Schools

What's Happening In Holmdel Schools: Superintendent's Report

Student achievement, charity drives, teacher recognition

The following is the monthly report provided to the Holmdel Board of Education by Superintendent Barbara Duncan and published on the district website. Names of students are not included in the report due to district policy. 


Superintendent’s Report
Wednesday, March 26, 2014
Highlights since our last board meeting:

Enrollment

 

District: The 2nd Annual “Battle of the Holmdel Faculties” is scheduled for Thursday, March 27th, at 6:30 pm in the high school gym, tickets at the door are $5.00! 

The event is sponsored by the HFEE, who support gift initiatives for students and staff throughout our district.  To that end, the four teams will be competing in a variety of events, with the overall school winner earning the first possession of the prestigious “Faculty Cup” – which they can display proudly in their Main Office for the coming year!  

Find out what's happening in Holmdel-Hazletwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Events on this night will include:

·         Basketball (Skills and 3-on-3 competition)

Find out what's happening in Holmdel-Hazletwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

·         Volleyball

·         Crab Soccer

·         Hula Hoop

·         Jump Rope

·         Obstacle Course

·         Relay Races

·         Are You Smarter Than Your Students?

·         Team Dance and Cheer Competitions

·         and so much more

 

The team colors are:

Village - Black

Indian Hill –  Grey

Satz - Red

High School  - Blue


Village School:

Congratulations to 2nd graders for doing a fantastic job with their musical performance on March 13, 2014 and March 14, 2014.  They had the opportunity to perform for all of our Village School students and our 2nd grade families.  We thank the PSA for a wonderful assembly.  The students had the opportunity to see “New Kid” brought to them by George Street Playhouse on March 18, 2014.  The play tied into character education initiatives by promoting treating everyone with respect.  The Village Idol Committee also had the opportunity to meet again to put some final plans into place. Please hold the date for May 2nd.  No doubt it will be another great show!

 

Indian Hill School:

  • Indian Hill School participated in the annual "Hoops for Heart" program which meshes physical education with an emphasis on healthy living and heart-healthy behavior. This year's fundraiser raised $6,311.75 for the American Heart Association. Thank you to the Indian Hill Physical Education staff for their hard work with this program. 
  • On March 25th, the Indian Hill School band and chorus performed in the annual District Music show. This is an excellent showcase for our young musicians and all of their hard work throughout the year. Special thanks to Trina McCarthy and Meredith Thomas for all of their work with our students.
  • The installation of the new sound system at Indian Hill has been completed. This HFEE funded project is a major upgrade to the auditorium's sound quality and will benefit our young performers for years to come. We are very grateful to the HFEE for all of their support of the arts at Indian Hill School. 

W. R. Satz School:

  • Satz School would like to congratulate a 7th grade student, for qualifying to compete at the state level for the National Geographic Bee on April 4th.  Let’s wish him good luck as he represents Satz in this academic competition!
  • On Tuesday, April 8, 2014, the Second Annual 8th Grade Fair will take place. On this day, the parents of the 8th grade students are invited to visit the school and view presentations by their students, who will be giving short presentations in the gym throughout the day. The presentations will provide information about the philanthropy-based projects the students worked on throughout the third marking period in their Language Arts classes.  The Fair is a chance for the 8th grade students to give presentations to an authentic audience, in the form of their parents, and the parents of their peers.
  • The Satz School’s Social Studies department is collecting jars of peanut butter and jelly for donation to the Keyport Food Pantry from now until April 4th.  This is being done in partnership with the volunteer organization Do-Something.org’s initiative, the Peanut Butter & Jelly Slam.  Supplies can be given to any Social Studies teacher or brought to either Mrs. Burns or Mrs. Kelly’s rooms.
  • Congratulations to the Continental Math League students for their strong showings at their most recent competition.

Holmdel High School:

HHS Students Shine at Jersey Shore Science Fair

  • Congratulations to the students who were recognized for outstanding achievement at the Jersey Shore Science Fair on March 22, 2014.

HHS Student – Biology Olympiad Semifinalist

  • Congratulations to a junior student who is one of 600 high school students (out of 7000 participants) to become a United States Biology Olympiad semifinalist!

Science League – March Results

  • The March meet of the New Jersey Science League was held recently at Freehold Borough High School.  Holmdel took first place in Bio1, Bio2, Chem1, and Phys 2, and second place in Chem 2 and Phys1.  Congratulations to our competitors for their incredible effort and to their teachers for preparing them so well! 

HHS Social Science Teacher Selected for Summer Institute

  • Congratulations to Ms. Marie Kousoulis, a member of the Social Sciences Department, who was recently accepted into the Colonial Williamsburg Teacher Institute later this summer, one of only twenty-five educators chosen nationwide to attend!

 

HHS Senior Receives Monmouth County Caring Award

  • Congratulations to a senior student who was honored recently by the Monmouth County Guidance Directors’ Association with a “Caring Award.”  This award is given to one student from every high school in Monmouth County who exemplifies the meaning of caring.  At their breakfast, the winners, their families, their guidance counselors, their guidance directors, and their principals all watched videos on the amazing activities for which the students participate.  Our student was selected for her work with the Eco Club, Team Unify, Project Unify, as well as several other wonderful activities. Here is a link to her video, which was shown at the breakfast:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NVOHO6HMG6E&feature=youtu.be

 

HHS Students Earn “All-Star” Band Recognition

  • Congratulations to the HHS student-musicians on their recognition as music “all-stars” for the All-Shore Symphonic Band, All-Region Symphonic Band, All-State Symphonic Band, All-Shore Jazz Band, and the All- Region Jazz Band.

 

HHS Jazz Band Soars in Showcases

  • The Jazz Band received the highest rating of "Superior" at the recent Pennsbury Jazz Festival. They also received an award for having the "Best Saxophone Section". A Sophomorestudent received an, "Outstanding Musician Award" and a senior student received an "Outstanding Soloist Award". Additionally, the Jazz Band received a Gold Rating at the NJAJE preliminary State Festival and were accepted into the State Finals to be held at Princeton in April. They also won awards for Best Saxophone Section and Best Trombone Section and a senior student received and award for “Outstanding Soloist.”

 

HHS Student is an Archery Champion

  • Congratulations to a freshman student who recent achievements in Archery. He won a 3rd place medal at the 2014 US National Indoor Championships held recently in Virginia. He is currently ranked among the top 5 in NJ, top 10 in the East Region and top 50 nationally.

 

State Runner Up in “Poetry Out Loud” Competition

  • Congratulations to a senior student who placed 2nd overall  STATE FINALS of the Poetry Out Loud” competition on Friday, March 14th at the NJ Performing Arts Center. In addition to earning a $100 cash award, she won $500 in poetry books for the school!

 

Special Services:

  • Team Unify held Disability Awareness Fairs at the High School on March 26, 2014; Satz on March 20, 2014; and will hold one at Indian Hill on March 31, 2014. Students from each school visited booths that gave information as well as simulations of different disabilities. They are doing this in an effort to raise awareness about a variety of different disabilities.  They want the students to gain an understanding of and empathy for what it is like to have a disability at the same time educating them on the gifts that each and every person possesses regardless of their disability.  Students participate at a variety of different booths such as Epilepsy, Down Syndrome, Autism and Visual Impairments.  At the Epilepsy booth our own student read his book "Will & Potter, The story of a young man and his best friend and seizure dog” with Potter by his side.  He also soke about the effects Epilepsy has had on his life.  At the Visual Impairment booth students wear visual simulation glasses and are asked to identify everyday things and read everyday texts.  They discuss how it would feel to live like that on a daily basis. At the Down Syndrome booth a senior student and president of Team Unify, spoke about Down Syndrome and some of the myths associated with it. She relays experiences of her brother who has Down Syndrome. Out of this comes a respect and empathy for those living with these disabilities and an increased awareness throughout the school community that will unite all students.
  • At Village School and for the 4th and 5th grade students at Indian Hill there will be various activities provided through the morning meeting and character education periods throughout the month of April.

Best Regards,

Barbara Duncan 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


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