Volume Fifteen, Issue 9
Co-Presidents' Corner
By Jessica Evans and Kathy Gilbert
May 2015
CHS Communiqué is the official
publication of the CHS PSFA,
The Parent Student Faculty Association
of Communications High School, a
Monmouth County Career Academy.
Editor:
Clare McDowell [email protected]
The PSFA also has important PSFA
announcements via our email system.
Please take a moment to register online at
http://bit.ly/PSFAemailsubscribe.
The first week in May is Teacher Appreciation Week. It is
a perfect time to remember how fortunate CHS is to have
such a talented and dedicated faculty. We should all
remember to appreciate our teachers this week!
May is the last month of duty for the 2014 - 2015 PSFA
Executive Board. Elections for the new officers will be held
at the May 7th PSFA meeting. See page 7 for the slate of
nominations. The transition to the 2015 - 2016 Executive
Board will be conducted at the PSFA meeting on June 4th.
A warm welcome was extended to the Class of 2019 at
Freshman Orientation on April 23rd. We look forward to
their joining the CHS community, and hope that their
families become actively involved in the future of the PSFA.
Many thanks to Cyndi Hogan, Lang Holtz, Joann Boyle
and the hospitality volunteers who provided refreshments for
the event, and the CHS parents who provided their advice
and insight to the Class of 2019 parents.
The 2015 CHS Color Wars will be held on Friday, June 5th. To help make the day a great event, the PSFA will
provide a Barbecue lunch (see page 2). Gary Weber and David Wren have begun planning the event and we hope
that many parents will volunteer to help.
In the small community of 300 families that comprise CHS, the participation of each and every
Submissions are welcome.
family is vital to the success of the PSFA. Because of our small numbers, your contributions really do
make a difference. We need every parent to join us to make the PSFA an active and vital part of the
school. We hope you will volunteer to help in any way that you are able.
Celebrate Our Pride in the MCVEA
You are cordially invited to the Spring MCVEA Pride Dinner at Jumping Brook
Country Club (Neptune) on 5/20/15 at 6PM-9PM. Please use this link to RSVP:
https://docs.google.com/a/ctemc.org/forms/d/1cDMLTtNV815brUMPFIFfH1t9aJevOQZz1QFC3hm0fM/viewform.
Communiqué
Volume Fifteen
May 2015
Page 1
Attention Volunteers
CHS ANNUAL SCHOOL BARBECUE
Friday, June 5, 2015
The annual CHS Color Wars competition will be held on Friday, June 5th. All students and
faculty are divided into 10 teams to compete in softball, basketball, chalk drawing, and other
activities. The PSFA will provide a barbecue lunch during the day of the events. If you would
like to volunteer your time and/or provide refreshments, please contact Gary Weber at
[email protected] for donations and volunteering by May 29th.
Please provide the following specific information in your email:
1) Parent name, email address and phone number
2) Student Name/Grade
3) Please indicate for which of the following you would like to volunteer:
Help on June 5th (set up, serve, clean up)
 Shift #1
 Shift #2
 All Day
8:00 am – 12:00 noon
11:00 am – 2:30 pm (intentional overlap)
Both Shifts
Loan ice chest for beverages
Donate following item(s):
Pasta/Vegetable Salad (Oil Based) *
Vegetable Crudités Assortment/Dip*
Fruit Salad*
* in 11” disposable aluminum tin
Dessert (finger food only)
___ dozen
Potato Chips
___ bag(s)
**Soda/ice tea cans
___ cases
**Vitamin Water
___ cases
**Sunny D or other juice
___ cases
**Water bottles
___ cases
**small bottles please
FYI
o All nonperishable items may be brought to the office no later than
Wednesday June 3rd.
o Prepared food must only arrive the morning of the barbecue by 9:00 am.
o Please label your donation with your name!
o You will be contacted to confirm your offer of help.
THANK YOU in advance for your consideration and help!!
Communiqué
May 2015 Page 2
Spiking their way to bragging rights
Volleyballs were in the air at the 2 Annual CHS 6v6 Volleyball Tournament held on April
28. Six teams took to the courts at Wall High School showing off their “sporty” sides.
Returning teams included the Pounders (Alli Long, Emma Neuwirth, Connor Albrecht, Matt
Taylor, Pat Weber and Shannon Brown), The Italian Stallions (Rebecca Cleffi, Kylie Lamb,
Mark DiSpigna, Mary Ryan, Julia Pardee, and Matt Miller), The Mighty Morphin Power
Rangers (Kat Holtz, Ghillian Ferraiola, John Hennessy, Anthony Whelan, Annie Ruoff,
Justin Boldt) and The all-teacher team of the Grade Diggers (Ms. Britto, Ms. Harmon, Ms.
VanderVelde, Mrs. Clevenger, Ms. Judge, Mrs. Wheeler, Mr. Stengele, and Mr. Gleason).
New teams this year were Team Willlssson (Jordana Deutsch, Jake Gray, Sean Gilbert,
Alex Burke, Megan Kelleher, Jamie Walliker). The other new-ish team, and the overall
champions was Team Safe Sets (Alli Wheeler, Shane Nolan, Olivia Palmieri, Carleigh
Palmieri, Louis Avena and Clay Paley.
nd
Tournament Directors Julia Feigus, Emileigh Evans and Elizabeth De Furia and the Classes
of 2017 and 2016 want to thank everyone who participated. It was a great night and will be
back next year!
Pictured are Team Safe Sets
Shane Nolan, Louis Avena, Carleigh Palmieri, Alli Wheeler, Olivia Palmieri, Clay Paley
Submitted by:
Ginny Clevenger, H&PE Teacher
Communiqué
May 2015 Page 3
Their hearts are in the arts
April 24th marked the Annual CHS Art Showcase and National Art Honor
Society Induction Ceremony. This juried show featured personal student
artwork as well as projects completed in NAHS Co-Advisor Shelley Ortner
and Laura Fallon's art and design classes. Highlights of the show were
concentration works from AP Studio Art: 2D Design seniors and largerthan-life masking tape murals.
NAHS Co-Advisor Laura Gesin and junior Darcy Darbin from Literary
Magazine helped to organize and present poetry readings from six
students. Following the poetry presentation, twenty-three juniors took part
in the induction to NAHS. The evening concluded with refreshments
including a beautiful galaxy-inspired cake created by junior inductee
Melissa Martin.
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May 2015 Page 4
Communiqué
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May 2015
http://chsguidancedept.blogspot.com/
Seniors: May 1st was the national response date (the deadline to let your college know
of your decision to attend.) Please ask your child to check and update his or her
Naviance account with college acceptances and to bring in acceptance letters and
scholarship information. Your child should indicate the college that he or she will be
attending (Colleges I’m Applying To, use the drop down box to select your school under College That I
am Attending), as we will need to send the final transcript in June. Also check to see if his or her merit
aid is accurate (Under the College tab click on Scholarship Applications under Scholarships and Money.)
Juniors & Sophomores: Rising juniors and rising seniors have been asked to select their course requests
in PowerSchool. Please talk to your child about their course selections. We want them to have a
challenging schedule without overloading them. This is sometimes a delicate balance. Here are some
common questions we are getting from our students:
Q: Should I take AP Calculus because it will look better on my transcript?
A: Choose your classes because you have an interest in the subject. The rigor of the transcript is
important, but one course should not impact an admissions decision.
Q: Can I take AP Calculus, Spanish Communications, and double up in math and science?
A: No. We are a theme-based high school. You must leave room in your schedule for our electives.
Q: Who is teaching (any class)?
A: We are a small school and for the most part, it’s not hard to figure out who is teaching what class. For
some classes, however, we have multiple teachers who are qualified to teach. We may not know, or it
may change as the master schedule is developed.
We are just starting the schedule for 2015-2016. The classes we asked your children to select in
PowerSchool are requests only. We also asked for alternate classes to determine student interest and in
case there are scheduling conflicts. Once class sections are determined, periods and teachers are assigned,
and if initial requests conflict with a clean, balanced student schedule, we will call the student down to
resolve the scheduling conflict. After schedules are mailed home, the guidance counselor’s will be
available on August 11th and 12th. That will be the final opportunity to make scheduling changes for the
2015-2016 school year.
Please check the guidance blog for the Course Catalog where you can get information about course
descriptions, prerequisites, and other information.
Freshmen & Design Academy Juniors: Congratulations on a successful first year at CHS! Keep up the
good work.
Communiqué
May 2015 Page 6
Teacher Appreciation Week 2015
Monday, May 4 through Friday, May 8
Communications High School teachers should be applauded
365 days of the year!
Teacher Appreciation Week is a wonderful opportunity to
recognize the many contributions CHS teachers make
toward building a better future for our children and our school.
On behalf of the CHS Parent Student Faculty
Association, thank you, teachers, for all you do!
Parent Student Faculty Association
Election of 2015-2016 Officers
Co-President
Jessica Evans
Janice Quattrocchi
Vice President
Lang Holtz
Treasurer
Joann Passantino
Recording Secretary
Antonietta Gibson
Corresponding Secretary
Anthony Quattrocchi
Communiqué
May 2015 Page 7