Tuesday, June 18, 2013
Fourth graders competed against teams from nearby towns.
Mahwah's Joyce Kilmer School submitted the following release to Patch: Congratulations to Joyce Kilmer’s 4th grade Project Challenge students. They participated in a “Battle of the Books” on June 12 with students from Dumont and River Vale. Two of the Mahwah teams took home first and third place wins. First place winners were Jenna Franco, Anabelle Accetta, Matthew Sequeira and Benjamin Mitnick. The third place team was comprised of Chris Kourkoulakos, Jeddy Xie, Jessica Xing, and Elizabeth Spizzo. Second place went to students from one of the two Dumont teams. The “Battle of the Books” is a reading incentive program for students in grades 3-12. Students come together to answer trivia questions, demonstrating their abilities and …
A daylong seminar at George Washington gave students a unique, hands-on opportunity to interact with FBI, military, and law enforcement personnel and equipment.
About a week before school is out for summer, students at George Washington Elementary School in Mahwah had an experience that the school’s principal called an “overwhelming success.” Last week, the FBI, NJ Army National Guard, Bergen County Police Department, Bergen County Sheriff’s Department, Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office, and the Mahwah Police Department ran a daylong workshop at the school. According to Principal Kevin Ulmer, the highlights of the seminar included an FBI helicopter landing, hands-on exploration of the chopper and military vehicles, a forensics workshop, interactive hidden camera demonstration, and fingerprinting lesson. The demonstrations contained, “some really valuable lessons for our students that I’m glad we …
Monday, June 17, 2013
As part of one township school's recent Math Mania initiative, students also raised $700 for the 'Coins for a Cure' program.
The following letter to the editor was submitted to Patch by the Betsy Ross School HSO. Submit your letters to jessica.mazzola@patch.com. The Betsy Ross School recently held their first ever Math Mania program and it created extraordinary math excitement throughout the school. The Betsy Ross HSO (Home School Organization) parents together with the staff introduced the three-week program. Math Mania was a school-wide enrichment program introduced for the first time this year to create excitement around practicing math skills while highlighting the role and importance of math in everyday life. During the program, students learned new, easy to play math games and were encouraged to work on their math facts at home. So, how successful was …
Tuesday, May 14, 2013
Over one million students enter the prestigious scholarship contest each year by taking the PSATs.
A Mahwah High School senior has joined an elite club that includes Microsoft founder Bill Gates, Chairman of the Federal Reserve Ben Bernake, and Twilight series author Stephenie Meyer. According to an announcement from Mahwah High School this week, senior Peter Xiong was recently named a National Merit Scholarship winner, a recognition all three received when they were in high school. The National Merit Scholarship is a prestigious award that is given out to students across the country based on their PSAT scores. According to the National Merit Scholarship Corporation website, about 1.5 million high school students enter the competition by taking the PSATs each year, and about 8,300 are awarded one of three types of scholarships. …
Saturday, May 11, 2013
The district's updated policy also prohibits the sale of products made with 2% or whole milk, officials say.
Mahwah kids are getting used to diet changes in township schools, thanks to a new school nutrition policy passed at a recent Board of Education meeting. The new policy is an update to the school nutrition policy originally adopted in 2006, and is in line with mandates from the federal Department of Agriculture, school board officials said last month. The biggest change – a switch from 2% milk to 1% and skim milk only. As of April 24, Mahwah schools can no longer serve 2% or whole milk, or any products made with 2% or whole milk. So, ice creams and other dairy products that do not use 1% or skim milk are out. The policy refers to foods sold in the cafeteria. Foods served at special events are exempt. The school nutrition policy previously …
Over 100 people attended the annual fundraiser, which raises grant money for things like technology and special programming in Mahwah schools.
According to organizers, the Mahwah Schools Foundation Annual Ladies Luncheon was a big success. The MSF released the following information about the event: “For all those that attended the Mahwah School’s Foundation Ladies Lunch on Tuesday May 7, thank you for your support in helping to raise over $12,000 for our schools and your children’s education! With over 100 guest and 75 baskets and prizes to win, this event has helped raise money so we can continue to provide Mahwah school’s better equipment so our children will keep on succeeding. The MSF greatly appreciates all the wonderful women who spent an afternoon with us. Thank you to all who helped make this a perfect day!” Scroll through the photos above, and if you dined with the …
Monday, May 6, 2013
MHS was in the first half of Newsweek’s annual list of the top 2,000 high schools in the nation
Mahwah High School was named one of the country’s best high schools in the Newsweek and Daily Beast’s annual ‘America’s Best High Schools’ list, released Monday. The list ranked what it called the 2,000 best high schools across the country. Mahwah High School was ranked No. 615. According to an explanation in Newsweek, schools across the nation were ranked based on six criteria – graduation rate, college acceptance rate, advanced exams (AP, IB and AICE tests) taken per student, average SAT or ACT score, average advanced placement score, and percentage of students enrolled in at least one advanced placement class. Newsweek asked more than 5,000 high schools across the country to report their data from the 2010-11 school year. About 2,500 …
Thursday, May 2, 2013
A bill being considered at the state level will likely help the school district decide, officials said
Though Mahwah school district officials say the Board of Education has discussed offering full-day Kindergarten classes at some point in the future, interim Superintendent Karen Lake said Wednesday that it will not happen next year. According to Lake, the Mahwah school district will continue to offer only morning and afternoon half-day Kindergarten classes during the 2013-14 school year. “We will be looking at the feasibility of running full-day Kindergarten,” Lake said. “We will not be offering it next year, but I cannot speak to the future beyond that.” According to Mahwah district officials, the board’s conversation was prompted by bills currently pending in the state legislature. Assembly Bill 2927, co-sponsored by Assemblywoman Connie…
Thursday, April 25, 2013
The board of education voted to put unused snow days back in the calendar
During a school year when Hurricane Sandy wreaked havoc on the calendar, a lack of snow days will pay off for township students. Mahwah’s board of education voted Wednesday night to elongate this year’s Memorial Day weekend break using two unused snow days that were built into the post-Sandy calendar. Mahwah students will now be off Friday through Tuesday, May 24, 27 and 28. Previously, students only had the Monday off. This year’s school calendar has already been significantly modified – the February President’s Day break originally scheduled to be five days long, was knocked down to two, and students were in classes on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. The calendar had allowed for three snow days. Submit your questions or news tips to jessica…
Monday, April 15, 2013
View the interactive map of SAT scores and Median Household Income for the 47 public high schools in Bergen County.
In Bergen County, income and SAT scores go hand in hand. All but five of the public high schools in Bergen County where students met the state's average combined SAT benchmark of 1550 live in communities with a median household income greater than $100,000, according to data from the state's recently released New Jersey School Performance Report. On the flip side, 23 of the 24 public high schools in the county where students failed to meet the state's benchmark came from communities with a median household income below $100,000. Mahwah, Fort Lee, Leonia, Fair Lawn and Midland Park are the only high schools in towns with median household incomes below $100,000 that met the goal. Waldwick is the only high school in a town with a median …
Bill Goffredo
4:12 pm on Tuesday, June 18, 2013
What an awesome experience for the kids, my son loved it! more ›