The Hillside Comet - February 2023
Monthly Newsletter
S C H O O L D I S T R I C T N E W S L E T T E R MISSION STATEMENT: The mission of Hillside Public Schools is to provide all students the knowledge and skills needed to be successful, engaged citizens; citizens that contribute to the vitality of an ever-changing world through rigorous academic, culturally responsive, instructional student support programs. Hillside programs seek to strengthen character, cultivate innovation, and foster leadership.
Welcome to The Hillside Comet, the interactive and informative monthly newsletter for the Hillside Public School district in Hillside, New Jersey! There are multiple ways to engage with the content and information included in this publication. This brief tutorial will explain how to maneuver through the following pages to see all that each department has to offer! Use the backwards and forwards arrows to move from one page to another. Many icons and images within this newsletter are interactive! Hovering your cursor over certain images or clicking the plus sign icon will open a pop-up that provides further information regarding a topic or event. You can identify interactive elements by the fluorescent glow and shape around them, as seen in the examples below: Some photos and elements can be clicked on to take you to different links, pages, or to open videos and additional media. There will be specific text to inform you of what to click, as well as buttons like this: Videos are embedded within the newsletter; you can press play, pause them, as well as turn the sound on or off!
TUTORIAL.....................................................................................................PG. 2 TABLE OF CONTENTS................................................................................. PG. 3 SUPERINTENDENT'S MESSAGE ................................................................ PG. 4 MESSAGE FROM THE BOARD OF EDUCATION ........................................PG. 5 BUSINESS OFFICE ........................................................................................PG. 6 DEPARTMENT OF CURRICULUM & INSTRUCTION .................................PG. 7 SPECIAL SERVICES DEPARTMENT..............................................................PG. 8 GUIDANCE DEPARTMENT...........................................................................PG. 9 BUILDINGS & GROUNDS DEPARTMENT...................................................PG. 10 ATHLETIC DEPARTMENT............................................................................PG. 11 DATA, STUDENT INFORMATION, & ACCOUNTABILITY DEPARTMENT..............................................................................................PG. 12 TRANSPORTATION & FOOD SERVICES DEPARTMENT...........................PG. 13 TECHNOLOGY DEPARTMENT....................................................................PG. 14 HUMAN RESOURCES DEPARTMENT.........................................................PG. 15
DO YOU KNOW ... THE PRIORITY GOALS? Click the image above to
There are many wonderful things happening in our schools. The Board of Education encourages all to interact with our websites and social media pages to stay in the know. It takes a village. FACEBOOK INSTAGRAM TWITTER WEBSITE GETTING TO KNOW YOUR SCHOOL BOARD AND HOW MEETINGS ARE CONDUCTED: HOW DOES THE BOARD SET ITS RULES AT THE MEETING? A local School Board’s Parliamentary procedure is a matter of local policy. Most Boards follow Robert's "Rules of Order", which describes how meetings are run, how motions and votes are taken, and other procedures! The School Board Secretary, Dr. David Eichenholtz, can inform citizens on The Rules of Order according to the New Jersey School Boards Association, and other issues of Board policy .
DIRECTOR OF CURRICULUM - DR. JAMES BEVERE During the months of January - March, our students will study the physical sciences. In order to prepare them for this experience, we provided trips to a local STEM Organization – Genius Gems, which is in Millburn, New Jersey! Students from our 2nd - 4th grade classes attended the Genius Gems facility throughout the months of January and February. Genius Gems is the creation of Jennifer Romanoff and her husband. At Genius Gems, students can learn through play! Each visit offers a different experience. The students rotated through four different “camps” that featured STEM and STEAM. Our students became inventors, coders, and researchers. They used their imagination to create ramps for their mini-spheres, and more. Even the chaperones enjoyed creating, and purchasing items from the gift store!
DIRECTOR OF SPECIAL SERVICES - DR. SANDY MERCEDES Melissa Guadalupe, Special Education Teacher at Deanna Taylor Academy A special thank you to Ms. Guadalupe for bringing the new Specialized Special Education program at Deanna Taylor Academy to life! This new program provides continuation of services to our students with learning differences to DGTA. Division of Developmental Disabilities (DDD) website: Provides valuable information to families and young adults. https://www.nj.gov/humanservices/ddd/ Division of Vocational Rehabilitation (DVR) website: The mission of the New Jersey Division of Vocational Rehabilitation Services is to enable eligible individuals with disabilities to achieve an equitable employment outcome. https://www.nj.gov/labor/career-services/special-services/individuals-with-disabilities/ Perform Care website: Perform Care is the single point of access to a wide array of behavioral health, intellectual, and developmental disability services as well as substance use treatment for youth and families throughout New Jersey. https://www.performcarenj.org/ The New Jersey Coalition of Inclusive Education (NJCIE) will be hosting a free screening of the documentary “Forget Me Not: Inclusion in the Classroom”. Please click on the link below for more details! https://www.njcie.org/forget-me-not
DIRECTOR OF GUIDANCE - LYNN RANDLE Hillside High School has 6 students who have achieved proficiency in more than one language, and will receive the New Jersey Seal of Sara Eyob, a Senior here at Hillside Biliteracy! High, is presently taking flight lessons at an organization called Eagle Flight Squadron. In efforts to obtain her private pilot license, Sara has earned a student pilot certificate and amassed over 50 hours of flight time in both a Cessna 15” and a Cessna 172. She also holds a leadership position at Eagle Flight as the Colonel of her flight squadron which requires her to lead a team of pilots through night classes, weekly drills, and their individual aviation journeys. Click the icon on Sara's portrait to see a video of her in action!
CERTIFIED EDUCATIONAL FACILITIES MANAGER - DAVID DEFLURI CLICK ON THE ICONS OF THE FOLLOWING SCHOOLS BELOW TO LEARN MORE ABOUT CURRENT BUILDING UPDATES TO EACH SCHOOL!
ATHLETIC DIRECTOR - HALIM IBN MCNEIL HILLSIDE TRACK ATHLETES JAYDEEN BATCHELOR
DIRECTOR OF DATA, STUDENT INFORMATION & ACCOUNTABILITY - KRISTY WEAVER We are excited to announce the implementation our new Social Emotional Learning curriculum resource, the online platform Move This World:
DIRECTOR OF FOOD SERVICES & TRANSPORTATION - MATT LEONARDIS TRANSPORTATION FOOD SERVICES
TECHNOLOGY COORDINATOR - DEANNA DEFLURI MRS. PEREIRA - OLA EDWARDS COMMUNITY SCHOOL All staff must submit a troubletrakker ticket for support! Kenny, Sandra, and I will respond and attend to the tickets as they are received and prioritized! Student/staff connectivity and security is most important! WHAT IS PHISHING?
DIRECTOR OF HUMAN RESOURCES - ALICIA WILTSHIRE-KING We are gearing up for recruitment season! Please encourage family and friends to follow our social media (@hillsidepublicschools) for updates and/or contact us via email at [email protected] for questions. Also, visit the school website for current openings! HERE ARE A FEW STAFF MEMBERS ACKNOWLEDGED BY THEIR SCHOOLS THIS MONTH! A.P. MORRIS HURDEN LOOKER ISHA FAIRMAN JENNIFER PINHO ALISSA VALIANTE LINDSAY WILLIAMS HILLSIDE HIGH SCHOOL ROSALIND BARTHOLOMEW AND MATTHEW SMITH
HILLSIDE PUBLIC SCHOOLS IS CURRENTLY IN DISCUSSION WITH OUR NEWSLETTER PARTNER TO ENSURE FUTURE EDITIONS ARE AVAILABLE IN ENGLISH AND OTHER LANGUAGES. THANK YOU FOR YOUR PATIENCE AND STAY TUNED FOR UPDATES! Hillside Board of Education 195 Virginia Street, Hillside, NJ 07205 908-352-7664