News

Maplewood Mayfest Needs Teacher Volunteers!

Sat, 19 May 2012 03:07:55 GMT

From Megan Howard of Achieve:

"Maplewood's Mayfest celebration is Sunday, May 20, 12-5 PM, on Springfield Avenue. Achieve needs volunteers to work at a table to spread the word about Take a Seat, Honor Your Teacher, and all the other wonderful work we do.

Please sign up for a one-hour shift to sit at the table and let the South Orange-Maplewood community know what is happening in their schools thanks to Achieve."

To sign up, contact Megan Howard, Communications Committee Chair directly at meganhoward9601@gmail.com.

National Board Certification Orientation Session

Tue, 20 Mar 2012 00:58:16 GMT

Join our very own Helen Dalbey (NBCT 2010) and Maryann Joseph (NBPTS contact for SOMSD) for an information session about becoming a National Board Certified Teacher on April 18, 2012 from 3:45 -5:45 pm at the South Orange Middle School Library. See the district's statement of benefits and RSVP to hdalbeynbc@gmail.com.

Urgent: Tenure Bill up for Discussion on 3/5

Thu, 01 Mar 2012 01:32:49 GMT

Senator Ruiz will put S1455 up for discussion (but not voting) on March 5th. S1455 is titled “Teacher Effectiveness and Accountability for the Children of New Jersey (TEACHNJ) Act” but what it does is remove due process for tenured teachers (remember, untenured teachers don't have due process protections), allow administrators to keep teachers untenured forever, and generally allow administrators (who, other than principals, escape having their tenure and effectiveness examined in the whole frenzy) complete, unfettered control.

See the text of the bill and NJEA's concerns.

ELL Workshop

Sun, 29 Jan 2012 19:27:30 GMT

Do your English Language Learners struggle in their content area classes? Check out this workshop...

More Sad News

Wed, 11 Jan 2012 02:56:23 GMT

Tom Astone, who worked in the Maintenance Department until he retired last year, passed away on Sunday, January 8th after an illness. Visitation is Wednesday, 1/11/12, at Galante Funeral Home, 2800 Morris Ave. in Union from 2 to 4 in the afternoon and 7 to 9 in the evening.

A Death in the Family

Sat, 07 Jan 2012 04:58:08 GMT

As many of you know by now, Sue Blumenfield died this week after suffering a stroke in November. The funeral is Sunday, January 8 and the family will be sitting shiva at home. Visitors are asked not to arrive before 3pm. For details and directions, contact Jenn Broekman.

Gwen Karl is the person to talk to about contributing to a courtyard brick for Sue, while Beth Dalzell and Miriam Russoniello are the people to talk to about contributing to the SOMEA scholarship fund in Sue's name. The CHS Sunshine Committee is planning visit(s): contact Chan Dennis for information.

Wanted: Volunteers!

Thu, 05 Jan 2012 03:31:58 GMT

It's that time again!

We're looking for a few volunteers from each level (elementary, middle, and high school, both teachers and support staff) to join the Negotiating Team Research Committee! Interested, but worried that you don't know how to negotiate? Training is available! Can't commit to late-night negotiating sessions? We need committee members to research members' needs and ideas, as well as to do the hard work of negotiating itself. Email Hannah Edelman for details and to volunteer.

Remember: the contract we get is only as good for us and our students as our Negotiating Team can make it!

Upcoming ECEA Workshops

Wed, 04 Jan 2012 04:14:43 GMT

From our County Education Association, this quarter's upcoming workshops:

January 11, 2012: Internet Safety

February 29, 2012: Stress Workshop

March 7, 2012: DYFS Workshop

Click on the workshop name to see the official flyer. Email Keysha Knight to register!

News and Notes 11/16/11

Sat, 19 Nov 2011 04:15:23 GMT

Welcome to the electronic edition of SOMEA News and Notes!

To start us off, we have some news from Columbia and South Orange Middle:

Pat Hurley presented at the NJEA Convention on the topic: LGBTQ: What Does it All Mean? According to the NJEA Convention Program: "This is an experiential workshop designed to invite open dialogue about issues surrounding lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender persons. Discussion will assist teachers in confronting issues in the classroom." From all accounts, the presentation was a rousing success. Ask Pat for more details!

The CHS Robotics Club, which went to the World Championships last year in their first year as a team under the direction of Allan Tumolillo, now has two full teams of students from all "levels" learning to build and program simple robots. With the help of generous donations from the community, the CHS Club is helping other clubs start up in several of the other district schools. Bother Allan for more information.

Teachers from SOMS (led by Elissa Malespina) and the CHS Math Department have begun using Edmodo to differentiate learning, make more effective use of outside-the-classroom learning time, and increase communication with both parents and students. While PowerSchool offers numbers that track student progress, Edmodo offers a social-networking-style conversation and narrative. Ask Elissa to join the conversation!

Speaking of Elissa Malespina, Elissa was recently named a Glogster Education Ambassador! Congratulations, Elissa! Now, can you tell us what Glogster is?

I'm sure I missed some of the exciting happenings in your building: let me know what's going on at news@someanj.org

To get news faster than I can type a blog post, follow @SOMEANJ on Twitter.

Health Care Workshop

Tue, 04 Oct 2011 21:28:57 GMT

October 17, 2011