Hawthorne Public Schools January 2015 www.hawthorne.k12.nj.us Office of the Superintendent of Schools Welcome to our first district newsletter of the 2015 school year. We are looking forward to monthly correspondence via this newsletter. Each month this newsletter will be available on our district website and emailed through school messenger, our district communication system. January proved to be a month of celebrations in the Hawthorne Public Schools as we honored both teachers and students for their accomplishments. Please allow me to share those who were recognized. • First, we celebrated the accomplishment of Mrs. Jackie Passero and Jefferson School for being named the American Heart Association’s “Rookie of the Year” AHA fundraiser for 2014. The NJ Association of Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance will recognize Mrs. Passero's efforts at the 2015 Annual Convention in February. • • Also, please join me in congratulating our Governor Educator of the Year recipients. The staff members listed below will be honored at our February 10th Board of Education meeting. Hawthorne High School: Mr. Michael Galluccio, Lead Guidance Counselor Lincoln Middle School: Mr. Todd Kenny, Reading / Social Studies Jefferson Elementary School: Mrs. Irene Yetter, Grade 1 Jefferson Ed. Services Professional: Mrs. Caroline Ferraro, Speech Language Specialist Roosevelt Elementary School; Mrs. Carolee Mearon, Grade 3 Washington Elementary School: Ms. Tonya Barnes, Step Up We would also like to offer congratulations to our students who were honored as part of the Passaic County Poster Contest: Jefferson - Amanda Skinner – First Place Jefferson - Ivana Teranova – Honorable Mention Washington - Yazmin Martinez - Honorable Mention Roosevelt – Makalya Perez – First Place Roosevelt – Bryan Gonzalez – Honorable Mention Finally, I would like to invite parents to our February 10th Board of Education meeting, which will be held in room 120 at HHS. We ask that parents who attend please enter through the double doors adjacent to the electronic sign on Warburton Avenue. We look forward to honoring our Governor Educator of the Year recipients and learning more about the upcoming PARCC assessments courtesy of Mrs. Darlene Markman, our Director of Education. Hope to see you there. Mr. Richard A. Spirito Superintendent of Schools Important Dates for February 2015 • Kindergarten Registration February 4, 5, and 6 • Linking Education to Active Parents February 5, 2015 Washington School 7:00 pm • February 10, 2015 Board of Education Meeting Presentations include *Governor Educator of the Year Award Winners *PARCC Overview Issue #: [Date] January 2015 Dolor Sit Amet www.hawthorne.k12.nj.us Office of the Director of Education Office of the Director of Technology With this being the year of the advent of the PARCC Assessments, the Hawthorne School District has been looking for ways in which it can ensure its students are ready to take on the challenges that come with this new computerized assessment, while still focusing on the rigor that the content of the tests will require. To help with this process, Hawthorne has introduced several new technological tools into its schools, including the NWEA MAP assessments, IXL Mathematics, Newsela and Achieve 3000. These programs provide students with instructional practice on common core topics at each grade level. It also provides students with opportunities to complete problems on a computer and improve keyboarding skills. PARCC Resources for Parents Looking for more information on the PARCC? Explore the links listed below! PARCC Parent Resources http://parcconline.org/for-parents 2 PARCC Sample Items http://www.parcconline.org/samples/item-task-prototypes 0 Mrs. Brislin Director of Technology The Hawthorne Public School district, like most others in the state, has busily been preparing for the first administration of the PARCC. The ProblemBased Assessments, commonly referred to as the PBA tests, will be given in English Language Arts to all students in grades 3-11. Students in grades 38 will also take their grade level PBA assessment in math. Those eighth graders and high school students enrolled in Algebra I, Algebra II and Geometry will be taking the PBA assessment for their course. The district will begin testing on Monday, March 2, and anticipates using the majority of the 20 day testing window to ensure that all testing and make-up assessments have been administered to the applicable students. Each individual building, however, has devised its own precise schedule, which will be shared with the school communities by the school administration. Though the testing window seems lengthy, individual students will sit for a total of 5 testing sessions, administered, in most cases, over the course of five days. Typically students will have three testing units in English Language Arts and two in mathematics. When a student is not testing, instruction will continue in the classroom so that the students can continue to acquire the content knowledge that is outlined in the curriculum. The district hopes that the impact of using the computer labs during testing will be minimized through the use of Chrome books in the classroom and the BYOD policy at the high school, so that instruction that incorporates technology can continue. For more information on PARCC testing, please join us at the February 10th Board of Education meeting at which there will be a comprehensive presentation on the details of PARCC. Mrs. Markman Director of Education 2