Clinton Township Newsletter

1 3 O c t O b e r 2 0 1 4 I N O U R S C H O O L S : We are excited to introduce our newest staff members to " Team Round Valley"! Ms. Angela Caruso is extremely excited to begin her first year as a 5th Grade Inclusion Teacher at Round Valley School. She has worked as a Special Educator for the Branchburg and Greenwich Township School Districts. Ms. Caruso attended East Strouds- burg University to obtain a M. of Ed, while obtaining a certification in Special Education. She also obtained a B.A. in Early Childhood and Elementary Education. Ms. Caruso is eager to work with such a great team of teachers and looks forward to getting to know her students. Mrs. Lianna Gillespie is joining the guidance team at Round Valley. She gradu- ated from Monmouth University with a BS in Business Administration and from Rowan University with an MA in Counseling. She previously worked with elementary age students in Winslow Township. Mrs. Gillespie is looking forward to meeting both students and parents in the 4th and 5th grades. Mrs. Jill Jordan is joining Round Valley School as a 4th grade teacher. Jill grew up in Clinton Township and is excited to come back to RVS as a teacher. She graduated from Kean University with her BA in Elementary Education. While at Kean University she enjoyed playing soccer. She previously worked as a Lead Teacher at Foundations pre-school and as a 4th grade teacher at Clinton Public School. Mrs. Jordan resides in Morristown with her husband. Ms. Nicole Meyer is very excited to begin the school year as a 5th grade teacher at Round Valley School. She graduated from Rider University with her BA in elementary education and fine arts with an art concentration. She has been a substitute teacher in many school districts in NJ and has also worked as a teacher's assistant. Nicole has worked as a third grade teacher and has experience with children of all ages and levels. Nicole lives in East Amwell Township with her family and is very eager to begin working at Round Valley School. Ms. Allison Miller: Allison will be teaching General Music and Chorus at Round Valley this year. She graduated from Westminster Choir College with a Bachelor of Music in Music Education. Allison has a passion for choral music and is thrilled to bring her experi- ences from Westminster to the Round Valley community. She recently moved to Somerville. o t h e r n e W s : What a treat to see so many students, parents and staff at our PTA sponsored Piz- za Night. This is a time where good food and good company are greatly enjoyed! Also on our list of traditions at Round Valley School is our Annual 'Diversity Night' Celebration! This has grown over the years and we expand our knowledge of our heritage along with that of our classmates. What a fabulous opportunity to connect with our world neighbors. The food is a culinary delight and the cultural dances, music and crafts are enjoyed by one and all. Thank you to all who help to make this a success. Round Valley School continues to take pride in our Community Garden. Stu- dents and teachers plant, maintain and share the harvest with those in Clinton Township. We're looking forward to a great year! r o u n d V a l l e y s c h o o l Happy Fall from Spruce Run School! Students are "Wild About Animals" this year at Spruce Run School, as well as continuing to learn about "Planting the Seeds of Friendship" through our words of the month and the friendship theme each month. In October, our SRS children will learn about the animal the cat, the color orange, the shape of a triangle and the word respect, as well as being a friend. Fall fun at SRS: October 24 is the PTA- sponsored Pumpkin Carving Night for students and families of SRS and PMG. With the help of the PTA, families will carve pumpkins, enjoy autumn snacks and have an opportunity to enjoy spending time with friends from our community. What a great way to enjoy fall fun with your friends and neighbors! Happy carving! s p r u c e r u n s c h o o l p a t r I c k m c g a h e r a n s c h o o l We have had a smooth school opening and students, teachers and parents have transitioned into this school year. Along with a solid emphasis on Integrated Language Arts including Spelling and Handwriting, we are also continuing our emphasis on Mathematics. A recent Associated Press article quoted a study by the Education Department that stated that even though only 16% of college students graduated with degrees in Science, Technology, Engineering or Math, those graduates were paid significantly better than graduates with other degrees. Math really does "make cents"! Along with daily log assignments in Reading and Writing, this year we will ask parents to help us reinforce Math as a practical life skill. We can't say "Oh, I'm just not good in Math". That reinforces a weakness. A better ap- proach is "Math is a challenge to me and I keep working on getting better at it". Take a calculator to Shop Rite and ask kids to help you figure out the best bargains. Measure trips and have the kids figure out the distances between different stops. Estimate dis- tances when you walk together and see who comes closest to the real distance. Math can bring plusses (+,+,+) to your life. Math adds up! – John Scott, Interim Principal, PMGS Welcome! Kelly Worman is enthusiastic about joining the Clinton Town- ship Middle School (A.K.A. TEAM CTMS). Mrs. Worman became interested in Speech and Language Pathology when she was an undergraduate student at the Uni- versity of Massachusetts at Amherst. Mrs. Worman was interested in learning more about language and communication, so she registered for an introductory class. Within the first few weeks, she was hooked! She remained at UMASS to further her education as a Graduate Student in the field of Communication Disorders and earned a Master's Degree in 2001. Mrs. Worman has had experience working in various settings; however she truly enjoys working in the schools with students, teachers, families and staff. She is looking forward to an inspiring and enriching year! CTMS Law Adventure: Our 7th grade winning Law Adventure team from last year (13-14) performed their case in front of a real judge and students/ teachers from other Law Adventure teams at the New Jersey Bar Foundation in New Brunswick last spring. The students did such an amazing job and left such a strong impression on the judge that they have been invited back to perform their case once again. This invitation is an incredible honor, as they were the one team chosen from among the winners. However, instead of performing for students, this time they will have an audience of teachers who will be participating in a training workshop at the New Jersey Bar Foundation. Way to go, team! CTSD Relay For Life 2015: This year will be our 5th Annual Relay for Life, scheduled for Friday, February 20 from 6:00-9:00 at CTMS. This student run fundraiser is held to benefit the American Cancer Society, and we have raised over $116,000 so far to help find a cure. CTMS students have already started meeting and planning for this event. If you would like to be involved and/or support us with your business, family, or other group, please contact Ms. Cormican at dcormican@ ctsd.k12.nj.us or 238-9141, ext 520. c l I n t o n t o W n s h I p m I d d l e s c h o o l Mrs. Kristina Kroll is excited to be joining the faculty at Spruce Run School and Round Valley School as a Speech and Language Specialist. She graduated from The College of New Jersey with a Bachelors of Science in Special Education then went on to receive her Masters of Arts from Montclair State University in Communication Sciences. Since graduating, she has worked as a Speech Language Pathologist in an acute care hospital in both a private therapy setting and a public school setting as well as for Early Intervention services. For the past two years, she has been working in the preschool program for students with disabilities in a public school district, which she enjoyed immensely. Through all of her various experiences, she has learned that she enjoys working with young and school-aged children in the public school setting best. Mrs. Kroll recently moved to Clinton Township with her husband and daughter and can't wait to start her new position in the district. Ms. Alexandria Piesla is very ex- cited to be joining Spruce Run School as a technology teacher. She graduated from Centenary College in January 2014 and is dually certified in both Elementary Education and Special Education. She is coming to our school from Patrick McGaheran where she did her student teaching and also worked as a teacher assistant. As well as being a new teacher, Ms. Piesla is planning her wedding, which will occur in May of 2015. She is looking forward to this new experience as a technology teacher and can't wait to become part of the Spruce Run School family! Ms. Ashley Regan is joining the Spruce Run team as the kindergar- ten special education teacher. She recently graduated from Monmouth Uni- versity with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English and Elementary Education with an endorsement in Special Education. In addition to her passion for teaching, Ms. Regan is also the assistant cheerleading coach for the varsity team at Delaware Valley Regional High school. Ms. Regan is very enthused to bring her education skills and tools to Spruce Run School! We are pleased to welcome the following new staff to our Spruce Run School Family!

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