Extra, Extra! Read all about the South Mountain Superstars in our May/June Edition of the Newsletter

Click Here or on the Newsletter image to the right to download a PDF of the most recent newsletter!

Please click HERE for the following May Community Flyers

Achieve Foundation
Honor Your Teacher and Staff Tributes

Columbia High School
Rich Deans and the Rainmakers’ Benefit Concert
The Loft – May 2012

Maplewood Middle School
The Hub – May 2012

South Mountain School PTA
Be a Foster or Adoptive Parent

Maplewood Memorial Library
Children’s Programs – May 2012
Teen Zone Programs – May 2012

Maplewood’s Springfield Avenue Partnership
MayFest 2012

South Orange Department of Recreation and Cultural Affairs
Cool Science & Rockets Summer Camp!
Cougar Baseball Camp
OBEN Flag Football – Summer 2012
South Orange 2012 Summer Sports Camps
South Orange 2012 Summer Tennis Camps

South Orange Performing Arts Center
SOPAC Kids & Family Events

South Orange/Maplewood Community Coalition on Race
Conversations on Race: Growing Through Our Discomfort

South Mountain YMCA
Adult Volleyball
Friday Teen Game Nights
Get Certified to Babysit!
2nd Spring Session Programs
Vacation Camp at the YMCA
YMCA Healthy Kids Day

Please click HERE or the image for information about Summer Music Programs including Percussion, Guitar, Strings, Keyboard, Woodwinds, Brass and Suzuki Violin.

April 25, 2012

To the Parents and Guardians of our Children in the Annex,

We are having a problem after school in the Annex that I am asking you to help me with. Please take your child home directly from school at the end of the school day. Children may not play on the playground or in the field at this time. There is no supervision by school personnel at this time, and I am concerned for the safety of our children. Please share this with au pairs, nannies or whoever picks up your child at 2:30. Recently children have been playing up in the back field after the end of the school day, as far up as the back fence. Our teachers have spoken to them, but they continue to play there. The only children who should be outside at this time are the children in the afterschool program. I understand that some adults are there to pick up children from the shuttle, but please take them home as soon as they arrive.

We will be speaking with all the children tomorrow to remind them of this, but we cannot keep them safe at the end of the day without your help. This same school policy applies to the big school as well as the Annex.

Thank you for your support in getting our children home safely directly from school.

Sincerely,

Tina Lehn
Principal

Please click HERE or the image for Spring Parenting Center Workshop Series information and order form, including Mindful Parents/Mindful Children (5/15).

Camp Maple Registration

OVERVIEW: Camp Maple is a six-week program – June 25-Aug. 3 — offered to children with special needs who reside in Maplewood and South Orange.  The program provides opportunities for gross and fine motor development as well as cognitive and social growth.

DIRECTOR:   Mrs. Noelle Stewart-Sullivan
ASSISTANT DIRECTOR: Mrs. Lisa Meyer

REGISTRATION/QUALIFICATION: The registration fee is $600.  Children must be five (5) years of age by October 1, 2012.  Please note that registration will close on June 1, 2012. Both forms MUST be completed.  Failure to do so will result in the return of your payment and forfeiture of the space reserved for your child.

Your child must also be completely toilet trained.  Children are expected to be able to interact, communicate and participate without substantial individual attention and prompting.  When applicable, a car seat must be left on the camp van for the duration of the camp to allow for safe and legal transportation.

Camp Maple information is also available on the Maplewood Township website @ www.twp.maplewood.nj.us.  The forms can be printed, filled out and dropped off at the Maplewood Recreation Department at Town Hall.

Last Thursday, right after morning meeting, our 3rd, 4th and 5th graders filed into the auditorium to welcome what was our last cultural arts assembly of the year- The New Jersey Shakespeare Festival’s school touring production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream.  When the students were asked how many had read or seen this play before, approximately 1/4 of them raised their hands.  When a follow up question regarding how many of them had seen or read any play by William Shakespeare, that number increased to about 1/3 of the assemblage. Whether our kids were reliable reporters or not, the experience they had over the next 75 minutes was remarkable and their engagement with the production was indeed above and beyond what was expected, and what the acting company admitted had been their experience with students of this age.

It was so wonderful to stand in the back of the auditorium and be able to watch the body language of the entire audience pitched forward, engaged with the story and actively attempting to understand the poetry that is a challenge for most of us adults to decipher.

The production did a fantastic job at making the humor and romance of this classic accessible to young students and our kids were enthralled by the physical comedy that the acting troupe infused into the play.  As kids are wont to do, many of them felt compelled to vocalize their enjoyment of the piece as the play unfolded.  While all of us adults know that we should keep our talking to a minimum during a live performance, the highlight of the morning for me was at the point in the play when Titania, the beautiful queen of the fairies who has had a love spell cast on her by Oberon, the fairy king, is about to cuddle up to the character of Bottom, a peasant actor whose head has been replaced with that of a donkey’s.   Just as Titania is moving in for a snuggle, one of our 5th grade boys, deeply engaged despite sitting in the very back row of the auditorium, opened his mouth and said “Oh my god.  This isn’t going to be good!”

What unfolded was instead very good and our kids should be commended for their open mindedness and willingness to jump into the world of Shakespeare with wide eyes and open ears.  Please ask your children about today’s program and please share with us any feedback you wish.

Russell Kaplan
Cultural Arts Liaison

Marilyn Lehren taught an After School Scholars journalism/writing class to South Mountain students. The articles from the students in this class are featured in our first ever The Scoop: After School Scholars Edition!

 **Click Here or on the Scoop Image to read this Edition**

Congratulations and welcome to the 2012-2013 PTA Executive Board members voted on April 12th:

VP Administration – Beth Ferguson
VP Communications – Meredith Katz
VP Communications – Robin Stephan
VP Fundraising – Lauren Rutkin
VP Programming – Adrienne Davis
Recording Secretary – Heather Brochin
Treasurer – Lori Martin
Treasurer – Sapna Mitra

South Orange and Maplewood School District Summer Music Academy sponsored by the South Orange and Maplewood Adult School and the South Orange and Maplewood School District Fine Arts Department

Open to all band and orchestra students entering grades 5 through 8 for the 2012-2013 school year.

This program will feature:

• Intensive one hour individual or small-group lessons taught by professional music educators and specialists in their fields with mentoring by Columbia High School honors band and orchestra students|
• One hour large group ensembles at beginner, intermediate, and advanced levels
• Gala concert performance at the end of the camp

The academy will run June 25-July 20, 2012 (no classes on July 4th)

Registration via the SOMSD Summer School website or Children’s Summer Program brochure.

For more information please contact Mr. Peter F. Bauer, Summer Music Academy Director at (973) 762-5600, x. 1183 or via email at pbauer@somsd.k12.nj.us

SCHEDULING
Each student is scheduled for one period of group lessons and one ensemble rehearsal period each day.
NOTE: Class assignments are made with the recommendation of the current music teacher and are based on class size and availability.

COURSE DESCRIPTIONS

BEGINNER INSTRUMENTAL & BAND/ORCHESTRA EXPERIENCE
Just beginning? Be sure to get started on the right note. Our highly qualified music teachers will provide a solid foundation to play the Flute, Clarinet, Saxophone, Trumpet, French horn, Trombone, Baritone, and Percussion (bells), Violin, Viola, and Cello.

ELEMENTARY/INTERMEDIATE INSTRUMENTAL & BAND/ORCHESTRA
For students with 1-3 years experience on an instrument

ADVANCED INSTRUMENTAL & BAND/ORCHESTRA
For students with more than 3 years of study and excellent competency on their primary instrument.

Questions regarding placement should be directed to Mr. Peter Bauer, Director of the Summer Music Academy.

Students must provide their own instrument. Instrument rental information is available by contacting Mr. Bauer.