www.southmountain.somsd.k12.nj.us
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sept
september calendar 8
welcome back!
Ice Cream Social 6pm SM
14
Ice Cream Social Rain Date
23
Back-to-School Night (Annex)
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Back-to-School Night (SM)
22-25
PTA Scholastic Book Fair
25
PTA Gift & Wrap Fundraiser Begins
26
Newstead 5K Run/Walk 9am Annex
30
Welcome Reception 6:45pm
30
General PTA Meeting 7:30pm (SM)
10/14
PTA Executive Board Meeting
in this issue:
School hours:
@ Presidents PAGE
Full Sessions K-5 South Mountain: Column First Bell 8:05am Library News # Principals Message 8:10am-2:40pm 3 Contact Info 4-hr Sessions $ Fundraising 8:10am-12:10pm % Administration Annex: ^ Programming First Bell 7:55am SIGN UP 8:00am-2:30pm 4-hr Sessions 8:00am-12:00noon
DIGITAL
NEW! AND IMPROVED
SCHOOL YEAR PRINCIPAL TEACHERS PTA HOURS
PTA Scholastic Book Fair Sept. 22-25
Please sign up for the e-community digital backpack!
Receive all community flyers electronically! This includes flyers from the Baird Center, Maplewood Recreation, YMCA, Parenting Center, town soccer and baseball and other miscellaneous community notices. With this option, you will receive a monthly email reminder with the link to view all the month’s community flyers (www.somsd.k12.nj.us/ digital-backpack). The flyers will not be emailed to you – you must access the link to view the flyers. Help reduce paper waste! The sign up form is in the first day packet. You may also contact Kim Miller for more information at: kdmills@optonline.net
September
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September
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welcome back! presidents column Sylvia Cutler & Laura Reichgut, PTA Co-Presidents
The South Mountain PTA happily greets our returning Superstars and extends a warm welcome to our new Superstars and their families. We also extend a very gracious welcome to our new principal, Ms. Tina Lehn. We are extremely excited to begin a new chapter at South Mountain and know that Ms. Lehn will lead us to a higher level of educational excellence and help our children and teachers truly shine as real “stars”. We look forward to a supportive year where we work together to benefit the entire school community.
library news
We are a “new and improved” school, due to major structural changes in the main building, the implementation of new technology and the addition of many highly qualified educational staff members. These past few months the PTA has diligently worked alongside Ms. Lehn and Ms. Samuels to ensure that South Mountain is ready for the first day of school. Our tireless administrators worked many hours and long days preparing class lists, supervising construction of rooms, and hiring new teachers — all while graciously interfacing with the PTA. We thank them for their outstanding efforts and awesome commitment to get so much accomplished in so little time. They are true Superstars and we look forward to continue working closely with them throughout the year to help make South Mountain School an exciting and wonderful place to learn and grow!
starting a new school year The specialist teachers have limited budgets in which to purchase basic office supplies and other non-traditional supplies which are used in our various programs. Items which are purchased are more geared towards the curriculum program which is taught...i.e. PE budget purchases sports equipment, library purchases books; music budget covers instruments & sheet music; art covers art supplies, paint, etc.
However, the PE department uses supplies such as colored copy paper and lamination pouches in their lunchtime lap walking program and school spirit day, the music department uses colored copy paper to create programs for concerts, and the art teacher uses white address labels during the art show. The librarian uses colored copy paper, certificates, award stickers for both Battle of the Books and TV Turnoff programs, and paper/envelopes and postage for distributing overdue notices. The main office staff is constantly using/lending pencils, paperclips, staples, glue, etc, which is not in their meager supply budget.
We would also like to welcome and thank our new and returning PTA Executive Board members who have volunteered their time to serve and act as “ambassadors” for our school. We really appreciate the many summer hours they spent meeting and organizing the numerous upcoming PTA events that we hope all of you will attend The school and PTA need the help of many volunteers during the year and welcome any amount of time you can give to assist and enable them to make all of our efforts rewarding and successful.
Please join us for our first school-wide event, our annual Ice Cream Social on Tuesday, September 8 at 6:00pm. Bring the kids to South Mountain to make their own sundaes, meet some new friends and catch up with old ones after the long summer break. For the first time, this year we will have pizza and water for sale to make sure that dinner isn’t just dessert!
Staples has a program in which teachers can submit empty printer ink cartridges (inkjet and laser printers), as well as fax machine and copier ink/toner cartridges, and get a $3 credit for each one. The credit is then issued in the form of a check which is redeemable at Staples. These Staples vouchers will be used by the staff to purchase items that we use in our programs — colored copy paper, lamination pouches, staples, tape, glue sticks, pencils, electric pencil sharpener, three hole punches, etc. to allow us to stretch our supply budgets, by not having to order from approved vendors at higher than “on sale at Staples” prices.
The PTA Scholastic Book Fair is from September 22nd through September 25th and is our first major fundraising effort of the year. The fair will be set up in both schools so please stop by, browse and purchase your child’s favorite books. This is a great chance for you to support our school and it promotes the importance of reading for our children. Please stop in and purchase from your teacher wish list too.
We also invite you to attend our Welcome Reception followed by our first PTA Meeting on Wednesday, September 30th. This is an important meeting as it provides an excellent opportunity to mingle with other parents, new and old, as well as meet our new principal Ms. Tina Lehn and our assistant to the principal Ms. Bonita Samuels. continued on page 4
Please help us by sending in your empty ink and toner cartridges, any size, any brand, and depositing them in the marked box near the main office in each building. Thank you.
www.southmountain.somsd.k12.nj.us
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imagine a day... principal’s message
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NEW!
contact info:
AND IMPROVED
Tina Lehn, Principal
South Mountain PTA Executive Board Co-Presidents Sylvia Cutler (973) 378-8286 sylcutler@aol.com Laura Reichgut (973) 763-6905 feissgut@yahoo.com
I love the beginning of the school year. Children walk into classrooms, wide eyed and waiting for reassurance; teachers return to school refreshed, committed to helping each and every student soar in learning and confidence; custodians have worked tirelessly to make the building shine; secretaries have worked their magic of organization. Everyone and everything is ready for a fresh start, a new beginning.
Vice Presidents, Administration Amy Forman (973) 763-5669 amygarysamlily@aol.com Julie Saydah (973) 327-4482 juliesaydah@gmail.com
This year brings another beginning. You have a new principal. I am delighted and honored to lead South Mountain in a journey to excellence that I hope will include every staff member, family and student. I have spent many hours here this summer getting to know our school. I have met with district leaders to address our building needs, worked with my wonderful Assistant to the Principal, Bonita Samuels, in preparing for a stellar year, and got to know our secretaries and custodians, without whom South Mountain would not function. Each of these valued staff members worked diligently to prepare our school for this new year. I have also spent time with our PTA leaders and I am learning how much they support our staff and enrich our learning environment. I am grateful to all who work with such enthusiasm and dedication for our school.
Vice Presidents, Fundraising Shana Teitelbaum (973) 378-9160 hsteitelbaum@optonline.net Marilyn Wright (973) 761-7404 mm.wright@mindspring.com
Vice Presidents, Programming Patricia Canning (973) 327-4515 patmatcan@yahoo.com Marietta Zacker (973) 327-4715 mbzacker@yahoo.com
While our students were enjoying the long days of summer, many of our teachers were engaged in writing district curriculum, growing professionally by taking courses, reading books on teaching and learning, and spending long hours in their classrooms preparing for the new year. I have had the opportunity to get to know them and I am already impressed by their dedication and love of what they do.
Treasurers Debbie Granados (973) 761-5357 4granados@optonline.net Letitia Campbell (973) 763-8014 letitia.campbell@yahoo.com
I have hired several new teachers over the summer to meet our growing needs and warmly welcome them to our South Mountain family. They are excited to be a part of our community.
We have been busy, and I hope that you will notice some of the changes. We have a new roof in the cafeteria, a new carpet in the auditorium, and Smartboards in all fourth and fifth grade classrooms. The grounds have been spruced up and both buildings have been cleaned from roof to basement. While we lost our computer lab because of space needs, extra computers have been installed in all classrooms. We will be the first elementary school to have Computers on Wheels. This will happen as soon as we are wireless.
Corresponding Secretary Jen Stemmermann (973) 327-4149 jenstemmermann@yahoo.com
Recording Secretary Renee Leviton
Don’t miss our first PTA Meeting on Wednesday!
And so, I look forward to this year with a full heart. I promise to work tirelessly to lead our school to continued excellence. I know that this will happen if all of us work together towards this goal.
I discovered a wonderful children’s book over the summer called Imagine a Day. One page expressed my hopes and dreams for our school. It said simply, “imagine a day…when you don’t need wings to soar”. Together I believe we can help every single child in our school achieve this dream.
Tina
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welcome back superstars! hello again.
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presidents message continued from page 2
Shana Teitelbaum & Marilyn Wright, Fundraising VP Co-Chairs
We hope everyone had a super fun filled summer. The PTA has been hard at work this summer getting our fundraising events scheduled for the upcoming school year. We will begin the year with our Annual Book Fair on September 22-25. This event is being chaired by Maria Witt and Kanani Briggs at the Annex and Janet Christmann and Anne Quinn at South Mountain. Don’t forget to get your children’s wish lists started to encourage and support their love of books and zest for reading. To returning and new parents, if you are interested in volunteering for the fair please feel free to contact the chairs of this event.
You will learn about our PTA and the numerous volunteer positions we still need to fill. Most importantly, the 2009-2010 PTA budget will be presented for formal approval. Come join us for light refreshments and a very informative evening with the South Mountain PTA!
We would be remiss if we didn’t stress the importance of your completing and returning the forms in the packet of information you received in your child’s backpack on the first day of school. The sooner everyone returns these forms, the quicker we can complete and distribute our school directory, collate emergency contact information for school and PTA use, and assign class parents. The completed forms should be immediately sent back to school in your child’s backpack and will be collected by their teacher. We thank you in advance for your prompt assistance with this effort, as it is an enormous task for our VPs of Administration and we’d like to get the directory out as soon as possible!
Also in September will be the Gift Wrap fundraiser beginning on the 25th. This event is being chaired by Kim Miller, Jane Jones and Susan Benslimane. This is your chance to stock up on holiday wrapping paper and gift items, especially as the PTA receives 50% of the net profit raised from the sales. We look forward to your generous support of this important fundraiser.
Mark your calendars! Our Winter Festival will be held on Saturday, December 5 from 11am-3pm. There will be arts and crafts for all ages, entertainment, baking contests, bake and dinner sales, as well as an assortment of vendors for your shopping pleasure. It is sure to be a great family fun day. We hope you can come out and support our school!
We are so excited to announce a new fundraiser this year. It is a juice pouch recycling fundraising event. We have partnered with Terracyle Inc. who will accept our empty Capri Sun and Organic Honest Kids juice pouches and give our school 2 cents per pouch. There will be a designated container in the cafeteria at South Mountain and in the gym at the Annex. We are so pleased to combine our need to fundraise with our need to save our planet. We hope you will join us in our efforts.
We look forward to seeing and meeting you at all of our upcoming events. If you ever have a question or concern, please do not hesitate to reach out to any member of our PTA Executive Board. We feel this will be an extremely exciting and progressive school year at South Mountain; we are proud to be an integral part of it and we welcome your support!
You may wonder what we do with the funds we raise through these events. Each year a portion of the money raised goes towards cultural arts events, new playground and gym equipment, technology, the student art show, end of year fair and school spirit day, just to name a few. We need your support to make these events and our school a success. We look forward to a fantastic year!
Sylvia and Laura
Marilyn & Shana And a word from the Corresponding Secretary... Hello and welcome back! My name is Jen Stemmermann and I am the Corresponding Secretary for the South Mountain PTA. My role will be doing things such as updating the PTA bulletin boards, distributing mail, sending out teacher and staff acknowledgements, as well as ensuring that special days and events are supported by the PTA this year. If you know of any important milestones that your teachers or a staff member has encountered, please do not hesitate to contact me at jenstemmermann yahoo.com. I’m also really looking forward to working alongside the PTA Executive board members to bring needed materials and enriching programs for our children at South Mountain. See you at the school!
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first day packets welcome back!
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PIANO for YOU
Amy Forman & Julie Saydah, Administration VP Co-Chairs
Welcome back to school! We hope everyone had a great summer! You should have all received first day packets with lots of information from the PTA. If you haven’t done so already, please make sure to go through them and complete and return the requested forms. We understand all that paperwork can seem daunting but we need your help to get organized and make sure the school has the necessary medical information and emergency contacts. We also can’t complete and publish the directory until we have received your forms and of course we would like to be able to distribute them as soon as possible! Please feel free to contact either of us if you have any questions at all!
Rewarding and fun for children and adults interested in classical and popular music.
762-6601
Amy & Julie We welcome to the following teachers to our Superstar staff:
Beginning, intermediate and advanced. 25 years experience. Call Wendy Goldstein. 973-762-6601 wendy3637@aol.com
Mrs. Patrice Laurence - Grade 1 Annex Ms. Maureen Magnani - Grade 1 Annex Mrs. LaTarsha Stinson - Grade 1 Leave Replacement SM Mrs. Courtney DeVomecourt - Grade 2 Leave Replacement Ms. Susan Tober - Grade 1 Special Ed Mrs. Nicole Griffin - Kindergarten Special Ed Ms. Michelle Ducharme - Grade 2 Special Ed Ms. Maureen Reilly - Grade 2 Special Ed Ms. Robin Gutkin - Grade 5
ZOKUSALON.COM
go green!
Kim Miller
SAVE our PLANET
Please don’t forget to sign up for e-community digital backpack! Help South Mountain go greener. For more information, please contact:
kdmills@optonline.net
box tops: Please keep bringing in those Box Tops! Yvette Holowczak ymholowczak@yahoo.com
17 UNION PLACE SUMMIT, NJ 07901 ( 908 ) 273 . ZOKU ( 9658 )
Reduce your carbon footprint and go green! Please sign up for digital version of this Superstar newsletter! Contact: Kim Miller by email at: kdmills@optonline.net
www.southmountain.somsd.k12.nj.us
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programming the new school year
Advertising Info
Ice Cream Social Tuesday, September 8, 6:00 – 7:30pm, South Mountain School Bring a blanket and come spend the early evening meeting other South Mountain families. Pizza and water will be sold so that you don’t miss dinner (please bring cash). Ice cream dessert is on us. We will also collect extra school supply items (pens, pencils, notebooks, folders…etc) – these will be distributed among the teachers in our school to use in their classrooms as they see fit.
Welcome Parent Reception and General PTA Meeting Wednesday, September 30, 6:45pm, South Mountain School The first PTA meeting of the year provides you with the opportunity to catch-up with old friends and to make some new ones. You will hear from our new Principal, Ms. Tina Lehn and obtain answers to your questions from veteran parents and our school administrators. The PTA will also present its budget for approval and discuss how monies are distributed for the upcoming year.
PTA Meeting Wednesday, October 21, 8:30am, Annex We will focus our discussion during our second PTA meeting on how to be your child’s best advocate. The facilitators will present what you should be doing with and for your child in order to provide a supportive environment for him/her. You don’t want to miss this, so please save the date.
Save the dates for these fundraising events…
Annual Book Fair September 22-25
Gift Wrap September 25
AND IMPROVED
Earlier school hours:
Winter Festival December 5
South Mountain: 8:10am
Juice Pouch Recycling TBD
Annex: 8am
^
NEW! AND IMPROVED
Welcome back! We hope that this school year will be an exciting one. We have added some programs, tweaked others and aimed to provide an enriched experience for our children and South Mountain Families. Please join us for the following upcoming events:
NEW!
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notes
Patricia Canning & Marietta Zacker, Programming VP Co-Chairs
Patricia & Marietta
09/09
superstar
We have made changes to the advertising section of the Superstar newsletter. The PTA welcomes your personal or business ADs, which are still subject to South Mountain families only. The new advertising rate card will be sent upon request. For more information, please contact Louise Finkelman by email at lsf92@hotmail.com. We now offer a 10% discount for AD placement in four or more issues and a 15% discount for placement in all 9 issues of the newsletter. For advertising information please contact: Louise Finkelman email: lsf92@hotmail.com phone: 973-378-2313 All checks should be made payable to: SOUTH MOUNTAIN PTA and sent to her home address: Louise Finkelman 280 Forest Road South Orange, NJ 07079
ADVERTISE!
For as low as $2.00 you can place an AD. (business card, birthday wishes, etc.) Size: 2.75” x 1.75” For larger sizes and display ADs, please inquire. Submissions by email only. Digital PDF version will be in color. Printed version will be in color for special issues. Subject to change. 2009/2010 Rate Card is now available. Email request to: lsf92@hotmail.com
classifieds: Advertising Policy Deadline: the 15th of the prior month when you wish your AD to appear. Contact Louise Finkelman at (973) 378-2313. South Mountain Families ONLY!
credits: Design + Production William Kochi KODE Associates, Inc. Printing KODE Press Paper donated by: NEI Worldwide Graphics Your Printer Partner