Dear Cedar Mountain Families:
We are approaching the end of Trimester Two, please take some time to become familiar with the standards that are taught during this trimester and how your child is progressing in the standards. Our teachers use various progress monitoring systems to track your child’s growth. As you are aware, mask-wearing will become optional beginning on Monday, March 7th. As requested in our recent School Messenger, please let your child’s classroom teacher know if you would like your child to continue wearing a mask. Your child’s teacher will monitor that your child wears a mask indoors. Please see THIS IMPORTANT LETTER regarding this topic and the latest revisions to the COVID-19 protocols from our Superintendent, Ms. D’Avino.
It’s “Read the McKay Way” time! As our “Read the McKay Way” program comes to a close on March 11th, which honors Dr. Charles McKay, who will be retiring at the end of the school year. Students and family members still have time to log their pages read HERE and may also leave a video message for Dr. McKay HERE on our district’s FlipGrid page. What a great way to celebrate reading as a family, a school, and a district! Below is the QR code that will take you to the QR code to log your pages. You will also see A LINK on the main page of our website that will take you to all of this information. To celebrate “Read the McKay Way”, all of our students will be treated to pretzels and apple juice during Love of Reading Week.
Smile Week at Cedar Mountain: The week of March 7th is SMILE week! Students will be making smiley faces and drawing and writing what makes our students smile. We will decorate our main hallway with our smiley faces.
Love of Reading Week: Here is a schedule of activities going on the week of March 7th to celebrate the Love of Reading and “Read the McKay Way”…
Monday, March 7th: “Get Cozy with a Good Book” –Wear comfy clothes, crazy socks, & BRING IN a book to read
Tuesday, March 8th: “Books are Fun!” –Wear tie-dye & bright clothing!
Wednesday, March 9th: “Wacky Wednesday” –Wear a crazy hat or hair!
Thursday, March 10th: “Wear Words Close to Your Heart” –Wear a readable shirt
Friday, March 11th: “Favorite Book Character” -Dress as your favorite character from a book
Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella: Cedar Mountain will be going to Vernon High School to see a preview of Cinderella on Wednesday, March 9th. Thank you for signing the permission slip that was sent home. Click on the picture above if you would like to purchase tickets to see the show.
You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown: On Wednesday, March 30th, Cedar Mountain will be going to Glen Meadow Middle School to see a preview of You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown. You will soon be receiving a permission slip for this trip.
Kindergarten NJ Child Assault Prevention Program: The NJ CAP Program aims to prevent child assault by teaching children to recognize and deal with potentially dangerous situations and by training teachers and parents/guardians to help prevent the victimization of children; their slogan “Empowering our Children to be Safe, Strong, and Free”. CLICK HERE TO GO TO THE NJ CAP WEBSITE. The classroom workshop combines guided group discussion with a series of role-plays focusing on situations children may sometimes encounter a child-to-child assault, adult stranger-to-child assault, and an assault involving an adult known to the child. Discussion helps children identify what options they have to protect themselves. The developmentally appropriate strategies focused on are self-assertion, peer support, and telling a trusted adult. Our kindergarten students will have this program in their classrooms in March. HERE IS THE LETTER THAT WAS SENT HOME FOR REFERENCE.
Cedar Mountain Art Star: Congratulations to Hunter Klepper who has been selected as a March Art Star. Hunter Klepper was chosen as this month’s art star because of his dedicated focus to painting monochromatic mountains. He created realistic mountains using natural zig-zag lines then changed the value of each to show foreground, middle ground, and background in an original watercolor painting. His sky wash is incredibly impressive with just a hint of green throughout. Hunter stayed focused on the task and demonstrated excellent stamina and craftsmanship in this project. We are very proud of you, Hunter!
March Safeties: Check out this month’s first-graders reporting for duty. Safeties welcome all students as they enter the building and encourage students to walk and be safe in the hallways.
March Safeties
March is Nutrition Month: To teach about healthy nutrition and celebrate Nutrition Month, the Sodexo Company will be bringing a Registered Dietician to our school to teach lessons about healthy eating. Cedar Mountain welcomes Michelle Martucci, RDN, LDN, from Sodexo School Services.
Trimester Two Report Cards: The Genesis parent portal for Trimester Two will be opening on Friday, March 25th.
Attached HERE is a helpful handout on how to talk to your child about grades. As a reminder, please reference the Standard Based Report Card link HERE to review the rubric that corresponds to each standard. If your child needs support with any of the standards, there are many resources for each standard found on this link. Please speak with your child’s teacher to discuss his or her report card.
Game Days at Cedar Mountain: Cedar Mountain will be having planned Game Days with all of our students beginning in March. We will start small with a designated time and day in all classrooms. Our goal is to expand our Game Day to involve blending classes and then grade levels by year’s end so that all of our students across the building get to play together and interact.
We are very excited to bring back Game Day to Cedar Mountain School! This building-based activity supports students’ social/emotional skills in a natural play environment, as we know, play is the work of childhood. We are asking parents/guardians to donate a game or puzzle that you might already have at home. We kindly request that if you are donating to this program, the game/board game/puzzle be in good condition with all its parts, and one that can be played together in a group of three or four children.
Below is a list of some suggested games we would like for our students.
Puzzles: no more than 50 pieces (floor puzzles are great)
Game examples:
Memory
Uno
Connect Four
Jenga
Trouble
Zingo
Board Game examples:
Candy Land
Chutes and Ladders
Don’t Break the Ice
Hi Ho Cherry O
Dominos
Yeti in my Spaghetti
Next SCA Meeting: Monday, March 7, 2022, at 8:00 pm via Zoom. HERE IS THE LINK FOR THE MEETING. We thank the SCA for all the wonderful programs they bring to the students of Cedar Mountain. We appreciate your dedication to our school and students; your countless hours of volunteer time do not go unnoticed! SAVE THE DATE! Our Mother/Special Person/Son Dance will be held on Friday, March 25, from 6:00 to 8:00 pm. The theme of the dance is Glow Night! HERE IS THE SIGN-UP FORM. As a reminder, Our Father/Special Person/Daughter Dance will be held on Friday, April 8th, from 6:00 to 8:00 pm.
Egg My Yard: The GMMS SCA is sponsoring an “Egg My Yard” fundraiser this spring. Click here for the details of how you can have special eggs with small trinkets inside hidden in your yard for your family. CLICK HERE FOR THE INFORMATIONAL FLIER.
Executive SCA Ladies Night Out: The Executive Ladies Night Out will take place on Friday, April 22nd. PLEASE CLICK HERE FOR AN INFORMATIONAL FLYER ON THE EVENT. The Executive SCA is looking for donations for the event, there is a link on the flyer to Amazon for your consideration; thank you for your generosity. The Ladies Night Out event benefits the scholarship program for our VTHS graduating seniors. HERE IS THE FORM TO PURCHASE TICKETS THAT ARE GOING QUICKLY.
Pass It Along Book Collection Project: VTHS Senior, Cristian Vintimilla, has been nominated by VTHS to take part in the Pass it Along Scholar-Athlete Program. Within this program, Cristian Vintimilla is working with numerous students from other districts toward a common goal of making a positive impact on our community. As part of Cristian Vintimilla’s community service project, each high school student participating in this program has been asked to collect items to donate to NORWESCAP.
Cristian Vintimilla has been asked to collect books to donate to NORWESCAP, which plans on hosting a “free book fair” for a community in need. Books for all ages are accepted as long as they are in new / gently used condition. We have a collection box in the main hallway of Cedar Mountain. Thank you for donating books for this great cause.
Think Spring and Kindergarten Registration! Do you know of a family member, friend, or neighbor whose child will be turning five by October 1, 2022? If so, please pass on this information to those interested in enrolling their child for kindergarten for the 2022-2023 school year. Registration is open online! Our in-person registration will take place at Cedar Mountain School in the gym as follows:
Monday, March 7th, 2022: 4:30-7:30 pm
Tuesday, March 8th, 2022: 9:30-11:30 am
Wednesday, March 9th, 2022: 4:30-7:30 pm
Thursday, March 10th, 2022: 9:30-11:30 am
Whether you are registering online or bring all of your information with you, here is a listing of what you will need when you register:
Your child’s Birth Certificate
Your child’s immunization records and current physical
Proof of residency
We encourage all families to start the registration process online by clicking HERE. If you do not have a computer at home to start the process, we will have computer kiosks set up for you to enter your information when you come to in-person registration. Upon registering, you will also arrange a time for the entering kindergarten student to be screened using the DIAL4. You must register online to begin the process. You can do this at home on any device or you can log on at Cedar Mountain to complete this step of the process. You can always call for assistance, or if you would like to come in for a tour! We love visitors!
Kindness really is GOLDEN! Thank you for partnering with us at Cedar Mountain. Please call or email if you have any questions!
Sincerely,
Rosemary Gebhardt
Principal