"Speaking to your Children about Sex": Workshop for Parents

On Thursday, March 4th at 6pm Ms Yvette Porter, a consultant who is currently working with our 8th grade students, will present a workshop for parents on the topic of “Speaking to your Children about Sex.” Please try to arrange your schedule so that you can attend this important workshop. A light dinner will be provided and child care will be available for parents who need to bring their children with them on Thursday evening.

Homework Expectations Parent/Guardian Workshop

On Thursday, March 11th at 6:00 pm we will present a workshop for parents and guardians on Homework Expectations. Please attend this important event to learn about the ways that you can support our teachers in holding your students accountable to high expectations for consistently completing EXCELLENT homework assignments every night.
We will discuss how our teachers support and celebrate students in their production of excellent homework assignments, and outline the accountability consequences for students who choose not to put effort into their homework.

Interim Assessments

On Wednesday, March 3rd and Thursday, March 4th all students in grades 5-8 will be taking interim assessments in math and Language Arts. These assessments are part of our initiative to build on our student achievement results and prepare for the NJASK State tests. Please support us by ensuring that your children are on time and present on all testing days. Make sure that they have had a good night's rest and have eaten a nutritious breakfast on the days of the tests.

Parent Workshop: Building and Maintaining Strong Home-School Partnerships

A Parent Workshop is scheduled for Saturday, March 20th from 10am-12 noon. All Pride Academy parent/guardians are invited to participate in the workshop presented by our guest speaker, Ms Tanya Caeser. Ms Caeser is certified and experienced in school counseling, guidance, and teaching Family Life Education and Multicultural Education. She will speak on the topic of 'Building and Maintaining Strong Home-School Partnerships'.

Please Note that all students who have been assigned Saturday Detention for March 13th and March 20th must attend this session with their parents.

Breakfast refreshments will be served.

(This workshop was originally scheduled for Saturday March 13th but has been rescheduled due to winter weather.)

Our Mathletes Feel the Pride

On Saturday, the Pride team of Mathletes presented at the North Central Region Chapter of MathCounts at Montclair State University!

The experience of being on a college campus and competing at this level of math performance was important and motivational for our students. They worked cooperatively, confidently, and with a supportive spirit as a team and as individuals to demonstrate their mental math and problem solving skills.

A HUGE thank you goes out to Ms Kalenak! Her initiative in forming a MathCounts team at Pride and her persistence in coaching and supporting our students have given us all the gift of feeling the pride that effort, and going above and beyond can achieve.

Parent Council Meeting

On January 21, we had our first Parent Council meeting of the year. We had the best turn out in our history, and the enthusiasm and positive energy was flowing. The Parent Council set their goals for the year. We hope that the whole community will work to support the Parent Council in reaching the following:

• To increase parent support and participation through the development and implementation of an incentive program.

• To raise funds to provide Pride Academy students with cubbies or some type of storage for coats and books.

The next Parent Council Meeting will be Thursday, Feb 18th at 6pm. Please join us as we begin to develop action plans to reach these goals.