Conti Chatter

Dr. Michael Conti School PS 5

Feb 19, 2025

PS5 Students Gearing up for National Samsung Solve Finals!

Once again, a team of Conti middle school students have advanced to the National Finals in the prestigious Samsung Solve for Tomorrow Contest! The first PS5 Samsung Solve team competed in the nationals eight years ago, presenting their air-purifying sustainability project before a panel of esteemed STEM professionals. The current Conti team, comprised of PS5 Sci-Fi Club members & facilitated by our middle school teachers Marc Papish & Rosana Wright, has been working diligently to design, test, & hone a solution to help combat the severe flooding in the neighborhood caused by clogged storm drains during heavy rain. So far, their efforts stood out from a field of more than 1000 submissions from middle & high school teams nationwide, winning them a $10,000 grant to help further develop their project. By advancing to the next round, the Conti team has the opportunity to compete for a $100,000 grant to bring their solution closer to reality.

Samsung Solve for Tomorrow is a global educational initiative & annual competition that fosters innovation, creativity, & social responsibility by challenging students to use STEM to address real-world community issues. The first Conti Samsung Solve team to advance to the finals was in 2018, when they presented their sustainability project at the nationals that year in NYC and were awarded over $40,000 in prizes, photo bottom left, while competing against schools like Stuyvesant High, Bronx Science, and Queens High School for the Sciences at York College. The current PS5 team, photo bottom right, hopes to win top prizes at the 2026 showdown in Washington DC later this year.

Conti Student-Athlete With Olympic Dreams

For the second year in a row, PS5 middle-schooler Johanna Gleicher garnered top medals at the Empire State Games, a premier competition that often serves as a pipeline for athletes who have gone onto pro, college, & Olympic success. In 2025, Johanna won Gold in her division for short track speedskating, and at the 2026 Empire games held earlier this month, won a Bronze medal in the 500 meter in 60 seconds, and also earned a personal best in the 1000 & 777 meter events...As a result of placing well at the Empire State Games, Johanna has been invited back to train at the U.S. Olympic Training Site in Lake Placid this summer.

Top photo, Joanna on the medal podium in Lake Placid at the recent Empire State Games, and bottom photo, training with Garden State Speedskating, a NJ-based club under US Speedskating, recognized by the Olympic Committee & the International Skating Union as the governing body for the sport in America. In spite of the time & effort training requires, Johanna still somehow manages to return to school after competitions all caught up in her classwork & homework!

Spelling Bee Champion

Congratulations to 5th-grader Meera Goel, for winning the 2026 Dr. Michael Conti Spelling Bee, and proudly representing our school on Saturday, February 7th in the Hudson County Scripps Spelling Bee. Meera ranked 9th overall in the County Bee, competing in a field of ~ 80 contestants, all who were champions of their school bees. Kudos as well to 4th-grader Rudhvi Peela, who won 2nd Prize in the Conti School Bee and to 3rd-grader Anika Raman who took 3rd place in our school bee... 7th-grader Oliver Clash got the highest score amongst the middle school participants in our school bee, so both he and Meera will represent PS5 at the uncoming March 28th Jersey City Public School District Bee (unaffiliated with Scripps), in their respective grades 6-8 and grades 3-5 categories.

We are proud of the 2026 Conti School Bee winner Meera Goel, photo bottom left, and of all the participants in both the school-wide & classroom bees for mastering new words and displaying good sportsmanship!...Thank you to faculty members Courtney Meola, Jillian Quirk, & Ken Teschlog, who served as judges; to Maryanne Curti, who served as record keeper; to Conti Spelling Bee Coordinator Keung Sexton; and to our administrators Principal Rivero & Asst. Principal Padilla.

Pi Eaters Ate

Released results from the Noetic Learning Math Contest, a national problem-solving competition, has the PS5 Math Club team, The Pi Eaters, at the top of the leaderboard --with the Conti School, along with the Waldo International School, taking 8 of the top 14 spots on the Noetic Honor Roll! The Conti team, facilitated by PS5 Math support teacher Ken Teschlog and parent Vincent Ho, now prepares for their next competition, Math Kangaroo USA, taking place this spring, with more than 70 PS5 students enrolled to participate.

PS5 2nd-graders Lucas Ho, Julian Cho, Josephine Lee and Elliot Telljohann all achieved scores of at least 85, garnering them a spot on the Noetic National Honor Roll (awarded to those scoring in the top 10th percentile.) Lucas Ho, with a score of 100, also won a Team Winner medal. In addition, the following PS5 team members scored enough to receive Noetic Honorable Mentions: 2nd-graders Andre Baillot, Matilda Huang, Lisa Lim, Riya Moonjely, & Harriot Miscia, along with 1st-grader Eliza Popow-Shubeck. Way to go!

PS5 Sci Fair Winners Honored

Winners of the Conti School Science Fair were recognized last week at the Jersey City Public Schools Science Awards Ceremony. Only a month ago, these students arrived at the Liberty Science Center excited to share their projects at the Jersey City Public Schools Science Fair Challenge. The district fair brought together 29 schools and 239 student scientists, each presenting a project representing months of inquiry, investigation, data analysis, and reflection.

Achieve 3000 Leaderboard

Achieve 3000 is a differentiated literacy program designed to support and accelerate students’ Lexile level growth, and we are so pleased that a majority of PS5 ELA classrooms use the program with fidelity...And a fist-pump to students from Rooms 204, 311, and 310 for consistently being at the top of the leader board of highest scoring classes! Also, all Conti students who completed at least 40 activities for which they scored 75% or above through the end of Marking Period 2 are to be commended and recognized during our awards assemblies.

.

Black History Month

NJ AMISTAD COMMISSION AFRICAN AMERICAN DAY

Conti 4th-graders from Ms. Pilla & Ms. Ureta's Social Studies classes had a wonderful opportunity this past Saturday, February 14th, to present at the 2026 NJ Amistad Commission African American Day held at William Paterson University. Acting as historians, our students shared their research on influential African-American figures who made lasting contributions across various fields. Presenting their appreciation for inspirational men & women such as Harriet Tubman, Bessie Coleman, Jacob Lawrence, Count Basie, Oliver Brown, and the heroic Tuskegee Airmen, our students did a phenomenal job, and should be proud of the dedication & confidence they demonstrated throughout this meaningful experience!

Presenting bios of notable African-Americans during morning announcements; compiling a classroom quilt celebrating both our commonalities & differences in room 205; comparing and contrasting ways to be courageous in room 210; researching bios & creating posters of Black heroes in room 314; diving deeper into the meaning of Dr. Martin Luther King's message in rooms 106 & 209 are just some more ways PS5 students have been commemorating Black History Month...

And this coming Tuesday, bundle up and stop by our school garden to enjoy books, stories, crafts & more at an event sponsored by our PTA:

.

What Makes a City Run?

[*CLICK on any photo to enlarge*] As part of a reading unit on government workers & community helpers, our 2nd-graders recently learned about the role of local leaders when The Honorable James Solomon, Mayor of Jersey City, along with the mayor's official bodyguard, Sergeant-Major Joel Chaviano, stopped by to answer questions students had about what makes a city run efficiently. In other visits, firefighter Miguel Lugo; entrepreneur/cookie decorator Destinee Lugo of Sweet Destinee; social worker Karina Astudillo; immigration lawyer Alexandra Lampert; and children's rights attorney Sherine Skariah discussed how they service the local community. Thank you to all for taking the time to provide our kids with special insights!

District Attendance Award

PS#5 was recognized at last month's Board Meeting for having the highest attendance in the district for the prior month. Staff and student attendance is of course crucial as it directly impacts academic achievement, fosters a positive school culture, and builds essential lifelong habits of reliability!

Students Spearhead Successful Fundraiser

PS5's Finance & Entrepreneurs Club launched its first student-run fundraiser, selling Valentine’s candy bags to raise money for the 8th-grade class trip to Philadelphia. The club pitched their idea to the PTA for a $100 investment to buy inventory, came up with a marketing plan that included a filmed commercial, and took online orders via the PTA website. Students visited classrooms to make their pitch, packed orders during lunch periods and after school, and even held pop-up sales outside the school. Throughout the process, they calculated costs, made projections, tracked sales vs. expenses, and determined profit margins to decide exactly how much inventory to purchase. Their current records show the club has earned enough to not only pay back the PTA, but also made well over $1,000 in net profit so far...The club extends its sincere appreciation to Principal Rivero and Assistant Principal Padilla for their continued championing of afterschool programs & opportunities that empower students to lead & innovate; to our awesome PTA for investing; to the school community for supporting the fundraiser; and to teachers Ms. Guzman and Mr. Mant for their guidance. Stay tuned for more ventures from this club!

Students of the Month

The focus TRAIT for the prior month of January was GENEROSITY:

[Click on a photo to enlarge]

The month before that, the TRAIT was RESPONSIBILITY:

[Click on a photo to enlarge]

STEMotional Saturdays

The PS5 first STEMotional Saturday event of this year, held February 7th, had over forty kindergarten through grade 2 students brave the chilly temperatures to attend the event for some fairy tale STEM fun. Students designed a new bed for Goldilocks, a carrier for the golden egg from jack & the Beanstalk, and helped Rapunzel escape the tower!

The next Conti STEMotional Saturday, originally scheduled for February 21st, has been RESCHEDULED TO MARCH 28TH! **Limited to Grades 6-8 and PS5 Students only:

.

Wellness Club

Members of the PS5 Wellness Club, facilitated by Ms. Pilla, participated in meaningful discussions to increase self-awareness...and engaged in sensory activities to lower stress levels, feel more grounded & focused.

National School Counseling Week

In recognition of February's National School Counseling Week, here's a shout out to PS5's Ms. Santiago-Hernandez & Ms. Mainor! The national celebration aims to highlight the contributions of school counselors in guiding students toward academic success, career readiness, & personal growth. Whether assisting students with applications to high schools & special enrichment programs, offering guidance on emotional well-being, or mediating conflict facilitating activities to encourage peer support, they are a crucial bridge between students, teachers, & families.

.

Classroom Happenings:

INTERDISCIPLINARY STUDIES LAB

5th-graders in Ms. Ureta's Interdisciplinary Studies classes explore how plants & animals in a park ecosystem are connected to one another through food chains by playing the game Eat or Be Eaten, in which they developed model food chains to describe the movement of matter between living things. They then used their models to investigate what happens when a species is removed from the ecosystem...In a separate activity, these kids learned the critical role earthworms play in decomposing dead material and releasing nutrients into the soil. They had a blast creating a worm bed and observing the creatures wriggle around, aerating & enriching the soil...

...4th graders in the lab enjoyed creating models of the human eye and used a magnifying lens as a replication of the cornea to explore how the structure of this lens is related to the function of our eye, observing how the changing size of the pupil controls how much light enters the eye...Students also began a unit on electricity as a form of energy, investigating how electrical energy requires a circuit, and made their own mini flashlights from LEDs, button batteries, and strips of aluminum foil...

...meanwhile 3rd-grade students kicked-off the First Lego League Explore "Unearthed" challenge for their PBL. Our junior archaeologists will help solve mysteries about the past and explore artifacts left by humans who lived long ago.

FIRST GRADE BEE

Our School Bee and the Jersey City Public Schools District Bee sees students in grades 3-8 compete, but that didn't stop PS5 1st-graders from holding their very own "junior" version last week! Students from Rooms 208, 209, & 210 got a taste of what they can eventually expect in the full-fledged bee our older grades experience. The 1st-Grade Bee was a lower-pressure arena that encouraged our young ones to try their best in a fun, supportive way while celebrating effort & growth. In 1st place was Vihaan Roy - Rm 208; 2nd place was Luna Franco - Rm. 208; and Parizay Malik from Rm. 209 took the 3rd spot. A high-five to all the participants!

NATIONAL VALENTINES EXCHANGE

Our first graders also participated in the National Valentine Exchange with other first-grade pen pals from across the nation! This project not only improved their letter writing skills, it allowed them to locate New Jersey, identify various states, and compare & contrast their own community to other places.

ONE LITTLE WORD, BIG GOALS

Students in Ms. Johnson’s 2nd-grade ELA classes kicked off 2026 with intention & heart through a meaningful project called My Word of the Year. As a class, students brainstormed positive words and character traits they hope to strengthen this year like kindness, bravery, patience, & confidence. Each student selected one word that felt important to them, created a personalized pendant representing the trait, and wrote about how they plan to live out that word in their daily lives throughout the months ahead. This thoughtful activity encouraged self-reflection, goal setting, and student voice, while reminding us that even small words can lead to big growth.

WINTER OASIS FOR FEATHERED FRIENDS

A ranger from Liberty State Park visited Rm. 114 and taught our Kindergarteners that evergreen trees provide not just color, but how their dense needles offer birds a life-saving windbreak & protection from predators, while their cones & berries offer essential high-energy food during the coldest months. Our students also made bird feeders from Cheerios and raisins, then went outside to hang their creations on the tree branches outside our school.

WHY NOT?

Sure, the temperatures outside have been frigid, so isn't that the perfect time to have an indoor picnic? For students in Rm.207, being snowed in was the best excuse to stay indoors and pretend it was a balmy summer day!

OH, THE PLACES YOU'LL GO!

Regular parent visits to Rm. 210 provide our kids with enriching multicultural experiences! Recently, through vivid photography and storytelling, students embarked on a virtual journey to the Philippines and Dubai. During yet another parent visit, they learned about the rich traditions of Seollal, the Korean New Year, practiced essential Korean vocabulary, mastered the ceremonial bow, and created origami envelopes to symbolize good fortune. After exploring a variety of global destinations they hope to visit, students crafted personal passports to symbolize their future travels...

...and in Rm. 311, students learned about the traditions of Lunar New Year, the significance of the Year of the Fire Horse, and had fun crafting their own paper lanterns.

.

UPCOMING CONTI MIDDLE SCHOOL OPEN HOUSE!

Know any families who may be interested? Have them RSVP BY scanning the QR code below:

.

Thank you!

Conti Chatter @ 2025-26 Keung Sexton, LMS/Literacy Support

Principal John J. Rivero

Assistant Principal Albert Padilla

CREATED BY

K. S.