Message from the

Superintendent The Anchor, Clayton School District’s student-inspired District Newsletter

Friends and Families of Clayton:

The Clayton Public School District began this school year with a new initiative called Forward 2021, a strate-gic plan that engages employees, parents, students, community members, business owners, and government leaders in the future planning of our school system. This collaborative planning process will occur over a three-year plan (effective July 2018) with a focus on the District’s efforts and financial resources centered around mutually determined goals that support the needs of our students and the District as a whole.

On behalf of the District, I would like to thank those who participated in the first strategic planning meeting (held in October) where discussions were focused on various District accomplishments, successes, and tra-ditions that instill in us a sense of pride. Please mark your calendars for upcoming Forward 2021 meetings planned for November 15th and December 6th. Discussions will focus on the expectations and needs which represent and reflect every aspect of the Clayton Public School District and provide participants an oppor-tunity to define action steps critical in meeting the community’s goals and expectations by the year 2021. Details of the meetings can be found below.

There is increasing pressure on our students to compete with 21st century skills. Forward 2021 allows us to identify opportunities during these challenging times and focus all of the community’s resources toward common goals. I invite you to join with the Board of Education, our faculty and staff, and all those who have a vested interest in the success of the Clayton Public School Dis-trict as we begin this journey forward towards 2021.

Sincerely,

Nikolaos Koutsogiannis, Superintendent

Clayton Public School District

Clayton Board of Education

350 East Clinton Street

Clayton, New Jersey 08312

Phone: 856-881-8700

Fax: 856-863-8196

www.claytonps.org

NON-PROFIT ORG.

U.S. POSTAGE

P A I D

PERMIT NO. 6

ECRWSS

POSTAL CUSTOMER

This newsletter was created in-house by Clayton Public School District staff and students.

Date Time Place Meeting Theme

November 15, 2017 6:30 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. Clayton High School Cafeteria Expectations for the Future

December 6, 2017 6:30 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. Clayton High School Cafeteria Creating an Action Plan

The

Anchor SCHOOL DISTRICT OF CLAYTON COMMUNITY NEWSLETTER

ISSUE 8 FALL/WINTER 2017

“Community involvement has always been a cornerstone of public education. With this in mind, Clayton is

looking to strengthen relationships among school and community constituents and increase opportunities for

adult and family programming to families in our area.” — Nikolaos Koutsogiannis, Superintendent

With a focus to increase community outreach and create opportunities for adult

programming, Clayton Public School District has created the P.A.C.E. Program

(Partnership in Adult & Community Education.) The District plans to partner

with local organizations and vendors to provide workshops, classes, and special

activities to adults in our region. According to Superintendent, Nikolaos

Koutsogiannis, “Community involvement has always been a cornerstone of pub-

lic education. With this in mind, Clayton is looking to strengthen relationships

among school and community constituents and increase opportunities for adult

programming to families in our area.” The District plans to provide use of the

media center, classrooms, computer labs, and other open space areas. Requests

for use of space should be directed to Lisa Twomey at 856-881-8700, ext. 3059,

or email ltwomey@claytonps.org. Requests will be granted based on availability

of space and on a first come/first served basis.

Article written by Lisa Twomey, Special Projects Director

Inside view of Clayton High School’s Cleve W. Bryan

Media Center located at 55 Pop Kramer Boulevard,

Clayton, NJ 08312.

The Clayton Performing Arts Center kicks off the 2017-2018 school year with an Off-Broadway act featuring Dena Blizzard’s One Funny Mother, October 21, 2017 at 7PM. Tickets are open to the public and on sale now, $25 in advance/$30 at the door. Visit http://claytonpac.com/ or call 856-881-8700, ext. 3059. Show starts at 7PM. Doors open at 6PM. Clayton’s Performing Arts Center is located at 55 Pop Kramer Boulevard, Clayton, NJ, 08312.

“One Funny Mother” is a great girls night out or date night for anyone who is a mom, has a mom, or is married to a mom. Have you ever gone un-showered for days, fought with your husband over who works harder, or had a kid pee on you? Dena Blizzard’s hilarious show “One Funny Mother” will make you realize you’re not crazy- motherhood is!

The Education Foundation, a nonprofit organization, raises money for school programs and pro-

jects that are not covered by the Clayton Public School District’s regular budget. The Education Foundation Chairperson,

Mary Catherine Prior, explains “Grant money is awarded by the Foundation’s Board members based on applications submitted by

District teachers and administration at Clayton’s elementary, middle, and high schools.”

Information submitted by: Victoria Bainbridge, Treasurer, Clayton Public School District Education Foundation, Inc.

Information submitted by the building Principals

Clayton’s Summer Assignment Program helps to make-up for the “break” in learning during the weeks off from school and

supports academic achievement outcomes when children return to school in the fall. The initiative was launched by Clay-

ton teaching staff (District-wide.) More than 80% of students completed this year’s assignments. The high participation

rate might have been encouraged by the variety of projects offered to the students and the motivation and enthusiasm of

the teachers. The summer assignments were designed to be fun and engaging in an effort to encourage kids to keep learn-

ing during the long summer break. The District appreciates the support and involvement of our parents as it is truly

invaluable to the success and achievement of our students.

HERMA SIMMONS ELEMENTARY SCHOOL — Mr. Scott Uribe, Principal

After a long summer of fun in the sun, it was time for students and staff to return for another terrific year of learning at Simmons Ele-mentary School. With an enrollment of nearly 700 students, Simmons opened

its doors on a bright and sunny Tuesday, September 5, 2017. The Clayton School District has been actively revising curriculum and student materials for the past several years to meet the demands of 21st century learn-ing. At Simmons, we are using an exciting and challeng-ing new mathematics program, implementing science instruction driven by the NGSS, and continuing to build upon our strong student-centered instruction in all our subject areas. The first few weeks of school have been exciting and rewarding for everyone in our learning community. We have been celebrating each other, learn-ing about each other, and learning from each other while adjusting to being back in school and working hard to-ward our motto of Nothing Short of Excellence. It’s going to be a terrific 2017-2018 school year!

CLAYTON MIDDLE SCHOOL— Mr. Marvin Tucker, Principal

Gold Clayton lanyards were given out to every student who entered through the cafeteria on

the first day of school. Balloons decorated the entrance and signs offered encouraging words

like “study hard” and “welcome back.” High fives, pats on the back, and many smiles sprin-

kled in between “we missed you,” “you’ve gotten taller,” and “you look nice today” could be

heard throughout. The 2017-2018 school year has started off well with several new initia-

tives focused on strengthening student/student and student/staff relationships; enhancing

students’ reading levels by expanding the District’s resources and increasing opportunities for students to read; con-

serving energy and reducing the school’s carbon footprint through energy efficient practices; and implementation of a

new positive behavior support system called PBSIS designed to encourage positive interactions and successful youth.

CLAYTON HIGH SCHOOL — Mr. Joe Visalli, Principal

Balloons lined the walkway

to the new Performing Arts

Center (PAC) where Clayton

High School students gath-

ered for a fun and successful

opening to the school

year. As the students en-

tered through the new PAC,

they were greeted by enthusi-

astic teachers who passed out

Clayton Clipper lanyards to

everyone. A slideshow played

with pictures from various

events and activities from the previous school year com-

plete with the theme song from Welcome Back Kotter

playing in the background. High School Principal Mr.

Visalli addressed the students expressing his excitement in

starting as a first year building principal while discussing

expectations for the upcoming months ahead.

Information submitted by Marvin Tucker, Middle School Principal

The fall athletic season is underway, and the Clippers are off to a fast start. The girls soc-cer program coached by Ms. Shelson had a big win over Pitman in the division last week and continues to impress with young players. The girls just played a game at Talen Energy Field, home of the Philadelphia Union. Ni-colette Jernegan anchors the defense with Sara Weinert and Jayda Marshall providing the offense. The boys’ team is in the thick of things in the pursuit of a Classic Division Championship. The offense is led by goal scorers Mahir Yilmaz and Tom Cliver with Gabe Burke and freshman Jose Marinero providing support in the midfield. Trevor Gallaher has been the defensive leader with freshman Luke Koening in net. Mahir Yil-maz broke the school record for goals scored

in a game with 6 last week.

The field hockey program, thought to be rebuilding, has turned in some impressive victories on the young season under new coaches, Mrs. Krieger and Mrs. Higginson. Rachel Valverde has been spectacular in net with Casey Moore, Hannah Halikman, Taylor Bagby, and Chandeler Hawkes impressing on the field. Kali Rogers, Natalie Pasquale, and newcomer Paige White have stepped in varsity roles immediately. The football team has 38 players on the roster under first year Coach Harvey. The team is full of underclassmen and re-building for the future. Nick Shimkus, Sean Green, Nate Garrison, and Dorien Depina have been leaders on the field with a young squad. Young players that are contributing immediately are Nate Mitchell, Brian Muller, Tommy Wat-son, Thomas Hampton, Justin Gibson, Xavier Andro, and Hilton Smith. The cross country team is led by juniors Erick

Dickens and Hannah Sylvester.

The fall schedules can be found on highschoolsports.net and will have up-to-the minute changes. Looking forward to see-

ing everyone out on the fields in the fall.

Article submitted by Dan Antonelli, Athletic Director

Information Provided by Joe Visalli, HS Principal & Carol Wright, Teacher

Article submitted by Elizabeth Winterburn, Early Childhood Supervisor

As part of the Preschool Ex-pansion Grant, the state re-quires that each of our Pre-K four classrooms be evaluated by the National Institute for Early Education Research us-ing the Early Childhood Rating Scale Evaluation (ECERS-3). This study is the continuation of work begun in 2015-2016 to evaluate the quality of class-

rooms in New Jersey’s PEG districts. The ECERS-3 was adminis-tered in each PEG classroom across all 16 districts in each year of the study. Each intensive classroom observation lasts for three hours. The preschool is rated by thirty-five indicators that range from Space and Furnishings in the classroom, Personal Care Rou-tines, Language and Literacy, Learning Activities, Interaction, and Program Structure.

Last year in Clayton, our Five Pre-K 4 classrooms were observed during the last two weeks of March. The overall score represented an average given on all 35 rated items. The scores range from 1, which indicates low quality, to a 7, which indicates excellent quality.

The score report shows the scores from the 2015-2016 school year along with the results from the 2016-2017 school year. The overall average score for the 2016-2017 school year recorded a much higher rating than that of the 2015-2016 school year. This higher rating proves the quality preschool program we have in Clayton and documents district level patterns of quality over time. Additionally, 25 out of 35 indicators showed a higher rating. This rating is attributed to the hard work and dedication of the preschool team to the preschool program and our Clayton family!

We have also seen huge success in the new Kindergarten Transition Plan that was redesigned last spring to help better prepare our pre-schoolers for Kindergarten. As part of our Transition Plan, Kinder-garten Transition Camp was also redesigned. Preliminary feedback reported that 13/14 students can write their name, and the overall transition into kindergarten has been highly successful!

Several of our teachers and staff (Carol

Wright, Sharon Blutinger, An-

drea Bullock, Darby Malvey, Patty

Reuter, Nicole Rogers, Michelle

Krieger, and Amanda Hall) w ill

be recognized at the NJEA Celebration

of Excellence Luncheon and Awards program on No-

vember 10, 2017 for their part in developing the

Learning to Stitch; Stitching to Give program,

made possible by the NJEA Frederick L. HIPP Foun-

dation for Excellence in Education. The Learning to

Stitch, Stitching to Give HIPP Grant program gives

MS & HS students an opportunity to learn how to

crochet, machine sew and embroider to create things

for themselves and others. Money from the grant

purchased several machines and other supplies so

that regular and special education students can work

together to make things and complete community

service projects.

Some of the community service projects we will be

sewing are Christmas stockings for soldiers over seas

(http://www.stockingsforsoldiers.org/), also sewing

pillowcases for children in the hospital (http://

caseforsmiles.org/), and crocheting blankets for the

elderly. In addition to these projects, there will be

people from the community coming in to lend their

expertise.