MLK Family Snapshot Newsletter 10-1-26

Posted Date: 10/01/26 (04:45 PM)

October 1, 2026

What is the MLK Snapshot?

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.

Message from the Principal

MLK Families,

The Week of Respect is designed to recognize the importance of social and emotional learning and character education. We observe the week by providing a variety of activities and instruction focused on preventing all forms of Harassment, Intimidation, and Bullying at our school.

Please take some time this week to discuss the importance of respecting one another with your child. As students grow older, and have more and more interactions with peers, maintaining respect for one another becomes increasingly important. It remains at the core of the values we hope to instill in our students each day at MLK.

All the best,

Andrew Kehoe

MLK's Calendar at a Glance

OCTOBER

10/5 to 10/9 - NJ Week of Respect

10/12 - School Picture Day

10/16 - PTO Fall Festival 6pm at MLK

10/19 to 10/23 - NJ School Violence Awareness Week

September Spirit Days

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!

10/2: MLK Spirit Day: Wear your MLK Gear

10/9: Week of Respect - Wear Gold and Blue to show unity and stand against harassment, intimidation, and bullying.

10/16: Sports Day - Celebrate your favorite sports team with a jersey or a hat

10/23: Flannel Friday

10/30: Halloween - Wear your costume or Black & Orange

NJ Week of Respect 2026

Throughout MLK this week and into next week we are encouraging students to take the Week of Respect Pledge:

Our Week of Respect Pledge

As a proud student of MLK, I pledge to help make my school a safe, kind, and welcoming place for everyone every day. I promise to:

Show Kindness: Treat my classmates, teachers, and school community with care, empathy, and respect.

Include Others: Make sure no one feels left out in the classroom, in the hallways, or on the playground.

Stand Up: Speak up or tell a trusted adult if I see someone being bullied, left out, or treated unfairly.

Take Pride: Wear Gold and Blue to show unity and stand against harassment, intimidation, and bullying.

By making this choice today and all year long, I help build a culture of respect where everyone belongs!

Additional Activities for this week include....

Floor to Ceiling Length Banner: School Wide Initiative for students to take the “Week of Respect Pledge.” Each student will sign the pledge with a handprint/signature. Our Banner will be displayed prominently on Monday, Oct 5, 2026 to remind students of the oath they pledge to uphold characteristics that are embodied throughout the Week of Respect.

Mr. Kaiafas will also be joining every classroom in the school throughout the month of October for classroom lesson on identifying bullying, and responding to bullying situations.

Please join us in supporting this messaging from home as well.

MLK Picture Day

Please find all of our info on picture day at the attached flyer below! Our Picture Day is October 12th.

From The PTO

Please check out the important updates from our PTO, including the upcoming Book Fair and membership information.

Bus Reminders

Families are encouraged to review and remind students about our core bus expectations.

Some notices from the first month include:

Making sure to face forward with seatbelt on
Refrain from eating on the bus
Keeping conversations at a normal volume to limit distractions to the driver.

You can check out our Piscataway Bus Expectations at this link.

Thank you as we work together as a school community to ensure safe, comfortable bus rides for all students.

Drop Off and Pick Up Safety Notes

Our traffic safety remains critically important in both the morning and afternoon. A few notes based on some observed instances over the first few weeks...

Drop Off Notes:

Families are asked to use the designated drop off areas in the parking lot loop or the front loop after 7:55 each morning.
Students should not be dropped off on the sidewalk on Ludlow St. while waiting in traffic. Doing so can cause a a dangerous situation and further slow traffic.
Students should always exit the car on the right side to avoid passing in front of vehicles.
Please never perform a K-Turn on Ludlow Street or the drop off areas.

Pick Up Notes:

Please always use designated cross walks.
Families and students should never be crossing the bus loop during pick-up times. Doing so can cause a dangerous situation as busses move through the loop.

Thank you for your attention to these items as we facilitate a safe pickup and drop off each day.

iPad Repairs

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.

iPad Repair Needed? - Click Here

Intermediate School Birthday Procedures

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:

Birthday Celebrations:

• Recognitions are brief and are scheduled at a time of the day that is convenient for the teacher’s classroom schedule. Please make contact with your child’s teacher ahead of time to schedule the date/time.

• Recognitions are for students only (guests/family members may not attend).

• Birthdays are exciting for our 4th & 5th graders. Our Intermediate Schools celebrate “food free” birthdays, which means no special snacks, treats, or edible items may be brought in to share with the class. Instead, a small, non-edible item may be brought in to hand out to your child’s homeroom class. If you would like to celebrate your child’s birthday in any other “food free” way, please reach out to your child’s homeroom teacher at least 1 week in advance.

• Please let your child’s teacher know if your child is not permitted to participate in their peers’ birthday celebrations.

Social and Emotional Supports at MLK

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 Penguin Pillars Positive Behavior Supports (PBIS) Program.

The Second Step 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:

Growth Mindset & Goal-Setting: Children learn how to pay attention and manage distractions, develop a growth mindset, and apply goal-setting strategies to their social and academic lives.
Emotion Management: Children learn how to identify and label emotions and use emotion management strategies—including stress management for older students—to calm strong feelings.
Empathy & Kindness: Children learn how to recognize kindness and act kindly, have empathy for others and take others’ perspectives, and recognize kind acts and empathy as important elements of building and maintaining relationships.
Problem-Solving: Children learn how to identify and state a problem, recognize if a problem is an accident, and use the STEP problem-solving process.

The Penguin Pillars PBIS Program

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.

Counseling and Behavior Supports

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.

MLK Parent Resources

Please remember that our school and district websites remain a primary source for all information related to our schools.

Piscataway District Website

MLK Website