February Newsletter
Congratulations!
Sixth grader Heidi Shiroshita won the top spot at this year’s annual Spelling Bee on January 26, after a close competition with her brother Mark, who was runner-up. To prepare for the event, which had a preliminary round in December, students had to study lists of words from many different origins, including Latin, Old English, French, Spanish, German, Arabic, Italian, Greek, Dutch and Japanese. Heidi will now go on to compete in the North Jersey Finals on March 15 at Bergen Community College representing our school. Let’s cheer her on!
Service Project/Character Education
February’s school service project will be Math-a-thon, a fundraiser for St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital to find cures for children diagnosed with leukemia, lymphoma, and other forms of cancer. We hope that you and your relatives, friends, neighbors, and co-workers will support this fundraiser by sponsoring your child as he/she completes the Math-a-thon workbook. This project will run from Feb. 1 -28.
The Virtues-of-the-Month for February are Respect and Responsibility. Respect is a fundamental virtue that lies at the basis of all healthy relationships. Unfortunately, we live in a society where this basis value is often forgotten, leading to suffering and hardship for many of those around us. Responsibility, of course, is an important value for children to learn in many kinds of situations as they go through life. Let us teach these qualities to our children through setting an example in our own lives with our spouses, partners, relatives, neighbors and friends.
Open House
Tonight, January 31, will be our first Open House of the school year—this one in connection with National School Choice Week. In the coming months New Hope School will be holding Open Houses on a monthly basis, the next being Thursday, Feb. 22, from 6:00-7:30 pm. If you know of any parents who might be interested in sending their child to New Hope, please invite them to this valuable information session where they can meet our team of dedicated teachers and find out about our education program and extra-curricular activities. If they come with our school’s card with your name on it and eventually enroll their child, you will receive a 5% percent discount on next year’s tuition.
Field Trip
On Wednesday, February 21, the school will have its annual field trip to Clary Anderson Skating Rink in Montclair. This is a good chance for our students to get out and have some fun. If they don’t know how to skate, no problem! The rink has a fine staff to teach kids how as well as offering “walkers” for those 9 years and younger. Parents are also welcome!
May God be with you and your family!
New Hope School Staff
“Well done is better than well said.”
Benjamin Franklin