Category Archives: Schools
Franklin Celebrates With Students Of The Month
Benjamin Franklin Elementary School celebrated its Students of the Month for February. February’s theme was: “Following Classroom and School Rules.”
February’s Students of the Month were treated to a lunch with Principal Lewis, featuring pizza and juice boxes. During lunchtime, Principal Lewis read the story, “Clean Your Room, Harvey Moon.”
Congratulations to these great students!
Carson Students Show Heart!
During February, kindergarten through fourth grade students showed their support of the annual Jump Rope for Heart Marathon. Students participated in various heart-racing exercises.
Students used hula hoops, jump ropes, relay racing, etc. to show their support for children in need. All the funds raised by the event are donated to the American Heart Association.
Carson participated with enthusiasm and a lot of heart!
Phifer Celebrates Pi Day
Pi Day is an annual celebration commemorating the mathematical constant, which is the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter. March 14 was chosen as the day to celebrate Pi, since the numerical date, 3/14, represents the first three digits of Pi. The U.S. Representatives have even passed a resolution designating March 14 as National Pi Day.
This year, Pi Day, was extra special because when the date of 3/14/15 was combined with the time of 9:26:53 a.m. or p.m., it matched the first 10 digits of Pi! This is a phenomenon that will not happen again until the year 2115.
Phifer Principal Thomas Honeyman got “pied” in the face by student Madison McCall as part of the school’s celebration of Pi Day. This year, Pi Day fell on 3/14/15; when the time of day was 9:26:53 a.m. or p.m., it matched the first ten digits of Pi.
In honor of this remarkable date, Phifer Middle School math teachers celebrated with “Pi related” activities. The activities included finding the circumference and area of many circular objects and creating Pi bracelets.
In addition, the students at Phifer Middle School were challenged to memorize as many digits of Pi as possible. The student who could memorize the most digits would get to “pie” the principal, Mr. Thomas Honeyman. The third place winner was Kenny Lieur, who memorized 79 digits; the second place winner was Isaiah Norman, who memorized 110 digits; and the first place winner was Madison McCall, who memorized 115 digits!
To see the activities, hear Madison recite 115 digits of Pi or watch Mr. Honeyman get “pied” in the face, check the school’s web page at www.pennsauken.net/school/phifer.html.
Carson Students Enjoy Class Trip To Aquarium
In February, the first grade classes from Carson Elementary School had their class trip to Adventure Aquarium in Camden.
Students first attended a class and learned about land and water habitats; they then had the opportunity to touch horseshoe crabs, stingrays and sharks.
Walking through the aquarium, the students observed sharks swimming right above their heads! Other sea animals such as sea turtles, crabs, sea stars, fish, jellyfish, and sea horses were seen in various tanks throughout the aquarium.
It must have been a lazy day for the hippos, because they were snuggled up sleeping peacefully.
Carson staff would like to give a big thank you to all of the parents who volunteered to chaperone for the trip. The kids had a great time!
Residency For Pennsauken Students An Important Issue
As spring is finally here, the Pennsauken School District is already busy making plans for the upcoming school year. The flurry of activity relating to the preparation for the 2015-2016 school year begins with registration for students. On April 15, 2015, the school district will hold its annual registration event for the pre-kindergarten and kindergarten programs. Registration for students in other grade levels will continue on a rolling basis throughout the summer.
Each student attending Pennsauken Public Schools must be registered in the district prior to attending school. The purpose of registration is to ensure that each student who is receiving an education in the Pennsauken School District is eligible under district policy and state law.
Discussion of registration often brings to the forefront issues regarding the residency requirements for enrolled students. Residency issues continue to be a topic of concern for members of the Board of Education, school district administration, and the citizens of Pennsauken Township. It is our duty as Board members, in conjunction with the administration, to make certain that we are using the resources of the district to educate the students who are eligible to attend our schools, as defined by state law.
Last year, the Board of Education, in an effort to monitor registration and residency, set aside funds in the annual school budget specifically to address this need. This money is being used to create a centralized registration office, which is currently in development. The funds allocated will also be used to hire additional staff, including a second district investigator who will examine claims regarding students who may be illegally attending our schools.
In addition, after consulting with neighboring school districts and reviewing state law, the Board of Education Policy Committee wrote a new district residency policy and regulation. This mandated policy, entitled Eligibility of Resident/Non-Resident Pupils, was adopted by the Board on July 24, 2014. The residency policy clearly defines, according to state law, who is eligible to attend school in our district. The regulation outlines the procedure that must be followed in order to register children in the district.
The Policy also states that any individual who has fraudulently enrolled a student in the district can be held liable for the tuition associated with educating a student in our district, along with removal of the student from school. Other consequences, including fines, are possible. The penalties associated with fraudulent enrollment can also extend to individuals who fraudulently signed an affidavit swearing that the family lives in Pennsauken. For example, a landlord or a family member who owns a home in Pennsauken and fraudulently claims that the student lives with them, would be subject to this policy as well. All of the penalties, as well as those individuals who can be potentially affected, are clearly defined by NJ State law.
Information pertaining to the details of this policy and regulation can be requested by any Township resident or any individual with an interest in Pennsauken Schools by contacting the Pennsauken Board of Education offices. As with all of our policies currently undergoing review and revision, this policy will be available on the Pennsauken School District website in the near future.
The Pennsauken Board of Education takes residency and registration issues very seriously. While we understand that all children in NJ are entitled to a free, public education, the law is clear that the students must live in or legally be eligible to attend school in the district. We ask that anyone who has suspicion of a residency violation report it to the Office of the Superintendent of Schools. Working together, we can ensure that all children enrolled in our schools are eligible to attend.
Board Bit Of The Month
Did you know… the Pennsauken School District transports over 4,000 students per day?
Phifer Students Learn About Robotics, Engineering
For the first time, Howard Phifer Middle School is offering robotics for a full marking period as a “related arts” class. The robotics program, taught by Mrs. Tracey McSweeney, is designed for students to explore, build, and program small LEGO NXT robots.
Students at Phifer Middle School are learning about robotics and engineering during a special class taught by Mrs. Tracey McSweeney.
Mrs. McSweeney encourages her students to reflect and collaborate on the learning process by using skills such as application of knowledge and problem solving. The lessons are cross-curricular in that they incorporate “STEM” or Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics. For example, the students use mathematical strategies and teamwork to help engineer a solution to their robotics problem. Students utilize their collective problem solving skills to construct and program the robots to perform various tasks. Some tasks include programming the robot to travel a desired distance based on wheel circumference and also navigating through its environment with programmed touch, sonar, sound, and/or light sensors.
Robotics brings students the realization that working as a team helps them complete tasks faster and more efficiently. In addition, video clips, articles and current events are incorporated to show students the benefits of updating technology and utilizing robots to perform daily tasks that were once performed by humans.
To generate interest in the field of engineering, Mrs. McSweeney invited Mr. Aron Rubin, an engineer from Lockheed Martin, to speak to her class. On Friday, Jan. 23, Mr. Rubin excited the students with a presentation about humanoid robots and a helicopter drone project, which he is currently assigned. Mr. Rubin brought in different robotic hands for the students to manipulate. He also described his experiments with a military spy drone that would potentially be able to fly into a building opening at 20 mph, take a video of a room and quickly exit. The grand finale of Mr. Rubin’s presentation was a hexacopter, which he brought and allowed the students to fly in the classroom! Mr. Rubin’s wonderful presentation hopefully stimulated student interest in engineering and technology fields.
On Tuesday, Feb. 24, Mrs. McSweeney invited additional Lockheed Martin engineers, Joe Mirizio, Rebecca Cargan, and Eric Birkhead, to speak to her students for “Engineers Week,” a time of year dedicated to ensuring a diverse and well-educated future engineering workforce by increasing understanding of, and interest in, engineering and technology careers.
Mrs. McSweeney’s students are looking forward to learning about possible careers in engineering as well as performing an exciting rocket launch “STEM” activity that the engineers have planned.
Robotics is a fast growing technology field that is revolutionizing business, manufacturing, the military, the medical field, and our daily lives. The goal of this robotics program is to prepare students for tomorrow. The job market of the future will be more demanding of its applicants than ever. The best applicants will be able to apply their cumulative knowledge of science, technology, engineering and mathematics to perform their daily tasks.
Through this robotics course, Mrs. McSweeney hopes to spark an interest in her students about robotics so that they may possibly pursue a career in engineering.
Residency For Pennsauken Students An Important Issue
As spring is finally here, the Pennsauken School District is already busy making plans for the upcoming school year. The flurry of activity relating to the preparation for the 2015-2016 school year begins with registration for students.
On April 15, 2015, the school district will hold its annual registration event for the pre-kindergarten and kindergarten programs. Registration for students in other grade levels will continue on a rolling basis throughout the summer.
Each student attending Pennsauken Public Schools must be registered in the district prior to attending school. The purpose of registration is to ensure that each student who is receiving an education in the Pennsauken School District is eligible under district policy and state law.
Discussion of registration often brings to the forefront issues regarding the residency requirements for enrolled students. Residency issues continue to be a topic of concern for members of the Board of Education, school district administration, and the citizens of Pennsauken Township. It is our duty as Board members, in conjunction with the administration, to make certain that we are using the resources of the district to educate the students who are eligible to attend our schools, as defined by state law.
Last year, the Board of Education, in an effort to monitor registration and residency, set aside funds in the annual school budget specifically to address this need. This money is being used to create a centralized registration office, which is currently in development. The funds allocated will also be used to hire additional staff, including a second district investigator who will examine claims regarding students who may be illegally attending our schools.
In addition, after consulting with neighboring school districts and reviewing state law, the Board of Education Policy Committee wrote a new district residency policy and regulation. This mandated policy, entitled Eligibility of Resident/Non-Resident Pupils, was adopted by the Board on July 24, 2014. The residency policy clearly defines, according to state law, who is eligible to attend school in our district.
The regulation outlines the procedure that must be followed in order to register children in the district. The Policy also states that any individual who has fraudulently enrolled a student in the district can be held liable for the tuition associated with educating a student in our district, along with removal of the student from school. Other consequences, including fines, are possible. The penalties associated with fraudulent enrollment can also extend to individuals who fraudulently signed an affidavit swearing that the family lives in Pennsauken. For example, a landlord or a family member who owns a home in Pennsauken and fraudulently claims that the student lives with them, would be subject to this policy as well. All of the penalties, as well as those individuals who can be potentially affected, are clearly defined by NJ State law.
Information pertaining to the details of this policy and regulation can be requested by any Township resident or any individual with an interest in Pennsauken Schools by contacting the Pennsauken Board of Education offices. As with all of our policies currently undergoing review and revision, this policy will be available on the Pennsauken School District website in the near future.
The Pennsauken Board of Education takes residency and registration issues very seriously. While we understand that all children in NJ are entitled to a free, public education, the law is clear that the students must live in or legally be eligible to attend school in the district. We ask that anyone who has suspicion of a residency violation report it to the Office of the Superintendent of Schools. Working together, we can ensure that all children enrolled in our schools are eligible to attend.
Board Bit Of The Month
Did you know… the Pennsauken School District transports over 4,000 students per day?
Winter Concert A Hit At Delair School
Delair’s Winter Concert gave the school community the opportunity to enjoy the hard work of the students and music teachers who have taught and encouraged them. Mr. Henderson, instrumental music instructor, along with Mr. Kauffman, chorus instructor, helped the students in putting on a terrific performance for the standing room only crowds.
Do You Want To Build A Snowman? Longfellow Students Do!
The kindergarten classes at Longfellow School have been working diligently in their informational unit of study, focusing on how-to books! They have been writing numerous books over the past few weeks on many different topics.
To stay with the theme of winter, Miss Grant and her student teacher, Miss Wegfahrt, created a hands-on learning experience that allowed the students to build snowmen! The students created a book showing and listing the steps, preparing them to build their snowmen for the next day.
Each student was given a bag containing marshmallows, pretzel sticks, chocolate chips, and an orange twizzler. They were very excited to start building! Singing along to the famous song from Disney’s “Frozen,” “Do You Want to Build a Snowman?,” each student was able to build their own “Olaf” while following the steps in their how-to books!
Pre-K/Kindergarten Evening Registration
Scheduled for Wednesday, April 15
5:30 – 7:30 p.m.
Pennsauken Public Schools has scheduled their annual evening registration session for pre-k and kindergarten students for the 2015/2016 school year.
Registration will take place on Wednesday evening, April 15 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at Carson Elementary School on Garfield Ave. This will be the only registration session scheduled for enrollment in our pre-k or kindergarten programs for September.
All Pennsauken residents with children who will be eligible for pre-k or kindergarten in September 2015 may register during this evening registration.
Children who are four years old on or before October 1, 2015 are eligible for the half-day pre-kindergarten program. Children who are five years old on or before October 1, 2015 are eligible for the full-day kindergarten program.
As part of the evening, the school district has invited local organizations to provide information to parents of young children, including organizations that provide before- and after-school day care services for the full-day students in our district. The local PTA organizations will also be on hand with information.
To register your child you will need to bring the following information:
- Proof of Pennsauken Residency
**IF YOU OWN YOUR HOME
One of the following documents is the only acceptable Proof of Residency for Home Owners:
- Current Mortgage Statement
- Current Property Tax Bill
- Deed
- Settlement Papers
**IF YOU RENT
Please bring the following paperwork with you:
- Rental Lease
- Driver’s License with Pennsauken Address
- Two pieces of mail with the Pennsauken address listed on it.
(Examples – Telephone Bill, PSE&G, Bank Statement, Credit Card Statement, or Water Bill)
- Child’s immunization records
- Child’s original birth certificate
Volunteers will be available to watch the children while parents/guardians complete the registration.
For further information, residents may call (856) 662-8505 ext. 6507 or any elementary school in Pennsauken.
IMMUNIZATION REQUIREMENTS FOR REGISTRATION
Pre-Kindergarten Entrance Requirements
- DPT or DTaP vaccine 3 doses and 1 booster
- Polio vaccine 2 doses and 1 booster
- Measles vaccine* 1 dose (must be given on/after 1st birthday)
- Mumps vaccine* 1 dose (must be given on/after 1st birthday)
- Rubella vaccine* 1 dose (must be given on/after 1st birthday)
- HIB vaccine 1 dose (must be given on/after 1st birthday)
- Varicella vaccine (chicken pox) 1 dose (must be given on/after 1st birthday)
- PCV vaccine (pneumococcal vaccine) 1 dose (must be given on/after 1st birthday)
- Influenza Vaccine 1 dose – must be given between 9/1 and 12/31 of pre-school year(s)
Kindergarten Entrance Requirements
- DPT or DtaP vaccine 3 doses and 1 booster (must be given on/after 4th birthday) or any 5 or more doses
- Polio vaccine 2 doses and 1 booster (must be given on/after 4th birthday) or any appropriately spaced 4 doses
- Measles vaccine* 2 doses of live Measles containing vaccine given on/after 1st birthday with at least one month between doses
- Mumps vaccine* 1 dose given on/after 1st birthday
- Rubella vaccine* 1 dose given on/after 1st birthday
- Hepatitis B vaccine 3 doses
- Varicella vaccine (chicken pox) 1 dose given on/after 1st birthday
* Children usually receive these vaccines in combination (MMR)
