Brookside School began the 2011-2012 school year by opening its doors to incoming kindergarteners and all new students for its annual Scavenger Hunt.
Parents and students enjoyed touring the building, while they located important places throughout their new school. 5 th grade students acted as hosts, assisting the parents, kindergarteners, and new students with the Scavenger Hunt.

• The entire Brookside School community came together on the first day of school in the allpurpose room to discuss goals and expectations for the school year. Pictured here is
Brookside School Nurse, Mrs. Bolton, speaking to the students about health and safety initiatives for the year.

• 4 th and 5 th grade students recently attended a presentation given by staff from the Westwood
Regional Music Department. Students had an opportunity to hear about the numerous offerings by the instrumental program and to view demonstrations of various instruments.

• Many Brookside School classrooms received various upgrades over the summer, and staff and students are now enjoying the benefits of SMART technology throughout the building. Ms.
Hines is pictured here guiding her students through a lesson while using the SMART Board to support her instruction.

• Brookside School students recently participated in “Week of Respect” through various classroom lessons, programs, and initiatives. Ms. Hines second grade class read The Legend of Spookley the Square Pumpkin, written and created by Joe
Troiano, as they focused their classroom efforts on bullying prevention, tolerance, and diversity. Ms. Hines’ class created their own pumpkins in a variety of shapes, sizes and colors making each one quite unique. Once complete, the students shared their pumpkins with one another and discussed how each one was different, as well as special. Finally, a “Spookley’s
Pumpkin Patch” bulletin board was created for all to enjoy.

• Brookside School kindergarteners have been learning how "Writing is Everywhere." Students collected real examples of writing from home (cards, recipes, shopping lists, etc.) and then worked to create classroom labels. Students then went around the room, using the first letter of each word along with the picture clues to "read" the room. Students are pictured working in different parts of the classrooms to read the labels they wrote the day before.

Miss Donna Zakar’s third grade enrichment classes in Westwood Regional School District have been studying about
World Peace. In honor of International Day of Peace, celebrated on September 21, third graders across the district crated their own “Whirled Peace” by creating pinwheels. Each student wrote statements of what peace is to them on the pinwheels and decorated them with colorful designs that represent peace. Each school planted their own Pinwheel
Peace Garden in celebration of this International holiday.

Mr. Adkin’s fifth grade science classes have been working with compound, electronic, electric, and online microscopes to view various specimens for their microscope scrapbook project.
During this project, the students viewed several specimens, recorded their observations, and made comparisons in their project notebook.

Brookside School teaching staff are pictured here participating in an after school meeting focused on PLC’s. PLC’s or Professional Learning Communities, place the focus on ensuring that all students are learning, NOT on ensuring that all students are simply taught. Brookside’s PLC’s for the 2011-2012 school year have focused on various topics such as Homework, Heterogeneous and Homogenous grouping, and school community.

Michael Buckley, author of such well-known books as Nerds and The Sisters Grimm Series recently visited Brookside School and talked about writing with all the 3 rd , 4 th , and 5 th grade students. The Brookside PTO, along with Books, Bytes and Beyond, of Glen Rock, sponsored the event.

Mr. Hagopian’s first grade class is pictured here as they tour a Westwood Fire Department vehicle. The tour took place as Brookside students recognized fire prevention week. After the tour, the students were provided with fire safety lessons by members of the fire department.

Mrs. Vaughan is pictured facilitating a mathematics lesson on problem solving, while using the
SMART Board to supplement her instruction. Teaching staff at Brookside School have found great success in using technology to support the Math Connects program.

The Faculty and Staff of Brookside Elementary School celebrated Breast Cancer Awareness Day on
Friday, October 14, 2011 by making a donation to have the privilege of jeans and donning pink. Many of the same individuals participated in the Making Strides Against Breast Cancer
Walk on Sunday, October 16, 2011. Brookside Elementary School Faculty and Staff donated $250 for this worthwhile cause.

Teaching staff from across all four elementary schools recently participated in professional development training related to the District’s new Language Arts Literacy Program, Treasures.
Representatives from Macmillan/McGraw-Hill provided staff with an overview of the program and materials, which will be fully implemented for all students in September, 2012.

Brookside School staff recently received training specific to SMART Boards. A technology consultant is pictured here providing staff with additional activities to be used in their future lessons.

Thousands of Lego blocks recently helped the Brookside Elementary School PTO in Westwood build a successful Lego Family Fun Night. About 170 students packed the auditorium along with parents, and Brookside Staff. The PTO sponsored Lego Family Fun Night. The PTO plans to also use the Legos for lunchtime fun at Brookside, when the children have inside recess during inclement weather

Elementary School Guidance Counselor Ms. Jennifer Claydon is pictured working with two fifth graders as they welcomed parents and guardians at Brookside’s annual Open
House.

Mrs. Sheridan’s class and parent visitors recently enjoyed a student presentation during Brookside School’s annual Open House.

In science, third grade students are involved in a unit dealing with how animal structures, or parts, help different animals meet their needs. In conjunction with this, the third graders observed pond snails to determine how their body parts help them respond to stimuli in the environment. The students then reported on their findings and compared the snails’ body parts and functions to those of other animals.

Fifth grade students have been working on a social studies project involving various media research. During the project, the students analyzed information to create an interview script and video, along with a keynote presentation to showcase their learning. They hope to present their work at an upcoming Spirit Assembly.

Brookside School recently enjoyed a visit from Joe Romano, as he performed the assembly program, Green
Magic. Brookside students learned that “Going Green” can be exciting and fun. The production used science, comedy, and magic to motivate the students to reduce, reuse, and recycle!

Fifth graders recently worked with Mrs. Damiani on a creative and descriptive writing project for character study entitled “I am Pedro”. This was an extension of their Social Studies curriculum on explorers. They worked on building their writing skills using various traits of writing, such as developing voice, ideas, and building vocabulary. They studied a variety of writing techniques, which included the use of studying historical facts, reflecting on mentor texts, and taking perspective, and embedded this in the context of reading a fictional account entitled Pedro’s Journal by Pam
Conrad. The products were well- developed, image-filled, fact-and-fiction blended essays, which these 5 th graders avidly shared with their peers.

Mrs. Barbarito and her first grade colleagues have been providing individualized support to their students during PAF lessons. First graders have been making great strides this year as they use
PAF to support their growth in reading, spelling, and handwriting.

Brookside School students have enjoyed presenting various classroom activities and accomplishments to the entire school at monthly Spirit Assemblies. Recently, Mrs. Tadiello’s kindergarteners explained how “Word Walls” help them to become better readers and writers.