Smith News

April 24, 2020

Achieving Excellence One Student at a Time

Stay Positive!

In these challenging times, we are all navigating through uncertainty for ourselves, our loved ones and our community. This can be an especially daunting time for our students as well.

It is important, as the adults in our children's lives, to maintain a positive attitude while we are home. Trust me having three children of my own at home I know how difficult this can be. Here are some strategies I have found to help maintain a positive home environment for our kids:

  • Don't forget the small moments: Even during lockdown you still have many small moments to savour. A simple song or dance, a small conversation about something completely random, cooking in the kitchen with your kids, and so on. Do not take these little times for granted as they can help elevate your mood.
  • Strengthen your family connections: We are spending more time together as a family than ever before. The hustle and bustle of driving to one activity or another is not here. Take the time to hug your kids, tell them you love them, and do many of the things you would not have the time to do.
  • Simply Relax: Allow your kids to introduce you to a new TV show. Read a book with your kids or even just take a nap during the day. It is important to not let the stress of being home affect us so that we can not be great parents for our kids. Besides, let's face it. Without sports on TV there is really nothing to watch so we may as well let our kids take the remote!

Stay Healthy and Stay Safe!

Andrew Herre, Principal

In the Classroom & Around School

#TeachingforUnderstanding #ProfileofARamseyGraduate #EnhancingtheStudentExperience

2020 Best Community for Music Education!

We are extremely proud to announce that Ramsey has once again earned the "Best Community for Music Education" distinction in 2020 from the NAMM Foundation! We previously earned this distinction in 2018. Thank you to the community for supporting music education!

Thursday Morning Workout!

Mr. Blacido shares his 7th PE grade class starting their Thursday morning with a workout!

Administrative Professionals' Day!

Wednesday, April 22 was Administrative Professionals Day. Smith School is extremely lucky to have these five women keeping us on track every single day, and always with a smile on their faces. Dee, Mary, Hedy, Laura and Chris are at the heart of all goings on at Smith School and we are grateful to have them. Thank you, ladies. We appreciate you more than you know!

Spanish Street Food


Sra. Stokes' Spanish classes just finished up a street food unit. A few of her students tried the recipes at home! Dillon A. made authentic tacos while Masha Z. made Apple Empanadas. Yum!


Earth Day

Chireau K. shared this image and captioned it ¨In the hands of the Earth¨

Mr. Salmanowitz cracks open Geodes with his daughter, Lily! He reports that his fingers are still intact!

Virtual Variety Show

Variety Show Reminder:

If you would like to be a part of "Smith's Got Talent" please look back at the email from Ms. Youngling and some reminders:

  • Video submissions must be received by April 28th
  • Your video should not be any longer than 2 minutes. We know this cuts some songs short, that's okay.
  • Any and all talents are welcome for submission - we are looking for a variety of talents! Get creative, have fun and show us what you can do! You can also do a virtual group video as well!
  • Please use this link to submit your video: Talent Show Auditions Link

Focusing on Wellness

Each week, we ask our students to submit photos and videos to show what they're doing to stay happy and healthy. Here are a few of this week's submissions!

Lola made this Mandalorian and Baby Yoda entirely out of yarn!

Avary A. shares her gratitude toward our healthcare workers and first responders.

Andrew G. shares this photo he took from his webcam and then edited and filtered it.

Kate M. gives thanks to our community first responders.

Mrs. Ung shares: For this Wellness Wednesday, I enjoyed the brisk April weather while waiting to get into Wegmans. Thank you Ms. Meyers for your homemade mask tutorial! Of course I had to use my American flag bandanna!


Mrs. Christine Davis

Supervisor of K-8 Education and Student Welfare

RPEF: Volunteer to Make a Difference

During times like these, what comes sharply into focus is the tremendous impact that volunteers make on their community. Thanks to those who generously donate their time and talent, Ramsey schools are able to offer programs that enhance the educational experience for our students.

The Ramsey Public Education Foundation (RPEF) provides grants that make special events and programs possible throughout the Ramsey School District. Here at Smith School, that includes providing grants to support the annual production of the immensely popular school musical. It also funds the Smith School Character Education program, which offers students a wide variety of clubs to join, including Gizmos & Gadgets, Morning Madness Soccer, Smith Scoop, a literary digital school magazine, that establish supportive relationships between our teachers and students. The RPEF also makes district-wide grants, smaller Innovative Educator grants to teachers, and they award scholarships at RHS each year.

Each spring, the RPEF seeks out community members to join its Board of Trustees so that they can continue to enrich the experience that students have in each of the Ramsey schools. For more information, on how to join the RPEF, please visit the RPEF website, where you can find the trustee application. Applications will be accepted until April 30th.

We are tremendously grateful to the RPEF community of volunteers who work to enrich, enhance, and make extraordinary the quality of education in the Ramsey Public Schools.

From the Desk of the Instructional Coaches

Courtney Rejent - Humanities Instructional Coach

Scott Sirota - Mathematics Instructional Coach

Ways We Can Provide Support

1. Answer questions you might have about instruction or curriculum

2. Provide ways to support your child's learning at home

3. Share helpful resources to assist you in teaching and learning


We are here to provide any help or support that you might need as we navigate these unchartered waters. Please feel free to reach out with questions, comments, or feedback.

If you need assistance from one of our instructional coaches, please contact:

(Humanities) Courtney Rejent - crejent@ramsey.k12.nj.us

(Math) Scott Sirota - ssirota@ramsey.k12.nj.us

Teacher Feature

Mrs. Mugno is this week´s Teacher Feature! Watch to see what she and her family have been up to!

Smith Scoop

Smith Scoop is coming back with "The Quarantined Edition!" Send your artwork, photos, stories, poetry and anything you'd like to publish to bcsengeto@ramsey.k12.nj.us

Peer Leadership

We will be starting the application process for Peer Leadership for next year. This week, 7th graders will receive an email about the applications!