Fall 2018
Dear Bellmawr Learning Community Member,
It’s
hard to believe that first marking period has ended and we are heading
into the holiday season. It’s been a successful quarter to date with
many positive events and activities for our families and our students.
The Annette Castiglione Early Childhood Center is brimming with
activity. We are pleased that we were able to open one more classroom
this September for a total of 10 classes for our three and
four-year-olds. Our teachers, students and families work well with our
new Master Teacher, Eva Kovacs. She loves our children and knows so much
about early childhood development. We welcome Andrea Pfeiffer, our new
social worker, who has spent her early days visiting our families and
getting to know our students and their families.
The staff of the
Bellmawr Park elementary school welcomed 3rd and 4th grade students and
their teachers this September when they had to be moved out of the
Burke School. The Dragons and Penguins have done a great job of
collaborating and cooperating with one another. They sure know how to
make lemonade from lemons.
The kindergarten, first and second
grade Burke students sure miss their classmates but are doing well
holding down the fort of the newer portion of the Burke School. We
welcome Mr. Reilly, our new guidance counselor for the Burke School. He
comes to us with a wealth of varied experience and has hit the ground
running, getting to know our staff and students.
We are hoping
that contractors are responsive to the bids we issued for the repairs
that must be done at the EM Burke School. We didn’t expect for this to
take as long as it has to begin, but we are at the mercy of the process.
The rooms affected by the fire will look very different once
construction is completed. We do not expect to return to that school
this academic year.
Parents, teachers, Board members and
administrators came together this fall to explore how we sponsor field
trips. All field trip requests have been submitted to the Board of
Education for their approval at the November Board meeting, which is
Wednesday, November 28, 2018 @ 6:00. Perhaps you can join us to learn
about what’s going on in our learning community. We will have a chrome
book demonstration at the meeting as our 2nd-4th grade students use them
during their learning in the day. If you’re not able to attend the
meeting I urge you to visit our web site to keep abreast of what’s
happening around the district and in the schools. We welcome Jody Mangus
and Mike Williams back to the Board of Education to serve our community
another 3 years.
So many exciting activities are planned for our
middle school students. Mr. Farinelli has a book club for 7th and 8th
grade students. We’ve begun trips for 8th grade students to local
colleges and high schools. Our student mentors, mediators and peer
mentors are working with their classmates to increase communication and
decrease social and academic problems. There are so many extracurricular
activities available to students – there’s something for
everyone-sports, chess club, gaming club, chorale, and band to name a
few. Our new Academic Lab period provides a time for enrichment and
remediation to students who need it. Ask your child(ren) about what they
are doing and learning during that time.
We have had many
additions to our staff this year with Mr. Di Bartolo is on sabbatical
and Ms. Arrizon retired from teaching Spanish. Mr. Farinelli has worked
diligently to find a suitable replacement Spanish teacher. We welcome
Ms. Delgado the day we return from Thanksgiving break. I know you’ll
give her a warm Bellmawr welcome. Ms. Shivers is having fun teaching
Spanish to our elementary students, a first in Bellmawr, and from what I
can tell she is having a good deal of success with our youngest
students.
I hope you will enjoy the holiday break and I look forward to our continued work together!
Annette Castiglione, Superintendent
