Smith News

January 6th, 2023

Achieving Excellence One Student at a Time

Ms. Christine Davis

Interim Principal

I hope you all had a restful winter break with time to enjoy family and friends. As we return to school this week, I would like to welcome our students back as well as welcome in the new year of 2023!

January starts the time when we see the most growth from our students because they know what to expect from their teachers, they are back in the habit of working at school, and all the instructional pieces start to fit together. I am looking forward to how much our students will grow between now and spring.

January 27 is the last day of Marking Period 2. Now is a great time to check in with your child about completing assignments and projects and studying for upcoming tests and quizzes. A great way to foster academic responsibility for your child is to establish a weekly routine for them to review their grades with you on Parent Portal. Parents can encourage students to stay academically strong by ensuring their child gets enough sleep, establishing or reinforcing homework and study routines, and engaging in discussions around school life and topics.

It was great seeing everyone back in the building this week. Best wishes for a happy and healthy 2023!

Dr. Ryan Esdale

Interim Supervisor of K-8 Education and Student Welfare

Profile of a Ramsey Graduate Competencies: Collaboration

Over the last 5 years our District Goals have remained largely unchanged. Specifically, our dedication to the Profile of a Ramsey Graduate competencies continues to be a primary focus for teaching and learning at Smith Middle School. This school year, we will highlight what the critical components of each competency look like in our classrooms.

In the fourth addition of this catalog, we will focus on Collaboration. The foundation of Collaboration through the lens of the Profile of a Ramsey Graduate includes:

Works cooperatively with other group members, is willing to compromise, and adjusts one’s rule to support the attainment of the group goals
Accepts responsibility for assigned tasks
Is inclusive of others while being responsive to, and respectful of, the needs of the group
Engages in dialogue that is productive and takes action to move the group forward towards the collective goal

What does Collaboration look like in a Smith Middle School Classroom?

On December 20th, 2022, students in 8th grade participated in a series of team-oriented “minute to win it” collaborative exercises as a reward for their commitment to excellence on a daily basis.

Students from each homeroom were tasked with a variety of exercises that tested their ability to cooperate toward a common goal (like a candy cane relay race), students diligently included one another in a gift wrapping contest (pictured above), and students were also asked to work together in achieving a challenging goal that required all participants to focus their efforts in the same direction (the scooter competition picture above).

Team 8-1, 8-2, 8-3, and teachers from our Exploratory Team helped organized the events, and gave all of our students a chance to have fun at our 8th Grade Pep Rally.

Most importantly, the 8th grade students have worked together each day to be outstanding role models, and earned the opportunity to practice collaboration.

Happy New Year from Smith School!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

We hope you had a wonderful winter break and a great start to 2023!

Please enjoy a fantastic compilation of videos created by our staff members to welcome you into the New Year!

6-1

Mighty Eagles

6-2

GOATs

Team Highlights: 6th Grade & Exploratory

EXPLORATORY: Smith School's Exploratory Team has plenty to celebrate in this New Year- and so much to look forward to!

Our Chorus & Band students have been working hard since September and presented their first concert of the year on December 14th and December 15th. All 3 choruses & bands did an amazing job and blew away the audience with their performances.

Students in Change Makers are beginning their final projects this week. They will be conducting empathy interviews in order to understand how to solve community problems using a human centered design approach. Students will through the design thinking process of ideating, prototyping, and testing based on the needs of those for whom they're problem solving. Enrichment students have been collaborating on the design of their very own Escape Rooms! They worked together to create this playable puzzle that correlated to a theme.

In Culinary Arts, 6th grade students made & decorated sugar cookies with holiday spirit (left)! Computer Science students participated in the annual "Hour of Code" this December, where students across the globe all participate in one hour worth of coding games & programs to encourage a passion in computer sciences. Physical Education takes to the indoors as the weather turns cold, and students begin their health classes learning all about the health & wellness of themselves. Design Tech and Business students wrap up their first semester of projects as students demonstrate their learning since September.

The 6th grade Art students envisioned being in Paris at the end of the 1800's as they learned to pastel like an Impressionist! They had to create their own original piece after finding resources to help them with their drawing skills and then textured and colored like a true Impressionist artist. Check out their creations (left)! Our Library Media Center ended December with a 7th grade poetry workshop and the Annual 6th Grade Holiday Story Celebration! The library is looking forward to a 2023 full of new books, activities, and of course they are getting ready for March's Read Across America activities including a Book Fair, March Book Madness, and so much more!

Overall, the team is looking forward to a successful end of marking period 2, and a terrific rest of the school year!

6TH GRADE: As we enter January and the second half of the school year, the 6th grade is keeping the upbeat energy flowing! The three teams, 6-1, 6-2, and 6-3, have decided on new team names for the rest of the school year!

The 6-1 Mighty Eagles will keep being awesome. The 6-2 GOATS keep up their pride as “the greatest of all teams.” The 6-3 Tigers will roar into the new year with enthusiasm.

The team name concept has been a part of Smith School’s past to promote team pride, camaraderie, and culture, but it has reemerged in the last couple of years as an integral part of school teaming. Each team held a contest in which the students contributed names and logo drawings that were voted on to represent the team for the year.

For the last two years, and with each grade going to three teams, the names and logos have been a great way for the teams to establish positive identities. The process has been incredibly successful, and we hope to continue with in future years to come.

6-3

Tigers

Staff Spotlight- Courtney Morfing

After 11 years of teaching, 9 in Bergen County teaching science and 2 in Switzerland at an International School, I am excited to be a 7th grade science teacher at Smith! I absolutely love science and enjoy sharing my passion for this subject with all of my students. I jumped in and began the Young Entrepreneurs Club, which had a culminating Holiday Market in December.

I graduated from Clemson University (Go Tigers!) with a degree in Environmental Economics and Resources and then went on to earn my MA in Environmental Education from NYU. Learning is a lifelong journey and I have continued taking classes throughout my career.

I have been married to my husband, Nick, for 10 years and we have 2 fierce children, Finley (6) and Jackson (2). We live on a small farm in New York, where we raise bees and chickens. When I am not in school or chasing kids, I love to travel and run!

Making 2023 The Year of Smith School!

The 6th grade Holiday Story tradition was the perfect way to close out 2022! Administrators and teachers across grade levels and subject areas gave their time to read their favorite holiday stories across cultures as 6th grade students sat back & enjoyed along with a Hershey's treat!

This year even featured a special performance of How The Grinch Stole Christmas by Mr. Sirota's 8th grade Changemakers class. A wonderful time was had by all (Above, Left, Below)

In the week leading up to Winter Break, students & staff participated in "Decked Out December" our annual Holiday Themed Spirit Week! (Below, Right)

The 8th Grade French students participated in a cheese tasting! In addition to sampling four types of French cheese (Brie, Port Salut, Emmental and Chèvre), they had baguettes, pain au chocolat (chocolate croissants), Orangina and Perrier. It was an amazing way to tie in our food unit with a celebration during the week leading into holiday break. (Above, Left)

Smith School Celebrated the retirement of our Superintendent of Ramsey Schools, Dr. Murphy, on December 23rd with a clap out through the halls! (Above, Below)

7th grade students visit RHS for a Pickleball tournament with Sophomore students! Fun was enjoyed by all, and our students walked away with some great connections at the high school (Above, Left)

The Young Entrepreneurs Club hosted the first-ever HOLIDAY MARKET! Students worked together in groups or inidividually to create unique items they then marketed and sold to the Ramsey Community. All proceeds from the Market will benefit a charity organization of the students choice! Huge thanks to Club Advisor Ms. Morfing for making this possible (Above, Left, Below)

Bravo! The Annual Winter Chorus Concert was a smashing success, with students from 6th, 7th, and 8th grade performing a variety of Holiday classics, Choral pieces from around the world, and modern hits. (Above)

The Annual Winter Band Concert took place just one week later and filled our halls with beautiful music and demonstrating Ramsey's devotion to supporting the performing arts (Below)

6th grade students identify emotions across a wide variety of settings and scenarios in a RULER Wellness lesson (Above)

Rowdy the Ram greets Smith Students & Staff for our December Blue & Gold day as well as the day before Winter Break (Above & Below)

Computer Science Students participate in the 2022 Hour of Code! (Left)

Students rotate through different stations and explore how authors present arguments across different mediums (Above)

After planning, fundraising, and shopping Mrs. Garcia's students got to deliever donations to the Bergen county animal shelter. Students got to meet some of the animals who’ll benefit! Thank you to Deborah and her staff! (Right)

6th grade ELA students celebrated their success of publishing their literary essays by sharing words of encouragement and kindness with each other! (Below)

Ms. Meyers demonstrates displacement in her 6th grade science classes! (Above)

Our new Director of Curriculum, Dr. Biunno, gets an introduction to some of our classes at Smith school such as Mr. Truppi's Grade 8 Robotics course! (Top Right)

Nothing says Holiday Cheer quite like our Smith Band! Smith Band students filled the lobby with holiday classics to kick off our Winter Break (Above)

Last month, the team 7-3 “Homies” had their Marking Period award ceremony! Students were recognized and celebrated for their hard work and tenacity in the classroom, and their contributions as community members within the team. (Above, Right)

Health Information from Our

Smith School Nurse

Laura Spiegelman BSN, RN

Certified School Nurse

201-785-2314

Fax 201-785-2320

lspiegelman@ramsey.k12.nj.us

January is National Blood Donor Month.

Be a part of the campaign to spread awareness for the need for blood!

President Richard Nixon proclaimed January 1970 as the first National Blood Donor Month on December 31, 1969, as requested by Senate Joint Resolution 154, to pay tribute to voluntary blood donors and encourage new donors to join. Read the Proclamation

This month is an opportunity to recognize the roughly three percent of the U.S. population donates blood each year. A blood transfusion occurs every two seconds in America and a single donation can save multiple lives.

Please visit the American Red Cross website to learn more and to find and map local blood drives

https://www.redcrossblood.org/

Reminders Parents/Guardians:

If your child tests positive for COVID-19, report it to the school nurse to receive updated procedures and protocols. Please be diligent in screening your child daily for illness symptoms. Keep your child home from school, and have them seen by a physician when not feeling well.

Next Meeting Date: February 9th at 9:15 AM

Click HERE for this month's book choices.

Click HERE for the interest form and schedule of meetings for the school year.

Click HERE to contact Ms. Kelly if you have any further questions.

Parent Book Club 2022-2023

Parent Book Club is a group where interested parents and guardians of Smith students are invited to join the library media specialist once a month to read and discuss popular, young adult literature in the Smith School Media Center.

Each month, our library media specialist will be choosing three Young Adult books all sharing one common theme; you may choose to read all three or pick from this list the ones that interest you most.

The theme for our February meeting will be ___. All 3 selections will be non-fiction narratives, written from the perspective of the author, about their own life.

Our next meeting will be Thursday, February 9th in the Smith library at 9:15 AM and will last about one hour. The books and descriptions can be found by clicking here for the Smith Library Media site.

If you are interested and have not already signed up, please complete the form, print, & have your student submit it to the library media center, OR you can complete the form and email it directly to our library media specialist, Ms. Kelly.

Smith School Supply List 2022-2023

Supply Lists for the 2022-23 school year are now posted. Please remember that all personal belongings should be labeled, such as pencil cases, binders, and backpacks.

6th Grade

7th Grade

8th Grade

Chromebook Insurance

Chromebook Insurance is Due Now....Register

We will no longer be using Family ID for Chromebook Insurance. Instead, we will be using PaySchools Central to collect the Chromebook insurance fee. Most parents should be familiar

with PaySchools as it is the same platform that the district leverages for parents to fund their student lunch accounts.

Information on Payschools Central, including how-to guides, can be found by visiting https://www.ramsey.k12.nj.us/PaySchools