ROBBIE’S RECORD ROBERT HUNTER FAMILY NEWSLETTER

October 2015

Mrs. Karen L. Gabruk, Principal Phone: (908) 284-7620 Mrs. Kelliann Ten Kate, Vice Principal Option #1 To report your child absent Sarah Fontanez, Counselor: 284-7623 Option #2 To leave a message for a staff member

Option #3 To reach the nurse Option #4 To reach the main office Option #5 For emergency closings/openings

Dear Robert Hunter Families, The school year is off to such a positive start. The children transitioned into their new classes and quickly were involved in learning. We had a fabulous turn out at Back-To-School-Night. We hope you enjoyed your evening and visiting your child’s classes. Mrs. TenKate and I enjoyed talking with so many parents and look forward to seeing you at some of the upcoming school events listed in the calendar. As the weather becomes cooler and the leaves start to change we can be assured that our children will soon be asking for their Halloween costume. I’d just like to remind parents that, as in previous years, plastic weapons such as guns and swords may not be brought to school as part of a costume. Additionally, as your child selects their costume for school, please remind them that the student body is ages 5 and up. Scary or revealing costumes leave lasting impressions on our youngsters. Your cooperation to keep our parade enjoyable by all is greatly appreciated. We hope to see you at one or several of the special events planned for October such as the Walk-A-Thon, Fun Fair or Halloween parade. In the meantime, enjoy the beautiful weather. Sincerely, Karen L. Gabruk, Principal

2015-2016 Robert Hunter Family Handbook

Our 2015-2016 Family Handbook has been updated and placed on Virtual Backpack and on our school website under “Parents – Parent Handbook”.

From the Desk of Vice Principal Ten Kate

Definition: Treat others with respect; follow the Golden Rule

Be tolerant and accepting of differences Use good manners, not bad language

Be considerate of the feelings of others Don’t threaten, hit or hurt anyone

Deal peacefully with anger, insults, and disagreements

Respect Do’s: Treat everyone with respect by being polite. Respect the individuality of others and be

accepting of individual differences. Judge people on their merits, not on their race,

religion, nationality, age, gender, physical or mental condition, or socio-economic status.

Respect Don’ts:

Don’t insult, hurt, put down, or mistreat others. Don’t make unwanted comments about a person’s

appearance. Don’t take advantage of other people. Don’t hold back information people need to make

decisions.

School Security

New Jersey State Law requires that one (1) fire drill and one (1) school security drills (i.e. evacuation drills, lockdown drills, and lockout drills) must be conducted each month. Detailed routes are posted inside the door of each classroom and procedures for each drill are explained and practiced with students

CHARACTER EDUCATION TRAIT

Respect

DATES TO REMEMBER

Oct. 3 Spirit Day! Walk-A-Thon (Rain Date 5th) Oct. 6 EARLY DISMISSAL – Staff Development Oct. 7 PTO Meeting 9:15am & 7:00pm Oct. 9 School Pictures Oct. 21 Dine/Shop Out Oct. 23 Halloween Fun Fair Oct. 30 PTO Fall Enrichment Ends Nov. 3 Schools Closed – Staff Development Nov. 5 & 6 Schools Closed – NJEA Convention

KKiinnddeerrggaarrtteenn NNeewwss A great big Thank You to all of our generous homeroom parents for volunteering. We look forward to working with you to make this a special year for all the children. Kindergarten students are working very hard on the routines of their day, communicating with peers and practicing school rules. Please join us outside for the PTO Walk-A-Thon on October 2nd(rain date the 5th) at 11:50-12:20! Your support of the PTO provides many wonderful things for Robert Hunter School. Thank you! Kindergarten Teachers

From the Art Teacher As we begin another year, I want to thank all the families who have joined Artsonia, the world's largest online student art gallery. It's a safe, secure and wonderful way to share your child's artwork with family and friends all over the world. Plus, you can purchase all sorts of great gifts printed with your child's work. To view the Robert Hunter Artsonia Gallery, go to artsonia.com and search for us. If you haven't already signed up (and you only need to do it once for your child's entire stay at Robert Hunter), you can send me an email with your child's name and grade, and I'll do the rest. You will then get a confirmation email from Artsonia. Follow the prompts to complete the process. It's very easy! Then, every time your child creates a new piece of art, you will get a notification from Artsonia. Thank you for your support of the arts at Robert Hunter! Marie Corfield

News from Miss Godby and Mrs. Foreman

Ms. Kaitlyn Godby, special education teacher of the fourth grade self contained students at Robert Hunter, addressed launching the Readers Workshop in a tasty way! She motivated her class by way of a Book Tasting! Miss Godby offered her students appetizers to excite them and to elicit interaction, exposure to genres and an understanding of their likes and dislikes. Sharing this idea with her team members, Mrs. Caroline Foreman and Mrs. Leah Byk, special education teacher of Resource Center fourth grade students, enabled this special population to begin the 2015-16 school

year on a fun and positive note. The students traveled around their respective classrooms in partnerships, to various stations where they sampled healthy snacks while taking a bite out of Biographies, Fiction, Non

Fiction, Picture, Folktales, etc. Together the students got a chance to discuss the text and rate the books on an inviting user friendly sheet. The students’ favorite snack was popcorn and pineapple chunks! Afterwards Mrs. Foreman's students wrote a response about what they discovered about themselves as a reader. Rich discussion was on the menu when her students shared their old and new opinions on Biographies and Picture Books. Did you know a picture book can be on a fourth grade reading level? It was clear to Miss Godby that she cooked up the yummiest lesson by tapping into one of her students' favorite pass times. The way to cooking up lifelong readers is through their tummies!

TThhiinnggss ttoo RReemmeemmbbeerr 1. Please report to the office to receive a visitor pass as

soon as you arrive at school. Please remember to sign in and return the pass when you are ready to leave.

2. When driving your child to school, please respect the directions given by staff on duty. If you are driving your child to school in the morning, please pull up along the curb in front of the building and wait for our teacher(s) to dismiss your child into the school. It is important that all parents stay in line and drive very slowly when dropping students off in front of the building. Students should exit the car on the school side of the vehicle in order to ensure student safety. Please park in one of our two parking lots if you want to escort your child into the school. Students may be dropped off starting at 8:40am. Students will be marked tardy after 9:00am.

3. When picking up your child after school, parking is NOT allowed along the front curb of the school. Please use the parking lots.

4. Park in one of our two parking lots if you want to escort your child into the school.

5. When your child is absent, please remember to call our absence line, 284-7636 and select option # 1.

6. Notes must be sent to school with your child if you are requesting any changes in dismissal arrangements. If your plans changed during the day, please call before 2:30 to help us maintain a smooth and orderly bus dismissal.

7. Please update us if there are any changes in emergency contact phone numbers during the school year.

Flemington-Raritan Parks and Recreation

908-892-4649

www.flemingtonraritanparks.org

Scarecrow Contest – In conjunction with the Family Success

Center a scarecrow building and display competition will be

held on Saturday, October 10, 2015 from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m.

Details can be found on our website

www.flemingtonraritanparks.org

FAMILY RUNNING CLUB - U in Motion. U in Motion is

our family running club. This is a great way for families to

get exercise and workout together. For more information;

please email us at flemingtonparks@gmail.com.

Men's Over Thirty Basketball - Contact Jim Thatch at 908-

938-4268 or thatchj@gmail.com for details. Held at RFIS on

Thursday from 6:15-8:15 pm from September until June.

Adult Women's Basketball - Contact Lauren Derrick at

laurenderrick33@yahoo.com for details. Held at Desmares

School on Wednesday from 7-9 pm from September until June

(excluding March).

SKI Club 2016 – We are in the process of planning our 2016

Ski Club for Middle School aged children. Details will be

posted on our website www.flemingtonraritanparks.org when

they become available.

Have an idea for a program or want to know what is

coming up? Contact us at flemingtonparks@gmail.com and

visit our website at www.flemingtonraritanparks.org for a

complete list of current programs.

SUMMER INTERSESSION 2015 – We are pleased to

publicize that over 400 area students attended our 2015

Summer Intersession Program; we had over 60 students

volunteer; and employed over 50 students from the

Community in our program.