 | |
Scott and Marc Jones are sworn into office by Assistant Superintendent for Business/Board Secretary Robert F. Wachter Jr.
|
Board Reorganizes For Year
The Mount Laurel Board of Education reorganized for a new year of business on January 7, making professional appointments and approving annual business matters. During the meeting, Margaret Haynes was reappointed as President and Maureen Sojka's nomination as Vice President was approved. Board Members Scott Jones, Marc Jones and Michael Gallagher were sworn into office for new three-year terms in January. (Note: All board agendas and subsequent minutes of all meetings are posted on our district website once minutes have been approved by the board. Find them here.)
|
Media Specialist Selected As Emerging Leader By Association
Larchmont Media Specialist Jean Stock has been chosen by the American Library Association (ALA) to participate in its 2014 class of Emerging Leaders. The program is designed to enable library staff and information workers to participate in project planning work groups and network with their peers to serve the profession in a leadership capacity early in their careers. During the mid-winter workshop, Stock will join four other librarians across the US to work on a project to be used by school librarians nationwide. |
 | |
Samantha is honored at the Board of Education meeting by President Margaret Haynes and Superintendent of Schools Dr. Antoinette Rath. Advisor Maureen Barret was also honored.
|
Harrington Student Takes Top Honors In County Science Fair Competition
Samantha Sorid, an eighth-grade student at Harrington Middle School, took first-place honors at the Burlington County Science Fair in December. Placed in the eighth to 12th-grade category, Samantha competed against high school students to earn her title. Her experiment, dubbed "Money or Morality," collected data on passersby reactions to money left on the edge of a public fountain. Samantha observed whether people left the money there, threw it into the fountain or kept it. She won for her large sample size and her in-depth data analysis. She will go on to the 33rd annual Coriell Science Fair on March 22 at Camden County College. |
 We Are All Looking Forward To The Ides Of March
This winter season has certainly impacted our normal district operations. Just barely at the end of January, we have already experienced two delayed openings due to weather, three snow days, and one early dismissal day. This is in sharp contrast to the past couple of years, when weather has not impacted our school calendar at all. Alterations to the school calendar due to closures will be made in March by the Board of Education. However, as stated in the calendar distributed in September to all families (and posted on our website at www.mtlaurelschools.org ) "if inclement weather or other emergencies force the district to close, student school days will be made up in the following order: June 20, 23, 24, 25 and April 24." Please keep this in mind when making plans for Spring Break.
|
Middle School Students Serving As National Contest Judges
 Students in Maureen Barrett's Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) classes at the Harrington Middle School are participating judges in the Ocean 180 Video Challenge. In the competition, ocean scientists submitted videos about their research to the Florida Center for Ocean Sciences Education Excellence (COSEE). The COSEE judges selected the top ten videos, but wanted middle school students to determine the top three winners. Each day, our Harrington students watch a three-minute movie and rate the movie using a standard rubric. They then average the scores for each class, and submit their vote for the top three. There are over 40,000 middle school students judging the videos. "This is a win-win situation," says Barrett. "The students are learning about current ocean research and critiquing work that helps with the production of their own STEM ROV iMovies." Find the results of the competition here. |
|
|
| Upcoming Events | |
January 28
Board of Education
Regular Meeting, 7:30 p.m.
February 3
Report Cards Issued
February 4
GAP Invention Convention
Hartford School
6:30 to 7:30 p.m.
February 7
Teacher In-service
Early Dismissal
February 17
Presidents' Day
School Closed
February 18
Board of Education
Work Session, 7:30 p.m.
February 25
|
|
Personal Message
Our School Messenger Emergency Notification System is a wonderful thing. It allows us to contact the families of all 4,200 students within moments by telephone, e-mail and text message. It has "on ramps" across the country so that if our communication systems in this region are jammed in a major emergency, we could still get to you. But we know that for some families, getting a phone call at 10:30 p.m. about a school closure causes havoc. If you would prefer that your home number not be called with emergency messages, just e-mail our Office of Communication Services and we will override the system. Please be sure to include your home e-mail address and any cell phone numbers you would prefer that we use, in order of priority. |
|
