2011 Periodic Update of the Strategic Plan: Personalizing Education

If you are a reader of this blog, you will know that the district has been actively working with a Strategic Plan since the 2008-09 school year. Last year, the plan was formally reviewed and some minor adjustments were made.

You can read more about the district's Strategic Plan effort, review the updated plan, and read about the work on the various action plans that has occurred during the first three years of operation. This information is posted on our district website: http://www.woodburysch.com/district/stgplan/stgplan.php .

Parent Conferences in November

Last week concluded our Back-to-School Nights for the district. The Junior-Senior high program was held on Wednesday. The elementary schools held their programs the previous week.

Now, please mark your calendar for the next, important chance for you to formally connect with your child’s teacher – parent conferences. For the last few years, the district has been holding these during the short week of school that precedes the Thanksgiving holiday.

Elementary Schools:
Monday, 11/21. Afternoon and Evening
Tuesday, 11/22. Afternoon
Wednesday, 11/23. Morning

Junior-Senior High School:
Tuesday, 11/22. Afternoon and Evening

Please note that, as part of the district’s Strategic Plan, the following is an Action Plan:

“Require parent participation in district-wide teacher conferences in order to enhance individual student achievement.”

The reason for the inclusion of this Action Plan was to clearly establish for parents, especially parents of our 6th-12th grade students, that they should be in attendance at conference time and use this opportunity to further establish the important school-home connection. During the development stage of the Strategic Plan, it was made clear that for some parents there was a level of uncertainty with regard to whether they should attend parent-teacher conferences if their children were performing well in the class. The inclusion of the action plan to require attendance at conferences is to help remove any doubt.

Building principals will provide reminders about the upcoming conferences and then also follow up by sending out letters to those who miss attending. There is another opportunity later in the school year, in February (2/22/12), for those who are unable to get to the November session; attendance in February will also satisfy the district’s expectation. Finally, any conference that you hold with a teacher outside these official conference days will also suffice to satisfy the required parent conference.

We look forward to working with you throughout the school year to help ensure the success of your child.

Spotlight on Ms. Blizzard

Ms. Chritine Blizzard

Teacher of Enrichment

Elementary Schools

• Name: Christine Blizzard

• College(s) and degrees(s): The College of New Jersey B.S., Elementary Education and Math/Science/Technology

• Work experience: Enrichment Teacher, Hillside Public Schools

• Favorite books
o fiction: The Harry Potter Series
o nonfiction: Three Cups of Tea, by Greg Mortenson

• Favorite television show: Glee

• Last movie I loved: Toy Story 3

• Music CD that I have almost worn out from repeated playing: Queen’s Greatest Hits

• Person (living or not) that I’d like to have lunch with and why: My dad- he died when I was a baby, and I would love to get to know him and to see how much alike we are.

• Visiting this place makes me peaceful: Ocean City, NJ. I love laying on the beach and hearing the waves crash.

• One item on my “to do” list that I can’t seem to get to: Wash my car- It’s been over a year!

• Favorite animal (domestic or wild): Cows!

• Favorite sports team: Philadelphia Phillies

• Destination of my fantasy vacation trip: A cruise to anywhere warm and sunny.

• Details about the teacher I will never forget who inspired me to enter the profession: Mrs. Borucki, my second grade teacher, was such a dedicated and loving teacher. She encouraged me to work my hardest and never give up on my dreams. I still keep in touch with her today!

I Did Not Exercise This Morning

Routines work for many of us. For me, a daily routine is to exercise first thing in the morning -- every day, seven days a week. That way, it is done and, as I read one time, you are always glad, when you are finished, that you completed something good for your health.

But . . . today, I am off my routine. Now, I have to find time to make it happen. I am here at school with a Board Of Education committee meeting during the early part of this evening, so it will be a late night workout of some sort. Not fun -- and something that is less likely to happen.

Routines work well with our children. Students who have good routines when they come home from school can structure their time for success.

*When does homework get done?
*Where in the house is the best place for homework completion?
*How much time will be dedicated to homework?

Once the routine is established, there is a greater likelihood of success:

Home from school, snack, 1/2 hour of television, 1 hour of work, 1 hour free time, dinner, finish homework (if needed), free time.

What is your child's homework completion routine? Talking about the routine and the value of having this structure may help.

One routine for our Jr.-Sr. High School students to incorporate into their day (if time allows) is to attend WORKPLACE after school in the library. There, any student can have a nice place to go to complete homework where computers, college age tutors, and certified mathematics and language arts literacy teachers are available to assist. A snack is provided, too.

The elementary schools will be starting a form of WORKPLACE in each of their buildings a bit later in the school year.

Good luck. (and, good luck to me working in my exercise now that I am off my daily routine!)

Woodbury Girls Tennis Tops in Gloucester County Singles Play

Congratulations to our girls tennis team players.

Maddie Graziani plays first singles on the team and Isabella Schoning plays at second singles.

Over the weekend, the annual Gloucester County Times Tennis Tournament took place. This tournament features tennis players from across the county. The singles competition came down to our two top players playing each other for first and second place. This same thing happened last year.

Maddie won that last match and caputured her third straight Gloucester County title.

Again, congratulations to both young ladies.

Spotlight on Mrs. Crowley

Mrs. Kerri Crowley


Teacher of Spanish


Jr.-Sr. High School

• Name: Kerri L. Crowley

• College(s) and degrees(s): Douglass College, Rutgers University - B.A. in Spanish, B.A. in Middle Eastern Studies, B.A. in Information Technology & Informatics
Rowan University - M.S.T. in Secondary Education

• Work experience: This is my first year teaching!
I work/have worked at TD Bank since April of 2006 as a Senior Customer Service Representative and Certified Consumer Lender.

• Favorite books
o fiction: Anything written by Charlaine Harris - she is my favorite author! Also The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold, A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini, The Da Vinci Code, Dan Brown, and many more!
o nonfiction: The Next Catastophe: Reducing Our Vulnerabilities to Natural, Industrial, and Terrorist Disasters by Charles Perrow and Letters to a Young Teacher by Jonathan Kozol

• Television Show: Grey's Anatomy, Desperate Housewives





• Last movie I loved: The Shawshank Redemption - I just saw it for the first time!






• Music CD that I have almost worn out from repeated playing: Adele "21"






• Person (living or not) that I’d like to have lunch with and why: My great-grandmother Rose D'Angiolini, who I had the privilege to spend 11 years of life with learning to speak Italian, cook, and laugh. I'd give anything to spend some more time with her.






• Visiting this place makes me peaceful: Shenandoah National Park






• One item on my “to do” list that I can’t seem to get to: Skydiving






• Favorite animal (domestic or wild): Cats - I am definitely a cat person!






• Favorite sports team: Philadelphia Flyers (I am a HUGE hockey fan)






• Destination of my fantasy vacation trip: A leisurely cruise through the Mediterranean Sea!






• Details about the teacher I will never forget who inspired me to enter the profession: The teacher who inspired me to enter the profession was working at a newly established charter school in Houston, TX. She was teaching a Bilingual Pre-K class and she was so passionate about working with the children and she put her heart and soul into every lesson. Seeing how hard she worked and how much the kids were learning every day was so motivating. I realized quickly that I belong in a classroom, using my passion for language and love for children as impetus for creating engaging lessons. I am very thankful I had the opportunity to go see Celeste Baretto in action, or I may never have found my way into the profession I love so much!




• Anything Else: Although I am a Spanish teacher, I also speak Arabic and Italian as well. From my studies at Rutgers University, I can also read French, German, and Aramaic (Biblical Hebrew).

White & Gold -- Community Edition

The White & Gold -- Community Edition has traditionally been an item mailed to all Woodbury residents. Unfortunately, the cost of the production of the newsletter has caused the Board of Education to reconsider this past practice, and we have shifted to an electronic delivery.

Today, we attempted to use e-mails stored in the student management system, PowerSchool, to get the copy of the most recent edition out to the parents of our students. We also targeted a number of other people affiliated with the school and the larger Woodbury community and sent it to the e-mails that we had on record for these individuals.

Over time, our e-mail distribution list for those interested in this publication will grow. Also, the document is able to be accessed on the district's website -- at the bottom of the opening page.

Here is a link that should take you right to the most recent issue:

http://www.woodburysch.com/boed/wgcedition/wgcedition-summerfall2011.pdf

Please pass word along to others to be sure that as many as possible are getting a chance to keep up with our school news. Thank you.

Current Woodbury Alumni on College Rosters

Dan Howey, one of our Senior High Counselors, put together the following list. As he points out, it is impressive to see how many student athletes from Woodbury are currently participating in a sport at the collegiate level:

Basketball

Isaiah Roberts: Navy

Marc DiRugeris: Chestnut Hill

Kenny Moore: Slippery Rock University

Megan Fox: Wilmington University

Marcus Davis: Ramapo College

(The original list forgot to include Dominique Sellers -- a freshman at Rosemont College)

Football

Shawney Kersey: Penn State University

Dyshawn Davis: Syracuse University

Jared Roberts: Lafayette College

Brian Purnell: University of Delaware

Tyler Jenkins: Rowan University

Eric Blackwell: Rowan University

Matt White: Rowan University

Michael Paige: Saint Vincent's College


Gymnastics

Robert DiRugeris: Ohio State University


Soccer

Eric Ulmer: Bentley University

Michael Ulmer: Stone Hill College


Track

Kevin Brown: Rutgers (New Brunswick) University

Jacqui Nisbett: Rowan University

Alexis Gligor: University of Delaware


. . . thanks for sharing, Mr. Howey!

Woodbury on Twitter

Some of our administrators will be experimenting with Twitter this year. Check them out . . .

Jason Vivadelli, Evergreen Avenue Principal @ Evergreen_Elem

Vince Myers, West End Principal @ WestEnd_Elem

Jeff Adams, Walnut Street Principal @ Walnut_Elem

Denise Dunham, Jr.-Sr. High School Principal @ Woodbury_JrSr

Grant Shivers, Jr.-Sr. High School Athletic Director @ HerdsSports_WHS

Ed Murphy, Director of Pupil Personnel Services @ WPS_Counseling

Spotlight Postings on Fridays

Each year, I have posted in the blog entries that "spotlight" our new faculty members. These are typically Friday postings. For the next few Fridays, I will get information out to you about the following individuals.

The list of new hires is shorter than it has been in the recent past. It will only take a couple of months to cycle through the eight names below. We welcome each to the district (and, in the case of Mr. Vivadelli, to his new assignment!).

Stay tuned . . .

Administrative:

Ellen Grimes
Assistant Principal
High School

Jason Vivadelli
Principal, Evergreen
Supervisor of Curriculum and Instruction: Grades PreK-5


Faculty:

Jr.-Sr. High School
Kerri Crowley - Spanish
Surinder Kaur – Science

Elementary
Christine Blizzard – Elementary Enrichment
Joanne Ferrara – Preschool
Emily Mason – Elementary Instrumental Music

District-wide
Mary Moody – Media Specialist

Access to the Internet

This is an offer that Comcast has been advertising over the summer months. It will apply for some of our families. We are providing those families with the information in a direct mailing, but it may be helpful for more in the school community to be aware and help inform families about this resource, if appropriate.

Therefore, I am printing the specifics of the new Comcast initiative here:

Bringing the Internet to your home is easy and affordable

Now you can connect to the Internet at home - for school, work, communicating with others and so much more.

How to qualify:

To qualify for $9.95 a month Internet service and a low-cost computer, your household must meet all these criteria:

1.Be located where Comcast offers Internet service
2.Have at least one child receiving free school lunches through the National School Lunch Program
3.Have not subscribed to Comcast Internet service within the last 90 days
4.Not have an overdue Comcast bill or unreturned equipment

How to apply:

1.Call 1-855-8-INTERNET (1-855-846-8376) to request an application
2.We will mail you an application. Complete and return it, along with lunch program documents from your child's school
3.We will notify you by mail about the status of your application. Allow 7-10 days for a response.

We are Back . . . and my Blog Entries are Back, Too

Hello. It was a much longer hiatus from blogging than I imagined, but I am back. Today, we started our first student day for the 2011-12 school year. Even though it rained, it was a successful start in all of our school buildings.

Even our students were ready to get back to school (well, most of them!). Our teachers understand the important role that they play in the education of Woodbury's children and value the faith and trust that has been placed in them by you.

Here are some pictures of my day as I moved about the district buildings:







I hope that your child(ren) had an enjoyable first day. We look forward to working in partnership with our families and the Woodbury community to create a valuable, personalized learning experience for all.

We work to prepare our students to "meet life's challenges with courage, confidence and pride." [Woodury Strategic Plan -- Mission Statement]

Spotlight on Ms. Satterfield

Spotlight on Ms. Satterfield!



Marisa Satterfield

Teacher of Language Arts Literacy

Woodbury Junior High School




• Name:
Marísa Satterfield

• College(s) and degrees(s):
BA in English and Certification in Secondary Education from the Honors College of Rutgers University; TEFL International TESOL Certification from TEFL International

• Work experience:
Substitute teacher, AVID and Homework Workplace Tutor- Woodbury Jr. Sr. High School- 2009-2010

• Favorite books
o fiction: Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
o nonfiction: Chinese Cinderella by Adeline Yen Mah

• Favorite television show:
My Fair Wedding with David Tutera

• Last movie I loved:
I fell in love with Pride and Prejudice all over again when I saw BBC’s 6 hour screen adaptation for the book.

• Music CD that I have almost worn out from repeated playing:
I could listen to anything from Alicia Keys over and over again.

• Person (living or not) that I’d like to have lunch with and why:
My Mom-Mom so that we could talk about books and crossword puzzles again.

• Visiting this place makes me peaceful:
Visiting my little sister and walking with her around town always allows me to relax.

• One item on my “to do” list that I can’t seem to get to:
Becoming fluent in Spanish is a slow but continuing process for me.

• Favorite animal (domestic or wild):
My pit bull, Koda.

• Favorite sports team:
My family would disown me if I didn’t say the Philadelphia Eagles.

• Destination of my fantasy vacation trip:
Last summer I stayed a month in Barcelona, Spain. I’d love to go back to my favorite places, La Fontana Magica de Montjuic and Parque Ciutadella.

• Details about the teacher I will never forget who inspired me to enter the profession:
Growing up I loved visiting my mother’s classroom because I could see how much she cared for her students and how they cared for her in return.

.....Anything Else?
I have lived in Woodbury all of my life and for senior superlatives I was voted Most Likely to Come Back and Work at Woodbury. I’m baaaack!!!!

Math Olympics III

(This entry is from our Math Coach -- Ms. Realley)

During the months of February and March, students in grades 3-5 at our three elementary schools participated in events for the Woodbury Math Olympics. These events took place in the classroom and helped prepare students for the New Jersey Assessment of Skills and Knowledge (NJ ASK) test that every New Jersey student takes in the month of May. Students worked very hard, doing their best on all of the events, which included Math Sprints, Calculator Exercises, and Archery Questions. Each class also chose a song to help keep them motivated and designed a flag to represent their class during the Olympic competitions.

After all events were completed, the Math Coach and the school principals acknowledged the top three students in each class with a certificate of achievement. The student with the highest score in each class was also rewarded with a certificate for a free sandwich from McDonald’s (generously donated by the McDonald’s in Woodbury). The top student was also moved on to the next round to represent the class and compete in the School Olympics. During this competition a third grader, a fourth grader, and a fifth grader formed a team to answer questions and earn the right to be the representatives for their school at the Woodbury District Math Olympics.

Each student on the first place teams was rewarded with a “gold medal” and a certificate for a free water ice at Rita’s Water Ice (generously donated by the Rita’s in Woodbury). We now look forward to the District Math Olympics on Thursday, April 21, 2011. During the District Olympics, the 1st Place team from each school will compete against one another for the honor of bringing the Math Olympics trophy to their school.

Good luck teams!

From the New Jersey Department of Education . . .

Support for Families from the New Jersey Department of Education

As parents or guardians, you want nothing more than an excellent education for your children. Atthe NJ Department of Education, we want nothing more than to help you achieve this!

We have created a family-focused web site at www.NJFamilies.com with resources to help yousupport your child’s education, and navigate your school system. We have also opened a “Help Desk” which can be reached through the parent menu option of our toll-free number: 877-900-6960.

Let’s work together for the good of our children. Please sign up for our mailing list on our web site at http://www.state.nj.us/education/ or join our mailing list here.

We look forward to helping you help your children.

West End PTA Talent Show & Basket Raffle

Woodbury Jr.-Sr. High School Auditorium

Friday, April 15, 2011

Basket Raffle
6:00 p.m.
Tickets 1/$0.50 or 11/$5.00

Talent Show
7:00 p.m.
Admission @ the door - $5/adult & $1/student

Musicians, comedians, poets, dancers, & singers,
…this show has something for everyone!
Special appearances featuring staff members!

Events hosted by the West End Parent-Teacher Association
Proceeds to benefit the children of West End Elementary School.

Congratulations, Girls Track

The girls track team dominated at the West Deptford Relays last Saturday. Congratulations to all.

C25K: Couch to 5K

As you can see from the lack of posts recently, it is a hectic time of the year for me. In addition, my personal exercise program has been causing serious time constraints -- especially since I tend to take care of that obligation first thing in the morning (around 5 a.m.) which was my best time to blog. Finally, the fact that many of the school events now end up on the front page of the district website also limits blog entries.

Oh well. I do think that this blog will need to change to something that posts items of more significance -- less frequently. Maybe a once a week posting? This is definitely a time of evolution for the blog.

Now -- C25K. Given my personal interested in exercise (recently!) and my success with this program (I went from not being able to run a single lap around the track to running a half marathon in about one year's time.), I wanted to make an opportunity available to our students to get moving.

The C25K program is rather simple. It progresses from a walking/running program to a running/walking program. You start out walking more than you run and end up at the end running more than you walk.

I have been able to get to class meetings and/or lunch periods to talk to students in Grades 6,7,10. and 11. I intend to speak with all students before March ends. If we get six OR sixty students interested, it will be a success. I have been pleased with the amount of early interest.

Students have been told by me that this can be an activity that they do simply as something new to try if they are in shape OR something that they want to get involved with to get into better shape.

FINALLY -- the program is open to staff who are available at the time that we are meeting. Feel free to join us. Let me know by e-mail so that I have a sense of who to expect. (You do not have to walk/run all three days each week with the group; some of the days can be completed on your own.)

BELOW IS THE INFORMATION THAT IS ON THE FLYER GIVEN TO INTERESTED STUDENTS. MORE COPIES ARE IN THE MAIN OFFICE.

C25K: a fantastic program designed to get you from the couch to running a 5K in just 9 weeks.

• Open to ALL interested 6th-12th students (and staff!) – those who run and those who have never run.

• Complete C25K under the supervision of Woodbury Jr.-Sr. High School staff starting Monday, April 4, 2011.

• The program will be every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday -- 4/04 through 6/05

• The time commitment is from 2:55 p.m. – 3:35 p.m. each day: M, W, and F.

• What you need: Sneakers (Running sneakers are best – but any pair will work!).

GOAL: For all participants to run in (and FINISH) Woodbury’s George Benjamin-Browning Ross Memorial 5K the first weekend in June.

You can find out more information on the C25K online at http://www.coolrunning.com/engine/2/2_3/181.shtml

More details will be provided on the first day; we will meet on the parking lot by the press box.

You are welcome to contact Joseph Jones (853-0123, ext. 230 or josephjones@woodburysch.com) if you have specific questions.

Please have your son/daughter return the sign-off below to the Main Office.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

I give my son/daughter ___________________________ (Grade: ____) permission to join the Woodbury Jr.-Sr. High School C25K Club.


Parent/Guardian Signature: __________________________Date: _________________

Spotlight on Ms. Lauk

Erin Lauk

Occupational Therapist

Woodbury School District

• Name:
Erin Lauk

• College(s) and degrees(s):
University of the Sciences- Master’s in Occupational Therapy
University of the Sciences- Bachelor’s in Health Science

• Work experience:
Manor Care 2009-2010

• Favorite books:
Anything by Jodi Picoult or Janet Evanovich

• Favorite television show:
Grey’s Anatomy, NCIS, and Law and Order: SVU

• Last movie I loved:
Black Swan

• Music CD that I have almost worn out from repeated playing:
Zac Brown Band is the most current CD that I have worn out.

• Person (living or not) that I’d like to have lunch with and why:
My grandfather because I miss him and have so much to tell him.

• Visiting this place makes me peaceful:
Seeing and hearing the ocean.

• One item on my “to do” list that I can’t seem to get to:
Clean my car.

• Favorite animal (domestic or wild):
Frogs

• Favorite sports team:
Phillies and Eagles

• Destination of my fantasy vacation trip:
Caribbean because it seems so beautiful and relaxing at the same time and Europe because of the history and scenery.

• Details about the teacher I will never forget who inspired me to enter the profession:
A college recruiter was the one who helped me to find the profession of Occupational Therapy.

Playoff Tickets -- Boys Basketball

Mr. Shivers has asked that the following information be posted:

Tickets for the Thursday, March 3, playoff game @ Pennsgrove will be on sale for students during the lunch periods on Thursday and for the public in the Athletic Director's office after school (2:45 p.m. - 3:30 p.m.).

Our Woodbury boys are seeded #7. Pennsgrove is the #2 seeded team.

Game time is 5:30 p.m.