Posted by Lauren Benech on 2/6/2025 to
Minutes
Date: Wednesday, February 5th, 2025
Time: 7pm
Location: Oak View School
- President (Joelle Bernhard)
- A motion was brought the floor to vote in the minutes of the January meeting, was seconded, and the February meeting began.
- Requested dates for Kindergarten Celebration & 6th Grade Graduation for Presidents Meeting. Pending final dates from Principal Lo.
- Basketball program discussion at Presidents Meeting. We ask everyone who attends the games to be respectful to the buildings and to the other team members and spectators.
- Principal (Linda Lo)
- Thank You: A heartfelt thank you to the HSA for organizing a wonderful Afro-Brazilian assembly, highlighting the history of Capoeira—an Afro-Brazilian martial art and game that combines elements of dance, acrobatics, music, and spirituality.
- MLK Week of Service & Assembly: Shoutout to the Student Council and the DEI committee for organizing the MLK Week of Service and Assembly, where students shared reflections and lessons from Dr. King’s work.
- Black History Month: Oak View kicked off Black History Month with a virtual visit from Kwame Alexander, renowned poet, educator, and Newbery Medal-winning author of The Crossover. He shared his writing journey, experiences, and inspiration.
- Safety Reminder: Drop-Off/Pick-Up Zone on School Street: For quick drop-offs and pick-ups only—no parking allowed. Please use the designated parent parking lot if you need to exit your vehicle or walk your child to the entrance.
- Caught with Character Program: Congratulations to all Tigers who were nominated by teachers and peers for demonstrating a helpful attitude throughout January! We’re excited to celebrate their achievements with a special bagel breakfast.
- One Book: Save the date – One Book Night is scheduled for Tuesday, March 25th.
- What’s Happening at Oak View:
- 2/3 – Black History Month Author Event & Read-a-Thon Kickoff
- 2/8 – Lunar New Year Exhibit
- 2/7 – HSA Winter Social
- 2/12 - 100th Day of School
- 2/14 – HSA Class Valentine’s Parties
- 2/17 – President’s Day – School Closed
- 2/20 – Literacy & Math Family Night for Grades K-3
- 2/25 –HSA Scholastic Book Fair begins & HSA Stem Fair
- 2/26 – Cafecito Chat in person at 8:45 am
- 2/28 – One Book Title Reveal
- 3/7 - Family Fitness Night
- 3/25 - One Book Family Night
- Looking Ahead:
- Family Fitness Night rescheduled for Friday, March 7th
- Teacher Representative (Laurie Ritacco)
- 100th day is on Wednesday, Feb 12th (if there is no snow day)
- For K & 1 (they will parade)
- Music teacher had a baby boy. We have a substitute chorus teacher for the spring!
- Valentine's Day parties are next week!
- Vice President (Emily Hallenbeck)
- The meeting is being recorded.
- Please sign-in
- Next meeting March 5th.
- Reminder to chairs to keep the board in the loop on your event planning. Please utilize the financial forms on the HSA website.
- Treasurers (Jennifer Obiedzinski & Mona Kaur)
- Treasurers' Report available and books available for review.
- Corresponding Secretary (Krystal Yip)
- Class parties on 2/14 at pm.
- For info to be included in the OVHSA Weekly email, please include a .jpeg by Sunday.
- For info to be included in a Digital Backpack email, please send a .pdf by Wednesday.
- Committee Updates:
- FUNRaising
- Did well at Chipotle. Thank you!
- Bella Napoli 2/19. Kids eat free menu (for dine-in).
- Mr. Cupcakes in March/April. Stay tuned for more info.
- Enrichment
- 2/25 Weather Assembly
- Basketball
- We are about halfway through the season. All, players, spectators and visitors, please be mindful and follow the code of conduct.
- Wizards Night was so helpful and money raised was dispersed across all schools, and helps to run the programs and pay for the league. Thanks for your support!
- Looking for ideas for basketball fundraising--Please reach out!
- Read-A-Thon
- Off to a great start!
- Need volunteers to help count minutes weekly--please reach out if you can help out!
- Reminder to visit 99Pledges to reach our fundraising goal!
- Please be mindful of setting healthy boundaries for reading. Please make sure your child is getting sleep and is keeping up with other activities. Please take care of your students stress and maintain balance.
- Please leave the ziploc bag in the ziploc bags.
- Audiobooks or reading captions on TV do not count towards minutes, but reading aloud to your child does!
- Thank you to our volunteers, especially those helping out with button-making and counting minutes!
- ReadAThon winners will receive Scholastic Book Fair gift certificates!
- The Used Book Sale will take place in March (3/11 and 3/13, TBC). There will be a call for used books. More details to follow.
- Winter Social
- Friday 2/7. Tickets went home.
- This is NOT a drop off event.
- Library/Book Fair
- The Scholastic Book fair will be held from 2/24-2/27.
- Volunteers call is out and planning is underway.
- Postscript: More details to come; in the meantime, please visit our Book Fair website!
- Talent Show
- Grade acts practices have started.
- Individual and small group acts are open!
- Theme is Grand 'Ole Oak View.
- Please reach out if you would like to volunteer for decorations, graphics, AV, stage crew, etc.
- Major Fundraiser
- Wonderland Tricky Tray is 4/3 at Westmount Country Club.
- 18 and older only.
- Tickets available now!
- Open call for donations!
- Nominations
- Nominations are is open through 2/21. See link here.
- After School Explorers
- Sign ups are open! 9 classes are being offered.
- Spanish class will be cancelled due to lack of enrollees.
- This session runs from 2/19-3/21 (5 weeks).
- 6th Grade
- Graduation
- Winter Smencil sale is still ongoing.
- Krispy Kreme sale is happening for the spring--look for the Google Form.
- May 10th is final 6th Grade Car Wash.
- Year Book
- Volunteers, please complete your pages!
- Board of Ed Rep (Kasey Dudley)
- District News
- For families seeking guidance on School Related State & Federal Requirements Pertaining to Immigrant Students and Families, The New Jersey Department of Education (NJDOE) provides valuable resources on policies, curriculum standards, and student protections. Their commitment to educational equity and student success aligns with our goal of maintaining a diverse and inclusive learning space.
- February kicks off our district-wide celebration of Black History Month.
- Please check school websites and social media accounts for districtwide activities.
- The MLK essay and poster Contest was a big success with district wind participation. More information will be announced next week including the upcoming M.L.K. Pancake Brunch where winners will be recognized on 2/17/25 at Bloomfield Elks Lodge. Postscript: Congrats to the winners!
- ECC
- Registration Early Childhood Center Applications for the 2025-2026 school year will be open soon. Be on the lookout…
- The 35th Annual Ted Jasieniecki Alumni Basketball Game took place on Friday, January 17, 2025, at 7:00 PM at Bloomfield High School. Thank you to the alumni players and the participating 6th-grade teams (Berkeley, Demarest, and Fairview).
- School News
- Congratulations to all our winter sports teams on their successful seasons so far! Your hard work, dedication, and sportsmanship are truly commendable. We've seen some exciting victories and impressive performances, and we're incredibly proud of all your efforts. Keep up the great work as the season continues!
- BHS Senior wrestler became the 7th wrestler in BHS history to earn 100 wins. Congratulations to Gabe and best of luck in the state tournament.
- The 2025 Thespian Society’s winter musical production of “Alice by Heart” will be held 2/27-3/1 @BHS. For more information contact the BHS main # (973) 680-8600.
- Online/advance tickets: bhsthespsoc.booktix.com
- There have been new offerings for February Bengal Talks where notable BHS alumni come back to share their respective stories with current students.
- Congrats to the DAR Essay Contest Winners
- The award ceremony will be held at the Bloomfield Civic Center at 7:30 on March 4th. Parents teachers and school administrators are welcome to attend. The 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winners each receive a plaque with their name, grade, and school name
- BHS:
- New York Times Best Selling author Ellen Hopkins visited BHS on Friday to speak to students about her life as an author.
- BHS is having ongoing conversations with Stockton University, BC@MSU, and WPU about additional dual enrollment opportunities for our students.
- BHS held the Winter Arts Exhibition at BHS on January 23rd. Congrats to all the artists who were on display.
- BMS:
- A team from Montclair Public Schools visits BMS to learn about our new schedule
- Bloomfield Middle School 6th Grade Orientation will take place @BMS on Thursday, February 20, 6:00-7:00pm.
- Tour BMS, attend the Club Fair, meet staff, try out a locker
- Elementary
- Berkeley:
- Berkeley School hosted our family reading nights for both the primary and upper-grade levels. Students participated in a Language Arts Mystery: 'The Missing Hot Chocolate!"
- Students in second grade also participated in their Trimester II writing celebration. Parents were invited into our second-grade classes to offer students feedback on their writing! This activity was standing-room only!
- Brookdale:
- Brookdale celebrated Lunar New Year. We have a look-and-learn table at the main entrance with items donated by families who celebrate. Classes participated in various lessons and activities to celebrate the day!
- Third-grade students are designing their carnival games in science. Students have begun their planning with discussions about the forces of matter.
- Carteret:
- In celebration of the Lunar New Year, the school Culture Committee put together different activities that taught students about the traditions, culture, and richness of the holiday
- Grade 4 is working on coding. They are using coding, engineering & team work to create a working paper Roller Coaster.
- Demarest:
- Students at Demarest learned about Lunar Year and participated in a variety of activities related to the theme.
- Demarest began posting a social media theme called "Flashback Friday," featuring staff members when they were students, frequently at Demarest School!
- ECC:
- ECC students are celebrating Lunar New Year with arts and crafts, including making Chinese lanterns
- The DEi committee met and discussed thematic units to be purchased for our bookmobile
- Fairview:
- School-wide "All About Me" project. After reading The Crayon Box That Talked (Principal's Book of the Month), students completed their projects and shared them with their classmates to get to know one another better.
- Franklin:
- Franklin School students K-6 enjoyed an assembly Wednesday morning. The assembly focused on mindfulness and breathing. This assembly is part of our SEL initiatives.
- Students celebrated the Lunar New Year with classroom activities and celebrations.
- Oak View:
- Board of Education Presentation: Congratulations to our SY23-24 and SY24-25 Student Council members, who were honored during Principal Lo's presentation, "Elevating Student Voice: Oak View Student Council, at the BOE meeting.
- Afro-Brazilian Assembly: A special thank you to our amazing HSA for organizing the vibrant Afro-Brazilian Assembly.
- Watsessing:
- First graders took a trip to the public library, where they explored books and received their very own library cards!
- Important Dates
- Please check the website link for all the upcoming events across the district
- 2/11/25 BOE Meeting
- 2/17/25 Schools Closed Presidents Day
- 2/25/25 BOE Meeting
