Clinton Township Newsletter

IN S OU R SCHOOLS: continued P at r i c k M c g a h e r a n S c h o o l Arts Fest at Patrick McGaheran School Each spring the hallways and gymnasium at Patrick McGaheran School are transformed into an artistic gallery, where students, teachers, and parents are treated to a night featuring the artistic endeavors of our students. Visitors to our most recent Arts Fest on May 1, had the opportunity to view two and three dimensional student artwork. Books written and illustrated by students and assembled in our Publishing Center, were also on display. Live performances included a third grade recorder ensemble, a folk dance that included 100 students and a Spanish Boost performance. Arts Fest provided the families, students and teachers at PMG a fun-filled way to celebrate the arts in education! Second Grade Duckling Project PMG second graders eagerly watched their classroom incubators, counting down the days until their ducklings were ready to hatch. Each classroom was equipped with a digital incubator that contained three eggs. The children learned about the lifecycle of the duck as they inspected the development of the eggs using a scope kit. The ducklings arrived the week before Mother's Day! The children named their ducklings, observed and wrote about the ducklings, and then said goodbye, as the ducklings were placed to live with a local farmer. Mrs. Newgarde's duckling, "Bubbe" Round Valley School Round Valley School is proud to announce that Ella Fasciano, a 6th grader, has won First Place in the Grades 5/6 Poetry Division of the Tri-County Reading Council's Young Author's Contest for her original poem, Moment. The Young Author's Contest is held every spring to recognize excellent writing by the students of the TRC members. Ella will read her poem when she accepts her award at a ceremony to be held later this month. globe. The changing amount of sunlight is the central clue. Students begin by graphing and evaluating sunrise and sunset data, and then use math to determine longitude. Other clues are provided in the remaining weeks.  Students take an inspiring journey from knowing only the sunrise and sunset clues to determining the exact locations of the 10 sites. This is the third year that 6th grade students from Round Valley have participated in this investigation. There were 116 6th grade classes from across the US that entered the contest, and 10 On Tuesday, April 16, Round Valley's eight of these were able to find all 10 Mystery Classes. We Reading Olympic teams competed in the North are proud to say that we were one of the 6th Hunterdon Regional Reading Olympics! Our This year some members of the 6th grade pargrade winners!  Congratulations to all 6th grade students competed against 29 teams and 350 students ticipated in the Journey North Mystery Class students who participated in the Mystery Class from around the county at Holland Township School.  investigation during OP time.  The Mystery Class investigation this year! Reading Olympics is a reading competition open to 5th investigation is an 11-week hunt in which students try and 6th graders.  The purpose is to encourage children to find 10 secret "Mystery Classes" hiding around the to read a greater variety of books and to enjoy the excitement of reading. The team format encourages students to accept responsibility for becoming an expert on the books they agree to read. Each team consisted of eight to 12 students who read approximately eight to 10 books from a list of 35 books. Our students did an outstanding job bringing back six-first place ribbons, one-second place and one-third.  A fifth grade team, The Page Pounding Pandas, had the second top score of the event! We are so proud of our Reading Olympiads. Clinton Township Middle School CTMS hosted the Hunterdon County Film Festival on May 23. Middle school students from around the county submitted short documentaries, and they were viewed and judged in the auditorium at CTMS. Representing CTMS, Patrick Hill and Hakan Saplakoglu made a fantastic video about Air Traffic Control; Alex McMullen, Lauren Connors and Luke Bernick made a film about Twinkies; Derek Neal and Dillon Spear submitted a video about Gun Violence in America, and Brendan McCloskey made a documentary about Apollo 11. At the time of publication, the awards have not been given, but we are VERY proud of all our submissions! Re-enactor soldiers visited both grades from the two great American wars. The 7th grade will have Theatre Sports Improv in June, and the last week of school we will have a visit from Mayhem Poets. Thank you, PTA! June is a very busy month at CTMS! We have a number of activities scheduled as follows: June 5: 8th Grade Trip to Great Adventure June 11: 7th and 8th Grade Awards Night (Students receiving an award will receive a letter inviting them to the awards ceremony.) June 12: 8th Grade Trip to Branchburg Sports Complex The students of CTMS were treated to many educational and entertaining presentations to wrap up the school year, thanks to the PTA. We saw a live production of Comedy of Errors by the Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey. June 14: 8th Grade Graduation by invitation only Have a Happy, Fun and Safe summer ! Sincerely, CTSD June 18: Last Day of School – Early Dismissal! CTSD B o a r d o f E d u c a t i o n : Board meeting dates for the 2013 calendar year: June 24, July 29, August 26, September 23, October 28, November 18*, December 16*, January 6, 2014*(Reorganization) *Meetings will be held on the fourth Monday of the month, except where noted. Meetings held at CTMS (34 Grayrock Rd.) in the Auditorium or Library at 7:30 pm. Find out what's going on in our schools, meet the Board and the Superintendent! All residents of CT are encouraged to attend, not just the parents of CTSD children. For BOE mtg. minutes, visit: www.ctsd.k12.nj.us J u n e 2 0 1 3 13

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