Clear communication and connecting with families are two of our top priorities at MLK! The Snapshot is our weekly information newsletter sent every Thursday afternoon. Our hope is that you will be able to use this Snapshot to stay connected with important calendar dates, events, and everything else related to MLK.

MLK Families,

At school this week our students did a terrific job with our focus on school safety. In every classroom, as well as the cafeteria and recess, we discussed the importance of all of our safety procedures. In addition, our discussions focused on our emotional safety as well. All students have the right to feel comfortable in their learning environment, and all of our students are responsible for the things that they say to one another. Learning happens the best when our students feel safe and comfortable in our building. I'll ask that all families continue to reiterate this important point at home as well.

All the best,

Andrew Kehoe, Principal

SEPTEMBER

Wednesday, Sept. 17 - Back to School Night 6:00pm

Wednesday, Sept. 24 - Fundraising Kickoff Assemblies (student in-school event)

Monday, Sept. 29 - PTO Book Fair Begins

Our Back to School Night is scheduled for Wednesday, September 17th at 6:00pm. I highly encourage all parents to attend this informative night!

Our schedule for the evening is below.

Our Music staff has been meeting with 4th grade classes and new students all week regarding ways to sign up for Band, Chorus, and Orchestra.

 

For 4th grade students, new MLK students, or 5th grade students looking to play an instrument for the first time at MLK - please see the attached letters for sign up information!

 

For 5th grade returning Band, Chorus, or Orchestra members - you do not need to sign up again as you will be carried over to this year in the program.

 

Sign-ups for our groups are due by September 19th, but students should sign-up and rent as soon as possible to secure the instrument of their choice and to facilitate lesson scheduling. Lessons will begin on or around September 29th.

Attached to the Snapshot is a letter for anyone interested in further information and registration for an ensemble group.

Every Friday at MLK is a special Spirit Day!

Here is a list of our September Spirit Days. We invite all students to dress up and participate!

9/12: Favorite Place Shirt Day - Wear a shirt from your favorite place to visit

9/19: Hat Day - Wear your favorite hat

9/26: College Spirit Day - Show off your favorite college

We are excited to share the PTO has a new site devoted to all things MLK.

You can follow this link to check out the site, and find our flyer attached!

This past week we emphasized all things safety at MLK. Nothing is more important each day at our school than the safety of our students.

Our Piscataway school safety procedures are well established and constantly reinforced throughout the year in our schools. At home, please consider talking to your student about the importance of keeping themselves and everyone safe. Student should always communicate with trusted adults about anything concerning, and parents can always bring any concerns expressed at home to the attention of the administration.

The National Safety Council, NJ Department of Ed, and many other online resources are available for parents to help generate these conversations. Please feel free to reach out to my attention at akehoe@pway.org if you have any questions regarding any safety items here at MLK.

You can fill out a repair ticket for your child's iPad at any time! Coming to school with a working device is important. If your child's device has been damaged in any way please use the following link to bring this to the attention of the district IT department.

Our birthday procedures at the Intermediate level have been updated for this school year. Please read carefully before planning any celebrations!

From the Intermediate Student Handbook:

All parents are strongly encouraged to review the letter regarding Parent access to the Schoology learning platform.

In the letter attached to this week's newsletter from Mr. Chris Irovando, our district Supervisor of Instructional Technology, you will find how to view your child's Schoology resources.

Please see below for an overview of our school-wide Social Emotional Supports at King.

In addition to individual and group counseling, we provide schoolwide support to all students through two initiatives - the Second Step SEL Program and our Pillars of Penguin Pride Positive Behavior Supports (PBIS) Program.

We want your child to be successful in school and that means supporting and encouraging their whole development. While excelling in academic classes is important, children also need skills to take on learning challenges, make good decisions, manage strong emotions, and get along with others.

We utilize resources from the Second Step SEL program, a research-based social-emotional learning program designed to improve children’s social-emotional skills. Second Step skills and concepts are designed to help children both in and out of school. Four units will cover the following:

We also want to continually recognize and celebrate our students. Positive Behavior Supports programs identify desired behaviors and recognize students that practice them around the school.

At King, we have identified a core behavior each month and recognition opportunities to encourage and promote schoolwide positive behaviors. This provides a fun schoolwide way to recognize our students.

Throughout the year we offer "lunch bunches" focused on specific social-emotional needs, individual counseling, and in class lessons along targeted themes for our students. Mr. Kaiafas, our wonderful school counselor, is always here to respond to any student needs. If you feel your child would benefit from any specific programming he can be emailed at nkaiafas@pway.org. You can also call the main office any time if looking for supports for your child.

President - Melissa Lieberman-Elimanco

Vice President - Deepna Javan

Treasurer - Jennifer DeQuattro-Haskin

Secretary - Rachel Sy