WORDS FROM WOODLAND

March 2016

From the Principal, Jeff Heaney

Believe it or not, we are more than halfway through the school

year. In fact, I am writing this letter just a few days after we

celebrated our 100th day of school!! I am proud to report that our

students are truly growing academically, socially and emotionally. Just

like the Tree of Character in our All Purpose Room, the students are

blossoming through acts of kindness and hard work.

I hope that you have enjoyed my monthly newsletters so far this

year. The main purpose of “Words from Woodland” is to give you a

glimpse into the wonderful things that are happening here each and

every day. The staff is consistently planning innovative lessons that

put students at the heart of learning. It truly is wonderful to visit

classrooms and see our students collaborating, communicating and

thinking critically. Recently, the 2nd grade performed their musical,

“Best Work, Best World” illustrating the hallmark of Woodland School.

Students wore t-shirts displaying different positive character traits such

as respect, kindness and trustworthiness. They worked together and

sang songs about the importance of taking care of one another and

working your hardest. It is my hope that when students graduate from

Woodland School they remember not only what they learned in Math

and Reading class but also what they learned about being a good

person. When you have a minute consider watching the short video

called, “Finding Good”(click on link). The video, which was shown to

some students during a character education lesson, reminds us about

the importance of good character and the impact we can have on others.

As always, please feel free to reach out to me with any questions,

concerns or to share a great experience your child had at school.

Woodland School Newsletter

“Intelligence plus character-that is the goal of true education.”

—-Martin Luther King Jr.

Superintendent’s Corner

STEEP UPDATE

2/23/16

During the past several months, the Warren Township Board of Education

has been carefully reviewing the district’s declining enrollment and its impact

on the district through the Study to Examine Enrollment Project (STEEP).

Board goals for STEEP include deciding the feasibility of our current struc-

ture, closing a school, reconfiguring with duplicated or unduplicated grade

levels or another alternative based upon:

Enrollment Decline

Educational Advantages

Community Impact

Facility Capabilities

Transportation Needs

Financial Savings

Committees with goals were formed as part of STEEP to provide the board

with relevant information and data. The committees and goals are:

Educational Committee - To determine the educational, social, and emo-

tional advantages and disadvantages of our current structure, identified re-

configuration models or any other alternative models.

Facilities Committee -To determine school building viability in terms of our

current structure, closing a school, reconfiguring with duplicated or undupli-

cated grade levels or any other alternative models.

Finance/Budget/Transportation - To determine potential district savings

based on the alternative models agreed to by the Board of Education; to max-

imize transportation efficiency while ensuring safe routes consistent with state

guidelines if a school building is closed and/or reconfigured, based on the

alternative models agreed to by the Board of Education.

To date, both the Facilities Committee and Finance/Budget/Transportation

Committee have presented their findings to the board and public. Copies of

these presentations can be accessed on the district’s website. At the March

7th meeting, the Educational Committee will present its findings to the board

and public. Once each committee has reported to the board, the board will

discuss its next step.

In early April, the board will share its information with the community through

a public forum. Community discussion will be facilitated by New Jersey

School Boards Association Field Service Representatives Charlene Peterson

and Gwen Thornton. Community members will have an opportunity to pro-

vide the board with feedback based on the information presented.

Determining the appropriate action in response to the district’s enrollment de-

cline is difficult and challenging. The Warren Township Board of Education

remains committed to keeping the community updated on the STEEP initia-

tive, the steps involved in the process of examining declining enrollment, and

a decision for moving forward.

Dr. Elizabeth Nastus

Kindergarten 1st Grade

2nd Grade 3rd Grade

4th Grade 5th Grade

Grade 4 and Grade 5 students participated in Woodland School’s annual National Geographic

Bee. Preliminary classroom bees narrowed the field to ten finalists, who competed in the

school championship round. Fourth grader Jackson Scala won the 2016 Woodland title and will

next take a written test aiming to qualify for the state competition. Jackson's teachers, class-

mates, and all of Woodland School wish him the best of luck going forward! Thank you to Mr.

Kilroy and Mrs. Panos for all of their hard work with the Geography Bee.

Kindergarteners and 1st graders

visited the Warren Public Library.

While there, they were given a tour

of the library, learned about the

many resources they offer, and were

able to get their own library card.

Thank you Mrs. Zaleski for organiz-

ing the wonderful event.

Woodland’s King and Queen

of the Jungle for January

Kudos to Woodland School

It is my pleasure to report that our current 4th graders’ scores on last year’s

Language Arts PARCC assessment was in the top 3 of Somerset County!!!!!

From the Nurse’s Office…….

.Dear Parents,

As a reminder, when calling in an absence please provide the

symptoms and/or diagnosis for your child.

These indicators are required for tracking illnesses at both the

School and County level. In addition, there are student(s) who are

immunocompromised so the importance of calling in a contagious

illness is very important.

Examples of these include, but are not limited to:

-Strep infections

- Pneumonia

- Staph infections

- Conjunctivitis

Thank you for helping us to keep all students and staff healthy.

The Warren Township School Nurses

Woodland School Celebrates Read Across America Day

Wednesday, March 2, 2016

In honor of Read Across America Day and to celebrate the birthday of Dr. Seuss Woodland School will be:

Wearing red, white and black to show our spirit

Holding a Door Decorating Contest with each homeroom decorating their door in any literacy theme they choose

Enjoying a performance of “Hooray For Diffendoofer Day!” by the Fifth Grade Reader’s Theater Group

Listening to Dr. Seuss stories during all lunches

Hosting a Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss Party for Kindergarten students assisted by students from the middle school

Wrapping up the day with a “Drop Everything and Read” Train across the school

Special Appearance by The Cat in the Hat! It’s going to be a “readiculously” fun day!

“There are many little ways to enlarge your child’s world. Love of books is the best of all.” -Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis

Thank you to Mrs. Zaleski for organizing

the special day!!!

2nd Annual Woodland Staff and Parents PTO Fundraiser Basketball Game

The 2nd annual Woodland Staff and Parents Basketball game will be

held on Wednesday, March 16th. Tickets for the event will be $2 each and will

be sold at the door. There will be free throw contests, a food truck, pretzels

for sale, great music and tons of fun. More information about the game will be

sent out via email shortly. The PTO will also be sending a letter home shortly

asking for parent volunteers to play in the game.

PARCC Testing 2016 (State Standardized Test given in grades 3-12)

The dates for PARCC will be:

Grade 3- Math April 6, 7, 8, 11 Language Arts April 18, 19, 20

Grades 4/5- Math April 12, 13, 14, 15 Language Arts April 21, 22, 25

Pictures from the 2015 Staff vs. Parent

game. Grades 3-5 beat grades K-2 by

only 2 points in an exciting game!!

The Fourth Grade used their Valentine's Day cele-

bration to help those in need. The students made

up small care packages of personal care items,

wrapped in new woolen socks to benefit the Somer-

set County Home for Displaced Children. A special

thanks to all of the Fourth Grade families for their

contributions, which helped purchase the items that

were donated. An extra special thanks to our home-

room parents for buying and organizing the items

needed for this project.

4th graders enjoyed a PTO

sponsore assembly about

the Lenapes. Thank you to

the PTO for making these

assemblies happen!!

Thank you to Mrs. Brower

and Mrs. Stolfi for planning

our 100th Day of School

Celebration. Thank you to

Mr. Axt for creating the

great banner as well!!

Students were treated to a

fun and interactive assembly

that taught them about the

importance of taking good

care of their teeth. Thank

you to Dr. Banasiak and the

staff from Nettune Orthodontic

Association!

Counselor’s Corner

Please click on the link for information from the Warren Town-

ship Guidance Department

March Calendar

Wednesday March 2nd Read Across America Day

Wednesday March 9th Fingerprinting

Wednesday March 16th Woodland Staff vs. Parent Basketball game

Monday March 21st 4th grade Musical (students only)

Tuesday March 22nd 4th grade Musical (parents-7:30pm)

Friday March 25th No School-Good Friday

Monday March 28-Friday April 1 No School-Spring Break

Warren Middle School Principal,

Mr. Comba and Guidance Coun-

selor Mrs. Scully visit the 5th grad-

ers as part of an orientation for

next year. Believe it or not, they

are only 6 months away from their

middle school years!!

Mrs. Brink and the Service Club mem-

bers raised $185 for the American

Heart Association, selling handmade

key chains for $1 each. Our school

nurse, Mrs. Stambaugh, and the staff

raised an additional $125 and wore

red to support the American Heart

Association. Together we donated

$310 to a great organization.

Students in Mrs.

Rzasa’s 3rd grade

classroom conduct

chemical tests during

Science class.