Smith News

December 1, 2021

Achieving Excellence One Student at a Time

A Message from Our Principal

The end of 2021 is just around the corner and there is a whirlwind of events coming up at Smith School and in the Ramsey School District!

Our next Parent Academy "The Mind of the Athlete: Best Practices for Parenting Today's Student-Athlete" Featuring Dr. Jarrod Spence will be held this evening (Wednesday, December 1st) at 7:30 PM in the RHS Auditorium! The Mind of the Athlete is dedicated to improving the emotional health and performance of athletes by focusing on how the mind works best allowing our student-athletes to compete at their fullest mental capability in academics and athletics. In this parent academy, Dr. Spencer will focus on Best Practices for parents of today’s athletes.

The Smith Winter Chorus Concert will be held on Thursday, December 2nd starting at 6:30 PM. Come out and support our 6th, 7th, and 8th grade vocalists as they perform a wide repertoire of music including winter & holiday favorites. The Smith Winter Band Concert will be held on Thursday, December 9th at 6:30 PM with our 6th, 7th and 8th grade musicians taking the stage and filling our halls with music once again.

Smith School's Community Service club is hosting a Gift Drive for the Tommy Strong Foundation. This collection will benefit pediatric cancer patients at Joseph M. Sanzari Children’s Hospital (Hackensack, NJ) and Children's Hospital at Montefiore (Bronx, NY). All donated items must be NEW and in their ORIGINAL PACKAGING. The collection box can be found now until December 12th in the Smith School lobby!

Our Spring musical production of Cinderella will be holding auditions December December 13th, 14th, 15th, and 16th from 3:30 PM-5:00 PM. Interested students can sign up for a time slot outside of the Chorus room in the new music wing. Follow @smithschoolmusical on Instagram to stay up-to-date on the show's process!

The month will culminate in a highly anticipated Winter Break for the Ramsey School District. The Ramsey School District will be closed Friday, December 24th and will reopen on Monday, January 3rd. Celebrate, spend time with those you love, and send off 2021 with high spirits!

To all of our Smith families: Have a safe & happy holiday season and New Year, we will see you back at Smith School in 2022!

Staff Spotlight - Alissa Barthelemy

Hello Smith School families! My name is Alissa Barthelemy, and I am the 6th grade special education math teacher! I recently graduated from Montclair State University with my Masters in Special Education. This is my first year at Smith; I could not be happier to be working with this community. Prior to Ramsey, I taught in Newark, NJ.

In my spare time, I enjoy flying hot air balloons and hanging out with my two dogs Duke and Huckleberry. I have been crewing and flying in hot air balloons since I was 6 years old. The first balloon I worked on was the Space Shuttle Hot Air Balloon. The balloon is larger than the actual space shuttle!

This school year has been off to a fabulous start. It is so amazing to see all of the students all together! In my classroom we work collaboratively to explore mathematics through a lens that is applicable to day-to-day life.

RHS Connection-Signing Day 2021

Ramsey High School athletes of 2021/2022 participated in Signing Day last month!

Our student athletes proudly committed to furthering their academic and athletic careers at the collegiate level. RHS students proudly display their future college's gear, representing a wide range of excellent schools.

Congratulations to all on this huge decision! Go Rams!

2021 StuCo Food Drive

The Annual Student Council Thanksgiving Food Drive proved to be a major success! Truly embodying the phrase, "Be the change you wish to see in the world" they organized student & staff donations for Ramsey families in need this holiday season. After one week of the drive, Smith School was able to collect:

12 Turkeys

$340 in Shop Rite gift cards

1,401 items of food

Giving 500 Ramsey community members this holiday season!!!

Thank you to our StuCo officers and, and special thanks to the teacher advisors, Mr. St. Thomas and Ms. Donohue, for organizing this event! We hope everyone had a very happy Thanksgiving

6th Grade December Highlight

Last month, our 6th grade teams came together to vote on team names. For 6-2, the name GOAT (Greatest of All Time) was ultimately chosen! The Goat will represent as the team mascot, students colored and designed their own mascot. Other 6th grade teams include 6-1 Wonders and the 6-3 Titans!

Students of 6-2 get stickers if caught being a GOAT (Greatest of All Time) for doing things like being nice and helping others. Our 6th grade students are rising to the occasion of leading our school in kindness, academic mindset, and school spirit!

2021 Community Service Gift Drive

Support the Community Service club in their Gift Drive collection for the Tommy Strong Foundation!

Bring joy this holiday season to the pediatric cancer patients at Joseph M. Sanzari Children’s Hospital (Hackensack, NJ) and Children's Hospital at Montefiore (Bronx, NY).

Collecting NEW, UNWRAPPED toys and games for ages infant - 18 years old. For the protection of the patients, all donated items must be NEW and in their ORIGINAL PACKAGING (Sorry, we cannot accept stuffed animals.)

Collection boxes can be found November 29th - December 12th in the Smith School lobby!

You can also shop the Amazon wish list at bit.ly/tommystronglist2021

2021-2022 Smith Musical: Rodger's & Hammerstein's CINDERELLA!

Smith School will be producing Cinderella as the musical this Spring! Auditions for the show will be held by sign-up on December 13th, 14th, 15th, and 16th after school. You can sign up for a time slot outside of the Chorus room in the new music wing.

If you have any questions about auditions or participating in the show , please contact Ms. Leon, Mr. Ricigliano, Ms. Fischer, Ms. Rockefeller, or Ms. Kelly!

If you are interested in being a member of Stage Crew or the Set Construction, the interest meeting will be held sometime in February, keep an eye out for those announcements. Contact Mr. Truppi with any questions.

Follow @smithschoolmusical on Instagram to follow our journey to opening night!

Ski Club- Winter, 2022

The PTO is thrilled to announce that SKI CLUB IS BACK after being unable to operate during the winter of 2021. This is a wonderful program open to all Smith School students in grades 6, 7, and 8!

We have scheduled four trips to MOUNT PETER in Warwick NY on Fridays 1/28, 2/4, 2/11, and 2/25. There is no trip on Friday 2/18 in advance of the holiday weekend.

The DEADLINE to register was Sunday 11/28. After that, there will be a $50 late fee if spots are available.

This program relies 100% on PARENT VOLUNTEERS. Please sign up to help!

For registration and more information, please visit the PTO Website: https://smithmspto.membershiptoolkit.com/

Eagle Scout Project

RHS Senior and former Smith School Student, James Connelly, is collecting for Afghan refugees for his Eagle Scout Project. There are Afghan families in need of supplies and clothing to prepare them for a harsh New Jersey winter as they are being sheltered at Fort Dix.

Any donation is appreciated, but they are in the most need of coats/jackets and shoes for these refugees. Please donate items in new or like-new condition: clean & free of stains, no rips, no missing buttons, no broken zippers. Shoes/sneakers should be gently worn.

Donations are being collected until Sunday, December 5th! All donations can be brought to the Ramsey Senior Center (75 East Oak Street, Ramsey, NJ, 07446)

If you have any questions email James Connelly directly.

This is the time of year where we can give back to our community, so please consider supporting a Ramsey community member in his collection as well as families in need this winter!

The Weather Outside is Frightful- But Being at Smith is So Delightful!

Community Service club members celebrate the season of giving by donating their time and effort to leaf cleanup for Ramsey’s senior citizens! They were even featured on local news stations such as News 12 New Jersey and Good News Network (Right)

Chorus students work together in harmony for their upcoming Winter Concert (Below)

Mr. Kalman's Digital Design students utilize CoSpaces tools into order to complete Augmented reality projects (Bottom Left)

Enrichment students had the opportunity to compete in a hybrid Bergen Brain Busters Competition! Hosted by Smith School, Enrichment students from neighboring towns of Allendale, Ho-Ho-Kus, Park Ridge, and Upper Saddle River competed in a trivia competition in preparation for the Brain Busters Finals which will be held in June. Congratulations to all! (Left, Top Left, Above)

With November being Native American History month, it was the perfect time for 6th grade students to begin their unit on Native American cultures! Historians of Mr. Schrettner's class visited a classroom museum of artifacts curated from the Smithsonian. As students toured the museum, they practiced the skill of making observations and asking meaningful questions (Above, Below, Right).

'Tis The Season for Enhancing the Student Experience!

Mrs. Costanzo's 6th grade ELA students practice and learn essential grammar skills in a hands-on activity! Students are asked to grammatically correct and edit sentences to put into short stories! (Above, Right, Below)

Smith staff gives back! Teachers donned denim & pink to raise money for Breast Cancer Awareness and support our school's Relay For Life team- The Walking Warriors! (Above)

Students on Team 6-2 show off their Blue & Gold pride! 6-2 homerooms challenged one another to bring their best Spirit Day looks to the table and RAMS UP for another successful week completed (Top Left)

A hands-on learning activity is a successful learning activity! Students in Intro to Business with Mr. Baeira play a simulation game to learn the importance of debt repayment (Above).

Ms. Bishay's 6th grade scientists work in groups to observe landforms and decide what geologic processes might have created their unique features (Right).

Our future leaders of the world in 7th grade learn about the different branches of government, campaigning, and political parties before being tasked with creating a political party all their own! After determining a name & symbol, establishing the values & goals for their party, and establishing their campaign tactics- students presented to their fellow classmates (Top Right)

Smith School was featured at the November Board of Education meeting! From new facilities, to new team structures for personalized learning experiences- there is so much to give thanks for in our school! (Above)

6th grade French students receive letters back from their French pen pals! Smith students sent out introduction letters practicing their French while the French students replied practicing their English (Below)

The Environmental Club is back in action and getting creative in their service projects! Students met after school to paint, put together, and hang bird feeders for our courtyard. The materials for the feeders were made out of recycled materials such as recycled wood from old cabinets, recycled plastic bottles, and leftover paint (Above, Bottom Left, Below)

Health Information from Our Smith School Nurse

If you have specific questions, contact Laura Spiegelman

Phone: 201-785-2314

Email: lspiegelman@ramsey.k12.nj.us

REMEMBER TO SEND YOUR CHILD TO SCHOOL WITH A MASK ON & TO STORE EXTRA IN THEIR BACKPACK

Let's Stay Safe At School!

Visit the link below for PCR Covid 19 Testing appointment registration being held at the Old Board of Ed Office

https://www.safe2schooldiagnostics.com/

Ramsey School District COVID-19 RESOURCES & FAQ's: https://sites.google.com/ramsey.k12.nj.us/restart/home

**Reminder Parents/Guardians: report your child's confirmed or suspected COVID case to the Smith School's health office (201-785-2314) to allow for reporting to local health officials and to perform contact tracing procedures.**

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

The theme for our next meeting will be: Self Esteem. All three book choices will revolve around the topic of self-esteem, especially as it pertains to middle school aged students!

There is no meeting in the month of December. Our next meeting will be January 5th in the Smith library at 9:15 AM and will last about one hour. Enjoy the holiday season!

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 this 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.

Happy Reading :)