Thomas Jefferson School Newsletter December 2024

Thomas Jefferson School

December 2024

To Our Thomas Jefferson School Families,

December was a shortened but eventful month! We had three very fast weeks of instruction and learning. Students participated in various activities that helped build their knowledge, social skills, and sense of community.

The Winter Concerts were a huge success! We were all so impressed with the students' talent, dedication, and collective performance. Mrs. Love and Mr. Bova once again did a great job teaching and supporting our students, and they made the performances come together seamlessly.

Pennies for Presents Fundraiser - classes participated in fundraising to provide presents for the holidays to those in need. The classes ended up donating a total of $482.40 This total will be matched by the HSA who also donated an additional $500 on top of that. Thank you to all involved!

Computer Science Week has become a tradition here at TJ that is filled with ways to showcase computer science connections throughout the world. Each day of the week was celebrated with a theme day such as Computer Science in Music. We also kicked the week off with a district wide assembly with the author Laurie Wallmark who wrote the book Grace Hopper Queen of Computer Code. Special thanks to the HSA for sponsoring the assembly with one of their grants! We can't wait to see what the next Computer Science Week holds!

We had our second Brick Bash of the year where we highlighted Computer Science Week and all things tech! Families completed mini design challenges with Legos that were centered around the theme of technology. All students took home a Lego Robotics book. We also continued our partnership with the Rockaway Food Pantry and collected 2 boxes of food at this event! We can't wait for our next Brick Bash in February!

The Morris Hills Regional School District came in to present to our 8th grade students on two occasions. High School staff members came to detail course offerings and separately, 8th grade students experienced a Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math presentation in small groups. These were valuable experiences for our students!

A special thank you goes out to our professionals who were recognized for this school year:

Thomas Jefferson honored the Educator of the Year and Educational Support Person of the Year for the Governor’s Awards
Educator of the Year - 7th/8th Grade Teacher, Mrs. Janet Dobbs
Educational Support Person of the Year- Paraprofessional, Mrs. Yanfen Zhong(Chen)

Upcoming Events

Winter Break - There will be a full day, tomorrow Friday, December 20th, and school will not be in session until Thursday, January 2nd.
School Closed - Monday, January 20th for a staff in-service day.

Thank you all for partnering with our school and staff to benefit each child! The TJ faculty and staff would like to wish the Rockaway Borough Community a happy holiday season and a wonderful new year!

Leon Samuels

Principal

Nurses Corner

"Have a happy, safe and restful winter break. See you in January 2025!"

With the colder weather here, please remind your child to wear the appropriate outerwear to go out for recess.

Reminder to all parents if your child has Asthma I will need an Asthma Action Plan and Inhaler, if your child has any food allergies and needs an EpiPen I will need doctors orders and the EpiPen sent in with your child. If your child needs any tylenol, advil, motrin or any other over the counter medications I will need a doctor's order and the medication must be in an unopened bottle brought in by an adult. Any daily medications also need a doctor's note and the medication must be brought in by an adult. All forms can be found on the Rockaway Borough website under Thomas Jefferson - look on left side of page you will see Forms & Links - click there and this will bring you to the forms - scroll down and you will find the following:

EpiPen Permission Form

Asthma Action Plan

Medication Permission Form

These forms must be filled out by parents and the doctor and submitted with the medication to me.

If a student wants cough drops during the school day - I will need a parent note and cough drops need to be left in the nurse's office.

If a student is injured either at school or at home and needs crutches, a walking boot or slings for the upper extremities I will need a doctor's note and they must be cleared prior to returning to PE/recess or sports.

Remember breakfast is the most important meal of the day, please make sure your child eats breakfast prior to coming to school.

Last but not least if your child is not feeling well, please do not send them to school. If a child has a temperature of 100.0 they must be kept home for 24 hours and must be fever free for 24 hours. If your child vomits during the night they must be kept home for 24 hours with no vomiting.

If you need to reach me - the best way is email: lsavercool@rockboro.org or office # is 973-625-8603 x 305.

Thank you,

Mrs. Savercool

GOVERNOR'S EDUCATOR OF THE YEAR

Each year, the state of New Jersey sponsors the Governor's Educator of the Year program. Teachers and educational support persons are nominated and scored based on the criteria they set forth by the program. Thomas Jefferson School is extremely proud to honor these wonderful staff members who work each and every day for the benefit of our students. This year's Educator of the Year is Mrs. Janet Dobbs and our Educational Support Person of the Year is Mrs. Yanfen Zhong. We offer our sincere congratulations to both staff members as these recognitions are well deserved!

STAFF WELCOME!

Hello! My name is Donna Hawkes, and I’m thrilled to join the TJ community. For the past seven years, I’ve been a permanent substitute in the Rockaway Boro School District, where I also had the pleasure of teaching second grade at Lincoln School. This year, I’ll be teaching fourth-grade ELA, and I’m looking forward to an exciting year of learning and growth. In my free time, I enjoy spending time with my husband and three children, especially during the summer, when you can find us at the beach in Cape May.

From Miss Selikoff....

https://students.arbitersports.com/programs/2024-2025-winter-2-clubs-volleyball-club-morning-movement

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https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfCyncRAvCD7taJk1gmO6BlHafHV9vGOrdzto_8lmFpT6rAJA/viewform?usp=sf_link

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