Cucinella Weekly Wrap-Up #3

Week of September 18, 2023

“All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them.” – Walt Disney

THE LAST WEEK OF SEPTEMBER!

WEEK FOUR:

It was another busy week of learning here at Cucinella with Back to School Night squeezed right in the middle. On top of this, our teachers are getting in to the core of their instructional programs as the start of the year assessments are now wrapping up. Now as we move into the upcoming weeks, our teachers are focusing on the task of delivering quality instruction as we transition from start of the year activities and into the heart of the school year's curriculum.

Back to School Nights- We're thrilled to report that our recent Back to School Night at Cucinella was a tremendous success! We want to extend our heartfelt thanks to all the parents, guardians, and families who joined us for this important event. It was a fantastic opportunity for us to connect with you and share insights into our school's exciting plans for the year ahead. We hope you found the presentations informative, and that you were able to meet your child's dedicated teachers. Your active participation on Back to School Night reinforces our commitment to building a strong partnership between home and school. Together, we will continue to create a nurturing and enriching educational experience for your child. If you have any questions or feedback, please don't hesitate to reach out. We look forward to working together to make this school year a truly memorable one for our students. Thank you for being part of our wonderful Cucinella community!

RELATED ARTS SCHEDULE: Tuesday starts our Related Arts schedule on a DAY 2.

Thank you for your continued support. If you have any questions, concerns, or feedback, please do not hesitate to contact me at cperruso@wtschools.org.

Wishing you a wonderful week ahead,

Christopher Perruso

Principal

UPCOMING EVENTS:

9/27 School Picture Day
10/2 PTO General Meeting
10/2 Week of Respect
Blue Up! World Day of Bullying Prevention - Wear Blue!
10/3 Week of Respect
Dress Like Your Favorite Character! (Who also happens to be an UPSTANDER!)
10/4 Week of Respect
Work Out Wednesday! Wear workout clothes - because we work together with RESPECT!
10/5 Week of Respect
Different Day! We are all unique - have fun doing something a little different today! Crazy hair? Get dressed up? Wear a fun hat? YOUR choice!
10/5 Fun Run: PreK
10/6 Fun Run: K-5th
10/9 Schools Closed : Indigenous Peoples' Day /Columbus Day

10/27 Trunk or Treat PTO Family Fun Night
11/9-11/10 Schools Closed: NJEA Teacher Convention
11/13 PTO General Meeting
11/22 Early Dismissal
11/23-11/24 Schools Closed: Thanksgiving Break

PTO Fun Run

Our Benedict A. Cucinella School Fun Run has begun! We are raising funds towards building NEW OUTDOOR LEARNING STRUCTURES for our students!

The Fun Run will be held the week of October 2nd. Running events for our students are as follows:

Thursday, October 5th- PreK Students
Friday, October 6th- Grades K-5
Tuesday, October 10th- Rain Date

This program only lasts for ONE WEEK, so please register your student TODAY on MYBOOSTER.COM. Share your donation page with family and friends.

Register your student for our all-inclusive event. Thanks for your support of Benedict A. Cucinella School!

More information here: https://www.cucinellapto.com/funrun2022

Week of Respect

Hello Cucinella Families!

This year the Week of Respect (October 2 – 6) dovetails with our Boosterthon Fun Run!

How great that our BAC community is coming together in two different ways at the same time! If you are wondering, what is the Week of Respect; it is a week designated each year as part of the Anti-bullying Bill of Rights Act in the State of New Jersey to honor the respect we show to each other, our school community & ourselves. This year, we’d like to encourage you to write a poem with your child or have them write a poem with RESPECT or SELF being the themes. The reason for picking SELF as a theme is that our understanding of who we are helps us to understand & respect the differences in others. We’ll feature some of our poems in Mr. Perruso’s weekly newsletter & on our morning announcements. You might be wondering, can my young child write a poem? Color, Sense & Acrostic poems might be the easiest joint-effort for our youngest students. You can ask your child, if kindness or fairness had a color, what color do you think it would be & why did you pick that color? You can do the same with the 5 senses (sight, sound, taste, smell, feel). If being part of a culture had a flavor, what would it taste like? (We’ve done Peace Day sense poems the past 4 years & the 1st graders have come up with fun & meaningful poems! )

Make sure to include your name, grade & homeroom. Return your poems by Friday, September 29.

Thank you!

-Mrs. McCool

P.S. This is optional.

EXAMPLES

Color Poem

Respect is green like the grass – the foundation & frame

of our yards, gardens & trees.

Sense Poem

Respect feels like a comfortable pair of shoes. You

might not always think about how great it is, but when

you’ve got blistered feet, you know the importance.

Acrostic

M ulti-faceted

O ptimistic

T rue

H eart-filled

E xulted

R eliable

Haiku

Grandma hid her name (5 syllables)

She didn’t like ‘Eugenia’ (7 syllables)

“Jennie” was chosen (5 syllables)

Limerick

Look around our school, what do you see? (A)

A kind and respectful community (A)

Smiles to share (B)

Words of care (B)

Keep this going at BAC (A)

Rhyming Couplet(s)

I’ll be fair to you; will you be kind to me?

That’s the best way for us to be!

Teacher Spotlight: Mrs. Egan and Ms. Swain

In this week's edition of our Teacher Spotlight, we turn our attention to the collaborative efforts of Mrs. Egan and Ms. Swain. These two staff members have been working with our students to maintain our courtyard garden which we built two years ago with a grant from the PTO. The gardening lessons provide students with hands-on opportunities to learn about plants, the environment, and sustainability. These lessons are both educational and engaging, fostering a deeper connection with nature and promoting a sense of responsibility towards the environment. Our students have been growing peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers, and different varieties of lettuce.

Thank you Mrs. Egan and Ms. Swain for your dedication to our students' growth and the creation of these engaging learning experiences.

Here we have Lazo, William, Kevin, DJ, and Dino showing off their harvest of tomatoes from the garden last week.

Dress Code

As we move into the school year, please take a moment to review the board approved dress code for students. It can be found here. Our dress code is enforced to ensure the safety and security of all students and staff. If you have any questions after reviewing please do not hesitate to reach out.

Items of Note:

No hats/bandanas/hoods
No bare midriffs
No sunglasses indoors
No indecent material

Cucinella PTO Happenings:

Nellie's News Flash: Click here for this week's version of Nellie's News Flash.

Next General Membership Meeting:

Monday, October 2nd @7pm

BAC Cafetorium

Memberships 2023-2024 School Year

PTO Memberships for the 2023-2024 School Year are still available! Follow the MemberHub link below to pay for a Family or Staff Membership. We are looking forward to another fantastic year!

https://www.cucinellapto.com/membership