NEWS
May Newsletter
Thank you so much for your wonderful support of our eleventh annual “Race for Education,” on Friday, April 20, at the Richardson Oval off Monhegan St. in Clifton, We especially wish to express our appreciation to all those who came out to assist in various ways and cheer on our students. We are still heading towards our goal of $5,000. The school is very grateful for all your help to make this a successful fundraiser.
As for the race itself, despite the cool and breezy weather, the students did a great job completing their laps. We thank Clifton Mayor James Anzaldi for being on hand at the beginning of the race, despite his busy schedule. This year top honors for the most laps run went to 7th grader Areos Idrogo for 37 laps—a new school record! Bravo! At the end, students were in a cheerful mood as they returned to the school, celebrating with movie and popcorn parties.
Thank you so much for your wonderful support of our eleventh annual “Race for Education,” on Friday, April 20, at the Richardson Oval off Monhegan St. in Clifton, We especially wish to express our appreciation to all those who came out to assist in various ways and cheer on our students. We are still heading towards our goal of $5,000. The school is very grateful for all your help to make this a successful fundraiser.
As for the race itself, despite the cool and breezy weather, the students did a great job completing their laps. We thank Clifton Mayor James Anzaldi for being on hand at the beginning of the race, despite his busy schedule. This year top honors for the most laps run went to 7th grader Areos Idrogo for 37 laps—a new school record! Bravo! At the end, students were in a cheerful mood as they returned to the school, celebrating with movie and popcorn parties.
As you know, last week all the students took their Terra Nova exams. We expect to get the results back in June, which will be included in the students’ final report cards.
The Virtues of the Month for May is Commitment to Character & Ethics. Unfortunately, we live in a world in which people often do not exemplify the best of character or behave ethically in their treatment of one another. Our great hope is that the students of New Hope School will grow up and demonstrate good character in their relationships with others and in whatever career they may choose.
Later this month will be our two-day Science Fair. Starting at 9:30 am, KG through 4th grades will present their projects on Thursday, May 24, and the 5th through 8th grades the following day. On the second day we will have a Family Barbeque starting at 4:00 pm followed by a parents meeting at which Dr. Beebe will talk about the importance of reading in children’s education and give parents some pointers on what they can do to support this in their children. At the same time, we will be having our final Open House of the school year. Please come and bring any prospective parents with you for a tour of the school and a chance to meet our teachers!
If you would like to attend the fourth annual Young Voices concert at the Prudential Center in Newark along with our school choir and 8,000 other students from the tri-state area on Thursday, June 8, at 7:00 pm, please see Mr. Copeland for tickets ASAP.
May God bless you!
New Hope School Staff
“Educating the mind without educating the heart is no education at all.”
Aristotle
April Newsletter
Welcome to spring! Springtime signifies rebirth as trees begin to bud and flowers bloom. We are grateful to God for the life-sustaining environment he/she provides for us, fitting in with this month’s virtues of Environmental Awareness and Citizenship. God is trusting us as good citizens to take care of the Creation. With spring break coming up next week, we hope that you and your child(ren) will be able to spend some time together.
Welcome to spring! Springtime signifies rebirth as trees begin to bud and flowers bloom. We are grateful to God for the life-sustaining environment he/she provides for us, fitting in with this month’s virtues of Environmental Awareness and Citizenship. God is trusting us as good citizens to take care of the Creation. With spring break coming up next week, we hope that you and your child(ren) will be able to spend some time together.
As we now have enough students for the afterschool robotics class sponsored by Engineering for Kids, the first of six classes will begin the Tuesday after the break, April 10, 3:00-4:00 pm. The following day, April 11, for our monthly assembly, a special presentation on The Blue Planet will be given by Michele Van Allen in preparation for Earth Day on April 22 and in conjunction with this month’s virtues.
This Friday, March 29, is the final day of the 3rd marking period. Report cards will go out after the spring break, on Friday, April 13. The following week, April 18-19, will be our second parent-teacher conferences for the year. After seeing your child’s report card, this is a good chance to check in with his/her teacher to see how he/she is doing as we enter the final marking period and before the school year is over. Please see the signup sheets in the outer hallway.
On April 20, the school will have its annual Race for Education. As you know, recently our students wrote letters to those people on the labels you returned to us asking for their sponsorship of their participation in the jog-a-thon. This week they received their prize cards according to the number of labels they had. We thank you for your support of this exciting event. We hope to see you on Race Day!
Please note that your child will be taking the Terra Nova test April 24-26. This annual standardized test helps us to see how our students are doing academically in comparison with children all over the country. They also provide you with an understanding of your child’s academic development year-by-year.
Finally, we’d just like to encourage you to re-register your child(ren) for the next school year. If you do so and pay the registration fee by April 13, you can receive a 50% discount on the fee.
Let’s have a great spring together!
New Hope School Staff
“And God saw everything that was made, and behold, it was very good.”
Genesis 1:31
March Newsletter
The Virtues-of-the-Month for March are Responsibility & Self-Awareness. As our children grow, one of the most important qualities they need to learn to develop is a sense of responsibility. When we strive to help our children become responsible persons we are helping them toward maturity. We can do this in the same way that we help them to develop other desirable traits: by practice and by example. At the same time, our children are developing their self-awareness as mature individuals, taking responsibility for their behavior, both good and bad, while seeking to multiply the good and learning from the bad.
With the weather becoming mild again, we know that spring cannot be far behind. May you and your family enjoy this time of year when all of nature comes back to life.
The Virtues-of-the-Month for March are Responsibility & Self-Awareness. As our children grow, one of the most important qualities they need to learn to develop is a sense of responsibility. When we strive to help our children become responsible persons we are helping them toward maturity. We can do this in the same way that we help them to develop other desirable traits: by practice and by example. At the same time, our children are developing their self-awareness as mature individuals, taking responsibility for their behavior, both good and bad, while seeking to multiply the good and learning from the bad.
At next Wednesday’s assembly we will have a kickoff for our eleventh annual Race for Education. Look for the folder that will be given to all the students. We appreciate your support of past events and look forward to a great success in this year’s effort as well. This year the results for this activity will be used to improve our facility, both inside and outside, especially our playground area.
We wish to invite you to re-register your child(ren) for the next school year starting the month of March. A folder will be sent out later this week or early next week. Those who do so by April 20th will receive a 50% discount off the $100 registration fee.
In addition, in March we are planning to hold two Open Houses, March 1 & 29, 6:00-7:30pm, for prospective parents. This is a good chance for you to invite anyone you may know who are looking for a good quality private school for their children for the next school year, whether they be your relatives, friends, neighbors, or work colleagues. Tell them about the best kept secret in Clifton: your child’s school!
Finally, you are welcome to sign up your child for a 6-week Robotics Engineering class sponsored by Engineering for Kids. A flier on this will be distributed next week for classes starting near the end of March.
God bless you all!
New Hope School Staff
“Freedom makes a huge requirement of every human being. With freedom comes responsibility. For the person who is unwilling to grow up, the person who does not want to carry his own weight, this is a frightening prospect.”
Eleanor Roosevelt
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!
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
NHS Planning Event to Celebrate National School Choice Week 2018
CLIFTON — New Hope School is excited to announce that our students, teachers, and staff will be celebrating National School Choice Week (January 21-28, 2018) with a special event!
The event will be held on January 31, 2018 at 6:00 pm, and will feature a presentation by the principal about the school, meeting with teachers, and a tour of the school with refreshments.
Started in 2011, National School Choice Week is the world's largest annual education-related celebration. The goal of NSCW, which features participation from tens of thousands of schools and organizations, is to shine a positive spotlight on effective education options for children.
CLIFTON — New Hope School is excited to announce that our students, teachers, and staff will be celebrating National School Choice Week (January 21-28, 2018) with a special event!
The event will be held on January 31, 2018 at 6:00 pm, and will feature a presentation by the principal about the school, meeting with teachers, and a tour of the school with refreshments.
Started in 2011, National School Choice Week is the world's largest annual education-related celebration. The goal of NSCW, which features participation from tens of thousands of schools and organizations, is to shine a positive spotlight on effective education options for children.
During National School Choice Week, schools across America celebrate the challenging, motivating, and effective education they provide to students. At the same time, parents use the week to learn more about the education options available to their children, in advance of the upcoming school year.
National School Choice Week is nonpartisan and nonpolitical, and is not related to any legislative advocacy effort.
For more information about the event at NHS, please contact Josephine Gimay at 973-473-4144 or at newhope1@optonline.net.
January Newsletter
Special Thanks!
As we approach the new year, we would like to take this opportunity to express our appreciation for all your support during the first four months of the current school year. With your support, we have already conducted many activities, including the Harvest Festival, Scholastic Book Fair, and our annual clothing and food drives. Most important, however, is your support of your own child(ren) as they engage in their work in the classroom and at home. Parental engagement is key to children’s educational achievement. Let us continue to work together for the academic and character development of your child(ren).
Special Thanks!
As we approach the new year, we would like to take this opportunity to express our appreciation for all your support during the first four months of the current school year. With your support, we have already conducted many activities, including the Harvest Festival, Scholastic Book Fair, and our annual clothing and food drives. Most important, however, is your support of your own child(ren) as they engage in their work in the classroom and at home. Parental engagement is key to children’s educational achievement. Let us continue to work together for the academic and character development of your child(ren).
Caroling at City Hall
New Hope Singers Junior, the school’s choir led by our new music director, Mr. Stephen Copeland, this week paid their annual visit to the Clifton City Hall to sing for the mayor and his staff. As usual, they fully enjoyed the performance. Afterwards the mayor presented the children with holiday coloring books and special cuddly animals in honor of Clifton’s 100th birthday celebrated this year.
Spelling Bee
Tomorrow students in the 3rd through 8th grades will take part in a preliminary round of our school’s spelling bee. Ten finalists will be chosen who will then compete in January for the privilege of representing New Hope at the regional spelling bee at Bergen Community College in March. Please support your child if he/she is competing in the spelling bee.
New Year
On Wednesday, January 3, a representative from Dental Harmony will be visiting the school to teach the students about the importance of dental care at our monthly assembly. In addition, during January we will have a Math-a-thon to raise money in support of the work of St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital to help children suffering from leukemia and lymphoma. Our virtues-of-the month for January are Respect & Fairness. These two fundamental values are essential to the healthy character development of children and the maintenance of good relationships with others.
Happy New Year and God bless your family!
New Hope School staff
“Live so that when your children think of fairness, caring, and integrity, they think of you.”
Jackson Browne
December Newsletter
As we enter the final month of 2017, we hope you all were able to enjoy a wonderful Thanksgiving with your family and friends. No matter what our situation, let us always strive to be grateful to God for our lives and loved ones.
Our two themes for the month of December are Caring & Relationship Skills. As children grow and develop, it is extremely important that they learn proper behavior in relating to their elders and each other. We want our students to care for one another and how to express that care in their daily give-and-take with each other. This, of course, becomes the foundation of all their future relationships as they grow older.
As we enter the final month of 2017, we hope you all were able to enjoy a wonderful Thanksgiving with your family and friends. No matter what our situation, let us always strive to be grateful to God for our lives and loved ones.
Our two themes for the month of December are Caring & Relationship Skills. As children grow and develop, it is extremely important that they learn proper behavior in relating to their elders and each other. We want our students to care for one another and how to express that care in their daily give-and-take with each other. This, of course, becomes the foundation of all their future relationships as they grow older.
We wish to thank all of you who so generously donated various food items during our Food Drive. Last Tuesday our 8th grade students packed up these items and we delivered them to St. Peter’s Haven Food Pantry. These were used to help needy families in the Clifton area for Thanksgiving.
Next Wednesday through Friday, Dec. 6-8, is our annual Scholastic Book Fair. We encourage you to come and browse around for some children’s books. They make great holiday gifts!
This month, Dec. 14, all of our students will be taking a field trip to Montclair for a performance of Twas the Night Before Christmas, a great holiday treat. Parents are also welcome. If you would like to come, please inform Ms. Josephine in the office by this coming Monday, Dec. 4.
If your child is in 3rd grade or above, we hope you will support is his/her involvement in our annual Spelling Bee, which will be held the morning of Tuesday, December 19. We will be choosing ten finalists who will then compete in January for the right to represent our school at the regional spelling bee at Bergen Community College in March.
We also look forward to seeing you at our annual Winter Concert on Thursday, December 21, from 7:00 to 9:00 pm. This year’s “Christmas Spectacular” will include songs from our school choir, pieces from our dance class, both older and younger children, winners of our poetry and essay contest reading their entrees on the topic “Caring is Sharing,” plus a surprise visit from ?.
Wishing you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
New Hope School Staff
“If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other.”
Mother Teresa
November Newsletter
As we have already reported, this past month New Hope School received word of having being granted accreditation by the Middle States Association Committee on Elementary and Secondary Schools (MSA-CESS). This represents a great step forward for our school and a validation of the quality of our education program as well as our overall performance as an elementary/middle school.
As we have already reported, this past month New Hope School received word of having being granted accreditation by the Middle States Association Committee on Elementary and Secondary Schools (MSA-CESS). This represents a great step forward for our school and a validation of the quality of our education program as well as our overall performance as an elementary/middle school. We wish to thank again so much all of you who supported the school in various ways during the two-year self-study process to arrive at this wonderful result. As an accredited school, we will continue to work to develop our program for the benefit of our students and their families. If you have any ideas about ways we can improve the school, do not hesitate to contact Dr. Beebe or any of our staff.
We wish to thank all the parents who gave so generously to our October clothing drive. Judging by the mountain of bags of clothes in Dr. Beebe’s office, it appears to be our most successful clothing drive ever! The lighter clothes will be sent to Liberia as part of a project of the Women’s Federation for World Peace. Other clothes will be donated to the Vietnam Veterans of America
Next, we are launching our annual food drive to help needy families and individuals in time for Thanksgiving. Please help this great cause by donating any canned foods and other nonperishables anytime between now and Tuesday, Nov. 21. Food items will be brought by our 7th and 8th graders to the St. Peter’s Haven food bank on Clifton Ave.
In conjunction with our monthly service project, November’s virtues of the month are Citizenship and Social Awareness. As future citizens, New Hope’s students need to develop their social awareness and their desire to use their talents and abilities to contribute to making a better world. Our democracy depends on an informed and involved citizenry to function in the manner it is meant to, i.e., holding our leaders accountable to the will of the people.
Please note on the November calendar that parent-teacher meetings are scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday, Nov. 15-16, 3:00-6:00 pm. Look for the sign-up sheet in the outer hallway soon. We hope that all of our parents will use this opportunity to meet with their child(ren)’s teacher(s) to understand their performance so far this school year and how you may better support them in their education.
We wish you a very Happy Thanksgiving!
New Hope School Staff
“Elections remind us not only of the rights but the responsibilities of citizenship in a democracy.”
Robert F. Kennedy
October Newsletter
After a very warm September, we are now coming into October. Let’s hope for a change in the weather! We wish to thank everyone who could attend our Back-to-School Night last week. Most of our families were represented--a wonderful show of support for your children. The new school year is off to a great start.
After a very warm September, we are now coming into October. Let’s hope for a change in the weather! We wish to thank everyone who could attend our Back-to-School Night last week. Most of our families were represented--a wonderful show of support for your children. The new school year is off to a great start. We look forward to a good collaborative relationship with you throughout this year. We especially hope that you will find time to volunteer to help us in some of the many activities being planned.
October’s Virtues of the Month are Trustworthiness and Self-Awareness. As it mentions in your child’s agenda, trustworthy people do what they say they’re going to do and earn the trust of others by keeping their promises. In addition, by encouraging self-awareness we can help children to discover their true selves and be happy with who they are. Please note that we will announce our Students of the Month for October at our assembly Friday, Oct. 6.
At that assembly there will also be a special presentation by the organization Mad Science. After a successful after school program last spring, they are back again and will be having classes on robotics Wednesday afternoons from 3-4pm starting Oct. 18. You may sign your child up on their website at northeastnj.madscience.org. The cost for 6 sessions is $130 per child.
Continuing our school tradition each fall, our students will be going apple (and pumpkin) picking on Friday, Oct. 13, complete with a hayride. Parents are also welcome!
Note that Monday, Oct. 9, is Columbus Day which is a NO SCHOOL day. The next day, Oct. 10, will be Picture Day when individual, class and whole school photos will be taken of the students. Be sure your child is dressed extra nice that day.
Please note that on Friday, October 27, the school will have its annual Harvest Festival from 1:00-3:00 pm. Children are invited to come in Halloween costumes (not too scary!). Among the events scheduled for that day are face painting, popcorn hands, balloon animals, spider pencils, and the famous Haunted House! Parents are welcome to come and support.
Let’s have a great autumn together!
New Hope School Staff
“Whoever is careless with the truth in small matters cannot be trusted with important matters.”
Back to School Message
The new school year is approaching and students will soon be back in the classroom with exciting summer experiences to share and new subjects and topics to learn. Here's a back-to-school message from Dr. Beebe, the principal of New Hope School.
Dear New Hope School Families,
As principal of New Hope School, it is my pleasure to welcome you to the 2017-2018 school year, my 14th year with this learning community. We are all excited to have students back in our classrooms. It is our mission to teach our students God-centered universal values and service to others as the basis for personal integrity, harmony in the family, and peace in the world. We look forward to partnering with you in the coming year to achieve this.
As we embark on the new school year, I want to take a moment to reflect on what we achieved last year. As usual, our students did very well on their standardized Terra Nova tests, ranking well above the national averages in all grade levels. In addition, New Hope was recommended for accreditation by the visiting team of the Middle States Association—Committee on Elementary and Secondary Schools (MSA-CESS), which observed our school’s activities last March. We expect to receive their final decision sometime this fall.
We look forward to building on these successes and making even more progress this year. This year, our key goals are to continue to enhance students’ reading levels and helping them to develop their social-emotional relationship skills. We have a number of action plans in place in support of these goals. More information on that will be coming soon.
Each child is a unique individual. We pride ourselves on the opportunities we offer to help every one of our students succeed. These opportunities are included in our academic programming, from core subjects to electives and after school activities that help them develop their strengths, interests and talents in many areas. We are always looking towards the future—and preparing them for what comes next in their lives.
This work is not easy. But New Hope School is a community of professionals. We all—teachers, administrators, and support staff—are collaborating to create a safe, supportive, welcoming learning community where all students are treated fairly and have the opportunity to reach their full potential.
Families and other community members play a critical role as partners in supporting both your students at home and our work in the school. We look forward to working with you throughout the year to make important decisions that impact both your child as an individual and the school as a whole. As a start to this partnership, we invite you to attend our Back-to-School-Night on Friday, September 22, 6:30-8:30 pm.
To stay up-to-date on what’s happening throughout the year, visit this (revamped) website often, as well as our Facebook page, and TeacherEase, where you can check up on your child’s schoolwork.
New Hope School is a wonderful learning community. I feel so privileged to be a part of it. This is a very special place, and my colleagues and I appreciate the trust that you’ve shown us by sending your children here every day. We will do our best to ensure they have a fulfilling, happy and safe year.
Please do not hesitate to contact me at 973-768-7594 if you have any questions or concerns.
I am looking forward to a great school year.
Sincerely,
Robert Beebe, Ed.D.
Principal
New Hope School