Clinton Township Newsletter

1 5 f e b r u a r y 2 0 2 3 I N O U R S C H O O L S : Kindergarten Round-Up is now occurring for Patrick McGaheran School. A child must be five years of age on or before October 1, 2023 to be eligible for kindergarten during the 2023-2024 school year. If you have a child who will be eligible for kindergarten next year, please notify our district as soon as possible by completing the Kindergarten Round-Up Survey online at https://bit.ly/PMGRU23. If you should have any questions regarding the kindergarten registration process, please contact our District Registrar, Ms. Carmella Shaw at cshaw@ctsdnj.org or 908-236-7235, ext. 521. Thank you! Kindergarten Information Night Although the weather is cold outside, we are making plans for entrance into our kindergarten program in the Fall of 2023! To be eligible for kindergarten during the 2023-2024 school year, a child must be five years of age on or before October 1, 2023. We would like to invite parents of incoming kindergarten students to our Kindergarten Information Night on February 9, 2023 at 7:00 pm. Please RSVP for our Information Night using this link: https://bit.ly/PMG-K-Info23. We hope to see you there! KINDERGARTEN WELCOME We are currently planning for our "Kindergarten Welcome" in June! Please save the dates of June 27 and June 28. These days will provide an opportunity for incoming kindergarten students and families to visit Patrick McGaheran School (PMG). Additional details will follow, and incoming kindergarten families will have the opportunity to sign up for an approximate thirty- minute time slot on either of these days. Patrick McGaheran School Round Valley School Bees, bugs and bears! Third Grade Scientists have been busy learning about organisms' traits, life cycles, and the environments in which they live. Students are learning that organisms have different inherited traits and that the environment can also affect the traits that an organism develops. Although different types of organisms have unique and diverse life cycles, they follow a pattern. They are investigating different organisms' life cycles, such as butterflies, frogs and trout. Students will be learning that organisms and their environments interact using evidence from fossils. The scientists in fourth grade are learning all about structure and function. In this unit, students learn all about internal and external body parts (structures) and learn what their jobs (functions) are. The students will then take their knowledge of structure and function and research all about bees and how their structures help with the job of pollination. In Social Studies, students are studying immigration. They are researching the three waves of immigration and will use their findings to help them develop an action plan to welcome new members to our school community. During the past months our fifth grade scientists observed how seeds grow. They observed wheat seeds in both sunlight and in the dark, growing in cotton balls and growing in dirt, as well as wheat seeds covered in plastic wrap and growing in the open air. They wrote hypotheses based on the different environments and observed them over a few weeks. Students learned seeds do not need sunlight or soil in order to begin to grow, but that seeds grown in the darkness would be white in color as they did not produce chlorophyll. Clinton Township Middle School Relay for Life: The Clinton Township Middle School hosts an annual fundraising event for the American Cancer Society called the Relay for Life. This year is our thirteenth year, and our school community has raised over $410,000 in the fight against cancer! Students and their friends/families form "teams" to compete in online fundraising leading up to the event. On Friday, March 3 at 6:00 pm, there will be an opening ceremony in the school auditorium, followed by teams walking the hallways and stopping along the way for activities and competitions. The evening finishes up with a closing ceremony, dedicated to survivors and victims of cancer. It is a very moving evening, and the students bring joy and hope to the fight against cancer! Everyone is invited to join us, and you can visit: www.RelayForLife.org/CTMSNJ for more information or to register. Contact Ms. Cormican, the CTMS Enrichment Teacher if you have any questions at dcormican@ ctsdnj.org. Mock Trial Competition: The middle school participates in an annual mock trial competition, sponsored by the New Jersey State Bar Foundation. Students who are interested in learning about law apply and sign up for this enrichment program! Students learn about courtroom law, and then create an original court case. This year we had five groups enter the contest, and now we wait to see if they placed on the state level. Winners go on to perform their case at the law center in the spring. Good luck!

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