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Hasbrouck Heights Public Schools
Superintendent's Report
October 25, 1999

Junior-Senior High School

In the past month, we have focused on one of our major objectives for this year, namely, the increased participation and presence of parents and the community in the Jr/Sr High School. We have promoted this presence by conducting two Back to School Nights, one for the high school and one for the junior high. In addition, we held the second annual Eighth Grade Open House; a way of promoting the advantages of attending the high school as opposed to the increasing number of specialty schools who are competing for our eighth graders.

Another event that was especially successful was the College Admissions Night sponsored by the Guidance Department. We held an In-Service for teachers organized by the South Bergen Jointure School Districts. Topics covered included “Technology across the curriculum”, “ Standards in Fine Arts, Phys. Ed., and Health”, “ Language Arts applications”, and “ Math and Science curriculum innovations”.

The English Department has implemented a series of strategies to foster the development of skills necessary to take the PSAT for our students. Teachers of students in grade 12 English courses have included instruction in their classes to help prepare students for the SAT. The HSPT was taken by all 11th grade students on October 5, 6, and 7th. Students were tested in reading, mathematics, and writing. On October 15,1999, all 11th grade students took the HSPA Field Test in mathematics, language arts, and science. The HSPA will replace the HSPT as a graduation requirement in the future.

The French, Spanish and Italian Clubs have all begun their activities for the school year.

Under the direction of Mrs. Dunne, students in Grade 8 Academic Cycle Math class have discovered an irrational number, pi, which was discovered many centuries ago by a famous mathematician. Mathematics and science are working hand in hand as seventh graders are doing a "Flipping math" experiment. Combining principles of motion (catapults) with mathematics, the students are collecting and graphing data as well as researching the topic and reporting on their findings.

Science teachers have begun the task of modifying the scope and sequence which was developed in August for each science course, grades 6 through 12.

The social studies department has obtained a tape entitled "Coming From India" from the New Jersey Historical Commission. This is a segment of Governor Christine Todd Whitman's diversity awareness initiative, titled "Many Faces-One Family". The department has also obtained a magazine entitled "Teaching Tolerance" which will be shared by all. The magazine gives a number of insights to teaching tolerance and a list of resources that are available.

The students in AP History will participate in the Greater Bergen County Social Studies ITV program.

Mrs. Gay's 7th grade Social Studies classes are doing a Location Theme in geography. The objective of this project is for the students to demonstrate their understanding of the five characteristics of every good map, namely; title, scale, grid, direction and key.

Middle Level Back-to-School night, held on September 27th, provided a special evening for parents to meet their children's teachers.

Mr. Carcich and Mr. Metelski's science students were seen carrying toy cars to school this month. These toys were used for data collection as the students worked in teams to measure the speed of their cars. Everyone learned the relationship between distance, speed, and time, the fundamental measurements in Newtonian Physics.

Sixth grade students have completed their introductory unit in geography which has prepared them for a study of ancient civilizations and cultures.

All six grade students will be presented with a special program in their Academic Cycles classes to help develop social skills.

Ms. Monetti's 7th grade Literature students are analyzing comic strips for elements of plot and other literary concepts.

In foreign language cycle, Ms. Kimmel's 6th graders are learning to appreciate Spanish artists in conjunction with learning colors. They have viewed the works of Goya, Velazquez, Picasso and Dali.

Mr. Stillman's 8th grade Literature students were given the task of writing articles for the Middle Level newspaper.

Mrs. Rucci's Academic Cycle Social Studies students are experiencing life as they go through the exercises of "The Real Game." This package of lessons was purchased last year through a grant. Its purpose is to help young teenagers appreciate and anticipate some of the demands of the work world of their future.

Mr. Sicilian's Academic Cycle English students are completing a unit on the Public Speaking process.

The cast of the Middle Level play (advised by Mrs. Schneeweiss) has been chosen and they are industriously practicing for that event. Also working hard on this effort is the Middle Level Art Club (advised by Mrs. Reed) as they build all the sets.

The Peer-to-Peer Club completed their first activity, a trip to Chester, NJ. Club members participated in an activity which was intended to help them practice bonding so that they can teach other peers to do the same.

The department hosted a "College Admissions" seminar on Tuesday, October 7th. Brenda Perkins, from the Admissions Office at Ramapo College, spoke to senior parents about general admissions procedures at colleges and universities. Several colleges and universities have visited the high school during September and October.

Enrollment - Grades 6-8 = 371 Grades 9-12 = 416 Total 787




Euclid School

Euclid School's Back to School Night was held on Wednesday, September 29th. Officer Shihanian than spoke to the parents about traffic rules for Euclid School and at Lincoln School, also.

The Euclid School PTA held its annual Book Fair from October 14th through the 18th, with night hours on October 14th for working parents to shop. A Teacher's "Wish List" was handed out by Mrs. Pikowski, who chaired this event, so parents could buy and donate books to their child's classroom. A sincere and special appreciation to the Euclid School PTA for promoting the importance and value of reading!

Student Council is having a busy start to prepare for the millennium. For Back to School night they worked hard preparing the Euclid Eagles banner that is hanging in the gym. They also had their work cut out for them when they passed the word out to the school about "raisin our standards" the whole school was involved by making "raisin men", each held a banner stating what they were going to do to raise their standards for the new millennium. Keep your eyes peeled to see what happens for Harmony Month (October)!

Second Grade is off to an exciting and adventurous year. Don't be surprised if you see a second grader on your block checking the street signs. Snakes and reptiles have already slithered in and out of our classrooms, while spiders are crawling in on their eight legs. We are anxiously awaiting to have some Halloween fun, see you there!

October 1st was the starting date for both the Basic Skills and Gifted & Talented Programs. This year the theme of the G&T program will be "100 years- Reflect Back 50 years, Look Ahead 50 years". Mr. George Bate is the instructor of both programs.

The current enrollment at Euclid School is 322 students.



Lincoln School

Lincoln School's "Back to School Night" was held on Tuesday evening, September 28, 1999. The evening was very well attended. The faculty and staff are to be congratulated on the dedication they brought to their presentations and classroom displays of student work.

On Wednesday afternoon, September 22, the fifth grade safety patrol was officially installed. Sgt. Jack DeLorenzo, Mrs. Schoen and Safety Patrol Advisors Miss. Kathryn Kalisch and Mr. Dean Hoskin presided over this event.

Second grade teachers at Lincoln School met with Mr. Walter Eggmann on Monday morning, September 24, 1999 and the first grade teachers met with him on Wednesday morning, September 26. Mr. Eggmann was present in each of the classes as the first and second grade teachers presented their 20 minute lessons to their students. The program is off to a great start!

The D.A.R.E. program began on the fifth grade level on Thursday, September 30. Sergeant Jack DeLorenzo is our D.A.R.E. officer this year.

A schedule for the grade level Curriculum Monday meetings was discussed at length at the October 4, 1999 faculty meeting. In addition to the sequencing meeting schedule distributed at the October 5th faculty meeting, an articulation schedule was also distributed to the fifth grade teachers. With the assistance of Mr. Fierro and Mrs. Stein, the fifth grade teachers at Lincoln and Euclid have been scheduled for curriculum articulation meetings with the sixth grade teachers.

On October 8, 1999, Lincoln School and Euclid School teachers participated in the district wide in-service program. The day was divided in to two parts. The a.m. session consisted of faculty attending a workshop at one of the 13 South Bergen Jointure Commission districts. Teachers at both of the elementary schools were assigned a different workshop to attend that focused on one of the areas within New Jersey Core Content Standards. The p.m. session was dedicated to the Science Curriculum that had been aligned to the Core Content Curriculum Standards this summer during the Summer Institute.

On September 24th, Mrs. Lauren Schoen, Lincoln School Principal, and Mr. Walter Eggmann, Hasbrouck Heights World Language Coordinator, had the privilege of serving on a panel for a world language presentation entitled, "Implementing Elementary World Language Programs", hosted by Mrs. Janis Jenson, the New Jersey State Department's World Language Coordinator.

The enrollment for Lincoln as of October 15, 1999 is 353.

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