays. Unless they have been soiled with
sauces, etc. our lunch trays are now put into our
recycling stream as opposed to the trash, which
is headed to the landfill.
All of these efforts require the contribution of
our students. They have become very thoughtful in placing items in their appropriate containers. Also, the Green Team (thanks to Mrs.
Niper and Mrs. Tom) is a great help as is Mrs.
Prout. And lastly, Mr. Pat DeNegri has made
the program work by actively promoting it and
keeping the collection streams clean and free of
compromising materials.
Walk to School Days
Four times a year (minimally) Torey J. has a
walk to school day scheduled on a Friday.
This is a wonderful experience for our students, encouraging exercise and community.
As the students walk to school they collect in
groups of children and parents and walk together, talking, laughing and breathing in the
clean morning air.
The last time we had a walk to school day was
November 18th. Sgt. John Keymer was stationed at Glenwild that morning and he commented on how few automobiles were crowding
the sides of Glenwild. That was a powerful
illustration of the benefits of our walk to
school days.
Thanks for our walk to school days go to Mrs.
Sullivan, Mrs. Tom, and their wonderful contributors who help make it all work.
Honeywell
The use of Honeywell Instant Alert System as
a way to notify parents of news around the
district is expanding.
No longer is its use solely to notify parents of
school closings. You can now expect to be notified by Honeywell for a variety of reasons.
Due to this change of use, you may wish to return to Honeywell and adjust your contact
preferences and information.
The instructions for making changes in your
Honeywell account are on the district website.