| |
 | THE HARTSHORN HAPPENINGS
PTO Monthly Newsletter: Issue 6, February 17, 2017 | |
 | | Now-2/24 Personalize and Order the 2017 Hartshorn Yearbook
Now-2/28 Kindergarten Registration for 2017-18
2/20-2/24 Mid Winter Recess - Schools Closed
3/3 Last Day for PTO Board Nominations
3/10 Millburn Schools Rock
3/16 PTO General Mtg with special guest Mr. Mercurio
3/16 International Taste of Hartshorn (snow date 3/17)
3/20-3/24 Baby Goods Drive
3/23 Bingo Night - 4th Grade Celebration
3/29 PTOC Film - Mostly Likely to Succeed
4/1 Hartshorn Science Expo
5/1-5/12 Gift Card Drive |
|
| “There is no vacation from being a parent.†– Chevy Chase
Dear Hartshorn Parents, It has been a busy month and we are all ready for a vacation! H Factor was a big success and we made it through both shows despite the snow! A huge thank you to our H Factor Chairs, Junior Chairs, Subcommittee Heads, Faculty, Custodians and anyone who volunteered to make it happen. It really was a group effort that produced two amazing shows that our kids will never forget! ASE classes are in full swing, as is our second session of Pizza lunch. The recent Valentine’s Day Fundraiser had fantastic participation. Thanks to our chairs and to all of the parents who answered their call to help distribute the goodies to all of the classes. Please don’t forget to order your personalized yearbook on the Josten’s website, as the deadline is next Friday, February 24th. The Hartshorn Community has yet again shown its generosity, in not one, but two collections in February. The Community Outreach Committee and the Student Council collected more than 400 soup cans for the “Soup-er Bowl†to benefit the Interfaith Food Pantry of the Oranges. This past week, we also collected tons of books this past week to distribute to the South Ward Children’s Alliance (SWCA). Every year our students participate in a community service project at their Valentine’s Day parties. This year, they wrote personal notes to enclose with a donated book and a decorated bookmark to be shared with SWCA. Tickets to the Education Foundation’s “Millburn Schools Rock the Casbah†are going fast. The Ed Foundation’s biggest fundraiser of the year (which benefits all 8 schools in the district) will be held on March 10th at the Short Hills Hilton. We will both be there and would love to see many of our Hartshorn friends there as well! Stay tuned for information about our International Taste of Hartshorn on March 16th, the revival of Bingo Night (our new 4th grade celebration fundraiser) on March 23rd and the return of our Science Expo on April 1st. Our next PTO General Meeting is on March 16th with special guest, Mr. Mercurio, the new principal of the Washington School. Please don’t forget that nominations for the PTO Executive Board are open until March 3rd! We have 4 open spots next year! If you have an interest in making a meaningful contribution to Hartshorn School, please consider joining the Board. Have a safe, relaxing, and fun-filled break! Alexis Benbassat & Loren Balady PTO Co-Presidents |
|
 ORDER THE 2017 HARTSHORN YEARBOOK
To order your yearbook and optional personalization from Jostens, click here. The hardcover yearbook is still just $26 and will include students in all grades in over 100 full-color pages. Order engraved personalization and icons on the cover for an additional $4 each through Friday, February 24th. Ordering without personalization will be available till a later date. Books will be delivered to classrooms in early June.
PTO BOARD POSITIONS OPEN The PTO Nominating Committee is seeking nominations for four vacant board positions for the 2017-2018 Hartshorn PTO Executive Board. If you have any questions, please contact the chair of the Nominating Committee, Alexis Benbassat at abenbassat@gmail.com.
THE INTERNATIONAL TASTE OF HARTSHORN “One World – One Schoolâ€
SAVE THE DATE!!!!!!! We are thrilled to announce the return of the International Taste of Hartshorn on March 16th, 2017. A huge, successful event the past three years, we will continue the tradition of global food tastings and cultural performances in the evening, as well as a daily, educational component for our children, during the week leading up to the big event Please look for more emails regarding volunteering for the evening event, in addition to guidelines for food booth tastings. We look forward to an exciting event where we ALL learn about other cultures and proudly showcase our own heritage. It is our time to shine . . . The Taste Committee Chairs Christina Bowen, Sarabjit Hajarnavis, Ritu Seadie, Analia Simone, Angelica Asenjo, Gisela Bendersky
4TH GRADE CELEBRATION Calling all bingo lovers!! On March 23rd from 6pm to 8pm the Hartshorn 4th graders will be hosting a super fun bingo night in the Hartshorn MPR! As you all know, this is the last year at Hartshorn for our 4th graders. So, to help pay for their celebration in June, we are organizing a bingo night fundraiser. There will be prizes, pizza, a bake sale and a whole lot of fun!! The students and teachers will be calling the numbers so please come out and support the “graduating†4th graders!! All ages are welcome! For tickets/bingo boards, please visit Membership Toolkit. Entry and food are available for pre-purchase on the site through March 16th. Presale prices are as follows: 4 Bingo boards/$35 or 1 for $10, pizza is $2/slice and water is $1/bottle. There will be chips for sale, $1/bag and a bake sale as well. We hope to see you there! The 4th grade celebration committee
COMMUNITY OUTREACH The Community Outreach Committee is excited for a collaboration with the South Ward Children's Alliance (SWCA) in Newark. SWCA provides a host of parenting and life coaching services, as well as educational support and much more for families in this underserved community. Please learn more about this special nonprofit at www.swcalliance.org. Hartshorn students voted last November to support SWCA in the following ways: - A baby goods drive March 20-24 - Fundraising (a gift card drive) May 1-12 Thank you for your support! HARTSHORN SCIENCE EXPO Please join us for an afternoon of scientific challenges, hands-on activities and demonstrations, such as parachute-making, robotics, snap circuits, and coding! No preparation is needed for this free event!
Date: Saturday, April 1, 2017
Time: 12-5pm
Location: Hartshorn Elementary School
Registration: Advanced registration for challenges is required for each child. Signup will be available on Membership Toolkit from March 1st through March 24th.
Volunteer opportunities: Please consider volunteering to make this year’s expo a success! Volunteer signup will also be available on Membership Toolkit during the same time frame.
Questions: Please contact Laura Correa Abrams at correaabrams@gmail.com or Angela Vanderploeg at ourmailbox@verizon.net
5TH GRADE CELEBRATION Attention 5th Grade Families -- We need your help to make our 5th Grade celebration the BEST EVER! We will be the LAST 5th Grade to graduate from Hartshorn so it will be EXTRA special! - Please consider making a donation to support our 5th grade celebration and dance on Membership Toolkit.
KINDERGARTEN REGISTRATION Kindergarten Registration for the 2017-2018 school year is open till February 28, 2017 using the online registration system. Parents of incoming Kindergarteners will begin the registration process by entering the majority of their information online in the Registration Gateway system from home at registration.millburn.org. They will schedule an in-person meeting at the Education Center with the registrar through the Registration Gateway calendar. Follow the instructions here: http://www.millburn.org/pages/Millburn_Township_PS/News/Kindergarten_Registration 5TH GRADE/WASHINGTON SCHOOL The Hartshorn Reps for the Washington School PTO Steering committee are Dina Pearl and Stacey Mischel. If you have any suggestions for the new school, please submit your ideas to:ihaveanideaforWS@gmail.com
|
| BODIES IN MOTION (BIM) Bodies in Motion (BIM) is going strong. BIM is a structured before school exercise and activity program run by Mr. Hogan, and is a free service open to all students from Kindergarten through 5th grade. Class runs from 7:50-8:25 am on select Mondays. More information about BIM can be found under "Mr. Frattini's corner" on theMembership Toolkit homepage.
KARATE CLUB
Karate Club is a free club open to all Hartshorn students in Kindergarten through 5th Grade, taught by Sensei Frattini. Classes meet on on select Tuesdays and Thursdays from 4:30-5:15 pm at the Hartshorn gym. More information about BIM can be found under "Mr. Frattini's corner" on the Membership Toolkit homepage
THREE EASY WAYS TO HELP HARTSHORN EARN MONEY
If everyone can do these few things we can earn money to enhance the education of our children at Hartshorn School!
These are some very easy ways to really help our school! Please take a few minutes to register your cards, go to Amazon Smile and cut BoxTops!
|
| COMMUNITY OUTREACH UPDATE: FEBRUARY 2017HARTSHORN HAS “SOUP-ER BOWL†SPIRIT Thanks to all who supported the “Soup-er Bowl,†a canned food drive to benefit the Interfaith Food Pantry of the Oranges. Students were encouraged to show their team spirit by placing donated food items on a table decorated either for the Atlanta Falcons or the New England Patriots. More than 400 canned soups and stews were donated with the Falcons winning the tally among Hartshorn participants 273-134. Thanks also to Sherry Mahfouz for her help coordinating the effort, and to Susie Eilenberg, Michele Kaplan and Lauren Toubes for transporting all of the boxes. Ultimately the Interfaith Food Pantry of the Oranges is the real winner!
BOOK DRIVE TO SUPPORT NEWARK’S SOUTH WARD CHILDREN’S ALLIANCE In November, Hartshorn students voted to support Newark’s South Ward Children’s Alliance with a book drive and other efforts coming this Spring. Thanks to all who contributed new and “like new†books this week! The books will be distributed to participants in SWCA’s “Family College†program, a parenting course for families with young children, and through SWCA’s partnerships with local public schools. The Valentine’s Day class parties also focused on a “love of literacy.†Students wrote personal notes to enclose with a donated book and decorated bookmarks, all of which will be shared with SWCA. Thanks to Outreach Committee members, Anna Ayes, Loren Balady, Alexis Benbassat, Doris Cheng Elizabeth Dooley, Susie Eilenberg, Kristi Gerstel, Robin Grapkowski, Deb Jacob, Laurie Moon and Lauren Toubes who helped prepare and assemble the materials for the class parties! Please contact Community Outreach co-chairs Elizabeth Dooley, eadooley25@gmail.com, Kristi Gerstel, kristigerstel@gmail.com and Jeanne Gordon, jsimon9500@hotmail.com, with any questions.
|
Special thanks to the Student Council for creating posters which hung throughout the school and for helping to count and pack the donations! | | 
Third grade Student Council representatives Pia Franzese, Max Cantor, Seth Eilenberg, Nikki Mayo and Nadia Chehade gave up recess time to help pack donations to the “Soup-er Bowl.†| | 
Third graders Jonah Ledetsky, Nathan Scheck and Ava Alcosser lend helping hands as well!
|
|
 | |  | Chemistry Assembly - 3rd Grade
On January 23rd, Franklin Institute came back with a Chemistry Assembly for the 3rd graders. This Assembly supplements their current science unit as they learn about acids, bases, markers. Through colorful fire and color changing liquids the 3rd graders learned about chemical interactions and properties.
| | Weather Assembly - 1st Grade
On January 23rd, Franklin Institute also conducted an assembly for 1st Graders on Weather. The 1st graders learned about, tornadoes and hurricanes, how rain, thunder and lightning are caused and how air pressure causes weather patterns in our environment.
|
|
 | |  | Music Assembly - Kindergarten
On January 30th Kindergarteners immersed themselves into music from cultures around the world through an assembly from Journey’s with Sound. They tried and listened to a variety of instruments like Native American flutes, Ocean Harps, Tibetan Singing Bowls, Bagpipes and different Drums.
| |
On February 16th Poetry Alive, came back with their fun and unique Poetry assembly for 2nd Graders. Through enactments and recitation 2nd graders lived through the Poems in this unforgettable, fun assembly. The grade wide assembly was followed by individual classroom visits.
|
|
| 3RD GRADE HOLIDAYS AROUND THE WORLD CELEBRATION | |
| HFACTOR THURSDAY/MONDAY PICTURES | |
| A SPECIAL HFACTOR THANK YOU H Factor's fourth year couldn't have happened without all of the wonderful students, parents, volunteers and faculty here at Hartshorn. It is beautiful to watch everyone come together for this wonderful event. We would like to thank: - The students who worked so hard and gave us so much of their time and talent. -Our 4th grade class. We have never had to say goodbye to the fourth graders before. We wish you luck at The Washington School. -Our 5th grade class. We are so proud of you and wish you good luck next year. And thank you to our fabulous emcees for adding so much fun to the show. -All of the parents who support H Factor by getting their kids to rehearsals, sending us music, coming up with ideas, and showing up with smiles. -Mr. Frattini for showing his support of H Factor by being supportive, flexible, and generous with his personal time. -Mr. Demel and Mr. Bell for showing their talents by giving H Factor the best lights and sound of any variety show in Short Hills. -Junior Chairs – Emily Chase Weinstein, Shilpa Vaswani, and Rohini Vira – for doing whatever was asked of them! -Stephanie Kresch for writing a perfect emcee script. -Samuel Morgan at So.I.Heard House of Music for setting up the live feed onstage and for lending us equipment. -Mr. Bell, Mr. Stanford and Mr. Smith for the many rehearsal set-ups and clean-ups! -4th Grade finale parents: Stacey Mischel, Jennifer DiMinni, Robin Grapkowski, and Juliet Davis – you guys rock! -5th Grade finale parents: Stephanie Kresch, Sue Motroni, Holly Rizzuto Palker, and Aubrey Talles - you guys rock too! -Volunteers and Committee Members for donating so much of your time and energy. Without you H Factor would not be possible. *Food: Romina Padhi, Shilpa Vaswani, and Rohini Vira *Decorating: Anna Ayes, Jen Benisch, Aubrey Talles, and Jenna Zemachson *Stage Crew: Deb Jacob, Jeannie Gomez, Romina Padhi, Sue Motroni, Aubrey Talles, and Savita Natekar (for helping with music) *Playbill: Amy Ventura, Karen Conn, Mallika Malhotra, and Emily Weinstein *MPR: Shweta Tunk *Tickets: Maggie Zakhary and Sue Motroni *DVD: Robin Grapkowski *Photos: Vicki Solomon and the entire Photography Committee
Thank You To Our Other Volunteers: Valentine's Fundraiser - Randi Kates & Jill Krasnove Yearbook - Debbie Marx & Amy Ladetsky School Supplies - Courtney Benjamin & Andi Birnbaum Valentine Day Parties - All of our class moms Caring Kids - Sara Singer Educational Arts - Kavita Bordia, Anu Uppuluri, and Amy Ladetsky Cultural Arts - Analia Bongiovani, Sue Motroni, and Ali Seeger Library - Marina Kirshenbaum, Sherri Sparaga, Kristi Gerstel, Rebecca Bernstein, Sherry Mahfouz, Vicki Solomon and Priya Virmani ASE - Marina Kirshenbaum, Katie Desoe, Nidhi Rastogi, and Reshma Gorde Food Days - Lori Rosenbaum, Jen Diminni, Megan Rosenstein, Deborah Greengrass, Elisa Krantz, Vicki Solomon and Jen Kasper E-Blasts - Shilpa Vaswani Newsletter - Kavita Bordia Publicity - Emily Chase Weinstein Webmaster/Membership Toolkit - Julie Pelaez and Romina Padhi |
|  THE EDUCATION FOUNDATION OF MILLBURN AND SHORT HILLS
MILLBURN SCHOOLS ROCK THE CASBAH! New venue, hot new theme... Short Hills Hilton on Friday, March 10th 2017 from 7-11:00pm Join us for a night featuring fabulous dinner, decadent desserts, open bar, live music by the Nerds, dancing, and an extraordinary silent auction. Leave the cold behind with our Moroccan theme, including belly dancers, henna artists, fortune tellers, and much more. Don’t wait to get your tickets for the Ed Foundation’s biggest fundraiser of the year—Millburn Schools Rock. Support our schools while having a rockin’ time! Ticket Price: $150 per ticket for members and $180 per ticket non-members Price at the door: $200 per ticket For more information on Millburn Schools Rock, sponsorship opportunities, or to volunteer to help with the event, please contact Sonali Ganti at sonaliganti@icloud.com or Rumy Sidhu at rumy29@gmail.com Like us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/EdFdnMSH to stay up-to-date on our events and projects in the schools REMINDER: Grant applications due March 1st! See www.edfoundationmillburnshorthills.org for details. SEPACThe Millburn Special Education Parents Advisory Committee is in the process of planning its second Social Skills Workshop for the Spring. Attached is a questionnaire designed to identify topics for discussion that are of interest to the community. Please take a moment to fill out this brief questionnaire: https://goo.gl/forms/CMYZ4eQsikNorXzT2
PTOC - PARENT EDUCATION COMMITTEEWednesday, March 29th Millburn PTOC Townwide Parent Education Committee presents the award winning film, Most Likely To Succeed, about reimagining the future of education and what matters most for students today. The morning event at 11:30 AM at Bow Tie Millburn Cinemas requires a ticket purchased on line ($5.00/ticket) to cover theater costs. The link for tickets is https://www.eventbrite.com/e/most-likely-to-succeed-tickets-31685984633. The evening presentation at 7:30 pm at MHS auditorium is free of charge and no ticket is required. Questions? Contact Cheryl Talpalar at atalpalar@aol.com.
|
| |
|
Follow us on the Hartshorn PTO Facebook Page