Where do our PTA funds come from, and where do they go? Check out this presentation to find out.
Where do our PTA funds come from, and where do they go? Check out this presentation to find out.
More information at somadultschool.org.
Fifth-graders Adrien Carter, Jazmyn Coleman, Jaden Hargrove, Seth Powder and Nicholas Franklin led this year’s Sock Drop, a service project in September and November for young people in need.
“We have been collecting socks and scarves to help keep teens warm this winter,” Adrien said.
Seth confirmed that the new socks and warm weather gear collected would be donated to Covenant House in Newark. Jazmyn informed fellow students that Covenant House provides food, shelter, care, and other important services to young people between the ages of 18 and 21.
Jaden noted that the 21 Covenant House locations in the U.S., Canada and Latin America serve more than 56,000 young people each year. Nicholas concluded the final tally: 15 scarves (2 of which were hand-made), 6 hats, 6 pairs of gloves and 94 pairs of brand new socks.
Way to go Seth Boyden!
From Oct. 19-30, we will be collecting gently worn clothing (boys, girls and women) to turn into cash for our school. Donated items are sold, and 40% of sales proceeds are returned to Seth Boyden.
Fill a bag with clothes for children & women and drop the bag off outside the main floor office.
https://www.schoola.com/schools/seth-boyden-elementary-maplewood-nj
Charleston Wrap orders are due Wednesday, Oct. 21. This is a very important fundraiser for our school, so please stock up for your family and hit up your relatives and neighbors too!
In this issue…
UPDATE: To all our Seth Boyden Parents & Students:
Thank you all for your support…our Spring Schoola Clothing Drive was a success! We are shipping 13 large boxes filled with boys and girls clothing…and even some women clothing. In a couple of weeks, the items will be uploaded onto the Schoola website and we can watch the sales and $$$$ roll in for our school. Be sure to check out the site for great looking clothes for your young ones. Thanks again and we’re looking forward to our Fall clothing drive. Enjoy your summer!
Money for our school is in the Bag.
Heads up! We’re participating in a Schoola Clothing Drive and turning outgrown clothes into money for our school.
Clothing Drive will start on June 1st and end on June 12th.
Here’s what to do:
Fill a bag with clothes for children & women. Women’s handbags and shoes get extra smiles.
No sleepwear, undies, socks or damaged/
stained/ altered items. Let’s keep it clean.
Drop the bag off with its new friends at
our drop off location, outside the school office.
The Seth Boyden PTA is participating in a fundraiser event bringing you chocolate treats from Gertrude Hawk Chocolates. The proceeds from this fundraiser will help fund our Outdoor Learning Center (OLC) project. We need your participation to reach our goal of $2000. The fundraiser will officially start on Monday, March 2ndand end on Friday, March 13th. Brochures and order forms will be distributed to the students on March 2nd. Door-to-door selling is not recommended….invite your family and friends to help support our school.
Online ordering is also available at Gertrudehawkchocolates.com…place your order online, pay with a credit card and your order will be delivered to our school for no extra charge. Our group number is 119865.
Order forms must include the students first and last name, school and grade. Enter customer information as indicated on the form and be sure to collect total amount for the order(s). Return top copy of the order form along with cash or checks (make payable to Seth Boyden PTA) in the brochure envelope.
Orders and money are due on Friday, March 13th. UPDATE: Pickup date is March 26th from 3:15p-4p. If you are unable to come at that time, please contact Rodney Fontil to make alternate arrangements- [email protected] or 914-473-7493.
Again, thank you for your support and involvement with our fundraiser events. Every dollar raised is used to provide educational resources to your child.
If you have any questions, please contact Rodney Fontil at [email protected].
The REACH FOR THE STARS Read-a-thon has launched. Your child’s read-a-thon packet should have arrived home in their backpacks by now.
Please have your child read (or you may read to them) for 30 minutes today and write it in their reading log journal tomorrow.
The challenge this year is to read every day
2/2 through 2/20 for 30 minutes or more.
We are attempting to reach our goal of 600 minutes (per student) over the next 3 weeks.
Help your child REACH FOR THE STARS by becoming a STAR READER!
Seth Boyden Silent Auction – An evening of food, drink and prizes for the best cause of all!
Our annual Spring Auction is coming up on March 14th from 6:30-10:30pm. Please save the date for this fun night in support of our school.
We are currently looking for items to auction off during the evening. We are looking for anything unique that YOU might want to bid on, so in addition to donating yourself, please ask your friends or colleagues for their suggestions and donations.
It could be anything from a great bottle of wine; an “insider” sports, talk show or game show experience; a gift of your talents (host a dinner party at your home!?); or anything of value that you can donate. Please email us at [email protected] with any questions or your donation offer.
Thanks for helping out in anyway you can. More information on buying tickets for the evening will be forthcoming shortly!
-Your 2015 auction committee
Little Caesar Pizza Fundraiser
This is our final week of the Little Pizza Fundraiser!
It’s Pizza! Pizza! Time! Time for you, your friends, and your family to stock up with Little Caesars Pizza Kits! Have them on hand for quick dinners, parties or entertaining, especially during SUPER BOWL SUNDAY!!!!!They’re fun to make and delicious to eat! We need your support!
Brochures were sent home prior to the winter break. To place an order online, please visit www.pizzakit.com. Our fundraiser ID# is 292800
How: Collect payment at the time you take orders. Make checks payable to Seth Boyden PTA. Please fill out the top portion of your order form with your name and your best contact phone number (cell phones preferred).
When: Day 12/22/2014 Fundraiser start date.
Day 01/20/2015 Order form and payment due.
Be sure your order form is correctly tallied!
Double check all rows and columns.
Day 01/27/2015 Pick Up of pizza orders Update: Due to the weather, the orders will be delivered on 02/04/2015. Pick up from 3pm-4pm
Where: Pickup will be at: Rear of School Auditorium
Pick up your pizza kits as soon as possible. We will not be responsible for any kits remaining as we do not have storage onsite for them-they will be donated to the local food bank. Remember, if the products thaw they can be refrozen once.
Questions: Please feel free to call Rodney Fontil at 914-473-7493 or email at [email protected] with any questions.
Thank you for your support and participation!
One hundred years ago, a new school opened on Boyden Avenue in Hilton. Just six teachers (all women) came to the school to teach dozens of students from kindergarten through 8th grade under the guidance of principal Frank “Pop” Stevens.
Although the school was first known as the “new Hilton School” (the old Hilton School was located across the street on the corner of Boyden and Tuscan in what is now a church parking lot), a year after its opening it took the name of the neighborhood’s most famous resident, inventor Seth Boyden.
One hundred years on, the school is served by dozens of teachers and educates more than 500 students from kindergarten through 5th grade. The school expanded multiple times in its early years, and has become a magnet in the South Orange-Maplewood School District — quite literally — with its designation as a demonstration school nearly two decades ago.
Now, the Seth Boyden community is participating in a year-long celebration of Seth Boyden School. Starting with a large-scale photo taken in September and baked into every school and PTA event throughout the year, Seth Boyden and its students, past and present, will be celebrating 100 years of excellence in education.
More Seth Boyden facts and pictures:
The facts and pictures presented here were culled by Mrs. Mary Sciaino, retired Seth Boyden librarian, from documents in the Seth Boyden library.
Julia Ribicoff, parent of two Seth Boyden grads (well, as of Monday, June 25) is the Seth Boyden recipient of the Dubrow Volunteer Award for 2012/13.
Julia, a former PTA Board member, has dedicated years of service to Seth Boyden. She’s served in a variety of roles (including Class Parent Coordinator for many years).
Now, Julia has been recognized for her service as an ACHIEVE tutor with the Dubrow Award, which was given to six volunteers this year by the ACHIEVE Foundation. It is bestowed to “tutors who demonstrate their passion for helping children to become independent learners and who inspire their students to help others.”
Julia also received a resolution from the New Jersey Senate and General Assembly honoring her Achieve volunteer work. The official resolution was presented to her by Assemblywoman Mila Jasey last week.
Additionally, a donation was made by the Achieve Foundation to IHN, The Interfaith Hospitality Network (an organization that assists homeless families), in honor of the Dubrow Award winners.
Vice Principal Raquel Horn writes, “Julia is a tremendous asset to our school and passionate about helping our students. In fact, she has already committed herself to working as a tutor for next school year! So many parents support us in a variety of ways and we are truly appreciative.”
Seth Boyden School students are enjoying yet another new piece of playground equipment as a comprehensive overhaul of the Outdoor Learning Center continues to take shape.
The equipment, installed two weeks ago, is officially called the “GameTime Powerscape PlaySystem,” however, PTA Fundraising Chair Caryn Emmons said, “I hear that the kids have taken to calling it the Big Castle.”
The Big Castle is designed for use by children aged 5-12. The cost for the equipment was $37,025. “It was originally $74,050,” reported Emmons, “but I applied for the ‘Back to School Playground Grant’ with the playground equipment company and they awarded us 50% off.” Shipping cost an additional $5,277, and the installation was approximately $15,000.
The entire cost of the purchase, shipping and installation was paid for by the Seth Boyden PTA. The school district contributed mulch.
The Seth Boyden community has been working hard over the past two years to raise funds to pay for the OLC improvements, including grant writing, individual gifts and special events. This past February, the PTA raised $15,000 at an auction gala at Orange Lawn in South Orange. Also this winter, The Seth Boyden Series raised tens of thousands of dollars for the equipment by hosting two events — one featuring Ira Glass of This American Life and the other featuring Tim Gunn of Project Runway.
The Big Castle joins some climbing rocks and a hexamid that were installed last year, with other improvements to come. The overall OLC plan includes more porous paved areas that would be usable in wet weather (currently students are spend recess inside if the field is too wet and muddy), an improved path, improved entrances, and a new amphitheater. Seth Boyden already has notable garden areas including “Strawberry Fields” where classrooms plant flowers, herbs and vegetables.
So how are the reviews for the new equipment?
“What a great few weeks for our community, for the kids and for all of us grownups who have seen part of our dream fulfilled!” wrote PTA President Susie Adamson in an email to the Seth Boyden community. “We opened up the new playground equipment for play last Tuesday. Since then, we have heard many reports from overjoyed children — hurray!”
Merengue. Rumba. Foxtrot. Swing. Polka. Tango.
These are not necessarily the dance moves that Maplewood and South Orange parents are anticipating their children will be bringing home, but, for the last three years, Seth Boyden Demonstration School’s fifth graders have been doing just that.
Seth Boyden has been the beneficiary of NJPAC’s Dancing Ballrooms program since the spring of 2011. Dancing Classrooms Director Pierre Dulaine explained during a visit in 2011 that the program is based on respect, compassion and humor.
“You have to respect the children at their level,” said Dulaine. “What is important is that one does not abuse the power of an adult” when teaching.
Anthony Mazzocchi, South Orange-Maplewood School District Director of Music and Arts, noted at the time that, “Bringing a program like this to the schools is important because, while academics are obviously important, art forms like this give students a way to process data in a creative way.”
This year, Dancing Classrooms’ teaching artists Danielle Thompson and Lisa Gunn-Becker worked with the fifth graders to produce an evening performance on November 19 at the Seth Boyden auditorium (see video). Parents expecting some awkwardness and missteps were dazzled by well-rehearsed and executed dances — as well as the sight of their children, boys and girls alike, truly enjoying themselves and revelling in their accomplishment.
NJPAC is the regional provider of the international Dancing Classrooms Program, which is just one of many offerings from NJPAC Arts Education In-School programs.
Dancing Classrooms is generously supported by Victoria Foundation, David and Marian Rocker, Merck Company Foundation, The Prudential Foundation, Jennifer Chalsty, TD Charitable Foundation, Novo Nordisk, William Randolph Hearst Foundation, Automatic Data Processing, Ann and Stan Borowiec, Edison Properties, The Provident Bank Foundation, and The Johnny Mercer Foundation.
The program was also profiled in the award-winning 2005 documentary film Mad Hot Ballroom.
Mirroring the national election, Seth Boyden students in the upper grades were given a chance to vote for a candidate for President of the United States on Tuesday, November 6.
Several younger grades elected to join in the vote as did staff members. Students were heard asking one another if they had voted.
Election central was held in a fifth grade classroom. The students staffed various responsibilities such as voter sign in, security, handing out ballots, securing the ballot box, etc.
The resultant vote mirrored the results of the national election declaring President Obama re-elected as president for the next four years.
Principal Mark Quiles contributed to this report.