The Eisenhower Experience

360 Stelton Road

Piscataway, NJ 08854

732.752.1801

Dwight D. Eisenhower Elementary School February 2016

Mascot

EAGLE

Colors

GREEN

& BLACK

Children First

Respect

Dedication

Collaboration

CORE

VALUES

School Leadership Team

Colleen Pongratz, Principal

Heather MacDonald, Assistant

Principal

Elizabeth Graves, Secretary

Laura Heimlich, Counselor

Steve Ifko, Custodian

Eisenhower Family,

This February marks the 40th Anniversary of Black His-tory Month. D. D. Eisenhower students honored Black Histo-ry Month with a series of activities and learning opportuni-ties. Examples of the students lessons included learning about and discussing famous African Americans such as Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks, Harriet Tubman, Jackie Robinson, Garrett Morgan, and Maya Angelou. Another les-son shared with or students was the story of Ruby Bridges, the first African American child to attend a previously segre-gated school in the American South. Some of our students partnered with their Senior Reading Buddies to learn about her ground-breaking bravery at such a young age. Other ac-tivities included research projects where, after choosing a famous African American, students were required to both research and present the information they discovered. Our third graders are responsible each day for our morning an-nouncements. Every day during the month of February, the morning announcements also included facts and infor-mation regarding a person or moment that played a pivotal role in the Civil Rights Movement. We are proud of the many engaging lessons that our students participated in throughout the month of February.

Sincerely,

Colleen B. Pongratz

The week of February 1st – 5th is recognized as National School Counseling Week. Activities dur-

ing this week focus on positive school climate and review the contents of past counseling lessons. The

theme this year is “School Counseling – The Recipe for Success.” Our Eisenhower Eagles learn the in-

gredients for the recipe for student success through our counseling lessons, assemblies and daily

learning opportunities with our teachers. Our Eagles know that they are expected to uphold our school

motto by making “Respectful, Responsible and Safe” choices every day. Our school-wide positive behav-

ior support programs are designed to reinforce these behavioral expectations. During National School

Counseling Week, an announcement will be made each morning to review the important elements of pos-

itive communication, harassment, intimidation and bullying prevention, self-regulation, and peaceful

problem solving.

There are many challenges for our students growing up in the world of today. These challenges

may be related to school work, peer pressure, friendship problems, family conflict, the media, current

events, the economy and more. The most important thing we can do as parents and educators is to help

our children acquire the values and skills to rely on throughout their lives that will enable them to live

productively as individuals and citizens of their communities. Throughout the rest of the school year,

we will continue to teach concepts and skills to support the development of an ethical and strong char-

acter in all of our students. An ethically strong

character is supported by a conscious adherence

to moral values centered in trustworthiness, re-

spect, responsibility, caring, fairness and citizen-

ship. Thank you for your continued support!

Congratulations to the November-December 2015 Eagles!!!

KINDERGARTEN

Ms. Heaney’s Eagle

Aayush Sharma

Mrs. Kalthoff’s Eagle

(Rooney)

Alexandria Barney

Mrs. LaMorte’s Eagle

Julia Ngo

Mrs. Gilleece’s Eagle

Mayah Traore

Ms. Strazzulla’s Eagle

Brooklyn Squire

Mrs. Picone’s Eagle

Jay Kachhia

Ms. Granata’s Eagle

Ruben Brown

FIRST GRADE

Mrs. Switke’s Eagle

Avdiel Marin

Ms. Faheem’s Eagle

Aryan Sikander

Mrs. McNamee’s Eagle

Marianna Pena Ramirez

Mrs. Bauza’s Eagle

Lilliana Marshall

Mrs. Mikita’s Eagle

Abhay Navale Dayanand

Mrs. Conway’s Eagle

Jason Trojanowski

Mrs. Ketterer’s Eagle

Shaniya Cook

SECOND GRADE

Mrs. Pizzuti’s Eagle

Suri Nguyen

Mrs. Parrish’s Eagle

Kendall Langevine

Ms. Raiman’s Eagle

Mayrim Marrero

Ms. Goniea’s Eagle

Ailani Pastuna

Mrs. Gornick’s Eagle

Aashi Patel

Ms. Malig’s Eagle

Malachi Chester

THIRD GRADE

Mrs. Kvenik’s Eagle

Minh Tu

Ms. Well’s Eagle

Rosanna Garon

Mrs. Dedousis’s Eagle

Stephanie Noepel

Mrs. DellaFave’s Eagle

Zarien Wright

Mrs. Molinaro’s Eagle

(Dawson)

Onessa Aguila

Mrs. Ridder’s Eagle

Vipra Tiwari

Mrs. Kroekel’s Eagle

Mantej Sahota

Mrs. Aguillo’s Eagle

Helen Aguagallo

Congratulations to the January Eagles!!! KINDERGARTEN:

Ms. Heaney’s Eagle

Bilal Azhar

Mrs. Kalthoff’s Eagle

(Rooney)

Alexandra Robak

Mrs. LaMorte’s Eagle

Chase McKever

Mrs. Gilleece’s Eagle

Rosselin Luna Veliz

Ms. Strazzulla’s Eagle

Hannah Heimlich

Mrs. Picone’s Eagle

Adrian Patterson

Ms. Granata’s Eagle

Caelyn Cook

FIRST GRADE:

Mrs. Switke’s Eagle

Ed Faye

Ms. Faheem’s Eagle

Adhith Vishwakumar

Mrs. McNamee’s Eagle

Miles Cox

Mrs. Bauza’s Eagle

Loralei Gonzalez

Mrs. Mikita’s Eagle

Kevin Brito

Mrs. Conway’s Eagle

Brooke Pleasant

Mrs. Ketterer’s Eagle

Kyle Thomas

SECOND GRADE:

Mrs. Pizzuti’s Eagle

Madison Satnowski

Mrs. Parrish’s Eagle

Angela Green Pleasant

Ms. Raiman’s Eagle

Areej Idris

Ms. Goniea’s Eagle

Dean Scott

Mrs. Gornick’s Eagle

Daiana Zavala

Ms. Malig’s Eagle

Yashada Sohoni

THIRD GRADE:

Mrs. Kvenik’s Eagle

David Cordero Garcia

Ms. Well’s Eagle

Rosanna Garon

Mrs. Dedousis’s Eagle

Angelina Richtmyer

Mrs. DellaFave’s Eagle

David Quinonez

Mrs. Molinaro’s Eagle (Dawson)

Onessa Aguila

Mrs. Ridder’s Eagle

Nicole Alfaro

Mrs. Kroekel’s Eagle

Crystal D’Souza

Mrs. Aguillo’s Eagle

Kayden Pena

Infant 12-15

Toddler 11-14

Pre-school 10-13

School Age 9-11

Teen 8-10

Youth 7-9

Adult 7-9

Older Adult 7-8

March is National Sleep

Month! Are you getting

enough ZZZZZZZ’S?

THE BENEFITS OF EATING BREAKFAST….

Breakfast is a very important meal. It helps

fuel the body and the brain during our daily

activities. Children and parents should choose

whole grain breads and cereals to help feel-

fuller longer. Morning breakfast choices

should be high in fiber and protein, and low in

sugar and fat. Sugary cereals, pastries, and

sugary drink are not recommended because

they do not provide long-lasting energy and

can increase hunger. Eating breakfast can im-

prove problem-solving skills and help children

stay focused during the day, and while taking

standardized tests. School breakfast can pro-

vide ¼ of the minerals, vitamins, and nutrients

our bodies need each day. Eating breakfast

daily as a child can help establish healthy hab-

its into adulthood. School-breakfast programs

are available to help support healthy student

growth/development through good nutrition.

LOST AND FOUND

Just a reminder that

the lost and found is

over-flowing with an

assortment of items.

If your child has lost

anything over the

past few months

(sweaters, coats,

hats, gloves, lunch

boxes) please stop by

and take a look.

Thank you!!

Inhaler recall:

https://community.aafa.org/blog/glaxosmithkline-recalls-ventolin-hfa-albuterol-sulfate-inhalers

Nurse’s Corner

Asthma/Allergy Action Plans: Seasonal Allergy and

Asthma Action Plans are important to review and up-

date with your health care provider, and a copy should

be on file at school, along with a rescue inhaler. Learn

what your child’s triggers are – pollen, grass, molds,

temperature changes, exercise, smoke, perfume, pesti-

cides? Please let us know.

Other Upcoming Dates:

February 26– School Spirit Day:

Crazy hats

February 29– Read Across

America Week Begins

March 1– Author Day

March 4– Spring Pictures

March 23- 1st Grade Concert

7pm

March 24– Spirit Day– Pajamas

Listed below is some news from the PTO:

March 16th - PTO Meeting at 6:30pm

April 13th - Family Fun Night at 6:30pm

April 22nd – Spring Dance @6:30pm

Eisenhower School hosted an Hour of Code Event on Dec. 9th to celebrate Computer Science Education Week. Students and families came and enjoyed dinner together and participated in various activities that taught the basics of computer pro-gramming. Using the website code.org families were led through tutorials and unplugged activities that helped develop reasoning, logic and computer programming skills. An exciting time was had by all.

-Mrs. Park, Digital Literacy Teacher Second Grader, Khloe, shoes her father what

she has learned in Digital Literacy class

Eisenhower’s Night of Coding

The Art of Informational Writing

In Unit 2 of our Writer’s Workshop, the students were taught to complete an informational

writing piece about a topic of their choice. In order to do this to the best of their ability they were tak-

en through the process of gathering useful resources, taking notes about the most important infor-

mation, organizing that information into parts then finally drafting

not once but twice! After that, the students had the opportunity to

edit and peer edit their writing pieces before they were ready to

complete their final draft. Since the goal of the unit was to make

them experts on their topic I decided to let them feel like the experts

and teachers they became! With the help from Mrs. Park the stu-

dents were able to learn how to use and create beautiful PowerPoint

presentations to use as a visual guide while they taught their parents

and peers about their topics during our publishing party! The stu-

dents were thrilled to share all the information they learned and

were very proud of the hard work they put into their informational

writing pieces. Everyone was a teacher that day.

-Mrs. Kroeckel, 3rd Grade Teacher

Classmates and families look on as Mrs.

Kroeckel’s 3rd grade class presents

their research projects

My daughter Julia wanted to become a volunteer for Happy Paws Rescue. Since she is only 15 she could not go alone so my husband or I went with her every Sunday to help during their Adoption Day at Petco. We have helped find homes for many dogs and some kittens. In fact, we adopted

one ourselves!

-Mrs. Gilleece, Kindergarten Teacher

Mrs. Gilleece’s

daughter,

Julia, with

their newly

adopted dog