Happy Holidays!

No matter what holiday you celebrate -- have a safe and happy celebration!

Big news.... school will reopen on JANUARY 3, 2012! THIS IS A DEPARTURE FROM YEAR'S PAST. That is the Tuesday after the New Year's day.

Till next time...

Thank You!

I wanted to take this opportunity to thanks some people for all that they have done recently to assist the daily operations of the school and assist in the community service component of our school-wide character education program...

Thanks to Mrs. Schaffer and to Clearview Cinemas for supporting our character education initiative by providing popcorn parties for our homerooms when they reach the first milestone in the process, 400 blue tickets!

Thanks to Jean Alvarado and to Maschio's Food Service for their assistance in providing items for a few events we have had recently her at school. Maschio's was kind enough to provide salad and water for the PTA Scrapbooking event last month and they also provided water to the PTA Kids for Kids program. The extra water was shipped off to the first aid squad and fire department here in Oxford to help them when they are on calls.

Thank you to the PTA and to the White family, Mr. and Mrs. White, Sydney, Jacob, and Noah for once again hosting the Kids For Kids Christmas Party. This is the fourth year they have initiated this charity event and I am glad we could be a small part of their holiday plan. All toys collected were donated to the Oxford First Aid squad and their holiday program and will benefit kids here in Oxford.

Finally, not really a holiday or charity, but thanks to Ms. Patricia Martucci who will be leaving our school district in January to move to a K-12 school district. The financial state of this school district was not something we could be proud of six years ago and now we can say that our fiscal house in order and that the finances are on the right path. Thanks again, you will be missed.

Till next time...

Autism Awareness

Today we are hosting a Staff Dress Down Day to support Autism NJ and their programs. This is one of many events we are holding this year to lead up to our second Autism Awareness 5K and Walk. The 5K and Walk will once again be held at Meadow Breeze Park on Saturday, April 21, 2012... a long way off, but mark your calendars now. Come out and support the day's events, walk, run, whatever.... If you would like to volunteer your time, please contact Ms. Milissa Dachisen here at the school.

Till next time....

Power

Like many of you I was without power. I was without power for two days and like many of you, was wondering how I could possibly get a semblance of my normal life back if the power did not come back on! I drew upon a new disdain when I heard that homes 200 yards away had power and we did not. On the same street! Them, not us! Couldn't use a generator, because we don't have one. The money that would be set aside went to have trees taken down so they did not fall on someone or fall on my neighbor's house. Then our power came back on! I suddenly remembered what it felt like when I was 7 years old and it was Christmas morning! Jumping around the house loving every minute of the Power. Realizing how many electronics we had on when the power left us...it suddenly become very clear that we used too much power.
I felt badly when I heard how rough it was in Oxford and this part of New Jersey. I felt badly when I said I had power, it seemed the wrong thing to say to those who did not. Twice as long without power and families to feed and keep warm. Families to get ready for work and school. That could not have been easy, but I heard from many people who helped each other through this difficult time. Generators shared, washers and dryers for laundry, crock pots cooking for dinner... in another town... people worked together to assist each other.

We got through this very difficult time and we helped each other. I just don't want to lose that feeling I had when the power came back on, ever!

Till next time.....

Anti-Drug message

We had a special presentation last night here at OCS so that parents could get together to hear about the latest trends in drug and alcohol abuse by young people today and to be able to discuss ideas they have with other parents. While it was very disheartening to see how few parents came out to take advantage of this opportunity, it was good to share ideas with others. As the parent of children who are older, I remember the conversations and the lessons we shared with our children. I also was thankful that the message we were talking to our children about was being reinforced in their schools.
Here at OCS we spend time each year discussing the dangers of abusing drugs and alcohol so that we can act in partnership with our community. The world is a difficult place for kids to grow up --and the dangers and pressures of alcohol and drug use are issues they will face. Hopefully we have all helped them to make the right choices. Hope may be all we have in this fight!

till next time...

In between

Here we are in the middle of October, one week removed from the Week of Respect and a week away from Red Ribbon Week....I wonder what do we do in between? Life is like that... in between. In between decisions, activities, family events, we always seem to be in between. After the Week of Respect we are reminded that we need to keep the momentum going in between as we move to the next event. We need to keep respect in our minds and in our deeds. Respect is not soemthig that we should let go of in our interactions with each other. Respect is not an idea that we shuld pick and choose to use. It should not be something in between that we get to once in a while in our busy lives. Show each other respect. That is what we add to our lessons here at OCS. You don't always have to agree with people, but you should respect their right to have ideas different than yours. In between classes, show respect. It is a powerful way to act and it can help change the world... but we can't show respect in between the activities of our lives... it is something that should be done all the time....

Till next time...

Columbus Day...

has come and gone and we mark the middle of the first marking period. The year has been cooking by! I wanted to let everyone know that I am very thankful that we had nearly 100% of our parents return the student handbook acknowledgement form this year! Amazing what a little encouragement can do for the numbers! thank you.

Till next time...

Leave anyone behind?

I can always remember my mom and dad as we pulled away from a rest stop or a gas station break looking into the back seat where my sisters and I would be stowed away and ask, "Did we leave anyone behind?" Thankfully the answer for them was always "No! Looks like we have them all!" Of course I was sitting there secretly wishing we had temporarily misplaced one of my sisters!! But I digress...that is a topic for another blog entry....

The newspapers have been full of information lately concerning the No Child Left Behind waivers being applied for by state across the U.S., including NJ. With the legislation renewal still sitting on the stove down in DC, the NJ Department of Education has asked that NJ be released from certain aspects of the law that still feel unattainable and impractical, namely, the looming 2014 deadline for 100% proficiency and the jump in AYP proficiency scores annually. It will be interesting to see how things will unfold here in NJ (and the rest of the country) with these waivers and with any new version of NCLB legislation that districts such as ours may face in the coming months...

Over the past six years that I have been here at OCS we have consistently looked at the progress our kids have been making from year to year. Not only do we look at them as a group but also as sub-groups, for example, boys and girls. We read often that boys are being left behind in Language Arts as they get older and that girls are not showing progress in Math and in Science.

I am happy to say that we have pulled out of the parking lot, checked the back seat and can proclaim that we did not leave anyone behind! Even in the face of our elementary students not making Adequate Yearly Progress in Language Arts (even though we outperformed he state averages) , we have 94% of our 3-8 girls proficient or advanced proficient in Math and 91% of the same girls proficient or above in Science! Our pre-teen and teenage boys have also done well in Language Arts -- where we had 100% of our 6-8 grade boys achieve proficient or higherthis past year! Over the past three years we have seen a steady growth with our male students and the scores they achieve in Language Arts!

Success is something we have been demonstrating each year here at OCS!

Till next time...

The Third Week of School

Well here we are into the third week of school. Many interesting things have occurred at school since we reopened for business:
--we held anti-bullying meetings in all our classes, pre-school through 8th grade. In pre-school through grade 3, Ms. Dachisen and I went in and read some excellent books concerning bullying, especially "Stop Picking On Me." This book was written by a psychologist who wrote the book to help students in the primary grades understand the concept of bullying and how to stop the problem. Our older students took part in an assembly that Ms. Dachisen and I put together that highlighted the problem, the newest laws in NJ and how we could all work together to help eliminate the problem.

--The PTA has been holding the annual Scholastic Book Fair and it looks like they are on a pace to have one of the most successful book fairs in a long time!

--We held our annual Red, White and Blue Day to help us remember the importance of Patriot's Day and the Constitution day we hold on or around September 16th.


Till next time...

The Start of Another Year!

Well, we did it! We got through the first few days of school and had a very good opening that culminated in the Red, White and Blue Day we held in commemoration of the tenth anniversary of 9/11! The students shared lessons with their teachers concerning this important historical event.

Back to School Nights are on their way:

Tuesday September 13 and Tuesday September 20. The 13th is for grades KG-4 and the 20th is reserved for grades 5-8. the evenings will begin at 6 and conclude at 8.

Till next time....

Back To School

The building is ready. The custodial staff have worked very hard to ensure that we would be ready to go! New Language Arts textbooks are in place for grades 5-8! New computers are ready to go in the ACE lab.... 19 inch high-def monitors, Intel duo core processors and a new server to handle the new computers (all through grant money)... a new Dell wireless notebook cart with 30 laptops! (more grant money)... new wireless routers and many other upgrades for our technology!
Unfortunately new desks and chairs are being delayed in production by Hurricane Irene so some older students might be inconvenienced for a few weeks, but they will manage.

Back to school nights for parents will be Tuesday September 13 for grades KG -4 and then September 20 for grades 5-8.

Till next time....

AHH, Back at the Desk!!

Seems like being at work is many times less stressful than being home on vacation. Just finished putting four rooms of new floors down. Of course, that means that old carpeting had to come up first! Big job done....

Had a conversation with a fellow blogger the other day and we were commenting on how difficult it can be to keep the old blog updated on a regular basis (her blog was a wonderful look at food in NYC!). When I am away from work, I forget to sit down and write about the things that are going on here at the school. Then when I am back at work, work gets in the way of adding keen insight and witty dialogue about the blog... Anyway, I am back at the desk and it is time to get back to blogging.

Class lists will be made public on Friday August 12, 2011 at 1:00 pm. The lists will be posted on the front door of the school and will be there for some time. I will make a SchoolReach announcement on Friday to let everyone know... might even post it on the school FB page.

Till next time....

New State Aid figures!

In case you were not aware of the scenario, the NJ courts recently told Governor Christie and the NJ Department of Education that they had underfunded the schools in NJ. While this primarily meant underfunded the former Abbott district schools, we hoped it would have a trickle down affect on districts such as ours. We were right...

The NJ DOE and the Governor's Office have put millions back into the funding for NJ schools and we will be receiving a portion of that money. The final figures have not been verified yet, even though the Star-Ledger and Express-Times have published numbers.

The money that is listed in the paper is misleading... it does not reflect the debt service aid adjustment that the state continues to ask from us (now in its third year). This adjustment is money that they promised we would get for the renovations done to the building in 2004-2005. The give us money to offset the taxpayer impact each year. Over the last two years, and next year as well, they have asked for money back and they withhold it from our overall state aid! Not fair, but we live with it.

Further information about our final $ will appear on this blog after the board meeting that will be held on July 21st.

Till next time...

School Survey results will be

up on the website shortly. The survey is another way for the school to look at programs and see where we can make improvements. Thank you to everyone who completed the survey.

2011-2012 classroom supply lists are also available on the website.

Please remember that when you go out to shop for school supplies, you can buy some additional items that will be donated to the Warren County United Way Stuff the Bus Program. All items can be dropped off here at school and we will make sure they get to the United Way.

Hot out there today... good day to sit outside and read a book.

Till next time...

It's Summertime, Summertime, Summertime...

Things are pretty quiet around here in the summer, except for the extended school year program we offer, the constant sounds of the summer maintenance work and the soon to begin projects on the gym floor, the repair of outside brick work and the replacement of a classroom floor. Strike that, it is never quiet here!

We are busy getting ready for the upcoming school year, and that can get pretty noisy!

Till next time....

One day ends, time for some thank you's...

The 8th graders have been promoted to ninth grade and they head off to keep building their dreams at the high school level. Their journey here lays the foundation for what lies ahead. I still look back fondly on my elementary teachers and the memories I have of them...

Mrs. Parmelee in Kindergarten, who was kind and sparked the joy of learning in me and let us play with the big lego blocks to make ships...
Mrs. Apfel, a tall fire breathing, bee hive sporting woman who I remember teaching us the National Anthem and the Pledge of Allegiance...
Mrs. Pritchard who tried to get me to stop biting my finger nails... it finally worked, although I think I was closer to 40 year old than I was to 8!
Mrs. Cooper my Stanhope Elementary English teacher who was fun and engaging...
Mr. Togno who taught me to make a napkin holder and I even made my own coffee table!
Ms. Silverman, who did not appreciate my classroom antics and who was instrumental in me stopping from calling Leonard Kubik a "schmuck" in in class...
Mr. Bobiak, who is the reason I wanted to be a Social Studies teacher....

Thanks to those wonderful people and many others in grade school and high school who set me on the path of education and are the reasons I became an educator....

Enjoy the Summer....

Till next time...

Sad, Sad News...

I have just finished looking over teh voter records from the April, 2011 election for the school baord, the school budget and the township referendum on the proposed tax increase, and the results are very sad indeed!

Here at the Oxford Central School we have approximately 518 parents representing 274 students. Only 49% of our parents are registered voters!

In the most recent April, 2011 election, 276 of our parents were registered to vote... only 76 did. 30%..... sad news.

Homerooms will be combined, textbook purchases will be put on hold, concert programs may not be held, staffing will be decreased and certainly new or expanded programs that parents have been asking for, can not be accomplished.

Enough said right now, I am too sad to keep writing...

Til next time

A new blog

I was able to get a hold of some blog comments posted back in April by Adam Bauser--who was here to film our Archery Team in April as part of the NJN Classroom Close-Up program. Adam was the producer of the segment and apparently wrote about his experience here with Mr. C, our team, school and community! Here is the blog address. Adam tells us that the purchase of NJN by WNET--purchase, buyout, backroom deal, call it what you like-- will not affect the airing of the episode shot in April.
Anyhoo... here is the address:

http://bauser.blogspot.com/2011/04/oxfords-strongest-man.html

Till next time...

Ocean Night Aftermath

Thank you to the staff who spent the last 6 weeks teaching students about the importance of the marine environments of our planet. Last night was our 13th Ocean Night and I want to thank all the parents, grandparents, assorted relatives and students who came out to share the projects and games that had been created over the past few weeks. From the plankton race, the GATE projects, to Mrs. Fallen's squid to the kelp forests and the rocky tidal pools of first grade, there were many wonderful projects on display that illustrate the students hard work! This program is best summed up by two of our former students who let me know that they loved MARE and how much they learned and remembered from year to year. They seemed to still have a good time last night as they watched their siblings enjoy their Ocean Night!

I received many positive comments about the Ocean Night!

Till next time...

School Surveys

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of the parents who sent in the school survey that we recently sent home. We received 63 surveys back representing 93 students, or 34% of our student population (not the mandate from the majority we had hoped for). I have been looking over the surveys and finding that some of the comments people made, while at times difficult to swallow, are comments that the school board and administration have been addressing as we head into the 2011-2012 school year.

One of the interesting things I saw initially as I looked them over is the number of new programs and additional programs that parents would like for their children and the school.... most we could accomplish if we had not faced two years of defeated budgets that saw additional money that we set aside to provide extras for the students get CUT through the defeated budget process. If the budget passes, better things can happen.

Besides passing responsible school budgets, coming out to provide additional requests to the school board at one of our two monthly meetings would allow us to better serve our students. Your input is always welcome! Feel free to call me or stop in to share any ideas you might have that would serve to improve the educational offerings we have for our students.

Full survey results will be forthcoming.

Till next time....

May 31st....

May 31st! As a third grader told me this morning as we were out on the side playground... "I can see the end of school! Well, at least the summer!"

Just a quick reminder to parents to check the Friday Bulletin and the school calendar pages to get the updated dates for the end of the school year.

The 8th Grade Graduation DANCE is this Thursday night at 6:00 pm!

Ocean Night is coming up fast! Our students have been busy learning about the waterways, tributaries, lakes and oceans of our planet as they get ready to show their efforts to the world on June 9th. The evening will begin at 6:00 and will end at 8:00pm! Hope to see you there.

Till next time...

Friday the 13th came and went...

and there were no disasters lurking around every corner.

The OCS Archery Team came back from their annual rite of Spring--The National Championships in Lou-uh-vull Kentucky! Once again the team did a great job of representing themselves and their community! 24 parents accompanied them to Kentucky and they report a great experience for all. The hard work and the effort the kids pour into this makes the 13 hour bus ride seem a distant memory... until you get back on the bus! Then the memories come flooding back. And now the results....

The OCS Archery Team Finished 18th in the nation! More than 100 teams competed in our division and we smoked most of them! If we could only get Trigg County, KY to forget where Lou-uh-vull is....

Great job by the team, the coaches and all the parents who helped make this a reality for the kids!

Till next time....

Hellooooooooo

This thng on? Anyone out there? Help I am trapped inside at my desk on the nicest day of the year!

Send sunscreen and a note from my mom that I can go home early!

A few ramblings...

After a few days off it looks like we all came back to school with our batteries recharged and ready to move into the last few weeks with a renewed commitment to providing the best education for our students.

The last couple of months will be filled with state assessments, a few field trips and the end of the year hoopla! We recently had our Kids Vote election on April 27th! The OCS Student Council and advisors, Mrs. Dowd and Mrs. Kantz, ran a very successful election, allowing students to vote for a school-wide reward for achieving the goals of the positive behavioral support program. The wining choice was a school movie day! Perhaps a showing of one of my favorite movies, "A Bridge too Far!" On second thought, we will ask the students and teachers for help deciding the titles to show.

Wow! I got through that blog without breaking into a rant about the budget.

Till next time...

April 12th...

Getting ready for the Spring Break and heading into the weeks before the vote on the school budget. I will be answering questions about the budget over at Mr. and Mrs. Nixon's home tomorrow night, Wednesday, 4/13 at 6:30 pm. There is even a Facebook page devoted to the event. Nine people have responded they are attending. I hope to get the word out about a lower tax rate and the impact on taxes again for next year. hopefully, the positive news will spread and anyone who attends tells their friends. I am looking forward to it. Till next time...

Today is the 91st day of 2011

Of course it is also April Fool's Day and Mother Nature has been playing quite a joke on all of us here in NJ with snow storms, plenty of rain and cold temperatures! For the life of me, I can not remember why I like Spring! Maybe that will change in a few weeks. This coming Monday, April 4th we will begin a charity fundraiser for the Red Cross and their efforts to assist the earthquake and tsunami stricken areas of Japan. The beauty of this project is where it originated! It is an idea that our first grade students came up with and from their zeal for this endeavor how could I not want to approve this wonderful idea?! We will collect change in the lunchroom and on Friday April 15th we will host a Hat Day for students and staff. Anyone who makes a donation to the project (no amount is too small) will be permitted to wear a hat that day of school! Thanks to our first graders for developing this idea! Till next time...

Never a dull moment...

I went to a meeting today at good 'ole Lenape Valley Regional High School in Stanhope. As a "recent" graduate of LVR it was neat to wander around again. Two student volunteers offered to show me the way to the auditorium and I had to chuckle! We talked briefly and they wanted to know if the building looked any different. My answer was a resounding, "No!" Holy smokes! A true testament to the school staff and to the student body for respecting the building and keeping the building looking wonderful! Made this member of the graduating class of 1979 very happy to see! The meeting was attended by the Superintendents from both Sussex and Warren counties and the guest speaker was NJ Department of Education Commissioner, Chris Cerf. The commissioner spoke very positively about some of the initiatives we have been developing here in Warren and Sussex counties. He lauded the positive educational outcomes we have here in this part of the state and I can say that he truly listened to the comments and questions and his answers were very positive. Comments were made about many different topics, including the recent negative rhetoric about education. Education is not broken in NJ! national scores show that NJ ranks consistently in the top ten percent of all states and in all subject areas! Overall it was a very positive meeting! let's see how things go as time goes by... Till next time...

2011-2012 budget--school taxes go down!

I guess I will have to say this over and over again for the next six weeks until the public vote on April 27... the school portion of your tax bill is going to go down for the second time in four years! In the past four years, the school district has lowered taxes twice, and held the tax rate at zero two other years! I can't stress this enough, if we are forced to cut more based on a no vote on April 27th, this will result in changes... back to half day kindergarten, possible cuts to the music/ art programs... please support the school on April 27th!

Till next time...

Global warming and other thoughts...

Global warming? It is about 15 degrees out there today. Way below average! Global warming predictions should make it sunny and about 80 degrees today. I am not a happy camper!

Nice job by Mrs. Lurz and Ms. Ficarra this past Tuesday as they presented a Mo Jo meeting on NJASK writing and testing! The presentation was very informative!

Speaking of Mo Jo... we will look to shift a few of the topics to hours in the evening during the upcoming school year. This is based on some parent feedback.

Great job by the Archery Team yesterday as they shot for scores at the state level! 3155 points is incredible! I can't wait until the NJN Classroom Close-up program comes to our school on Tuesday, March 8th to do a full feature on the program.

Reminder to all parents... we are on an early dismissal schedule from Friday March 11th and Monday, March 14th.

Global warming, HA!

till next time...

School Budget

Well, the new budget numbers have come in and what will be published in the paper and on the NJ DOE website is a tad misleading. Most will read the paper and the website Excel spreadsheet and, like me, initially see that the district is scheduled to receive an additional $58,571! NICE!

However, as an NFL referee has to say... "Upon further review..." The state is once again reassessing the debt service for the remodeling and addition that were complete over 7 years ago. They are giving us $58K and taking back more than $28,000 of that money, leaving us with a net gain of $31,000. Still OK. That money, coupled with responsible savings and belt-tightening across the board at the school has lead us to the place we are now... another year with no tax increase from the school district!

In the last five budgets for the school... taxes have either gone down or remained at a ZERO% increase! The school portion of your local taxes will not go up for 2011-2012! Not many sectors of the financial world can say that!

Till next time...

Holy Smokes!!!

has it really been 17 days since my last post? I can not believe the many readers of this Pulitzer page have not bruoght this to my attention! Anyway....

I wanted to give everyone an upadte on a few grant opportuniites we are putting together to try to secure some additional money that might be used for updating our technology over the next few years.
I am currently finishing the review of the Intel School of Distinction award which is highlighting our strong science scores in the 6-8 grade over the past few years, our emphasis on a school-wide interdisciplinary science curriculum, MARE, our professional development to improve science instruction school-wide and our 7th grade field trip. We will hear by April.
I am also putting together a grant from the Toshiba Corporation to be used in Math and Science Instruction. This grant is a rolling grant opportunity that will be evaluated and scored as they receive our application.
Finally, a team of teachers is meeting today to put together a story board and video about why we need additional technology here at OCS and how we would use it.

Can't win 'em if we don't enter!

Till next time...

WHAT?! Another snow day?

Seems like quite a trend... fairly recently we had a year where we had snow only on the weekends. I think this is pay-back! We are now counting snow days on both hands! Hang in there, the Punxsatawney pontificator will be sticking his head put tomorrow.

Till next time...

Random thoughts

I want to remind my rabid followers -- all three of you -- that if the weather does not cooperate with us on Thursday, Janaury 27th, we will have the spelling bee the very next day. The time and location will stay the same.

Another interesting weather pattern will be heading our way, and to my surprise the weathermen do not know what will happen! I am shocked! We will just have to wait and see what we are handed over the next few days.

Next week we are starting our Mo Jo' meetings on Tuesday February 1. We sent home written notice of the meetings so that parents could look over the schedule and see what meeting(s) they might wish to attend. The meetings will run every Tuesday and be held in our Library from 9:30 am to 10:15 am.

Till next time...

Spelling Bee

The Spelling Bee Finals are coming up next week! We will be holding our annual event on Thursday, January 27th at 1:15 pm in the gym. I really love the spelling bee! The skill of spelling is such a wonderful skill to have. Being able to spell things correctly is also a skill that provides a leg up on standardized tests, be it the NJASK series, the HSPA, SAT, or even the GRE's and other graduate level tests. As you get older, spelling does not become less of an important ability, it becomes more important! So keep the nose to the grindstone and keep practicing your spelling... it will come in handee!

Till next time...

AAAGGGHH!! Snow days!

Well, when I was writing my last blog entry, I thought to myself--if you write about the snow days, then the snow will come! Kind of a warped Field of Dreams scenario! It happened. I wrote about it and it came.... and it looks like it might keep on coming. As I write this blurb, the National Weather Service is tracking another storm that may bring a load of snow for Friday morning, or it might not. Gotta love being a weatherman!
Anyway, we are in a winter weather pattern and the only thing that might get us out of that pattern is called Spring!! I am going to hold my breath in protest of the storms. That will make them stop!

Because of our snow day events, we are going to be in school for half days on Friday, February 18 and March 11.

Who knows how many more beyond that.... I am sure the weathermen doesn't!

Till next time....

Snow Days

Invariably, whenever we have the threat of inclement weather, there are many decisions that need to be made. The variables that go into the decision to delay, close, or send students home early is never an easy one and is a process I take very seriously.

With the threat of bad weather that could affect the opening of school, I get up at 4:45 am and look outside. Then I get on the Weather Channel, Channel 69-WFMZ and the Internet. I start making calls to the Oxford DPW, the Warren Hills Cluster schools, the WTPD and, as in the case of the last storm Friday, the county DPW. I also get phone alerts from the NJ Office of Emergency Management and the NJ State Police that provide further information. I try to come to a decision that will allow for the greatest level of safety for our students and their parents, and of course our staff as well. This is all done with a number of phone calls, and then quite possibly, a sprinkling of luck that the decision was the right one. Had we opened last Friday at 10:30, staff would have been on the roads in the worst of the storm. The website, Weather Underground estimates Warren County got about 2.5 inches from 8:30-10:30 am. I spoke to a number of school leaders in our area and they reported that they only had 30-40% of their students in the building and had to double and triple up on rooms, since staff could not get to work safely.

This time I got it right again!

Till next time...

Happy New Year!

I hope everyone had a great vacation over the past two weeks. Looks like we dodged quite a snowfall back on 12/26.... the snowfall totals were huge in towns at the NJ shore!

This week we are continuing our Child Assault Prevention program with our good friends at Catholic Charities. They have been assisting us in delivering this program for many years and I look forward to another productive round of presentations this January 4, 5, and 6. Once again the program is being offered in grades 1, 3, 5 and 7.

This Friday will also be the deadline for the January Market Day orders. If the PTA can meet their goal, they will be able to donate $250.00 worth of new books to the school library.

Welcome back...

Till next time.