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Happy “Middle Level Education” Month! Did you know that there was such a celebration?! We, here at SMS, celebrate the middle school journey everyday. This winter has been
very kind to us and our busy schedule. We are all persevering and moving forward optimizing every learning opportunity daily.
Academically, we are being challenged to think beyond the text and to apply our knowledge and skills. The students are engaged in active learning. They are collaborating with one another realizing that learning with each other strengthens their individual academic growth. They are using the resources provided to them to read, write, and research new ideas and topics. It is heartwarming to go into the classrooms and have the students describe their
learning tasks and how they are applying the information that they are acquiring.
Our Character Education program is continuing. The Eighth grade Service Projects are evolving. The students are getting ready to put action to their words and plans. We recently had our “Kick Off” as-sembly for this year’s Colorathon which will be held on Saturday, May 14th. Mark your calendars and join us for this fun-filled event!
Our extra curricular calendar is busier than ever! The spring teams of softball and baseball are warming up their bats getting ready for a great season. Our school drama production, “Into the Woods” was enchanting and engaging. We now have a literary magazine to show-case student writing and artwork. We continue to encourage our students to explore their talents to find new opportunities. You can access the Somerville Symposium magazine through this link http://somervillemslib.weebly.com/somerville-symposium.html
I’m so very proud of our SMS students. Their achievements are reflective of our collective commitment to each child’s individual success. Thank you for your continued support. Together we can achieve and grow.
Ms. Georgette Boulegeris
Principal
218-4107
Mrs. Lani Perruso
Assistant Principal
218-4107
Mrs. Mary Honrath
Guidance Counselor
243-1526
Mrs. Maureen Duffy
Nurse
243-1524
Middle School Main Office
Mrs. Angela Reed
Secretary -Principal
218-4107
Mar. 4– Peer Leader-
ship Outreach (pm)
Mar. 12 & 19– Incom-
ing Freshman Schedul-
ing at SHS
Mar. 22– Sing or Sync
Battle sponsored by
SMS Student Council
3:15 pm Auditorium
Mar. 23– Faculty
meeting– No Home-
work Club
Mar. 25– Spring Break
begins
Mark your Calendar...
51 West Cliff St., Somerville, NJ 08876 908-218-4107
S o m e r v i l l e M i d d l e S c h o o l
SMS NEWSLETTER
From the
Principal’s Desk
Volume 8, Issue 6, March
Contact information
Please note: The SMS Newsletter format has changed. Elements
of interactivity have been included within the issue. Enjoy this new
format of our newsletter!
Warmest congratulations are ex-
tended to Ms. Courtney Ball as she is recog-
nized as the SMS 2015-2016 Teacher of the Year.
Courtney is an alumnus of Somerville and became
a teacher for the district in 2009. She began her career at the high school and she
now teaches seventh grade Language Arts. Courtney has been involved with several
activities, including cheerleading and student council, and of course, the district-wide
Polar Bear Plunge! She is also the head cheerleading coach at Monmouth University
(her alma mater). Courtney feels blessed to working along side such wonderful and
talented professionals. She looks forward to watching her students develop a passion
for reading.
Jeannine Guerriero has
worked with the youth of Somer-
ville for over 25 years. She began her ca-
reer at a local non-profit, Middle Earth, as a
social worker. During this time she facilitated peer leadership and teen groups at
Somerville Middle School. Twelve years ago she began working as an instructional
assistant at SMS. Jeannine absolutely loves being able to help children reach their
full potential while embracing a love of learning.
Our middle school Hoops for Hearts event, held on Wednesday,
February 24, was a rousing success. $1,375.00 was raised and donat-
ed to the American Heart Association through this event. Students,
parents, teachers and friends came together for this important fund-
raiser. A representative from the American Heart
Association was also present at our event. A
special thank you is extended to Mr. George and
Ms. Breeman for their efforts in coordinating the
activities of the evening.
The Center for Contemporary Art in partnership with Art Educators of New Jersey invite
us to celebrate Youth Art Month by attending an exhibit of student work at the Center for
Contemporary Art in Bedminster, NJ. Somerville Middle School students art pieces will
be displayed at this showing. The work will be exhibit-
ed on March 8– March 13, 2016. The Center for Con-
temporary Art is located at 2020 Burnt Mills Road, Bed-
minster, NJ. Congratulations to Mrs. Cebula and her
art students for being a part of this event.
Click onto the heart for photo highlights.
Over 95% of our students were eligible for January’s “Be Point-Free” Raffle! Con-gratulations to the winners:
6th grade - Giancarlo F., Ian W., Emily H., Max B., Amir J., Kerilyn M-N., Jamaal B., and Beatriz D.
7th grade - Oscar P., LaTavia J., Ashley R., Michael R., Ian M., Breanne M., Justyn A., and Sofia C.
8th grade - Sarah O., Dylan T., Abby U., Gabrielle J., Sarahi H., Victor C-F., Matthew E., and Heather L.
January’s winners won either laser tag passes to Bridgewater Sports Arena, a McDonald’s gift card, SHS Sports Passes, ear buds, books, or magnetic notepads!
Who will be next?
SMS is still accepting prize donations from local business and community organizations for the remainder of the school year. If you are interested in being a part of the movement, please contact Dr. Sroczynski at [email protected] or (908) 243-1527.
The SMS Drama and Theater Arts Clubs combined their talents to
present their version of “Into the Woods” . This enchanting story
brought many familiar fairy tale characters together to break the
evil spell that fell upon the baker and his wife. Congratulations to
everyone involved! Click here to see photo highlights of this beauti-
ful production.
Join us for- The Spring Parent & Student Program
Our Spring presenter, Robert Rivest, will guide parents and students through strategies to manage stress and interactive fun activities to help experience immediate stress relief. What a great way to prep for PARCC!
This workshop will be held on Thurs., April 7th, from 6:30 - 8 pm in the SMS Cafeteria. Refreshments will be served at 6:30 pm, and the program will kick off at 7 pm! Parents and students from all three Somerville Schools are wel-
come! Pre-registration is requested and can be done by emailing Dr. Sroczyn-ski at [email protected] or calling her at (908) 243-1527.
Learn, Laugh, & Let Go!
Interactive Stress Relief Workshop
Coming Soon...
ing or ync
attle SMS STUDENT
COUNCIL
PRESENTS
S S
B Tuesday, March 22, 2016 at 3:15 pm
(right after school)
SMS Auditorium
Come and see who is going to win in the various
categories– is it going to be a Singer or a Syncer?!
Vir
tual D
eb
ate
Grade 7 Participates in a
The topic: Gun Control
The opponent: South Orange Middle School
The judges: Superintendents and classmates throughout the state
The results:2-2 tie
What a great ending for our students during their first venture into the world of
debate. The seventh graders researched, collaborated, gathered evidence and
organized their thoughts to present their case supporting Gun Control. They prac-
ticed their presentations, reflected on their arguments, made adjustments and
were ready for the intellectual battle they were about to embark on. Their worthy
opponents, the students of South Orange Middle School had a tremendous amount
of experience with the debating platform and were undefeated. At times, the chal-
lenge seemed daunting but the SMS students and teachers rallied and rose to the
occasion.
The debate took place virtually. Each group of students
were in their own school and communicated via the inter-
net. The judges also watched and critiqued the presenta-
tions virally. We are so fortunate to have the technology
resources to bring so many different groups together to
articulate and exchange ideas. Congratulations to the sev-
enth graders for this accomplishment. Your hard work and
perseverance paid off. A special thank you to Mrs. Malespi-
na for coordinating this event. If you would like to see the
action click on the “Debate” and you will see the video tape
of this event.
Fencing is an art form, a form of strategy, training and hard work. Do you think that a famous fencer gets good over night? No, I’ll tell you what it takes though. Determination. I say this, because just last week I entered a international fencing tournament, at the
New Jersey Expo Center. The group I was entered in was Y14 Men's Epee. In layman's terms, I would fence people of age 13-15, while not using a slice to get the point, I would use a stab-bing maneuver. Your typical fencing tournament goes like this. Your age group is split into even pools. You fence everyone in your respective pool, and then once all the pools are finished. Then your points from the bouts get added up, then the amount of times you get hit is subtracted from your touches. The number is divided by how many people are in your pool, and that is your pool score. Your pool score indicates who you fence in the direct elimina-tion, which is a to 15 bout, instead of 5. Once your points are done and the DE or direct elimination is
ready. You start the tournament for realties. However I fenced slightly later, due to the fact of the bypass, for getting the top half of placement in the pools, with that done I was feeling confident and determined. I only was able to get as far as 30th out of 80th place. But given the circumstances, I felt like I did fairly good. And even though I didn’t win, that is not technically the whole point of fencing. In fencing you need to learn from you past mistakes, and alter how you fight to maximize your effectiveness.
7th grader Gabriel Iraqui
shares his experiences at
the International Fencing
Tournament held at the
NJ Expo Center over the
February 25 week-end!
We’re so proud of you!
