Summer of 2014-What We've Been Up to

This weekend marks for most of us in the K-12 education world the end of summer.  The LCCS faculty returns on Monday to begin planning and preparing for the 2014-2015 school year.

Given that we have reached that point I think today would be a wonderful time to reflect on how the LCCS community used the summer to plan, learn, and continue to teach our students.

Summer Program

For the second year in a row in July LCCS ran an academic summer program for students in the Lower School that also participate in our free and reduced lunch program.  The program offered our students entering grades 1-5 the opportunity for additional instruction in reading, writing, and math.  Students worked in small groups with our teachers.  We offered additional academic enrichment for students participating in the program that were above grade level in reading and math.  This year 40 students attended the program which ran from Tuesdays through Thursdays for a full day.  Thanks to all the families that participated in the program and the incredible LCCS team that developed and ran the program.  We look forward to offering the program again next summer.

NJCU Literacy Center Institute

During the last week in July eight of our teachers and teacher assistants in grades K-3 attended an institute at NJCU for developing literacy centers within their classrooms.  The teachers learned how to create centers within their room for students to further develop their reading comprehension and writing skills. They planned how to structure their reading and writing classes to encourage their independence while also increasing students’ skills in terms of building vocabulary, reading fluency, and keeping journals.

Metamorphosis Summer Math Institute

In August Ms. Rha, Ms. Wuerthner, Ms. Tyjer, Mr. Anderson, Ms. Smith, and Ms. Flam participated in a workshop for teachers to study math at an academic level with master math educators and coaches from the Metamorphosis Institute.  The guiding concept behind the institute is that the more teachers master the content they teach the more aware they become in terms of how to effectively teach these concepts to students.  This institute was the launch of year-long partnership between LCCS and Metamorphosis to enhance our teachers in grades PreK-8 skills’ and understanding of how to engage and challenge students in math. 

Welcome Back for the 2014-2015 School Year

Dear Learning Community Family,

I hope that this correspondence finds you well, and that you are continuing to enjoy your summer. As the days quickly pass, we all become excited and anxious for the beginning of the school year. I will hold off on the official “welcome back” message because I don’t want you to rush what remains of your summer. We are currently in the process of mailing out welcome packets which contain information about your child’s teacher for the coming school year.

Please make a note that Curriculum Night for Lower School will be on 9-23 at 6:30 pm and Middle School Curriculum Night will be on 9-30 at 6:30 pm.  PreK Curriculum Night will be at 5:30 on 9-23.

We do have some staffing changes in teaching assignments for the coming year.  I am pleased to announce that all of our teachers are highly qualified and certified in the academic subjects they are teaching.  This year’s faculty is truly impressive for their tremendous skill set and their interest in providing all our students with educational experiences that are engaging, challenging, and meaningful.

We are thrilled to announce that Ms. Wood will join the first grade team bringing her tremendous passion for community and her creativity to the first grade.

Laura Callegari will join us as the 4^th grade teacher during Ms. Nardiello’s maternity leave.  Ms. Callegari holds a degree from the University of Padua in English and French.  She has an extensive career as a translator and in international business.  She is currently pursuing her studies to become an ELL teacher.

Michelle Smith will teach kindergarten during Ms. Finn’s (formerly Ms. Turner’s) maternity leave.  Ms. Smith has served as the Assistant Teacher in kindergarten for many years and has an in-depth understanding of our kindergarten program.  Samantha Gutierrez will serve as the Kindergarten Assistant while Ms. Smith teaches kindergarten. 

Dana Guzman will continue to be our Math Early Intervention Specialist.  She will also become the Director of our Early Intervention Program (formerly known as the Basic Skills Program).

Sarah Westley will serve as our reading specialist and early intervention teacher.

This year we also welcome several new members to our LCCS family.

Aisha de Los Santos will be our third PreK teacher.  Aisha is famously known as Miss A throughout Jersey City.  She previously taught at Jersey City’s PreK program at St. Bridget’s.  She has taught many of our current students and is celebrated throughout Jersey City for her incredible creativity and passion for early childhood education.  She will be joined in PreK by Tiffany Fitch the Teacher Assistant in Ms. Tracy’s room.  Christina McGary will become the Assistant Teacher in Ms. Tracy’s room.

Mallory Vessa will be our third grade teacher this year.  Mallory completed her undergraduate degree at Catholic University this past fall.  Mallory student taught in Washington DC at a school that could be the virtual mirror image of LCCS.  While student teaching Ms. Vessa conducted an extensive action research project on differentiated instruction in reading that was incredibly rigorous and looks much like the work we do regularly as a school. She is gracious, warm, reflective, diligent and someone who has known from an early point in her life that she wanted to dedicate her life to educating children and making a difference in the world through her work.  

Natahsa Tyjer will be our new 4^th grade teacher.  Ms. Tyjer joins us after teaching third grade at Maria Varisco Charter School in Newark.  Natasha is from Paterson and attended the University of Pennsylvania.  During her interview Natasha was probably one of the most passionate candidates for constructivist education we have ever met.  When her demo lesson concluded students lined up to hug her.  It will be exciting to see her work and her classroom.

Mirtha Perez joins us as our Spanish teacher.  Ms. Perez joins us from the Village School in Waldwick.  She is incredibly creative and has an incredible passion for teaching both Spanish language and culture.  This year we are increasing the amount of Spanish our middle school students receive to four days a week.  In order to make these changes Ms. Perez and Mr. Lambert will teach both middle and lower classes.  Ms. Perez will be teaching in our new Spanish room which was formerly the computer lab. 

Allyson Szcesi will be our new special education and early intervention teacher.  Ms. Szcesi attended the University of Delaware and did most of her student teaching in schools with multiply disabled students.  She is incredibly creative and managed to teach a demo lesson that included the use of technology, handmade puppets, and books designed specifically for each student. 

Marianne Conod will be our 7^th grade ELA teacher.  Ms. Conod has a wealth of knowledge about young adult literature and teaching writing.  A committed urban educator she has taught in Newark and Plainfield, and at the University of Pennsylvania.  She has an MFA and is also a lawyer as well.  When one of the middle school students in her demo lesson learned that she was hired for the position he thanked us for making that selection. 

 Katie Goral will be our 8^th grade ELA teacher.  Ms. Goral is from Wisconsin and joins us after spending a few years teaching and tutoring in Grenada where her husband attended medical school.  She studied at the University of Wisconsin and has a MA in reading and literacy.  Ms. Goral student taught both in middle school and high school. She is incredibly resourceful and was able to arrange to teach a demo lesson in a school she did not work in with students she'd never met before while a kindergarten class was meeting in the same room!   She simply exudes warmth and has an incredible sense of humor. 

Please enjoy the remainder of the summer – it goes by quickly! Spend time with your family, rest, relax, and have fun!

See you soon!

Colin Hogan