Snow Days Alter 2017-18 School Calendar including GRADUATION date!
During the 2017-18 school year, we used four snow days. Our calendar affords us the use of two before the calendar is altered. Originally, Graduation was set for Monday, June 18th, with Tuesday, June 19th as the last day of school. As a result of the snow days, the revised calendar has pushed Graduation to Wednesday, June 20th at 7:00 PM. The last day of school will be Thursday, June 21st (also RBR’s revised Graduation date). June 18th & 19th are now FULL DAYS of school and both June 20th & 21st are HALF DAYS.
Advocate for Fair Funding
by Contacting Our Local Legislators
Little Silver is in dire need of funding reform. Support Little Silver by contacting your District 13 Legislators: Senator Declan O’Scanlon ([email protected]); Assemblywoman Amy Handlin ([email protected]); and Assemblywoman Serena DiMaso ([email protected]). For a sample letter, click here: Sample letter
Defend Title II Funding for Our Schools
Despite the proven impact of principal and teacher quality on student achievement, President Trump's proposed FY 2019 budget has called for the complete elimination of Title II, Part A funds. The bipartisan 2015 Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) authorized this critical funding to states for the purpose of preparing, training, recruiting, and retaining high-quality teachers, principals, assistant principals, and other school leaders. Please contact your members of Congress today and urge them to stand with America's students and educators by negotiating a spending package that funds Title II, Part A at no less than $2.295 billion - it’s authorized level under ESSA. Little Silver receives so little funding from the Federal Government; we need every cent we receive. Send an email by clicking this link.
Screenagers: Growing Up in the Digital Age
On Tuesday, April 10th, the Little Silver PTO will be hosting an airing of “Screenagers: Growing Up in the Digital Age” in the RBR Auditorium at 7:00 PM. Screenagers dives deep into how technology impacts the development of children and addresses the challenges of parenting in the digital world where parents must compete with video games, texting addiction, and social media. A panel discussion will follow the movie which will be moderated by Principal Eric Platt and Guidance Counselor Jennifer Peirson. |
News from the Garden State Coalition of Schools
The Garden State Coalition of Schools (http://www.gscschools.org) posted the link for The Final Report of the NJ Task Force on Improving Special Education for Public School Students that was released in November 2015. GSCS, a Task Force member, is looking forward to discussing this important topic with the Murphy administration.
Little Silver’s Markham Place Middle School
CyberPatriot Teams finished 1st and 3rd in the State!
CyberPatriot is the National Youth Cyber Education Program. At the center of CyberPatriot is the National Youth Cyber Defense Competition. The competition puts teams of high school and middle school students in the position of newly hired IT professionals tasked with managing the network of a small company. In the rounds of competition, teams are given a set of virtual images that represent operating systems and are tasked with finding cybersecurity vulnerabilities within the images and hardening the system while maintaining critical services in a six hour period. Teams compete for the top placement within their state and region, and the top teams in the nation earn all-expenses paid trips to Baltimore, MD for the National Finals Competition where they can earn national recognition and scholarship money.
Out of 646 Middle School teams that competed nationally, the Markham Place CyberPatriot teams placed 1st and 3rd in the State in the CyberPatriot X season. The Markham Place CyberPatriot team is lucky enough to have parent volunteer, Mr. Greg Jansky, as their coach. Mr. Jansky is employed by CommVault in Tinton Falls, and his abundance of knowledge in the Cybersecurity world has helped the team learn and prepare for the competitions. CommVault has been extremely generous in allowing the teams to utilize their conference rooms for the Saturday competitions. The Markham teams scored competitively in the early rounds of competition and were accepted into the Semifinals Round. Of the 318 Middle School teams that competed in this round, our Warriors team which included Carter Costic, Matthew Schmitt, Eden Stein, Michael Mueller, Joe Richter and Michael Bikker ended up 1st in the State and 21st in the Nation! In addition, our Blue&White team including Jack Clausing, Connor Langa, Mathias Lazewski, Patrick McGagh, Kai Maki and Vincent Lenza ended up 3rd in the State and 111th in the Nation. The teams did a fantastic job this year thanks to the hard work of the students and the coaching of Mr. Jansky and Mrs. Whittle, our Point Road STEM teacher!
Out of 646 Middle School teams that competed nationally, the Markham Place CyberPatriot teams placed 1st and 3rd in the State in the CyberPatriot X season. The Markham Place CyberPatriot team is lucky enough to have parent volunteer, Mr. Greg Jansky, as their coach. Mr. Jansky is employed by CommVault in Tinton Falls, and his abundance of knowledge in the Cybersecurity world has helped the team learn and prepare for the competitions. CommVault has been extremely generous in allowing the teams to utilize their conference rooms for the Saturday competitions. The Markham teams scored competitively in the early rounds of competition and were accepted into the Semifinals Round. Of the 318 Middle School teams that competed in this round, our Warriors team which included Carter Costic, Matthew Schmitt, Eden Stein, Michael Mueller, Joe Richter and Michael Bikker ended up 1st in the State and 21st in the Nation! In addition, our Blue&White team including Jack Clausing, Connor Langa, Mathias Lazewski, Patrick McGagh, Kai Maki and Vincent Lenza ended up 3rd in the State and 111th in the Nation. The teams did a fantastic job this year thanks to the hard work of the students and the coaching of Mr. Jansky and Mrs. Whittle, our Point Road STEM teacher!
Nicholas Silverio Takes Top Honors in Spelling Bee
On March 12, 2018, fifth grade student, Nicholas Silverio, competed in the Monmouth County Spelling Bee at Monmouth University. This came after winning top honors at Markham Place after successfully spelling formaldehyde. The County Bee at Monmouth University takes all school spelling bee winners from Monmouth County in order to find the county champion. Nick successfully made it through the early rounds of competition and represented Little Silver well! Congratulations Nick!
Geography Bee Top Honors goes to…Wayne Johnson
Area students put their geography know-how to the test at their schools' National Geographic Geography Bees. Each year, students across the country in grades 4 through 8 compete in their school's geography bee for a chance to qualify for the State Bee and then possibly move on to the National Championship. This year, eighth grade student, Wayne Johnson, took the honors for the second consecutive year at Markham Place. On April 6th, Wayne will be competing in the NJ State Geography Bee. Good luck Wayne!
Making March Madness Magnificent Math!
Mr. Hance's fourth grade students increased their computation practice time by participating in a 'March Madness' of a different kind. This bracket challenged students to practice math using i-Ready as their court. Students enjoyed a healthy competition of using the on-line learning tool to increase their math achievement!
New Jersey School Performance Reports
New Jersey’s School Performance Reports provide families, educators and the public a picture of overall school performance. The performance reports offer valuable information across many elements, including schoolwide academic achievement and progress, demographics, school climate, chronic absenteeism, and college and career readiness.
The New Jersey Department of Education (NJDOE) encourages all members of the school community to use the reports to help start local conversations. The School Performance Reports were developed with, and are continually enhanced by, input from stakeholders like you. Below are some of the enhancements to the reports.
New Jersey School Performance One-Page Summary ReportsFor the first time, the NJDOE is publishing one-page, parent-friendly Summary Reports providing easy-to-read highlights of each school. The Summary Reports are a dashboard of key indicators such as student progress, graduation rates and 2-year and 4-year college attendance. The NJDOE has also made available a guide (rc.doe.state.nj.us/Documents/SummaryReportGuide.html) to explain the different data points on the Summary Reports.
Over Two Dozen New Data ElementsThe 2016-17 New Jersey School Performance Reports (rc.doe.state.nj.us/SearchForSchool.aspx) contain new data elements, including:
- Updated school narratives with information across a variety of categories;
- Full and/or half day Pre-K and K reporting;
- Chronic Absenteeism by grade, subgroup, and progress toward statewide goals;
- In-school and out-of-school suspensions; and
- School start and end times.
The NJDOE continues to seek your input on how to further improve the usability of these reports. Please fill out the feedback survey (www.surveymonkey.com/r/V5WKDYD) or email the [email protected].
Little Silver Board of Education
Recognizes Student Achievement!
During the March 15th Board of Education Meeting, 129 students were recognized for accomplishments in a plethora of different areas. For the first time, Both the Boys’ and Girls’ Basketball Teams topped their Divisions and were named Coastal Intermediate Basketball League Champions! Eighth grade students were recognized for their short film entitled, “Soccer Talk” that was submitted to the Garden State Film Festival. Point Road Spelling Bee winners (First through third place) in both the 3rd and 4th grade were recognized. Two CyberPatriot Teams were honored for their State and National achievements. Sixty (60) Markham Place Students earned the winning honors for the national FBI-Sponsored Digital Citizenship Course called Safe Online Surfing (SOS). Several students were also recognized for their artistic prowess which resulted in showcasing their original art in a variety of exhibits. Congratulations to our students and to the teachers and coaches who helped developed their talents!
Subscription Bussing Ending This Year
In accordance with state law, N.J.S.A. 18A:39-1, all public elementary school students (grades K-8) who live more than two miles from their school are entitled to transportation. See NJDOE website regarding transportation requirements. Little Silver has always met this legal obligation as well as provided subscription bussing. Subscription busing is discretionary on the part of the district. In recent years, it has become more and more difficult for the Little Silver Board of Education to provide this service. The cost of securing busing has escalated exponentially. It has been our recent experience that the cost prosed to parents at the time contracts are issued no longer covers the cost of the bus by the time contracts are secured. There is a significant impact on human resources as well. Therefore, beginning the 2018-19 school year, the Little Silver School District will not be offering a Subscription Bus. After the district determines the number of students that live more than two miles from their school and must be transported, we will provide a lottery for the remaining seats. PLEASE NOTE: The number of students that the district is required to transport fluctuates on an annual basis from roughly 35-48 students. A bus can hold 54 children. Therefore, the number of available lottery seats will be limited. Parents are encouraged to begin exploring transportation options now for the 2018-19 school year.
Did you know that https://www.niche.com/places-to-live/little-silver-monmouth-nj/ gives Little Silver an overall grade of A+? Click the link to learn more!