SOUTH ORANGE, NJ — South Mountain physical education teachers Jeff Kaesshaefer and Rich Tait recently challenged their students to participate in a recess running program. Students earn activity tokens for every 3 miles they complete. A handful of students have already completed 30 miles and are going strong.
MAPLEWOOD, NJ — At the June 4 Board of Education meeting, the South Orange-Maplewood School District honored the school system personnel who are retiring at the end of the school year, after dedicating themselves to making the SOMSD a better place for all students. BOE President Elizabeth Baker welcomed the retirees, their families and community […]
MAPLEWOOD / SOUTH ORANGE, NJ — Acting Superintendent Thomas Ficarra unveiled the South Orange-Maplewood School District’s long-range facilities and integration plan at the Board of Education’s May 14 meeting. In his presentation, Ficarra introduced a plan to renovate and upgrade the district’s school buildings while better integrating the schools by redrawing district lines. The plan […]
SOUTH ORANGE / MAPLEWOOD, NJ — The South Orange-Maplewood School District will hold several community meetings to discuss the long-range facilities and integration plan. Each meeting will include the same presentation. Meetings will be held: Wednesday, May 30, at 7:30 p.m. at Seth Boyden School, 274 Boyden Ave. in Maplewood; Thursday, May 31, at 7:30 […]
MAPLEWOOD, NJ — In a May 13 update, the South Orange-Maplewood School District reported that it received the results from an April test of 21 plumbing fixtures in the district; only one unit had an unacceptable level of lead and failed the retest. The district retested the 21 fixtures, which had been offline during the […]
SOUTH ORANGE, NJ — The student council at South Mountain Elementary School, with the help of the local green team, recently kicked off a schoolwide recycling program. The program began with a schoolwide assembly followed by new recycling bins for every classroom at South Mountain and the Annex. Parents from the green team partnered with […]
SOUTH ORANGE, NJ — At its Dec. 11 meeting, the South Orange Board of Health unanimously approved an ordinance that amends the village code to authorize residents to own chickens. The amended ordinance, which allows residents in single-family homes to own up to five chickens at a time, begins in March 2018 as part of […]
MAPLEWOOD, NJ — SOMA Film Festival, in partnership with Maplewood Arts Council, will screen the award-winning documentary “Art & Craft” on Thursday, Dec. 7, at 7:30 p.m. at The Woodland, 60 Woodland Road in Maplewood. All proceeds to be donated to each of the local elementary schools’ art programs. “Art & Craft” is a film […]
ESSEX COUNTY, NJ — Schools throughout Essex County have partnered with the RSVP Center of Essex and Hudson Counties, part of the Jewish Family Service, for the Reading Buddies program, which makes the most of intergenerational friendships. The Reading Buddies, a group of senior citizens, read to small groups of children in Essex County to […]
SOUTH ORANGE, NJ — Author and illustrator Ben Clanton visited South Mountain Elementary School on Tuesday, Sept. 26. Each grade had a fantastic private assembly with him during which he talked about his writing process, answered many interesting and thoughtful questions, and created characters with the students. Photos Courtesy of SOMSD