Daily Announcements

Main Office 732-388-7900
To Report an Absence call the main office 24/7
and leave a message or email valleyroadschool@clarkschools.org


Anti-Bullying Coordinator - Mrs. Sarah Badillo
Contact Information:
sbadillo@clarkschools.org
Valley Road School
150 Valley Road
Clark, NJ  07066
732-428-1639 or 732-388-7900




Arbor Day is a holiday in which individuals and groups are encouraged to plant and care for trees. Students at Valley Road School assisted Mr. Malko, owner of Troy's Landscaping, with planting a tree. Each student received a Blue Spruce or Evergreen seedling, donated by Mr. Malko. Third graders Kelsey Brennan and Marisa Venturella are pictured below with their seedling. 



Storybook Characters "Come to Life!"

The students in Mrs. Reagan's Second Grade Class at Valley Road School in Clark made their favorite storybook characters come to life! Each student dressed as and presented a report as their favorite storybook character. They had to include what book their character could be found in, what their character was known for, their character's traits and a fun fact about them.

(Pictured from top left: Jon Spricigo, Caitlyn Hessler, Matthew Costeira, Christopher Warnick, Nicolas Ricci, Joshua Pilecki, Allison Hannah, Angel Acosta-Feeley, Alexa Grasso. Pictured from bottom left: Daniel Shapiro, Jessenia Platero, Seth Guzman, Brandon Russell, Claudia Ferreira, Isabella Manto, Matt Hoehn)

Apple Day

The children in Mrs. Jennifer Clere's enjoyed Apple Day. The children read a chapter book about Johnny Appleseed and at the conclusion of the story, the children sampled many different apple foods provided by their families. They learned how Johnny Appleseed helped Apple trees to spread thoughout the country. He was also helpful to new settlers. They also learned the curious fact that Mr. Appleseed at times wore a metal pot on his head. Mrs. Clere and her students say "Thank you", to their families for their generosity! The children LOVED the treats!


(Pictured above: Andrew Pereira, Aidan Ford, Peter Swider)

Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss

Students in Jennifer Kelleher’s second grade class at the Valley Road School in Clark celebrated Dr. Seuss’ birthday by bringing in their favorite Dr. Seuss book. The students were able to share the book with the class. Each child gave a short summary of their book and explained what their favorite parts were. The students were excited to hear and share these books with each other to celebrate reading and the author, Dr. Seuss.


In the photograph above, second graders Ashley Wolfe, Brianne Burke, Alexis Brede, Jack Gattullo, Natalie Feeney, Anna Ninashvili, Cassidy Lechner, Vencent Racanelli, and Katelyn VanClief hold up their favorite Dr. Seuss books.



Storybird Event
  
         The students of Miss Qualshie's class have been busy publishing much of their writing. They were introduced to Storybird this year, an online service that uses collaborative, digital storytelling to connect kids and families. Each student has been given their own secure account where they can author a Storybird in school or at home from their work created in Writing Workshop, and then share it with their chosen online network. The final product can be printed, watched on screen, or shared through a worldwide library. Storybird promotes imagination, literacy, and self-confidence. Most importantly, Storybird enables children to create their own literary masterpiece which sparks or enhances a love for language arts. One particular student, Alyssa Grasso, received her first published hardcover book as a surprise after her parents attended her latest Publishing Party, and witnessed their daughter's hard work and dedication to writing. Enjoy her enthusiastic recap of the writing process.
When I wrote Dentist of Horror, I felt frustrated at first going through the whole writing process, but when I finished I knew all that frustration paid off. I first needed an idea, but couldn't get one until I thought about what happened recently in my life. That Thursday I got my teeth pulled, so the idea for Dentist of Horror came to me. I thought to myself, "This will make a great story. With my idea I could put the reader in suspense."
Before actually writing a story, you need go plan it out by prewriting. Prewriting is probably the easiest step for me in the writing process because it doesn't take a lot of time. Then, you start to draft. As I was drafting I kept getting better ideas as I was writing. When you?re drafting you write in a drafting book, which ends up being a few pages (to match the scenes that are in your story). You should write up to about 3 drafts, after each draft you revise and edit. Some people get editing and revising mixed up. When you revise you are changing the way your story sounds. While editing is the way your story looks. After you?re done revising and editing you go to the last step, publishing. When I got to the last step I felt so glad my narrative was almost complete.
I was proud of myself, and I published it on Storybird and showed my parents. When I showed them, they surprised me and ordered the book as a hardcover. Then, I showed Miss Qualshie and she wanted me to share with the class. When I shared with the class I was nervous because I don't like talking in front of people. I did what my cousin told me. I pretended it was just me and a book, reading in my bed. When I was done reading to the class, I knew they liked my story and there was nothing to be nervous about. I loved sharing my book with everyone!

The "Cat in the Hat" Visits Valley Road!

 

Legendary Dr. Seuss’ completed 107 magical years of life, and to celebrate him the children at Valley Road School received the visit of the beloved characters The Cat in the Hat, Thing 1, and Thing 2.  This visit kicked off NEA’s national Read Across America Day. The characters bounced around all of classrooms bringing smiles to all the student's faces. 

(In the photograph from left to right: Councilman Barr, Daniel Shapiro, Jon Spricigo, and Caitlyn Hessler)

Councilman Alvin Barr assisted in the Read Across America Day celebration by reading to students from Mrs. Reagan's second grade class. 

2012 Teachers of the Year


The Clark School District is delighted to recognize our Teachers of Year for 2012.  Honored by their respective schools as Teacher of the Year are Nicole Czarnecki at Valley Road School, Diane Rizzo for Frank K. Hehnly School, Alessandra Bonacchi for Carl H. Kumpf Middle School, and Louis Van Bergen for Arthur L. Johnson High School.  Alessandra Bonacchi was selected as the District-wide Teacher of the year.

Kids Making a Difference
Students are making a difference at Valley Road School by participating in the Pennies for Patients campaign.  They are joining the millions of students across the country who are raising funds for children with leukemia and lymphoma through the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Ms. Spirito has organized outstanding fundraising events for this program.   Valley Road School was the 4th top participating fundraising school in the state.  The most recent fundraiser entailed students creating their own t-shirt designs.  The winning designs are shown below:

(In the picture above from left to right: Third Place: Rachel Papa,  First Place: Erin Heaning,  Second Place: Lauren Mulvill)

Suggested Reading Titles
Listed by Grade level and level of difficulty

k-5_suggested_book_list[1] 12-13-11.doc


Library Closed?  World Book online is now available as a resource to Valley Road Students! 

World Book Online 

(Please see your teacher for login information)

From the Principal

 
Welcome to Valley Road  School. We encourage you to view the messages and links on this page. Username and password (upper right corner of this page) are not required to use the site.
 
 

FYI
 
The Union County Board of Chosen Freeholders and the Department of Parks and Community Renewal with support from Union County College are pleased to announce: VOLLEYBALL FOR PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES Wednesdays February 15, 22, 29, March 7, 14, 21 7:00-8:00 pm Union County College-Main Gym 1033 Springfield Avenue, Cranford, NJ Registration Fee: $12.00 Call 908-527-4806 for registration information



 
 
 Delayed Opening Instructions:
 
Please Note: Future Delayed Openings will follow these guidelines-
grades K-5 students report at 10:10am.
Lunch period will be held  for  grades K-5 at regular times on delayed opening days.
 
The Valley Road School Hours:

The student day starts at 8:40am with supervised drop off starting at 8:25am
The student day ends at 2:55pm
The Valley Road School Office is open between 8:00 am and 4:00pm.
we kindly request that people refrain from returning to the building after 4:00

Upcoming Events

Friday, May 18
Mexican Market Day
Group Event
Milk Money Due
Pretzel Sale after school
Monday, May 21
Author visit

Author visit for 4th and 5th grade students and their parents:
Dale Baumwoll
@ 7pm ALJ auditorium
click here for more information

Grade 3 Class Trip

Weather

Today, 5/18/2012
High: 74 Low: 49
Mostly sunny
0% chance of precipitation.
Tomorrow, 5/19/2012
High: 79 Low: 54
Mostly sunny
4% chance of precipitation.