Dear Cedar Mountain Parents and Guardians,
As we enjoy the holiday season through the eyes of your children, we hope that you enjoy this latest edition of the Cedar Mountain blog where I spotlight an Art Star, Students of the Month, holiday activities, and more!
Holiday Dress Up Days Reminder:
Monday, December 20: Fun Festive Holiday Sweater
Tuesday, December 21: Favorite Holiday Character
Wednesday, December 22: Crazy Hair/Hat/Antlers
Thursday, December 23: Favorite Holiday PJs
Art Star: Monthly, Mrs. Patchell, our art teacher, selects an Art Stat each month for creating a special piece of artwork. Please enjoy this Cedar Mountain Vlog, where Mrs. Patchell interviews Paige, a first-grade Art Star.
Congratulations to our Teacher of the Year, Mrs. Czergovits, and our Educational Services Professional, Speech/Language Pathologist, Mrs. Karlewicz. Some of Mrs. Czergovits’ and Mrs. Karlewicz’s students got together to say congratulations to them.
First Grade December Students of the Month: Congratulations to all of December Students of the Month that had a special luncheon together and were celebrated in a Student of the Month Medals Ceremony!
Gingerbread Houses and other holiday projects in Kindergarten: Many of our kindergarten classes are making special winter/holiday projects this month. Here are some students building gingerbread houses, gingerbread doors, making ornaments, and drawing their ideal holiday sweaters. It looks like there could be some budding architects in this class!!
Non-Standard vs Standard Measurement: Students in Mrs. Sweeney’s math class measured themselves in gingerbread people, snowflakes, candy canes, and cubes, too. Students quickly learned that measuring yourself in non-standard measurement would make it hard to hard to really know how tall you are. Students quickly learned that one must use a standard measurement to be able to measure correctly. To save our school nurse, Mrs. Forrest, some time, the students measured themselves inches instead of objects.
Outdoor Recess: Our students have been enjoying the mild fall days that we have had and being able to have many days of outdoor recess. Mr. Hernandez, our PE teacher, engages students outside by playing music and leading students in various games. Below are students participating in the fun that Mr. Hernandez organizes like Red Light -Green Light, limbo, Duck, Duck Goose, and Simon Sez!
Trimester One report cards: are now available for viewing on Genesis. If you have questions regarding the rubric grades your child has earned, please do not hesitate to contact your child’s teacher. Please remember to use the Standard Based Report Card Link on the Cedar Mountain Site. There are many activities linked for each standard if your child needs support in either math or Language Arts. HERE ARE THE DIRECTIONS TO PRINOT OUT YOUR CHILD’S REPORT CARD.
Child Assault Prevention Program: The CAP program will run the weeks of January 3 and January 10 for our kindergarten and first grade classes respectively. As a reminder, you must give permission for your child to participate in this program. Here is the link to the NJ Child Assault Prevention Elementary Program if you missed our meeting held in mid-December. HERE IS THE PERMISSION LETTER.
Mrs. Forrest’s Health Office Study: As part of a class that Mrs. Forrest is taking this year, she will be conducting a survey for Kindergarten and 1st grade students regarding feelings of anxiety in school and the Health Office. The basis of her thesis is whether the use of mindfulness techniques (either use of a water-type hourglass or a labyrinth-style maze puzzle) helps to lessen feelings of anxiety and nervousness while in the Health Office. CLICK HERE TO READ MORE ABOUT HER STUDY.
Here are NJ COVID Testing Options for Families:
How do I get a FREE, at-home COVID-19 saliva test?
Where can I get FREE, public COVID-19 testing or treatment?
NJ COVID-19 Resources for Families
NJ Parent Link
https://www.njparentlink.nj.gov
https://njparentlink.nj.gov/njparentlink/current/covid-19.html
NJ COVID-19 Information Hub
Outdoor Recess: As a reminder, our students will go outside for recess as long as the temperature stays about 24 degrees. Please make sure your child wears a warm coat, hat and gloves daily in preparation for playing outside. We try as often as possible in the winter months to have our students go outside for physical activity.
School and Community Association: Thank you to the Cedar Mountain SCA who were busy organizing our Holiday Shoppe, our Cookies with Santa, and our fall fundraisers. Our parent volunteers work very hard to make your child’s school experience special. We look forward to upcoming events as the year goes by. As a reminder, our next SCA meeting will be held on Monday, January 3, 2022, at 8:00 pm, via Zoom. HERE IS THE LINK FOR THE MEETING. In my presentation this month, I will be focusing on Restorative Practices and how this methodology is used at school. Please click this link to learn more about what Restorative Practice is and what it looks like in an elementary school.
Box Tops for Education: Don’t forget to scan your grocery receipts for Cedar Mountain. It’s easy, CLICK HERE for the informational flyer.
Special Upcoming Event: Our students will be meeting monthly via Zoom with author, songwriter, and yoga instruction, Kira Willey, from January through April. Kira Willey will be using her books to teach us mindfulness and self-regulation skills that will complement our Social and Emotional (SEL) instruction used every day at school. Updates will follow to give you information on each virtual author visit we have.
A few reminders…
December 17: Trimester One Report Cards will be available for viewing in Genesis. Please note that report cards are not printed; however, you can print out the report card for your child. HERE ARE THE DIRECTIONS TO PRINT OUT A REPORT CARD.
December 20: Field trip to Glen Meadow Middle School to see the Winter Concert- you will be receiving a permission slip in the coming
December 23: Early Dismissal Day- 1:25 pm
December 24-January 2- School Closed for Winter Recess
January 3, 2022- School Resumes
January 17, 2022- School Closed for Martin Luther King Day
Have a wonderful holiday season!
Sincerely
Mrs. Gebhardt
Principal
