Dear Cedar Mountain Families: The beauty of fall is here and our school looks equally beautiful inside with bulletin boards and other student work in our school hallways. Please enjoy reading some school information and important news about upcoming events at Cedar Mountain. Thank you, as always, for sharing your children with us!
Congratulations to our October First Grade Students of the Month!
Each month, our first-grade teachers select a few students in their classrooms 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
Drum Roll Please…let’s clap for…
Patrick
Shane
Aris
Raegan
Bodhi
Paul
Gia
Brayden
Payton
Everett
Ayden
Evan
Caroline
Paige
Tyler
Valerie
Gabriella
Drew
Isabella
First-Grade Safeties: Each month, first-grade students are specially selected as our building “Safeties”. Here are our October Safeties reporting for duty. You will see these students greeting students as they arrive every morning and making sure students are being safe in the hallway and in the stairwells. Congratulations Jayson, Luke, Joseph, Ryan, William, and Wyatt!
Safeties reporting for duty!!
Fire Prevention Week: We thank Vernon Fire Company #1 for bringing two fire trucks to Cedar Mountain to learn about fire safety and how fire trucks work. We especially enjoyed our visit from Sparky the Fire Dog. Enjoy some pictures from this event.
Standard Based Report Card Parent Training: Learn about the Cedar Mountain standard-based report K-1 cards from our Response to Intervention Coordinators Mrs. Panfile and Mrs. Rostami on Wednesday, October 20, 2021, at 6:30 pm. HERE IS THE ZOOM LINK FOR THIS ONLINE MEETING.
Scholastic Book Fair Information: Students will be looking at books at the Book Fair in the library and making wish lists to take home. Students will not be making purchases in school. Parents/guardians need to set up an e-wallet through Scholastic and send their child’s wish list back to the library by October 21st. The books you would like to purchase will be pulled from the Book Fair shelves and delivered to your child’s homeroom within a few days. If you have any questions about the Book Fair, please contact Mrs. Kellish at ckellish@vtsd.com Thank you for supporting our Book Fair.
Charlotte’s Web: The Vernon Township High School Theater Department is performing Charlotte’s Web on Thursday, October 28, and Friday, October 29, 2021, at 7:00 PM. Please see the flyer below. Tickets must be purchased online by clicking on the link.
Take the Scare Out of Hunger Halloween Parade– students are requested to bring in a non-perishable item on Friday, October 29th, that will be donated to our local food pantries. Your generosity for those that live in Vernon is greatly appreciated! Students will begin their Halloween Parade, wearing costumes, placing their non-perishable items in a box. Our parade begins at 2:30 pm; all parents are guardians are invited to attend.
Monster Mile: Mr. Hernandez, our Physical Education teacher, has organized a Monster Mile Fun Run that is open to all preschool, kindergarten, and first-grade students that will take place on Saturday, October 30th, at 9:00 am. You can pre-register for the race or register on the day of the race. Students should wear their Halloween costumes; prizes will be given for costume creativity. In preparation for the Monster Mile, every Tuesday and Thursday, students practice for the Fun Run. As students run the quarter-mile course, they get a “dot” on their hand to represent their laps. Students are so proud to earn more dots per week. CLICK HERE FOR THE FLYER.
Red Ribbon Week: The 2021 National Red Ribbon Week Theme, “Drug-Free Looks Like Me” is a reminder that everyday Americans across the country make significant daily contributions to their communities by being the best they can be because they live Drug-Free! We are focusing on the ways we can show our creativity this week to show our uniqueness…here’s a day-by-day calendar of the week and its corresponding dress theme:
Monday, October 25: Wear RED
Tuesday, October 26: Wear a hat or crazy hair
Wednesday, October 27: Wear PJs
Thursday, October 28: Wear Neon Colors
Friday, October 29: Wear Halloween Costume and bring in a non-perishable food item
Picture Retakes: Our Picture Re-takes will take place on Wednesday, October 27- if your child is going to have a picture retake, please have your child wear only PJ bottoms.
Stuff the Stocking: Annually, the Vernon Township School District participates in the Project Self-Sufficiency Stuff the Stocking Program. District students are requested to donate a new, un-used, unwrapped toy or gift for this program. Thank you for your generosity when considering making a donation to this noteworthy program. Here is the flyer for additional information.
A reminder about our Complimentary Breakfast Program…
Breakfast will be offered to ALL students free of charge. You do not need to qualify for free or reduced lunch for this program. You are required to order a breakfast by accessing this GOOGLE FORM. You may order by the day, week, or the whole month. Breakfast will be delivered to your child’s classroom. As a reminder, lunch is also complimentary; however, you do not need to order lunch.
SCA Cookies and Coffee Fundraiser: We thank the Cedar Mountain SCA for organizing our fall fundraiser. Proceeds will go towards Cedar Mountain Primary School SCA for future events. Please make checks payable to “Cedar Mountain SCA” for all orders and return no later October 15, 2021. Any orders received after this date will be returned to you. Once the fundraiser items have been delivered to the school there will be only ONE scheduled pickup date, approximately October 28th. We will send a reminder to you when the fundraiser items have arrived.
Any questions or concerns please contact the SCA at cm.vernonsca@gmail.com
SCA Meetings
Our October SCA meeting was held on Monday, October 4th via Zoom. If you would like to read the minutes of this meeting. Please go to the Cedar Mountain website and click on PARENT GROUPS/SCA. This will take you to the district SCA page where you can read our minutes and access other Cedar Mountain information. Our meetings are held on the first Monday of every month at 8:00 pm online via Zoom. The Zoom link can be found the Cedar Mountain SCA page. All parents are invited to attend. Our next meeting will be held on Monday, November 1st.
Some information on communication and the proper channels… As the school year moves along this fall, it is very important that we promote communication with you via this blog, emails, phone calls, our calendar, Friday School Messenger blasts, and the occasional memos that will be sent home with students. With this in mind, below are the steps to use as reference if you need to reach someone at school to discuss an educational matter. These steps support direct, open, and respectful interactions so that problems and concerns can be worked out quickly and efficiently. Any question or concern should always start with the person listed in Step 1, as that person will usually has the most information on the topic. If you have a question or concern, please follow the steps listed below for the relevant topic.
Classroom Issues Involving an Individual Child
(Classroom procedures, behavior, grades, schedule, etc.)
OR
Curriculum and Instruction
(Subject matter being taught, teaching strategies, textbooks and materials used, etc.)
STEP 1: Classroom Teacher; if not resolved…
STEP 2: School Counselor, Ms. Ingrid Green, 973-764-4509; if not resolved…
STEP 3: Principal
STEP 4: Director of Humanities, Mr. Vincent Gagliostro, or Director of Math and Science, Mr. Russ Rogers
STEP 5: Building Principal; if not resolved…
STEP 6: Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction, Dr. Charles McKay; if not resolved…
STEP 7: Superintendent of Schools, Ms. Karen D’Avino
Special Education, 504 Plans, and IEPs
STEP 1: Teacher, Specialist, or Child Study Team Member (Psychologist, School Counselor, Social Worker, Speech and Language Pathologist, Occupational Therapist, Physical Therapist); if not resolved…
STEP 2: Case Manager; if not resolved…
STEP 3: Building Principal; if not resolved…
STEP 4: Supervisor of Special Services – Mrs. Suzanne MacDougall; if not resolved…
STEP 5: Director of Special Services- Mr. Russel Fay
STEP 6: Superintendent of Schools, Ms. Karen D’Avino
Medical Concerns
STEP 1: School Nurse; if not resolved…
STEP 2: Building Principal; if not resolved…
STEP 3: Superintendent of Schools, Ms. Karen D’Avino
School Counseling and Related Services
STEP 1: School Counselor, Social Worker, School Psychologist; if not resolved…
STEP 2: Supervisor of School Counseling- Mrs. Kristin Gudenkauf; if not resolved…
STEP 3: Building Principal; if not resolved…
STEP 4: Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction, Dr. Charles McKay; if not resolved…
STEP 5: Superintendent of Schools, Ms. Karen D’Avino
Transportation Concerns
(Behavior on school buses, etc.)
STEP 1: Building Principal; if not resolved…
STEP 2: Supervisor of Transportation, Mrs. Marisa Broesder; if not resolved…
STEP 3: Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction, Dr. Charles McKay; if not resolved…
STEP 4: Superintendent of Schools, Ms. Karen D’Avino
In closing, thank you for partnering with us! Here are a few pictures of Praying Mantis that were against our school walls outside. Students enjoyed studying them during recess time! They learned about the term camouflage.
Sincerely,
Rosemary Gebhardt
Principal
