Happy Holidays!

I wanted to take a moment to thank my fantastic students and their families for a great four months of school! I hope you all enjoy time with family over the break and have fun ringing in the new year! See you on January 3, 2011!!!

Mrs. P.

Next week

I know the kids are getting excited for the big holiday break. However, we all must do our best to keep on learning through Thursday. We have full days of school Monday-Wednesday. We will have a 1/2 day on Thursday and no school until January 3, 2011!

Winter Concert

The students have been practicing in their music classes and at other times during today, Friday, and next Wednesday for the Winter Concert. They are all very excited to participate. Students should arrive at the school at 5:30 Wednesday evening. The concert will begin promptly at 6:00 PM. I will be at the school to assist students. I look forward to seeing everyone there and especially watching the students perform!!!

Goodbye Justin

Last week we were sad to see one of our students transfer to a new school district. We had a going away party and each student shared their feelings about this event.

This week we are re-reading the Casey and Bella books in anticipation of author, Jane Lovascio, visiting our school. The students will try their hands at developing a Casey and Bella story.

In math we are comparing numbers. Next week, we will study money and decimals. This will help some of the students to eventually work on finding percents and the real-life application of sales and tipping.

Our science class will finish up their reports on the animals of the arctic.

We will also be working on decorations for the meaning of Thanksgiving. We will have a half-day on Wednesday, November 24. Then we will be off for Thursday and Friday. I want to wish everyone a safe and happy Thanksgiving holiday!!! I am certainly THANKFUL for such great students, staff, and parents!!!

October 25-October 29

Next week is Red Ribbon Week at OCS. Please remember to dress you child according to the notice that was sent home this week. If you have trouble finding clothing for you child to wear that goes with the list that day, please let me know in advance and we can find a way for him/her to participate. All of the students enjoy participating in the school-wide events. Also, remember to check your student's folder for information about the Halloween parade held on Friday.

Our Weekly News

This week, the students enjoyed making dirt pie for a student's birthday! They also are working on making our room look great for Halloween.



Today, all students donated $1.00 toward breast cancer research! We all enjoyed wearing our hats today.

The coming week...

We will not have school on Monday, October 11. The teacher will be attending workshops throughout Warren County.

On Wednesday, we will be making dirt pudding to celebrate a student's birthday. Then on Monday, October 18, we will follow the directions to make individual no-bake pumpkin cheesecake to celebrate another student's birthday.

DIRT PIE

1 large bag oreo cookies

1 c. 10x sugar

1/2 stick softened butter

1 (8 oz.) pkg. softened cream cheese

2 boxes instant vanilla pudding

3 1/2 c. milk

1 (12 oz.) container cool whip

1 pkg. (8 oz.) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, softened
1 cup canned pumpkin
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
1 tub (8 oz.) COOL WHIP Whipped Topping, thawed, divided
1 HONEY MAID Graham Pie Crust (6 oz.)

Welcome, October!

We are so excited it is October. We enjoyed the month of September. We are finally getting into a routine. The students had a blast at the Hispanic Heritage dance on September 24.

On Tuesday, we will have Spirit Day at OCS. Students may dress in their pajamas or school colors. There are two birthdays to celebrate in our classroom this month! We will also be celebrating Halloween at OCS on Friday, October 29.

A few things to keep in mind

I want to remind parents to check you child's agenda book when he or she arrives home from school. Help them to check off each assignment as they complete it. Allow for short breaks during homework time, but make sure your child returns to complete the entire assignment. Then assist them with placing it in his or her appropriate folder. Especial during this first month of school, help to make sure they place what they need for school in their backpacks the night before. This is important because homework is often reviewed and graded the next day. They need to learn to be responsible, but they might need some help developing a plan.

Also, there will be a school dance on Friday, September, 24. Grades 4-6 will have their dance from 4-6 o'clock. I can stay after school with your child if you are unable to give him/her a ride to the dance. I can also stay at the dance to assist your child. Please let me know at Back to School Night on September 28, if your child will be attending the dance. Thanks!

Scheduling

Therapists have been in and out of our room all week trying to develop the best schedule to meet the students' needs. You will receive a final schedule by Monday, September 13.

Welcome Back!

The past 3 days have flown by!!! The students are so excited to be back at OCS! The staff is so happy to see them back. I am in the process of completing scheduling with therapists. A finalized schedule should be sent home with your child on Tuesday.

You child will have a folder for every subject he/she has in my classroom. Classwork, homework, and tests will be sent home in this folder. Graded papers will be located in the back pocket of the folder. You may keep these papers at home. Inside the front of the folder, you will find a taped table to display the grade you child received on classwork, homework, and tests. Next to each grade, you will need to initial that you saw the grade. This will give you more advanced notice of how your child did on the work he/she completed. You will still receive Friday reports each week, as well.

I hope everyone has a wonderful Labor Day weekend! Earl is not invited to the party this year!!!

Luau Lunch

We would like to send out a big THANK YOU to the PTA and the volunteers that helped to feed the students and staff at the OCS Luau lunch!!! Thank you for giving your time to make an enjoyable lunch for all!!!

June is Here!!!

We are nearing the end of the school year. Our Language Arts class is finishing up Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. They are working on designing their own candy invention. This project will be due June 11. There will be an idiom benchmark test on Wednesday, June 9.

Our math classes are working on multiplication facts (4th/5ht) and fractions (5th/7th). We will have a test on Thursday, June 10. This test will contain items for our benchmark assessment.

7th grade Social Studies will have a benchmark test on Thursday, June 10. They will finish out the year by reviewing the war of 1812 and the Civil War.

The 7th grade left today for Tuckerton, and will be gone for three days. Monday, June 14 is field day. Students are not allowed to ride their bikes to the lake. Dismissal is at 12:30. Ocean night begins at 6:00 that night. Please come and experience all that your children have been learing about.

We will have a week off in between the end of the 2009-2010 school year and our ESY program. The ESY program runs from June 28 - July 23 (no school on July 5). The hours are 8:30-12:30.

4th/5th Grade Dance

4th/5th Grade Dance 2010

On Friday, May 14, our 4th and 5th graders went to their first school dance. They wore nice clothes and made sure they were especially handsome for the evening. We are looking forward for the dances to come over the next years at OCS! Here are some pictures from the night.

Charlie and The Chocolate Factory

Our class is really enjoying reading Charlie and The Chocolate Factory. We will be having a chocolate taste test contest next week. The students will watch the more recent movie when we finish the novel. This version is truer to the novel.

Spring Happenings

We are nearing the finish line for the 2009-2010 school year. All the students have worked really hard this year! We have a few assemblies and important dates coming up:

May 17 - Bike Safety Assembly - 2:15.

June 14 - Field Day - M.A.R.E. in the evening at 6:00

June 17 - Last Day of school for students

Winter happenings

Our classes are working on skills to assist with the NJASK testing just around the corner. I am very proud of my students that are really working to challenge themselves! Also, those students that are participating in the NJAPA (alternate proficiency assessment) will be completing activities in the next two weeks. APA binders will be sent to the testing facility by March 4, 2010.

A question about progress report reporting came to my attention recently. Parents were unsure about why their child's progress was marked for the last marking period of the 08-09 school year. Your child's progress is monitored and marked during the reporting time after his/her most recent IEP takes effect. For instance, if your child's IEP date was May 09, his/her progress report will reflect progress on the goals in the newest IEP. The reason it shows on the progress reports for the 09-10 school year is because we are looking at progress on IEP goals from implementation, which often doesn't correspond to the traditional school year marking periods due to when IEP meetings occur. If you have any questions about this process, please call the CST office.