William Mason Newsletter
September  / October 2009
UPCOMING EVENTS

Tuesday September 8th - First day of school for students

Wednesday September 16th - Home & School Meeting 7:30 pm Library / Media Center

Thursday September 17th - Back to School Night 7:15 pm

Friday September 18th - Early Dismissal 12:50

Monday September 28th - School closed in observance of Yom Kippur

Wednesday October 7th - Home & School Meeting 7:30 pm Library / Media Center

Friday October 9th - School Picture Day (retakes on November 13th)

Monday October 12th - District Closed for Teacher In- Service

Tuesday October 13th - Parent Visitation Day 9-11 am

Friday October 16th - DVD Day (Dad's Volunteer Day)

Friday October 30th - Halloween Parade 1:30 pm

Monday-Wednesday, November 2-4 - Parent/Teacher Conferences
                        Early Dismissal 12:50


PRINCIPAL'S CORNER

I would like to welcome back all of our Mason Families with a special greeting to those families who are entering Mason for the first time. I know in just a short time you will get acquainted with our facilities and programs and will be able to see first hand all of the marvelous activities that the children are experiencing on a daily basis.

As we start the new academic year, we have some changes in personnel and some new additions. We welcome Miss Christina Capalbo, who will be replacing Mr. Gregg Milite as a Kindergarten teacher. Mr. Milite's assignment this year takes him to Woodmont School and we wish him the best. An additional welcome goes out to Mrs. Rosalyn Lippa, who will be replacing Miss Kaczynski as a fifth grade teacher. We are excited to have these two professionals join our Mason family.

Our successful and effective Williamsburg Electronic Field trips for our fourth and fifth grades will begin its ninth year at Mason. The schedule is as follows:
October 15th 2009 - Emissaries of Peace
November 19th 2009 - A More Perfect Union
December 10th 2009 - Jamestown Unearthed
January 14th 2010 - Westward
February 11th 2010 - The Slave Trade
March 11th 2010 - The Rights of Youth
April 22, 2010 - Treasure Keepers

You can watch the live broadcasts at home on these dates by turning to channel 8 at 10:00am EST.

With the success of the hot lunch program from the vendor Simply Gourmet, I am delighted to announce their return this year. Please refer to the memo in the handler folder regarding the program and how to use the Internet site listed to order on-line. A reminder that whenever there is a half-day of school, NO HOT LUNCHES will be served. Students will need to bring a lunch from home. The milk/beverage program will still be operating on these days.

We are pleased to announce the continuation of the Study Island program for grades 2-5. This program is designed specifically to help students master the content specified in the New Jersey Core Curriculum Content Standards. Study Island's focus on the Content Standards enables students to improve their performance in all skill areas tested on the NJASK. This is a web-based program and therefore students will be able to use this program not only during school time, but at home, or anywhere else there is internet access. During our Back to School Night, parents with children in grades 2-5 will learn more about Study Island and see first hand the program's components.

I would like to acknowledge and express my thanks and appreciation to the following parent volunteers who came in over the summer to assemble the Handler Folders for our students. They are:

Mrs. Barbara LoBasso, Mrs. Susan Arena, Mrs. Cheri Potter, Mrs. Deneen Paterson,
Mrs. Liu Wang and Mrs. Linda Savercool

This year, whenever a delayed opening is called, instead of our usual 90-minute delay, the district has now opted for a two hour delayed opening. This means that school will be open to receiving students starting at 10:05 am with youngsters being marked late after 10:20 am. Dismissal will be at the usual time of 2:55 pm. More information will be forthcoming under a separate cover.

If you have read or witnessed the news reports, the medical world is predicting that the Swine Flu will be hitting schools hard this year. In anticipation of this we are encouraging all parents to keep their children out of school at the first signs of illness and to report the symptoms to the school nurse immediately. Keeping a sick child out of school will help prevent the spread of viruses. We also encourage you to instill in your children the habit of washing their hands frequently.
A special thanks goes out to our Home & School Association for providing all classrooms this year with boxes of tissues. In addition, the delicious welcome lunch that they provided for all the staff members on September 3rd was greatly appreciated.

In closing, let me share that the faculty joins me in welcoming all of our new students listed below. The Mason Staff and I look forward to working with you throughout the year in providing an outstanding educational environment.

Dr. Stephanie Adams
Head Learner


Back to School Welcome


Kindergarten
Daniel Bonadeo   
Max Bray
John Byrne
Tayler Eagan
Scott Katz
Robert Leonardo
Calvin McKillips
Jack Robson   
Chase Unice
Lauren Freed
Noelle Howar
Krysten Lucas
Fia Natanov
Alexander Quinn
Kelly Hull
Gabriel Bravo
Ryan Cocuzza
Michael Danzi
Matthew Festini
Peter Fragomeni
Charles Gregory
Zachary Ravenelle
Spencer Turtz
Julia Cappuccio
Megan Drucker
Chloe Gurin
Isabella Ivankovic
Amy More
Lane Richards
Jocelyn Salles
Daniel Arena
Trey Baresich
Robert George
Andrew Sanzone
Sam Steckelman
Ryan Stefanic
Griffen Strumph
Jack Tlusty
Ian Walker
Maya Ganguli
Isabella Mangano
Mia Migliorino
Ameilia Moon
Rebecca Wasserman


Grade 1
Julia Kelly
Madeline Kelly
Taha Khan

Grade 2
Matthew Shaw

Grade 3
Chnthia Zhu
Maryum Khan
Jason Joo

Grade 4
Liam Cassidy
Kyle Matchett

Grade 5
Gabriella Vazzano
Heather Shaw