Thursday, September 6, 2012
Everything you want to know ... (and probably more) ...
The pencils are sharpened and the backpacks are bought. It must be the first day of school in Montclair. Some 6,000 students will return to Montclair's 11 public schools Thursday, where they will be welcomed by 50 new staff members. "We have visited all 11 schools and we are ready to receive students on Thursday," said Acting Schools Superintendent Dr. Clarence Hoover. Hoover said about 100 new students are entering the school district this year, making conditions at the elementary and middle school levels a bit "tight." New teachers include Emma McKeon, an 8th grade science teacher at Glenfield Middle School who once attended Renaissance Middle School. “Having been on the other side gives me a unique perspective,” McKeon said. “The …
Tuesday, September 4, 2012
Comcast offers a program for low-cost monthly Internet access and a computer for under $150.
Families with at least one child receiving free or reduced price school lunch are eligible for a Comcast program that provides broadband Internet access for less than $10 a month. The program potentially affects several thousand Essex County households. The Comcast program, Internet Essentials, is in its second year and is part of a larger, industry-wide effort to increase high-speed Internet access among low-income families. "A digital divide exists, and low-income families who don't have Internet access at home are being left behind," said Alisha Martin, a regional Comcast spokeswoman. "So, the Internet Essentials program was designed to help close the digital divide and get more Americans, more families, connected to the Internet so …
Monday, September 3, 2012
Montclair High School offered an orientation this week for incoming ninth graders and their parents.
Montclair High School held its annual Freshman Orientation this week during which a packed auditorium of parents and students were told the ins and outs of what high school life will be like for incoming ninth graders this fall. Here are 11 things (below) this Montclair Patch editor learned (as a somewhat nervous parent of a new freshman). If you have anything to add, please do so in the comments section below. 1) Twenty seniors in the class of 2012 are expected to attend Ivy League colleges this fall compared with 14 seniors in the class of 2011. 2) Traffic around the high school is brutal between 7:50 a.m. and 8 a.m. so try to drop your child off by 7:45 a.m. each morning. 3) Students are not allowed to wear hats, caps, or sunglasses. …
Wednesday, August 29, 2012
Tips from Children’s Hospital of New Jersey
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Wednesday, August 29, 2012
Newark, NJ—While the start of a new school year is a time of excitement for most students and parents, for the families of children with food allergies, this time can also bring fear of exposure to foods that trigger allergic reactions. Up to three million children in the United States are estimated to be affected by food allergy, according to the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology. The number of children with food allergies went up 18 percent from 1997 to 2007, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “With a true food allergy, an individual's immune system will overreact to an ordinarily harmless food,” reports Joel Mendelson, MD, Director, Division of Allergy / Immunology at Children’s Hospital…
Monday, August 27, 2012
Overlook Medical Center psychologist Rosalind S. Dorlen suggests practicing healthy stress management habits at home, as stress can increase during the school year.
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Monday, August 27, 2012
As summer draws to an end many families are beginning to prepare for the upcoming school year. The New Jersey Psychological Association (NJPA) encourages parents to focus on practicing healthy stress management habits at home, as stress can increase during the school year. According to psychological research, family plays a key role in modeling healthy behaviors that lead to lifelong wellness and good health. Children who learn and practice healthy habits at home, such as regular physical activity and a balanced diet, have a toolbox of stress management techniques they can use in the school year. “Many people don’t realize that they are already practicing healthy stress management techniques at home, such as getting enough sleep and …
Saturday, August 25, 2012
Shark Week's done, but if you haven't gotten your fix, there's a traveling exhibit at the Camden Adventure Aquarium that should do you.
With just a few days remaining before school starts, a trip to the Megalodon exhibit at the Camden Adventure Aquarium might be a great way to spend a day with the kids as the summer winds down. Find out more in our Patch review below. If the scale model is to be believed, walking into the mouth of the biggest shark to ever swim the oceans of Earth is not unlike boarding a subway car. The model is far more comfortable than a shark mouth, of course, and doesn't offer any of the requisite gnashing of teeth and rending of meaty bits that you might find in a shark's bite—but the effect leaves no less of an impact. You know, with no uncertainty, that you're in the presence of an apex predator. "Megalodon - The Largest Shark that Ever Lived" …
Tuesday, August 21, 2012
A list of applications that can make your school year much easier.
Time Magazine recently released its list of the top 10 iPhone apps for students headed back to school. Patch took the time to tweak Time's list and add a few of our favorites as well. Whether you're headed to your first year of high school or your first year away at college, these apps will make your life significantly easier.
Take our poll and find out how other parents get their children back and forth to school.
Mary Emanuelli, a mother of four, said she transports her daughter to Montclair High School via carpool. "What happens after school depends on whether she has practice or a club," she said. "Sometimes I pick her up or she walks or take the NJ Transit bus home." Another mother, Melissa Bigelow, said she, too, carpools as the high school is about two miles away and that school starts too early for her child to walk. Still another mother said her son used to cycle but that his backpack grew too heavy so she began driving him there. The first day of school at Montclair High is less than a month away and many parents of freshmen are wondering how their sons and daughters will get there. Earlier this year, Montclair High School student Lena …
Monday, August 20, 2012
Whole grain-rich foods, more fruits and vegetables mandated.
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Monday, August 20, 2012
School districts across the country will bring new meaning to the "apple a day" saying this school year as nationally-mandated school lunch standards take effect. Beginning in September, the new lunch standards, introduced in January by First Lady Michelle Obama under the Healthy, Hunger Free Kids Act, will be implemented. The standards were created to help fight childhood obesity throughout the nation. According to a press release from the United States Department of Agriculture, the new meal standards are designed to "make the same kinds of practical changes that many parents are already encouraging at home." This involves the inclusion of fruits, vegetables, whole grain-rich foods, low-calorie foods and foods with reduced amounts of …
Thursday, August 16, 2012
These requirements are set by the state Department of Health and Senior Services.
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Thursday, August 16, 2012
Parents preparing to send children back to school may want to look at the required immunizations, available in the PDF document in the Photos section of this article. The state Department of Health and Senior Services (DOHSS) sets the immunization requirements for all school-aged children, from day care programs to seniors in high school. For more on what's required in the Montclair school district, go here. Information on the diseases below, their symptoms and possible consequences are taken from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), which publishes Vaccine Information Statements (VIS) for the most common vaccines. VISs for the immunizations described below may be found in the Photos section of this article. The immunization requirements…
A. Gideon
9:08 am on Sunday, September 2, 2012
A word of warning about AP classes and those college credits: I placed out of two semesters of calculus thanks to my BC calculus test score. Given the material actually covered, through, I shouldn't have placed out of the second semester. Material was covered in it, and presumed in later math courses, that my AP class did not cover. That made life something of a pain for a while. Keep in mind … more ›