Weekly Hot Topics:
● The Montclair Public Schools Principals Association strongly condemns the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis. Persistent racism has no place in our society, and once again it is clear that we still have much work to do. Although these are challenging times, it is important that we work together to reassure our students and give them the opportunity to express their feelings, whether it is fear, sadness, anger or confusion. Over the next few days we will provide some additional resources for parents and caregivers to address this topic at home as we continue to support our students in school. We will also provide additional support from our school counselors. In the meantime, if you have any concerns about how your child is responding to this horrific event, contact your classroom teacher or me.
● Please join us for our Parent Zoom Meet: Second grade Zoom is this evening(6/1):
· Second Grade Families please join us tonight (6/1) at 8:00pm. Here is the login information for the call: https://zoom.us/j/99988052314 Meeting ID: 999 8805 2314 One tap mobile +16465588656,,99988052314# US (New York) Meeting ID: 999 8805 2314 Find your local number: https://zoom.us/u/ap2ums2UX
· Kindergarten and First Grade Families: Tuesday, June 9th at 8:00pm. Here is the login information for the call: Join Zoom Meeting https://zoom.us/j/94843651050 Meeting ID: 948 4365 1050 One tap mobile +16465588656,,94843651050# US (New York) Meeting ID: 948 4365 1050 Find your local number: https://zoom.us/u/axVAJRGLZ
● Field Day: Mr. Eder and Mr. Risimini are planning a Virtual Field Day(s) in the Google Classrooms. They are sharing information with classroom teachers to post and scheduling times for their field days during class meet times to try to get maximum participation! Supplies for field day will be any household items and Mr. Eder and Mr. Risimini will lead. They are including activities (like stations) for art, fitness, throwing and catching, balancing, scavenger hunt, and even spelling/word recognition fun.
● Nishuane's Got Talent! We are excited for our students (and staff!) to showcase their gifts and talents with our Nishuane's Got Talent! If your child(ren) would like to enter the talent show, please see below details for submitting talent recordings. We will use Flipgrid to collect recordings. Videos should be one minute. Please submit all videos by June 6th. Here are the links:
https://flipgrid.com/313dc963 (use with montclair public schools email to access)
https://flipgrid.com/9dfe77a2 (use for guests)
We will have a group viewing party on Friday, June 12th at 4:00. Join us with this Zoom link: https://zoom.us/j/98786035763?pwd=YnVGVVhEQXpUUE0wYUtTakNnQ3VlUT09 Meeting ID: 987 8603 5763 Password: nishdragon.
If you have any questions please contact ptapres@nishuanepta.org.
● Toast to Teachers: Each spring, The Montclair Fund for Educational Excellence (MFEE) launches Teacher Toasts, a time when families and staff gather to celebrate the end of another successful school year and thank our teachers. Because our world has changed, our Toasts have to change, but our need to honor, celebrate, and thank our teachers is greater than ever. This year, MFEE is offering two ways to honor your teacher.
○ Host a Virtual Toast: Choose a special teacher, para, coach, or other community member you would like to honor. Come up with a creative way to do this virtually! Consider a bingo night, a scavenger hunt, a cocktail night or art project party.
○ Buy a Teacher Tribute: Donate ANY amount to MFEE in honor of a teacher or staff member, and that person will receive a special card notifying him/her of your donation, and you can include a special message!
All funds raised by toasts and teacher tributes will go right back to Montclair
teachers in Fall 2020 in the form of teacher grants awarded for innovative ideas. A
core priority for MFEE has always been to fund teacher innovation in the
classroom, and the single biggest source of this funding is Teacher Toasts. Visit
MFEE.org to honor your teachers.
Week 11 of Remote Learning:
● Mindful Minute: In this week’s Mindful Minute, we encourage you to take a few minutes with your child(ren) this week to send a kindness letter to a healthcare hero thanking them for their service or to a nursing home to brighten the day of an elderly resident. It has been shown that “...teaching kindness is valuable. Research says teaching kindness has a positive influence on a range of academic, health, and social outcomes for kids...good deeds improve their well-being and help them develop positive perceptions of their world. [Performing] acts of kindness with your child will help them to learn how to be generous, compassionate, and giving. It will also help them to recognize opportunities that they can show kindness later in life.” You can read more about acts of kindness that you can do with your child(ren) here.
Below please find a list of places to send your kindness letters:
● Mountainside Medical Center
One Bay Avenue
Montclair, New Jersey 07042
● First House Montclair
56 Walnut St.
Montclair, New Jersey 07042
● Montclair Care Center
111-115 Gates Ave
Montclair, New Jersey 07042
● Van Dyk Health Care at Montclair
42 N. Mountain Ave.
Montclair, New Jersey 07042