Stone Harbor Elementary School

STONE HARBOR –– The Stone Harbor Board of Education held its public hearing on the 2007-08 Violence and Vandalism report at its meeting Oct. 8.

“We are proud to announce we have a zero report again as we have in the past number of years,” Superintendent David Rauenzahn said. “Our students are well-behaved and we have not had to spend money on vandalism issues.”

When asked for comments, Board member Dede Harris of the Buildings and Grounds Committee said, “It’s hard to talk about no violence.”

STONE HARBOR –– The Stone Harbor Board of Education rejected four different No Child Left Behind (NCLB) grants totaling about $2,000 at its meeting Oct. 8, as recommended by Superintendent David Rauenzahn.

Rauenzahn said compliance for the NCLB grant money is complicated and entails attending several meetings and workshops in Trenton. He said the expense of compliance would offset the benefit. Stone Harbor Elementary School receives Rural Education Achievement Program (REAP) grants, which are based on population and proximity to a large city.

Sydney Weeks/Jack Fichter

COLD SPRING — Sydney Weeks, a fourth grade teacher at Maud Abrams School was named the county’s Teacher of the Year by the Rio Grande Wal-Mart.

Weeks received a $1,000 grant from the Wal-Mart Foundation for the Maud Abrams School and a $100 gift card to buy supplies for her classroom.

Third-grader Stephen Rice, 8, rides in to school as students cheer and hold supportive signs early morning Oct. 8. Photos by Leslie Truluck.

AVALON - Wednesday, Oct. 8, is "National Walk or Ride Your Bike to School Day," which is held every October to promote health and fitness among students and faculty at schools across the nation, including Avalon Elementary School.

Physical Education teacher Patti Fottrell said this is the third consecutive year Avalon has participated.

Students cheered and held up encouraging signs as others peddled and strode to the "finish line" outside the school early in the morning.

COURT HOUSE -- Assistant Professor of Developmental English Stephanie Natale told the Atlantic Cape Community College Board of Trustees about the College-wide Book Program in which the entire college community reads the same book and engages in college-wide discussion.

A new book is selected every year with the intention, Natale said, to spark interdisciplinary discussion “on and off campus.”

“Some of my students tell me this is the first book they’ve ever read cover to cover,” she said.

COURT HOUSE—After a yearlong process of soliciting and reviewing proposals, Atlantic Cape Community College chose a new vendor for its management information system.

The board awarded a contract to Datatel of Fairfax, Va., for core business software and implementation at the Board of Trustees’ Sept. 23 meeting at the Cape May County Campus here.

TRENTON — New Jersey Public Advocate Ronald K. Chen and state Education Commissioner Lucille Davy Oct. 3 urged high school educators to take advantage of the enthusiasm generated by the upcoming Presidential campaign and set aside time to discuss the importance of voting and to register young voters.

Maud Abrams School fourth grader Skylar Tsosie told Douglass school pupils of her Navajo culture.

COLD SPRING — Skylar Tsosie, a fourth grader from Maud Abrams School, presented an assembly for Preschoolers at the David C. Douglass Veterans Memorial School about her Navajo culture for Native American Day, September 26th

Students were on their best behavior as grandparents share their memories. Photo by Leslie Truluck

AVALON –– They walked 10 miles to school, every day, in the rain, snow and sleet, uphill, both ways. Well, not exactly, but third grade students at Avalon Elementary School heard their grandparents share favorite memories of third grade for “Bring Your Grandparents to School Day,” Friday, Sept. 26 when they brought them to class for the morning.

Teacher Mary Beth Ross has taught third grade at Avalon Elementary School for 12 years, and said she is blessed and lucky because “third grade is a hopping place.”

Woodbine Elementary pupils who participated in summer school's Woodbine Gardening Initiative and teachers are lauded by Mayor William Pikolycky Wednesday, Sept. 24. Photo by Harry B. Scheeler Jr.

WOODBINE — Mayor William Pikolycky congratulated the summer school students at Woodbine Elementary School and their teachers on Wednesday, Sept. 24.

The pupils and teachers recently received the Cape May County 4-H Partnership award for their work on the Woodbine Gardening Initiative. The project was both a tie-in with the Smithsonian traveling exhibit Key Ingredients: American by Food and an introduction to the Junior Master Gardening Program which the school has in place for the 2008-2009 schoolyear.

The county Health Department was a sponsor.