Conti Chatter Dr. Michael Conti School PS 5

May 12, 2024

Sending warmest wishes to the moms in our PS5 community!

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CONTI STUDENT & EDUCATOR TAKE TOP HONORS AT WORLD LANGUAGES PROCLAMATION CEREMONY!

PS5 5th-grader ADRIANA CASTILLO was recognized as the district's Grade 3-5 DUAL LANGUAGE STUDENT OF THE YEAR...and PS5 1st-grade educator HILDA TRINIDAD as the district DUAL LANGUAGE TEACHER OF THE YEAR, at the 2024 Jersey City Public Schools Bilingual/ESL/World Languages Proclamation Ceremony held Friday morning, May 10th. Congratulations to both honorees!

Conti 5th-grader ADRIANA CASTILLO was honored as one of the outstanding World Language students at this celebration of multiculturalism.
HILDA TRINIDAD, a seasoned educator for over 25 years (the past 23 years at the Dr. Michael Conti School), graduated from St. John’s University with a bachelor’s degree in computer science. Before deciding to pursue her interest in education, she worked as a systems analyst & later as a sales representative for a major corporation in New York City. Ms. Trinidad's parents were immigrants from Cuba, and Ms. Trinidad spoke only Spanish until she herself entered kindergarten. She draws upon her own experiences from an immigrant family to create a positive classroom environment where her students feel respected, valued, & motivated to learn. As a dual language teacher, Ms. Trinidad strives to cultivate values of inclusion, tolerance, & empathy, by welcoming students & parents to share their cultural traditions. As for this recent district honor, "I feel so fortunate to be recognized for the work that brings me such joy and fulfillment," she says. When she’s not at school, Ms. Trinidad can be found enjoying time with her family & friends, reading a good book, cooking in the kitchen, or at the beach, her happy place!

DISTRICT CELEBRATES GOVERNOR'S EDUCATORS OF THE YEAR PROGRAM

PS5 Teacher of the Year ANNA LOPEZ (Kindergarten) and PS5 Educational Support Professional of the Year DOMINGA RIVERA (Pre-K Aide) were recognized last week at a luncheon for honorees from the district schools. In cased you missed our February 2024 Chatter newsletter, here's link to that issue https://new.express.adobe.com/webpage/uvNkMDHsS1x73 which had an article on Ms. Lopez's & Ms. Rivera's backgrounds & what makes them outstanding at what they do. Kudos to all!

PS5 TEACHER OF THE YEAR ANNA LOPEZ (right) and EDUCATIONAL SERVICES PROFESSIONAL OF THE YEAR DOMINGA RIVERA (left) were celebrated at a May 3rd luncheon attended by district & community leaders, including JCPS Superintendent Norma Fernandez, Board President Dejon Morris, and PS5 Principal John J. Rivero.

CONTI STUDENT ACHIEVES AT TRI-STATE CHESS COMPETITION

Shout out to Rm. 208 1st-grader Lincoln Schneider for representing the PS 5 Chess Club and bringing home the 2nd-Place trophy (Beginner Level) in the Tri-State Chess Competition hosted in New York City last weekend!

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STUDENTS OF THE MONTH

The focus TRAIT for the prior month was INCLUSIVE - being accepting & welcoming of others.

[Click on photos to enlarge]

Earth Day

CONTI ECO-COUGARS UPCYCLE!

High-fives to 3rd-graders in Rms. 205 & 204 who have been collecting plastic refuse from their school breakfasts & lunches, then repurposing the trash into functional items, ranging from clocks, lanterns, planters, watering cans, candy dishes, pencil holders, story scrolls & much more!...
5th-graders in Rm. 312 joined in the upcycling initiative by repurposing plastic cafeteria trash into items like (clockwise from top right) a jewelry holder for the beach, a birdfeeder, a lamp-shade, even a desk-top trash can...
Our third-grade classes also continue to work towards publishing a book inspired by their grade-level Project Based Learning: The Effects Of Our Daily Choices- A 3rd-Grade Campaign to Save Our Earth...
Kindergarteners in Rm. 112 have been learning to recycle paper scraps. The week leading up to Earth Day, the class collected paper trash, then turned it into pulp and remolded it into sheets of thick paper for a future project...
Rm. 210 students collected plastic utensils to create the Forky character from Toy Story 4...and in Rm. 209 students made Earth Day mobiles where they wrote down "promises" to our Earth on ways they will help the environment.

SPERANZA THEATRE GARDEN PARTY

PS5 students from grades 3 & 5 attended Speranza Theatre's Garden Party held this past Thursday night at Jersey City's historic Apple Tree House, site of Speranza's new headquarters. Several Conti Grade 5 students got to read a-loud the short plays they produced collaboratively during in-school writing workshops, via PS5's now 3-year-long partnership with Speranza Theatre, which brings their teaching artists into our classrooms. A number of 3rd-grade students performed excepts from the folktale Stone Soup as well at the party, a fundraiser to raise money for a native-plant garden at Speranza's new space.

COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIPS: PERSHING-BNY MELLON

Conti students benefit greatly from PS5's long-standing partnerships with community organizations & businesses, such as Pershing-BNY Mellon, where our 8th-graders' recently participated in a Financial Literacy workshop at the company headquarters in New York City...This is one of a series of workshops Pershing offers our students during the school year, teaching life skills: How to get a summer job? How to balance a checkbook? What are tax deductions? And at Pershing's annual "Find Your Future" event, students even get to participate in mock job interviews, and learn about writing resumes & applying for scholarships.
At the recent visit, our students also learned about cyber security, & the history of BNY-Mellon, which was founded by Alexander Hamilton in 1874. They likewise had the opportunity to speak with Jim Crowley, Global Head of Pershing, as part of their day. Thank you to our CIT Lou DeCarlo for facilitating the trip!

STRONG GIRLS CLUB

Members of the Conti STRONG GIRLS CLUB got to hang out with cadets from the Dickinson High School Air Force Junior ROTC program. Our students learned about the program and all the opportunities it has to offer: Leadership development, self-determination, community involvement/unity, and college & career readiness. A worthwhile visit, set up by our School Counselor Emma Santiago Hernandez!

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WELLNESS CLUB

PS5's afterschool Wellness Club, facilitated by PS5 teacher Nicole Pilla, aims to provide students with tools to better physical, emotional, & social health. One recent activity had students identify their emotions & write down their worries on a piece of paper, which they then crumpled & stuck to the Worry Wall, freeing their minds & bodies from having to carry the burden...Another lesson involved focusing on both physical & mental strength, using stability seats to work on balance & patience, while improving communication skills between partners...Club members also enjoyed making friendship bracelets to gift one another.

HEALTHY LIFESTYLE FIELD TRIP

Our 2nd-graders went on a class trip to Health Barn in Ridgewood, NJ on May 3rd, where they learned about the importance of fresh, seasonal produce and why eating naturally & steering away from processed, artificial ingredients matter. They also participated in hands-on organic gardening activities & composting, sampled a variety of herbs from the garden, made yummy fruit smoothies, and were gifted with pea plants to take home.

PAINTING TOGETHER!

Students in Rm. 213 invited families to join them for an art activity celebrating the blossoming trees and birds of the spring season.

POSITIVE FRAME OF MIND

PS5 is now in the thick of standardized testing, with students immersed in the NJSLA throughout the month of May. Leading up to the kick-off of testing, we held a series of countdowns & pep rallies to get our students in the best frame of mind to tackle the weeks ahead. Showing up to school each day, well-rested & hydrated, and with a calm, steady approach to the task ahead. Classroom teachers also had their own ways to help boost their kids' confidence, for example in Rm. 310 (above) parents were requested to send encouraging notes wishing their child the best on their very first day of NJSLA testing. And at this point, all students really need to do is try their best, and testing season will be over before they know it, with fantastic events to look forward to thereafter like our Spring Carnival, field trips, theatre performances, etc.
Even during this intense month, students are at least getting somewhat of a "brain break" in the afternoons from the rigors of test-taking. For example, after completion of the NJSLA section scheduled for the day, our 3rd-graders relaxed in the Conti garden, as did the 5th graders, drawing & playing chess...and students in Rm. 207 had some STEM fun with Legos.

STORY TIME!

During story time with Conti librarian/literacy support teacher Keung Sexton, Kindergarteners from Rm. 114 got to imagine what it would like if dinosaurs still roamed earth. Would they smash cars & stomp on people like Godzilla on a rampage? Not according to Bernard Most's whimsical book If The Dinosaurs Came Back, where these creatures prove to very beneficial to community workers like bus drivers, firefighters & police officers, landscapers, farmers, librarians, & even dentists! Our students were inspired to come up with some "out of the box" ideas on how these prehistoric creatures could help people in Jersey City...and are looking forward to their next visit to our library for more story time adventures!

LET THERE BE LIGHT!

This month, STEM lessons in Room 208 have focused on light & sound. For one of the projects, students created "stained glass" flowers for the classroom windows after experimenting with the effects of light on transparency. If you happen to walk by the Third Street side of our building, look up & check out their creations hanging from the windows on the second floor.

CAREER DAYS

Our school is fortunate to have such a high degree of parental involvement and Career Day visits are just one example. Recent parent visits to Rm. 210 & Rm. 110 had students eagerly interviewing the visitors about their careers. Two dentists taught kids a primer on how to read x-rays and how to best clean teeth; two firefighters spoke about safety & preparedness; and a parent who is an interior designer demonstrated for students math skills she uses regularly in her job.

TAKE YOUR CHILD TO WORK DAY

On April 26th, at PS5 the spotlight was on careers in education, with more than two dozen PS5 teachers & staff arriving in the building that morning with their own children, who got to see first-hand what their parents do at work! An edifying & fun day!

"MUFFINS FOR MOMS" TEA PARTY

Pre-K Rm. 102 held a Muffins for Moms tea party Friday afternoon as an early celebration of Mother's Day!

TURTLEBACK ZOO

💙Our Pre-K and Kindergarten classes had a fantastic time at Turtleback Zoo this week, where the got to feed the giraffes, learn about pelicans & flamingoes, and rode a miniature train through the zoo's beautiful South Mountain Reservation.

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PTA MULTICULTURAL CELEBRATION: EID

PTA ART AUCTION

The PS5 ART AUCTION fundraiser, sponsored by our awesome PTA, was a great success, and a wonderful way to highlight the work of Conti student artists!

Much to look forward to in the months leading up to the end of the school year; these are some of the dates (thus far) to mark on your calendars:

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Thank you!

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

Principal John J. Rivero

Assistant Principal Albert Padilla

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