Conti Chatter Dr. Michael Conti School PS 5

June 25, 2023

Message from Principal Rivero:

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National Junior Honor Society & Conti Awards Ceremony

Students inducted into the Conti Chapter of the National Junior Honor Society, along with those who maintained First or Second Honors consistently throughout Marking Periods 1, 2, & 3, were honored at our annual evening awards ceremony on June 12.

A very special thank you to Jersey City Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Norma Fernandez who joined us to celebrate these students...and to all our families who attended to support the awardees!

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Marking Period Honor Assemblies

Additional assemblies took place as well to recognize students who achieved Honor Roll, Effort Roll, Perfect Attendance, or were named Students of the Month during the 3rd Marking Period.

THE ARTS @ PS5

Arts in Education: Partnership with Jersey City Theater Center

Conti classes in grades 3-7 enjoyed the musical Lift Every Voice, performed by the Pushcart Players troupe, that celebrates the courage & resilience of everyday Americans during the Civil Rights Movement. In partnership with Jersey City Theater Center, the multi-media performance was followed by an Artist talkback and movement/voice/acting workshops for students later that same day.

Room 314 5th-graders participating in the Jersey City Theater Center's movement/voice/acting workshop had so much fun- it was a joy to watch them work so well together!...Both the Lift Every Voice musical and the workshops were made possible by a County Arts in Education grant, facilitated by PS5 LMS/Literacy Support teacher KK Sexton.

JCPS Permanent Art Collection

Works by two talented Conti artists, 8th-grader Soolim Bae and 3rd-grader Cristian Castillo, have been selected for the 2025 Jersey City Public Schools Permanent Art Collection. Celebrating its forty-first year, this collection showcases the broad perspective of students, & the diversity of curriculum & instructors. This year's judging panel included Midori Yoshimoto & Jason Martinek, both Professors of Art History at NJCU, and Ivy Sarioglu, owner of IMUR Gallery. Congratulations to Soolim, Christian & their teacher PS5 Art Specialist Mike Markman!

Conti Student Exhibit

The PS5 Student Art Exhibit took place throughout last week in Mr. Markman’s art room & the adjoining hallways. Works on display included still lifes, abstract art, portraits, animal drawings, sculpture, and comic strips depicting personal stories of students facing challenges. Classes visiting this pop-up exhibit got to write down on a wall-length piece of craft paper their reactions to the artwork...and visitors also created drawings related to events they were looking forward to this summer.

Achieve 3000 & Conti Student-Led PBL

In the near future, users who log onto Achieve 3000 (the differentiated reading software designed to increase Lexile scores) may see a reading & multimedia task featuring none other than our very own Conti students!...PS5 ELA teacher Nicole Spino's 8th-grade class was recently invited to discuss their PBL project exploring Immigration with a McGraw-Hill content creator. The video of the panel discussion is expected to be used in a future Achieve 3000 activity! This is part of a possible pilot-program to feature the activities of students in schools throughout the nation as topics of future Achieve 3000 articles. How cool is it that PS#5 students are part of this pilot?!!

Conti 8th-graders were interviewed by McGraw-Hill's Scott McCollum, who plans to feature the students' Immigration PBL in a future Achieve 3000 article.

e-MERGE Showcase: Innovation Award

A team comprised of Conti 5th-graders Edward Carattini, Amayli Castellon, Kaylin Channer, Ibrahim Khan, & Gabriella Noutsopoulos, won the INNOVATION AWARD at the recent JCPS District E-MERGE SHOWCASE, where students presented their Minecraft Hotels. A shout-out to the team, facilitated by PS5 STEM specialist Laura Bolos, for working hard and being poised & articulate in front of the judges!

Conti Chess Champs

Our Conti Chess Club brought home a 1st Place Team trophy in the Beginners division of the Tri-State Chess Tournament in NYC on June 16th. The Conti team also achieved a 2nd Place Team trophy in the Reserve division (K-8)...PS5 student Lincoln Schneider also won a 3rd Place individual trophy; Carter Jung a 4th Place individual trophy, and Matilda Huang a 6th Place individual award...Interest in chess amongst kids nationwide is rocketing, and this PS5 after-school club, facilitated by parent Jon Huang, and open to students in Pre-K to 8th grade, is one of the most active afterschool clubs at PS5.

Inspiring & Motivating

Alicia Levine, Head of Investment Strategy & Equities @ Pershing/BNY-Mellon shared her life story and the challenges she overcame with our 8th-graders. She spoke to them about their financial futures and taking steps now to set themselves up for success later in life. 

8th-grade Class Trip

The trip to Philadelphia was packed with both educational and fun activities! Many thanks to trip chaperones - teachers Peter Mant, Jillian Quirk, Bill Tserpes. & Rosanna Wright, along with parents Yvonne Gajilan & Nuria Sierra - for your hard work, support & input in this exciting opportunity for graduating classes at PS5! The trip included guided tours of Independence & Congress Hall, the National Constitution Center, the Museum of the American Revolution, and a visit to the Philadelphia Museum of Art, where they got to climb the iconic steps from the "Rocky" movie. Students stayed at the Marriott, and also had a celebratory dinner at Dave & Buster's, where they got unlimited Powercards to play arcade games.

Grade 3: NEW YORK ACQUARIUM

3rd-grade classes took a trip to the New York Aquarium, located on the Coney Island boardwalk in Brooklyn. They loved engaging with creatures in the touch tanks and also crawling through a tunnel to get up-close views of sharks, stingrays, & other aquatic life.

Grade 1: A DAY ON THE FARM

Our first-grade classes recently took a trip to Doyle's Farm in Flemington, NJ. Students sowed seeds; collected eggs from the chicken coop; hand-fed sheep, goats, & cows; milked a goat, and met the newest baby animals born on the farm this spring.

Juneteenth

PS5, along with schools throughout the JCPS district, commemorated Juneteenth last week. Through literature, art, and a multi-media presentation put together by the Curriculum department, students learned the history surrounding the emancipation of enslaved African-Americans, as well as the ongoing mission towards social justice.

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Assemblies Galore!

Within the span of two weeks this month, Conti students in grades K-8 participated in five interactive assemblies! These hands-on educational presentations, produced by Mobile Ed Productions, included Rock Out With Reading, Skate 4 Life, Magic of Science, Take Back Your Voice, and Freedom Within (an assembly incorporating mindfulness exercises.)

Family Fun Night

An evening of STEM, social studies, & physical education stations for our families provided an opportunity for the school community to learn together. Activities included using the power of chemical reactions to make luminescent lanterns, learning about astronaut Mae Jameson, and glow-in-the-dark obstacle races.

Super Saturdays

Two Saturday mornings filled with Social Emotional Learning activities!

Spring Carnival!

This annual event is a highlight for our students, and this year did not disappoint!

Donuts With Dads

1st-grade classes gathered at the playground to enjoy a day with the father-figures in their lives. Kids serenaded their dads, grandpas, & big brothers with a Father's Day song, followed by donuts & juice, and then spent the afternoon hanging out together!

National Fire Safety Awareness Month

Members of Engine Co. 9 visited our Pre-K classes to teach students important safety tips and also wowed them with the fire trucks!

PTA School Dance

What a blast, for both our kids and kid-at-heart chaperones!

Conti Garden Club Update

With her children now graduating from PS5, club facilitator & PS5 parent Marion Schoevaert will be handing over the reins to parent Amanda Annelli who will be the next club master. Ms. Annelli has already been reaching out to recruit students for the Garden Club for the upcoming school year. A shout-out to all the student & parent members of the Conti Garden Club who put in hard work and hours helping to maintain this urban oasis for the community to enjoy.

MOVING UP CELEBRATIONS

PreK to Kindergarten

A picnic at Enos Jones Park!

Kindergarten to First Grade

Kindergarteners celebrated moving up with a day of festive fun!

5th Grade to Middle School

A picnic and field day as well for soon-to-be 6th graders!

8th-Grade to High School

[Click on a photo to enlarge] Conti 8th-graders progress to the next chapter of their lives, as they matriculate to high schools. There were three (3) acceptances to McNair Academic, ten (10) to County Prep, three (3) to High Tech High, two (2) to Infinity, one to the JC Visual Arts Program, one to The Hudson School, and five (5) to Catholic schools, including St. Peter's Prep, St. Dominic, & Hudson Catholic...Notably, over $45,000 in merit scholarships were awarded to the Class of 2024, and two students, Ishmaiel Johnson & Seth Sullivan, were awarded a Dan Finn Scholarship from St. Peter's Prep...Finally, congrats to Class of 2024 Valedictorian SOFIA VARGAS and Salutatorian AISLYN NICOLE BALISI...and warmest wishes to all our rising 9th-graders!

Thank you!

Conti Chatter @ 2023-24 Created by Keung Sexton, PS5 Library Media Specialist

Principal John J. Rivero

Assistant Principal Albert Padilla