Dear Cedar Mountain Families:

With the weather changing we really hope that April Showers WILL Bring May Flowers! Now that it’s Trimester Three, our students are diving deeper and deeper into the curriculum and building our mental muscles to do hard things. For example, our kindergarten students are deeply immersed in the genre of nonfiction, as they learn about biographies, features of nonfiction, and how to find out more information when they want to learn more about a nonfiction topic. Our first-graders are counting to 120, learning about place value, comparing and ordering numbers and adding and subtracting within 100. To understand and see all that students are learning in the final trimester of the year, please make reference to the Cedar Mountain STANDARDS-BASED REPORT CARD. If you feel your child needs support with any of the standards, there are many helpful educational links at this site. While we don’t recommend too much screen time, a few minutes a day on Happy Numbers, Sum Dog, Raz Kids, or other educational sites will provide the rote practice that can help your child with retention of concepts.  Please enjoy reading some of the highlights of the building this month.

 

 

Congratulations to our April 1st Grade Students of the Month! Students enjoyed their special Student of the Month meeting where they received the great news of being selected, a special luncheon, and a Medals Ceremony where students received a certificate telling why they have been selected. Students are selected that demonstrate our school motto, “Take care of yourself, take care of each other, take care of your school” such as:

Acts of kindness towards others

Helping others

Using good manners and being polite 

Cleaning up after ourselves

Greeting others and asking about their day

Perseverance on difficult tasks

Talking about our feelings

Using classroom and school materials appropriately

Including others in activities and play

Lucas

Ellie

Gabe

Macey

Chloe

Olivia

Celia

Trent

Emma

Kaiden

Skye

Collin

Jace

Kelsey

Ethan

Ryan

Olivia

Jaelyana

 

 

 

 

April is Poetry Month: To celebrate and learn about poetry, during the month of April our first-grade students are reading a poem a day in our school on the PA after we salute the flag.  In addition, each class is practicing a poem that they will read or recite in their classmates. A student will be selected from each class that will read or recite the class poem at our Poetry Out Loud assembly on April 26, 2022.

 

 

April is Autism Awareness Month: Throughout the month of April, classrooms are reading books to learn about the Autism Spectrum. On Monday, April 11, 2022, we will “Wear Blue for Bucks” for Autism awareness. Students, faculty, and staff will be requested to wear royal blue and donate $1.00. Money donated will be presented to SCARC for its programs that support children and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

 

Here is a listing of some of the books that teachers are reading with their classes:

  • Leah’s Voice – touches on the difficulties children encounter when they meet a child with special needs such as autism. It is the story of two sisters facing these challenges. Through her kindness and devotion, one sister teaches by example the importance of including everyone and showing acceptance

 

  • I See Things Differently -is written by psychotherapist and counselor Pat Thomas. This book will help children understand what autism is, how it affects someone who has it and will help children to better understand and support autistic classmates or siblings

 

  • A Friend Like Simon -is about an autistic child who joins a mainstream school. This story encourages other children to be mindful and patient of the differences that exist and to appreciate the positive contribution that an autistic child can make to a group.

 

  • My Brother Otto– My Brother Otto is a child-friendly, endearing, and fun picture book for children about the love, acceptance, and understanding a sister, Piper, has for her little brother Otto, who is on the autism spectrum. The book provides explanations for Otto’s differences and quirkiness in an easy-to-understand language, and highlights Otto’s desires for adventure and love–just like his peers.

 

 

Wixie: Kindergartners and first grade students are learning to use Wixie, an elementary online desktop publishing program, in computer class. Wixie is a publishing and creativity platform that allows our students to create a document, add and edit images and color. Students can use premade templates with specific topics or create documents on their own. The kindergartners have begun exploring their editing/painting skills by selecting a spring picture and exploring the paint bucket tool to make their creation. First graders have been working on a Spring Flower Cluster where they have to fill each flower petal with a spring thought or word and then color/edit the picture.   Below is a picture of a bulletin board that shows some of our students’ work.   

 

 

 

Fastest class Competition: Once a month all students participate in a “fastest class” competition in Physical Education with Mr. Hernandez.  Classes compete against one another by running as many laps as they can around the gym in five minutes.  1st grade classes compete against one another, while Kindergarten classes compete with each other.  The winning classes are announced during morning announcements and are awarded with a trophy.  This is all a part of Mr. Hernandez’s initiative to promote health and wellness of our students. Mr. Hernandez proudly announced April’s Fastest Class winners…they are…

Kindergarten: Miss Buttel

First Grade: Ms .Thomas (Mrs. Megnin replacement this spring)

Congratulations to both classes!

 

Miss Buttel’s Class

Ms. Thomas’ Class

 

 

Cedar Mountain Art Display at the Board Office: Congratulations to all of our K-1 artists that are featured at the Board Office located at Walnut Ridge School. Click on each picture to enlarge them. Thank you to our art teacher, Mrs. Patchell, for teaching our students the Principles of Design that guided students in creating such beautiful work!

 

 

 

You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown: On Wednesday, March 30th, Cedar Mountain saw a preview of “You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown”. Our students enjoyed the production! With the narration of various numbers by co-director, Ms. Sandler, students were able to conceptualize the storyline of the musical. We are very thankful to the talented students of the Glen Meadow Theatrical Department for inviting us to see the show. Below is Mrs. Yarosz’s class meeting the cast on the stage.

 

 

 

SCA Information: Our next SCA meeting will be on Monday, May 2, 2022 at 8:00 pm via Zoom. We thank the SCA for all the wonderful programs they bring to the students of Cedar Mountain. Thank you to the SCA for funding our Kira Willey concert that we will be having on April 29th. We appreciate your dedication to our school and students; your countless hours of volunteer time do not go unnoticed! Our SCA is busy preparing for the Father/Special Person/Daughter Dance that will be held on Friday, April 8, 2022, at 6:00 pm. HERE IS THE SIGN UP FORM. 

The SCA is looking for your volunteerism for our Father/Special Person/Daughter Dance if you would like to assist with the set up for the dance, please call the main office- thank you!

To sign up for refreshments CLICK THIS LINK that will take you to a Sign Up Genius page.

Please note: nominations for officers for the 2022-2023 are due on April 11, 2022.

HERE IS THE CEDAR MOUNTAIN 22-23 NOMINATION FORM

HERE IS THE ROLLING HILLS NOMINATION 22-23 FORM

 

Here are a few pictures from our Mother/Special Person/Son Dance…

 

 

Here are a few pictures from our Father/Special Person/Daughter Dance…

 

 

 

SCA Egg Hunt: Our students had an “egg-citing” time collecting spring eggs filled with non-edible goodies. Students were given a bag and had hundreds of eggs to choose from. We thank our parent/guardian volunteers for making this event so memorable for our students!

 

 

 

 

SCA Pounds of Pennies: The SCA is holding a “Pounds of Pennies” competition. The coin collection will begin on Monday, April 11th and will end on Friday, April 29th. Thank you for your lose change. The winning class will select the design for the Fun Day t-shirt. The money collected will go to fund events at Cedar Mountain.  HERE IS THE FLYER WITH MORE INFORMATION. 

 

 

Executive SCA Ladies Night Out: The Executive Ladies Night Out will take place on Friday, April 22nd. PLEASE CLICK HERE FOR INFORMATION ON THE EVENT. The Ladies Night Out event benefits the scholarship program for our VTHS graduating seniors. If you would like to volunteer to prepare gift baskets, please contact the Cedar Moutain main office at 973-764-2890. Our Executive SCA will be working on putting the raffle baskets during the week of April 18th at Cedar Mountain School.

 

 

Vernon Township School District Hall of Fame: Nominations for individuals who have made a significant contribution to our district are being accepted for the VTSD Hall of Fame. This special recognition program was established in 1996 and has inducted 19 people who have had an impact on our students and overall district. HERE IS THE FORM to nominate a worthy person. Nominations are due by April 28, 2022.

 

 

 

A Few Reminders:

  • School will be closed on Friday, April 15 through the week of April 18, 2022, and will reopen on Monday, April 25, 2022
  • First-Grade Poetry Out Loud Assembly- Tuesday, April 27th
  • SCA Mother’s and Father’s Day Shop- Wednesday, April 27-29th
  • Kira Willey Concert- Friday, April 29th
  • SCA Mother’s Day Planting- Friday, May 6th
  • Pushcart Players- “Stone Soup” Play performed live in our gym on Monday, May 9th
  • “Stone Soup” Family Reading Night- Tuesday, May 17th, at 6:00 pm- a flyer will follow- come for a great reading night and help put canned goods together for a family in need to a make “Stone Soup”. 

 

 

 

In closing, I would like to bring a very sensitive topic to your attention. It has come to our teachers’ attention that the children have developed a curiosity about a social media character called “Huggy Wuggy” and “Poppy’s Playtime”. The Cedar Mountain teachers have looked into this phenomenon. HERE IS A HELPFUL LINK for parents and guardians to understand this character that is not appropriate for young children which you can read below. All teachers at Cedar Mountain are requesting that you speak to your child to reinforce to him or her that we will not be encouraging conversations or any activities that include “Huggy Wuggy” or “Poppy’s Playtime”.

 

Thank you to our Cedar Mountain parents and guardians for partnering with us. Please contact your child’s teacher or me if we can assist you in any way.

 

Sincerely,

Mrs. Gebhardt

Principal