It is hard to believe November has come and gone! This has been a very busy month in each of our schools. In this issue of School News and Views, you will be able to learn about some of the exciting things that are happening across the district.

I hope you all enjoyed the district's first Weekend of Wellness. While it is often very hard to disconnect from the routine of work and school, the Thanksgiving holiday gave our students, staff and Franklin Lakes families a chance to relax and rejuvenate, rather than focusing on school work. We will have additional opportunities during the school year to engage in similar activities, so stay tuned.

During the month of November, members of our administrative team submitted a number of FLEF grants, making presentations to FLEF leadership. We will be able to share the outcome of the grants process soon, but I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Franklin Lakes Educational Foundation for all of their hard work and generosity.

The district will be providing parent information sessions in the near future on the topic of the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC). As you know, this is the first year third through eighth grade students in the State of New Jersey will be taking the PARCC, instead of the New Jersey Assessment of Skills & Knowledge (NJASK) in Language Arts and Mathematics. Only the 4th & 8th grade NJASK Science test continues. Dates, times, and locations of these information sessions will be shared with you in the coming weeks. I encourage you to attend to learn more about PARCC.

I hope you enjoy this issue of School News and Views.

Sincerely,

Lydia Furnari

Lydia Furnari, Ed.D.

Superintendent of Schools

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District News

SNaV Curriculum: Independent Study Program Excites Students

Fourth and fifth graders at CRS, HMR, and WAS are excited to begin their journey as a part of the Independent Study Program, an enrichment program open to all students in the fourth and fifth grades. The program was designed to meet the needs of our creative, highly-motivated students by providing them the opportunity to meet with their like-minded peers in a setting that allows them to reflect on their strengths and explore their interests. As a part of the Independent Study Program, students meet once per week during their lunch and recess time with our Independent Study Program teacher, Mrs. Sirois. Mrs. Sirois is thrilled to guide her students on their journey as they reflect on their strengths, interests, and the way they like to learn and express themselves in order to investigate personal areas for research and develop projects to share with their families and friends. The program culminates with an Independent Study Showcase where families are invited to share in celebrating their child's work as a part of the program. We look forward to seeing you at the Independent Study Showcase this winter!

SNaV Technology: WAS 4th Graders Using Google Forms

Mrs. Christine Higgins, a 4th grade teacher at Woodside Elementary School, explored alternatives to provide her students with an online experience that mimics the skills used when taking the PARCC test. She reviewed Google Forms and found it to be a good solution. Google Forms is a free tool that allows the form creator to develop personalized forms and then collect information from users online either individually or in an interactive, collaborative fashion. Mrs. Higgins developed practice quizzes, reading logs and online review sheets for her students. Her students are also using Google Forms for online writing and peer editing.

Mrs. Higgins reports that Google Form was simple to set up and use, with easily published links and automatic grading for the practice quizzes. Helpful resources, such as templates from other teachers who are publishing their work online, are also available. Mrs. Higgins shared her work with the other Woodside fourth grade teachers and also with her colleagues at the November faculty meeting.

SNaV Business & Operations: ID Badges implemented

All Franklin Lakes Public School staff members are now equipped with photo ID badges which will be worn during the school day. This security measure supports the recommendation of the District's security consultant. The initiative was implemented with minimal cost, with the photos and badges provided at no cost by Lifetouch, the photography firm used for students' school photos.

SNaV Special Services: Dsylexia Training

Ms. Denise Borgess (WAS) and Mrs. Annette Dalton (CRS) presented a Professional Development afternoon on Dyslexia. This training fulfilled the state requirement that all Special education teachers, all Kindergarten through grade 3 teachers, Child Study Team members, Speech Therapists, CSI teachers and the ESL teachers receive training in this area.

There were two sessions - one at the Elementary level and one for the Special Education teachers at FAMS. The training focused on screening, intervention, technology and accommodations that can be made in the classroom for students who are dyslexic. Participants in the training came away with what to look for with their struggling students and ideas of how to help them in the classroom. Participants were presented with scenarios on what the dyslexic students encounter in their daily lives.

FAMS News

SNaV FAMS: All In!

As part of Red Ribbon Week, students were treated to a presentation by motivational speaker Gian Paul Gonzalez. Gonzalez, a former All-American forward, shared a timely message about choosing to be fully committed, inspiring all to

try harder and throw themselves completely into everything they do. Students were encouraged to do the right thing, striving to achieve excellence in their lives now and in the future. Gonzalez gave each student a poker chip, urging them to be "All In" to their commitment. "Push your chip to the center of the table and be all in."

SNaV FAMS: Fiddler On the Roof, Junior Coming!

The FAMS Drama Club has announced this year's Spring Musical, Fiddler On The Roof, Junior! Mr. Curt Buckler will return as director for his fourth FAMS musical, along with FAMS teachers Miss Kayser and Miss Stein as assistant director and choreographer. FAMS alumni Ms. Julia Gebhardt will return as the vocal director for the show.

Adapted from the Broadway musical, Fiddler On The Roof, Junior tells the story of a poor dairyman and his five daughters facing the challenges of the anti-Semitism in Czarist Russia. The show tackles the universal theme of tradition in a way that reaches across barriers of race and religion. Audiences will enjoy performances of classic featured songs including "Tradition," "If I Were A Rich Man," and "Sunrise, Sunset."

Mark your calendar: performances of the Spring Musical will be on March 27th, 28th and 29th, 2015.

SNaV FAMS: Character Education Award

Each year, as part of the Schools of Character program, the Character Education Partnership recognizes educators in the United States and elsewhere who have implemented unique, specific, and effective character education strategies. The District is proud to announce that Franklin Avenue Middle School has received a National Promising Practice award in 2014 for the Living Lessons program.

Living Lessons is a community-wide program that was funded by the Franklin Lakes Education Foundation, the FAMS PTA, the Franklin Lakes Educaton Association, and the Municipal Alliance. The program helped students, staff, and volunteers to realize the importance of reaching out to others, embracing their differences, respecting diversity, and learning how to deal with and overcome challenges by exploring stereotypes, prejudices, bias, discrimination, and noting how people have risen above these hardships to succeed in life. Living Lessons has been a part of FAMS since 2012 and is offered every other year. It is our sincere hope that this fantastic program and collection of presenters continues to touch the lives of the children and adults in Franklin Lakes for years to come.

CRS News

SNaV CRS: Government in Action

Some of our youngest Franklin Lakes citizens have had their first taste of our country's most basic democratic process in action! To culminate a unit of learning about their hometown's geography, historical ties to the Lenape Indians, and local government, our 4th Grade Social Studies students took part in a lively mock Town Hall Meeting with honored guest speaker Mayor Frank Bivona. Fully prepared with thoughtful questions pertaining to community needs, and well-versed in the social etiquette of how such give and take meetings are conducted, students learned firsthand the power of being able to voice their concerns, the accessibility of our mayor and council, the scope of their jobs, and, most importantly, the importance of getting involved in politics at the local level. We extend a very special thank you to Mayor Frank Bivona for taking the time to provide students with this memorable experience.

SNaV CRS: Halloween Festivities

Our annual Halloween Parade was an enjoyable experience that allowed students of all ages and their teachers to dress up in very creative and unique costumes and parade around the school for our audience of families and friends. In addition, our students enjoyed Halloween parties sponsored by our PTA class parents. We would like to thank all of our many parents who contributed to making these events so successful.

The CRS PTA recently funded and ran a wildly successful Halloween Bash! Students of all ages and their families had the chance to dress up in their costumes and experience a Trunk Or Treat followed by a night of festivities. The bash was highly attended and enjoyed all around. A very special thanks to the CRS PTA for putting on such a ghoulish spectacle!

HMR News

SNaV HMR: Think Station

The Think Station has our brains buzzing! The HMR Think Station is a new classroom that is aligned with an understanding of how children's brains learn best. The room includes new furniture and a spatial configuration that fosters collaboration. Traditional desks have been swapped with dry-erase tables to increase active engagement and literacy. Traditional chairs have been swapped with stability balls and standing stations. Stability balls provide for movement, increased core strength, and they reduce the physical strain of sitting in the same position for too long. The standing stations are effective for students that prefer to stand while learning and they are encouraged to use the wiggle bar to keep their lower extremities moving. There is also a podium to practice public speaking. The shelves are stocked with hands-on instructional materials to increase problem solving, creativity, communication and many other vital 21st Century Skills. Some of the items on the shelves include Lego Education Kits, Kinetic Sand, Magnet-Ball Track Sets, Think Blocks, and Squigz.

The teachers were introduced to the room during a faculty meeting. They had the opportunity to explore and collaborate with other teachers about ways to use the room with their own students. Once teachers had comfort and familiarity with the space, an electronic resource calendar was opened to provide them with the ability to sign up to use the Think Station with students. The space is also available for Professional Development, increasing teacher engagement and learning in the same manner.

The HMR Think Station supports how the brain learns. The students and teachers are engaging in practicing 21st Century Skills that can then transfer back to their classrooms. This is an exciting opportunity for our school community to learn more about effective practices in education.

SNaV HMR: Red Ribbon Week

HMR celebrated Red Ribbon Week along with the other schools across the District from October 27th-October 31st. Red Ribbon week is intended to teach students about living a healthy lifestyle and making healthy choices. In addition to exciting team bu

ilding school spirit days, there were many classroom and grade level activities. Students learned about making healthy choices with collaborative lessons from our school nurse and guidance counselor. These lessons were age appropriate and included important conversations about the dangers of drugs and alcohol in the upper grades. Students were reminded of these important lessons through visuals such as stickers, water bottles, and key chains. They also signed a school-wide pledge poster to make healthy-choices. The week also included a visit from Detective Jost, who spoke to the 5th graders about the importance of healthy choices. Families were encouraged to follow up the week's activities with the town's events during Franklin Lakes' Living Healthy Week.

SNaV WAS:

SNaV WAS: Pumpkin Day

First grade celebrated Pumpkin Day on Halloween morning. With the help of parent volunteers, we set up 8 pumpkin related stations in our classrooms. The children rotated among the stations completing pumpkin tasks such as reading about pumpkins, writing stories and poems about pumpkins, estimating the weight and the number of pumpkin seeds in a pumpkin, and completing math problems about pumpkins. It was a terrific way to spend Halloween morning!

SNaV WAS: News from the Gym

Fitness testing is done for the fall and the results were great! We had a record number of Presidential Award winners. We had 18 award winners, placing in the top 85% of all the children their age and gender in the country.

Franklin Lakes Public Library News

For The Holidays...Give a Gift, Give a Book!

The Friends of the Franklin Lakes Library's new "Give a Gift, Give a Book" program offers library-lovers the opportunity to honor friends and family while supporting the Library's collection in today's difficult economy. Click here for more details.

Homework Helpers

FL alumni who now attend FLOW high school are volunteering their time at the Library! The Homework Helpers program allows elementary school students to receive help, guidance and/or supervision with their homework. Help is offered on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons from 4:00-5:00pm on days when school is in session. For more information about this wonderful program and all of the November happenings at the Library, please click here.

Franklin Lakes Borough News

Annual Christmas Tree Lighting

Monday, December 8, 2014 at 7:00 PM

Join Mayor Bivona and Council Members as we light our Holiday Tree, located between the Borough Hall and the Library on DeKorte Drive, on Monday, December 8, 2014 at 7:00 PM by the Franklin Lakes Public Library and the Public Events Committee. Be there to sing along with the students from FAMS Chorus and welcome our "special visitor" from the North Pole. Following the tree lighting, all are invited to continue the festivities and proceed to the Franklin Lakes Public Library for more entertainment and refreshments, and a special personal visit and photo opportunity with the man in red himself. It promises to be a wonderful family evening. Please mark your calendar and be sure to join us, rain or shine. Click here to see the flyer.

Annual Menorah Lighting

Thursday, December 18, 2014 at 6:00 PM

Come join us for our Menorah Lighting in front of Franklin Lakes Borough Hall on Thursday, December 18, at 6:00 PM. The event is sponsored by Chabad of Northwest Bergen County. Hot refreshments, children's entertainment, and arts and crafts will be presented at the Ambulance Corps building following the ceremony. Click here to see the flyer.

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Note: We value your feedback. If you have questions or comments that you would like to share, please email the Administrative Team at FLPS@franklinlakes.k12.nj.us or the Board of Education at BOE@franklinlakes.k12.nj.us. For additional communications and connections, please explore our website at www.franklinlakes.k12.nj.us and FLPS Facebook at www.facebook.com/FrLkPS