H.B. Whitehorne Middle School is proud to announce that Andrew Castillo has been named National Geographic State Bee Semifinalist by the National Geographic Society. Castillo, an eigth grade student at HBW, will be competing against 102 other semifinalists from New Jersey on Friday, April 1, 2016 at Rutgers University. Castillo also won the annual HBW Spelling Bee on February 4, 2016

This is the second level of the National Geographic Bee competition, which is now in its 28th year. School Bees were held in schools with fourth- through eighth-grade students throughout the state to determine each school champion. School champions then took an online qualifying test. The National Geographic Society has invited up to 100 of the top-scoring students in each of the 50 states, District of Columbia, Department of Defense Dependents Schools and U.S. territories to compete in the state Bees.

Each state champion will receive $100, the National Geographic book “The National Parks: An Illustrated History” and a medal, and will journey to Washington, D.C., to represent their state in the National Geographic Bee Championship at National Geographic Society headquarters, May 22-25, 2016. The national champion will receive a $50,000 college scholarship and lifetime membership in the National Geographic Society. The national champion will also travel (along with one parent or guardian), all expenses paid, on a Lindblad expedition to Southeast Alaska aboard National Geographic Sea Lion, including Glacier Bay National Park, in recognition of the 100th anniversary of the National Park Service. Travel for the trip is provided by Lindblad Expeditions and National Geographic. Visit www.natgeobee.org for more information on the National Geographic Bee.

The 2016 National Geographic Bee Championship final round, moderated for the first time by journalist and humorist Mo Rocca, will air on the National Geographic Channel and Nat Geo WILD on Friday, May 27, at 8 p.m. ET, and later on public television stations. Check local television listings for air date and time in your area.

How would you fare as a Bee contestant? At the school Bees this year, students had to answer such questions as:

1. To fish in Lake Winnipesaukee [wi-neh-peh-SAW-kee] and ski near Franconia Notch, you would travel to which state—New Hampshire or South Dakota?
2. Visitors to Biscayne National Park in Florida can go fishing and lobstering along the shore of which kind of habitat—mangrove or desert?
3. Sea kayakers can explore hundreds of islands off the Dalmatian coast of which European country south of Slovenia?
4. For centuries, the Chinese emperors lived in seclusion in the Forbidden City, which is located within what present-day city?

1. New Hampshire 2. Mangrove 3. Croatia 4. Beijing

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In 2013, VFEE funded a grant to purchase robotic devices to expand the computer science curriculum at Verona High School.

Please come join your friends in supporting our teachers and schools. Tickets are $35 per person and can be purchased by contacting Palma Quagliata 973-954-7797, pquagliata@vfee.org, or Jackie Quattrocchi 201-563-2565, jquattrocchi@vfee.org.

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Bates College: Jane Spardel was named to the dean’s list for the fall semester ending in December 2015. This is a distinction earned by students whose cumulative grade point average is 3.71 or higher. Spardel is a 2013 graduate of Verona High School. She is majoring in English and studying abroad during the 2015-16 winter semester through the Bates College Junior Year Abroad program.

Emerson College: Evan Yee has been named to the Dean’s List for the Fall 2015 semester. Yee is majoring in film production. The requirement to make Emerson’s Dean’s List is a grade point average of 3.7 or higher.

Lafayette College: Paige Ferrell and Rachel Paisner were named to the Dean’s List for outstanding academic achievement during the fall 2015 semester. Each student achieved at least a 3.60 semester grade point average on a 4.0 scale.

Loyola University Maryland: Marco DiGrado and Jessica Schnurr, both members of the class of 2017, are members of its fall 2015 Dean’s List. In order to qualify for the Dean’s List at Loyola, a student must achieve a minimum QPA of at least 3.500 for the term, provided that, in the term they have successfully completed courses totaling a minimum of 15 credits.

New York University: Alexa Quattrocchi, a member of the Verona High School class of 2011 who graduated with honors from the University of Scranton with a degree in counseling and a criminal justice minor, has been inducted into the National Honor Society at New York University’s Silver School where she is a graduate student pursuing a degree in social work.

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute: Krojana Selimi has been named to the Dean’s Honor List for the Fall 2015 semester. The Dean’s Honor List recognizes full-time students who maintain grade-point averages of a minimum of 3.50 out of a possible 4.0 and have no grades below “C.” Selimi studies industrial and management engineering.

Rochester Institute of Technology: Jill Lanese was named to the Dean’s List for the fall semester 2015-2016. Lanese is studying in the biomedical sciences program. Degree-seeking undergraduate students are eligible for Dean’s List if their term GPA is greater than or equal to 3.400; they do not have any grades of “Incomplete”, “D” or “F”; and they have registered for, and completed, at least 12 credit hours.

University of the Sciences: Nicole Farbaniec has been named to the fall 2015 Dean’s List. Selection for this award is based on completing and passing all assigned courses with no grade below a “C” and attaining an academic average of at least 3.4 for courses taken in the fall of 2015. Farbaniec is a doctor of occupational therapy student.

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Monday, March 28 was Aquarium Day at Laning Avenue School. The students were treated to a visit from the Camden Adventure Aquarium. They learned about sea life with an assembly and through hands-on touch tables.

This was all a culmination to the “One District, One Book” initiative, where all the students in the district read the book Nim’s Island by Wendy Orr. (The book is the story of a young girl who lives on a far away island with her marine-biologist father.) There were daily discussions in class, libraries, and at home, as well as daily blogging. On Friday, April 1, students will watch the movie in school.
The Verona Foundation for Educational Excellence (VFEE) funded the aquarium program through an educational grant. VFEE and the SCA funded the “One District, One Book” initiative, which was lead by district librarians Katey McAuliffe and Corisa Walker.

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Within one week’s time, during Catholic Schools Week, students at Our Lady of the Lake School were able to raise $2,091 to enable a four-year-old an Essex County girl who was diagnosed with a brain tumor to have the final dollars that will enable her to realize her one big wish

This spring, this girl and her family will be whisked away to Walt Disney World in Orlando. While there they will be staying at Give Kids the World Village, a special area near Disney reserved specifically for children who are recipients of a wish from the Make-A-Wish New Jersey Foundation. At the Village, Wish children are treated to amenities, such as late night ice cream service, a handicapped accessible pool and characters reading them bedtime stories, just to name a few. During their time in the parks, Wish children are treated like VIPs: They wear a special button and go straight to the front of the line on all the rides, shows, character meet-and-greets and other park attractions. Families also have the opportunity to visit Universal Studios and Sea World where their VIP treatment continues. This is just an example of what is possible for a child with such a wish.

Make-A-Wish New Jersey is given the opportunity to create memories and positive experiences for children and their families who need a positive boost to move forward in their battle with a serious medical condition or life-threatening illness. Our Lady of the Lake students made an amazing effort by collecting pennies on Monday, nickels on Tuesday, dimes on Wednesday, quarters on Thursday and dollars on Friday during Catholic Schools Week. They worked with teachers and staff to count coins, give daily tallies of amounts raised in order to increase the momentum and excitement of giving.

The students of Our Lady of the Lake School realized that Disney World would not have been possible for this family without their efforts of time, talent and treasure. Students learned that their time and dedication truly do make a difference in the lives of others. Lesson learned is to keep up the good work in all you do. Each person can make their own, and the dreams of others, come true with relentless hard work and dedication. It was a lesson well learned, in how to truly make a wish come true.

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The Verona Music Parents Association is hosting its inaugural Golf Tournament at the Crystal Springs Golf Resort in Hamburg, New Jersey, on Tuesday, May 10. Tee time is 1 p.m.

Proceeds from the tournament, which includes golf, lunch, raffles, prizes and a swag bag, will go to the Verona High School Music Department. Roughly 35% of Verona High School students participate in the school’s music program.

Participants can register by going to http://vmpagolf.org/ and filling in the registration form. Local businesses are invited to “sponsor a hole” for $50.

For more information, please visit www.veronamusic.org, or email veronamusicparents@gmail.com.

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The third of the pre-kindergarten workshops for children who will enter kindergarten in September 2016 will be held this Saturday, April 16.

These workshops, which are sponsored by the elementary school SCAs, are open to children who will be 5 years old before October 1, 2016. The purpose of these workshops is to give children the opportunity to meet their future classmates and to become familiar with the school environment. Workshops will be held at the four elementary schools from 10 to 11 a.m. and parents are invited to stay for refreshments.

The final workshop will be held on May 7.

Parents who are interested should register in the school district they reside in. If you are not certain which district you belong in, call the Board Office at 973-571-2029.

If you would like more information, feel free to contact the committee chairperson at your elementary school:

Brookdale: Beth McDermott, bethmcderrick@gmail.com or 973-239-0266

F.N. Brown: Linda Byrne, linda.staikos@novartis.com or 973-223-6191

Forest Avenue: Amanda Weil, forest.ave.sca@gmail.com or 973-906-3575

Laning Avenue: Kristin Venezia, kristinj74@aol.com 973-568-1760

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The Verona Foundation for Educational Excellence (VFEE), which has supported Verona public school teachers with grant awards for the better part of the last decade, will be honoring six teachers at its spring fundraiser next week.

The recognition is part of a new program called the Inspiring Excellence Award. This year’s awardees are Claire Duffy at Brookdale Avenue elementary school, 
Corisa Walker at F.N. Brown, 
Lisa Varuolo of Forest Avenue, 
Grace Minervo-Buneo from Laning Avenue, 
Jennifer Kleinknecht of H.B. Whitehorne Middle School and 
Richard Wertz of Verona High School.

Presentations of the awards will take place on Friday, April 22, 2016 at Trattoria Bella Gente. Tickets are $35 per person and can be purchased by contacting Palma Quagliata at 973-954-7797.

“We hope you will join us for a night of fun, food, and drinks,” says Cathy Jackson, chairperson of VFEE. “Don’t miss out on this special night to recognize and celebrate teaching excellence.”

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Verona High School recognized the January students of the month at the March 29 Board of Education meeting. VHS Principal Joshua Cogdill began the student of the month award with the 2015-2016 school year. Students are selected from nominations made by VHS teachers.

The February students were Kathleen Ashley, grade nine; Hope Sweeney, grade 10; Olivia Lucanie, grade 11; and Patrick Citrano, grade 12.

Kathleen Ashley, was recognized as a strong student who has demonstrated a commitment to learning, and a student who has perfect attendance this school year. Patrick Bresnan, the history teacher who nominated her, said, “Kate is a bright and extremely respectful student. She brings insightful commentary to all lessons as well as a general motivation to learn.” Mr. Cogdill said that Ashley is excelling in her classes.

Mr. Cogdill noted that Hope Sweeney has arrived promptly for each school day and has earned a B or higher in all of her classes. Jennifer Errico, the math teacher who nominated her said, “Hope shows a great deal of effort during instruction, she always participates with enthusiasm, she respects her peers, teachers, and all staff. She always looks to help others, and Hope works well during independent assignments as well as during collaborative ones.”

Olivia Lucanie has earned a B+ or higher in all of her classes, including Honors Physics, Honors Pre-Calculus, AP English, and AP Environmental Science. Dr. Marie Meyer of the VHS English department said, “In addition to being an excellent student, Olivia has done a great deal of work for the community. She has volunteered her time with a women’s shelter, and is organizing a drive to benefit the women of the shelter. She was chosen to attend and speak at the Commission on the Status of Women at the United Nations through our GLI (Girls Learn International) chapter. She is a model for others to emulate.”

Patrick Citrano was hailed for excelling in his six AP classes this year, including AP Physics, AP English, AP US Government and Politics, AP Environmental Science, AP Chinese Language and Culture, and AP Calculus. He was nominated by Mandarin teacher Betty Hou, who said, “Patrick is hardworking, motivated, friendly, willing to help others, and his presence and participation always makes my classroom a cheerful and less stressful learning environment.” Citrano will be attending the University of Southern California in the fall.

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Congratulations to the OLL National Junior Honor Society seventh and eighth grade inductees and current members! The induction ceremony was held Thursday, April 14, at Our Lady of the Lake Church.

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“An optimist is the human personification of spring.”
-Susan J. Bissonette, author

The Verona Public Schools is extremely appreciative of a donation of $10,000 made by the Conference SCA to support the district technology initiative. These funds were raised from the Harlem Wizards fundraiser in Spring 2015 and helped support technology professional development for teachers and staff in Verona. Proceeds from this year’s Harlem Wizards event will help support all of our school libraries. The SCA parents devote countless hours and energy to assist our students and staff. Please contribute to our SCA and consider becoming a part of your school’s organization.

We would like to thank the Field Committee, comprised of our community stakeholders, for all of their input throughout the entire field design process. The referendum field project at Verona High School will include remediation of the upper field with synthetic turf and athletic lights, synthetic turf for the lower fields, renovation and expansion of the tennis courts, and the addition of parking spaces. The Verona Board of Education received planning board approval this past winter and the project was publicly bid on March 15th. The bid opening for this project is scheduled for April 21st. The Verona Board of Education will have an opportunity to review the bid proposals submitted for this project before a contract is awarded.

Verona High School will be closed this summer for student programs and activities due to the continuation of construction projects outlined in the referendum. All Verona summer programs will be relocated to other district schools as we did last summer. The Verona High School music room addition has experienced delays due to soil consistency that are being addressed. The project will continue to make progress and we anticipate completion in Summer 2016. The remaining referendum projects will improve our heating and ventilation infrastructure at VHS, renovate the VHS and HBW cafeteria kitchens, and complete necessary masonry repairs at schools throughout the district. These projects are on schedule for Summer 2016. The district will continue to update the community at BOE meetings and through newsletters as we progress over the next several weeks.

The Verona Foundation for Educational Excellence (VFEE) is an outstanding local organization that supports the Verona Public Schools by funding a “comprehensive grant program designed to enhance the educational experiences of Verona’s children.” All of our students greatly benefit from the financial contributions from people like you and the innovative ideas by our teachers and staff. You can learn more about the exciting grants VFEE has helped make possible by visiting their website. Please consider donating to VFEE by visiting http://www.vfee.org/donate/
On Friday, April 22, VFEE will host their annual soiree at Bella Gente Trattoria in Verona. The following Verona staff members will be recognized for their outstanding contributions and will receive the Inspiring Excellence Award 2015-16:

Claire Duffy, Brookdale Avenue School
Corisa Walker, F.N. Brown School
Lisa Varuolo, Forest Avenue School
Grace Minervo-Buneo, Laning Avenue School
Jennifer Kleinknecht, H.B. Whitehorne Middle School
Richard Wertz, Verona High School

VFEE will also recognize the achievements of Barbara Kistner with the creation of a special grant for the 2016-2017 school year. Congratulations to all of this year’s recipients of the Inspiring Excellence Award.

Please mark your calendars. The Verona Board of Education approved the recommendation to close the Verona Public Schools on Friday, May 27, 2016 based on remaining snow days in the school calendar. Enjoy the weather. Spring is finally here.

The post Superintendent’s Corner Column: Spring Update appeared first on MyVeronaNJ.

Forest Avenue school kept its award-winning butterfly garden happy this past weekend by mulching the flower beds and putting in some new shrubs, with the help of its Wolf Scouts and Daisies. Forest students are also sharing how their families go green by participating in an online survey about their environmentally sound habits. A randomly selected participant in the survey will win a Sustainable Verona rain barrel and the class with the most participants will win $5 gift cards to Verona’s Green Point Juicery, which generously donated 10 of the cards.

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The Verona High School Student Council is hosting its much anticipated Town-Wide Garage Sale on Saturday May 21 (rain date May 22).

To participate, you need to print and submit this registration form, along with a check for $25 made payable to “Verona High School”. Alternatively, you can email Jonathan Thai (jthai@veronaschools.org) or Patrick Bresnan (pbresnan@veronaschools.org), who will email you a registration form. As a participant in the Town-Wide Garage Sale you do not need to pay for a town garage sale permit.

The environmentalists’ mantra is “reduce, reuse, recycle” and garage sales are an excellent example of reuse at its best. That is why the Town-Wide Garage Sale is being held the same day as the Verona Green Fair, which runs from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the Verona Civic Center. The organizers of both events are hoping this will bring many more people to town and increase sales.

A digital map with locations and items will be available at www.veronaschools.org and www.veronanj.org/sustainableverona, so you can keep track during the registration process.

Sign-up ends Monday May 16. You can drop off registration forms and money in the high school or mail in your payments.

Everyone who is registered will be put on a “master list” of all participants, which will be posted on Verona Public School’s homepage the week of the sale, as well as on an interactive digital map. If you would like a paper copy of the “master list” and map, please stop by Verona High School the day of the garage sale.

Look for the “Garage Sale Symbol” above for participating households!

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Applicants for the Verona Lions Club scholarship should demonstrate the community service that the club strives to achieve.

The Verona Lions Club will present three cash awards of $1,000 each to Verona residents graduating high school this year who best exhibit service to their school, church or temple, and/or the town of Verona. The Lions Club award criteria is not based on academic achievement or financial need but rather exclusively on volunteer service which is the heart of the Lions Club’s belief and credo: “We Serve”.

Applicants from Verona High School should apply by providing a list of their volunteer service to Diane Newman in the Guidance Department by no later than Friday April 29, 2015. The list of volunteer service should include a brief description of the service and the time involved.

Other Verona residents graduating from high school who would like to be considered send their list of service as described above to the Verona Lions Club, PO Box 38, Verona, NJ 07044; it should be postmarked no later than April 29th

Per Lions President Frank Ricciardi, “the following is a non-exclusive list of volunteer service examples that the Verona Lions believe form the basis for our awards”:

• Service to the administrative offices of your school
• Service as a member of your school’s student government
• Service to a fund-raising effort to benefit you school, church or community
• Service to a social function committee

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In March, as city officials in Flint, Mich., were grappling with a city water supply contaminated by lead, high levels of lead were found in the water at 30 Newark schools. With six school buildings that are more than 60 years old, the Verona Board of Education decided to conduct voluntary tests of the water in our schools. This morning, Superintendent Rui Dionisio delivered the results of those tests to school parents by email.

Dear Parents and Guardians,

Our primary concern is the safety and well being of all of our students. The Verona Public Schools has taken a proactive approach regarding testing for the safety of lead levels in our school drinking water. The district collected samples from drinking sources in each of our six schools on April 8th in coordination with the Verona Township. Lead water testing was completed by Aqua Pro Tech Laboratories in Fairfield, NJ. A random sample of thirty (30) fixtures across the entire district were collected that included water fountains, kitchen sinks (where food may be prepared), and classroom sinks.

The district received the results of this testing on Friday, April 22nd. Of the thirty (30) fixtures tested, twenty-nine (29) fixtures were identified to be safe for drinking as established by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) and the Safe Drinking Water Act. The results identified one (1) tested fixture above permissible levels for safe drinking water. This fixture was a classroom sink, not a water fountain, located at Laning Avenue School. As a result, the district immediately shut off the access to water to this fixture on Friday afternoon so the fixture cannot be used by any person. Furthermore, we collected an additional water sample at this fixture on April 23rd to certify the accuracy of the original test. We expect the results of this additional test by the laboratory in the next several days.

We have identified all of the water fountains in each school that have recently been tested and returned results of safe drinking water. These water fountains will be the only fixtures the district will permit students and staff to use. Any water fountain that has not been tested at this time will be shut off effective immediately as a precaution until results certifying the safety of the drinking water have been received.

On April 25th, the district will be continuing testing every water fountain and sink throughout the entire district. Children will only be permitted to drink from water fountains deemed safe by laboratory results.

Although there is no legal requirement for school districts to test for lead in drinking water, we want to ensure the safety of each and every water fountain children may use. Please know we are taking every proactive measure possible as a safeguard for your children. The district will remedy any issues identified as a result of additional testing. Please feel free to send your child to school with a bottle of water if you so choose. Each of our schools will have operational water fountains that have been tested and identified as safe drinking water sources. We will also be providing water bottles to our schools, where necessary. Thank you for your continued support and cooperation.

Sincerely,
Rui Dionisio
Superintendent of Schools

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VHS senior George Tamburino, seen here with his mother Maria-Daphne Kazanis, was selected for the Washington Crossing Foundation’s national scholarship award.

George Tamburino, a senior at Verona High School, has been awarded a scholarship by the Washington Crossing Foundation and Henry Rowan Family Foundation. Tamburino was one of 38 recipients from 22 states to receive the award, which is given to students planning a career in government service on the basis of an essay about how George Washington inspired their career plans.

In his essay, Tamburino, stated that, “despite the inherent risk, need for constant adaptation and high amounts of pressure” he hopes to pursue a career in the U.S. State Department in the diplomatic corps:

As a diligent and engaged student I have an interest in political science, international affairs, languages and national security studies. In addition, I have a keen desire to travel and experience new cultures and beliefs. Therefore, working for the State Department as a diplomat would allow me to serve my country in a capacity that I find both rewarding and unique. The process to become a Foreign Service officer is quite difficult and competitive to fulfill. Applicants must first complete a written examination, if successful, the applicant must then pass an oral interview, a security clearance and will then with patience become a diplomat ready for assignment.”

Tamburino will be attending American University in Washington, D.C., this fall, studying international development and public diplomacy at American’s School of International Service. He told the Washington Crossing Foundation, which has awarded more than $1.3 million in scholarships, that he also hopes to serve as a Naval Intelligence Officer.

All of the students selected for the Washington Crossing Foundation scholarship were invited to a ceremony in Bucks County, Pa., this past weekend. The students were given tours of Philadelphia and other places of historical interest in Bucks County along with receptions, an awards ceremony and other events.

Many of the 38 students selected for the award traveled to Bucks County last weekend for a ceremony and tours of historic sites.

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The management books all say that, to work harder, we have to work smarter.

Nic Freschi thinks that goes for the sun as well. Freschi, who graduated Verona High School with the class of 2011, just won $30,000 in a business plan competition for an idea to make solar power generation more efficient. The win was even sweeter because last year Freschi’s team lost the same competition by a mile.

“We didn’t even make it to the semi-finals,” Freschi says. “We got some pretty harsh criticism.” But rather than fold, the members of team Solar Divide went back to work and re-did almost every aspect of their business plan. More on that in a minute.

The competition that Freschi won was the Mayo Business Plan prize at The College of New Jersey. It is the brainchild of TCNJ Professor Herbert B. Mayo and Eric Szabo, a TCNJ alumni who is the chief risk officer of the real estate investment firm Annaly Management Company. Freschi (far right, above), is a senior at TCNJ, having started college a year later than his VHS ’11 classmates because he took a gap year in Ecuador. He’ll graduate TCNJ on May 16 with a degree in physics and philosophy.

Solar Divide got its start in the hallways of TCNJ. Anyone who has toured college science buildings knows that their walls are usually lined with posters of student research presentations. Two years ago, one of Freschi’s then fellow physics students, Christian Balevski, saw an interesting poster about light and a film used in the solar industry. Balevski began a “what if” conversation with Freschi that quickly escalated into a bigger idea. “We went back and forth refining the design,” Freschi says.

The basic idea behind Solar Divide is that the different wavelengths of light can be put to use in different ways so that each is used to maximum efficiency. Freschi is not giving deep details on the technology right now because Solar Divide has applied for patents on its work, but he says it could double the output of a large solar farm.

The Mayo Business Plan competition is based not on technology, but on the soundness of the plan for the company–the assessments that an entrepreneur must offer on capital needs, sales projections and competition. After their rejection in 2015, Freschi, Balevski and Cody Combs, another TCNJ physics major, mapped out a plan to talk to as many people in the solar as they could to improve their plan.

“We took it very seriously,” Freschi says. “We met with more than 100 people. We went to solar conferences, we went to Wall Street, we went to solar installations, we went to venture capitalists and energy professors, anybody we could get a meeting with.” The conversations led to many changes, the biggest of which was that Solar Divide would no longer try to manufacture its technology. After the team learned how many millions of dollars would be needed for manufacturing, they decided that they would patent their technology and license it to others.

When Solar Divide presented to the Mayo Plan judges on April 6 they had one secret weapon: VHS ’11 alumni. Knowing that his company needed to show exactly how its product would be more efficient, Freschi turned to Will LaRiccia for some computer modeling. LaRiccia sped through Arcadia University and now has a job with a major technology company–and several patents to his credit. Then Freschi wanted a visual that would help the judges grasp other aspects of the company. He reached out to Ryan Denora, who studied animation at Pratt Institute, and Greg Keating, who had some fun with Conan O’Brien in 2014.

What’s next for Solar Divide? Though not intended to be venture capital, the $30,000 prize will be put in the company’s bank account. In addition to the patent work, the company is seeking capital from an investment group in Philadelphia and talking to other investors to build its prototype.

“The dream in the sciences,” Freschi says, “is to invent something and create a company around it.”

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The Verona Board of Education has named Nicole Stuto as the new principal of Brookdale Avenue School, succeeding Richard Rampolla, who is retiring.

Stuto is a 2008 graduate of Villanova University with a degree in psychology and elementary education and she received a masters in educational leadership and administration from Montclair State University in 2013. But the transition at Brookdale will much more than generational: Stuto has been tasked with combining the principal’s job at Brookdale, Verona’s smallest elementary school, with district-wide responsibility for the reading and writing workshop curriculum that Verona has been building across its lower grades for the past five years.

Superintendent Rui Dionisio explained the job change at a special BOE meeting last week. Verona has been using consultants for the professional development associated with the reading and writing workshop. “We felt that it was a very good time to bring more of that instructional coaching in house and having that as part of our instructional team at the elementary level.” Dionisio said that there were 124 applications for the Brookdale position, and that five candidates were brought in for extensive interviews.

Stuto is also a Google Certified Educator, which should bolster the district’s plan to expand the use of Chromebooks in the elementary schools. Dionisio noted at the April 26 BOE meeting that Verona will be adding 95 Chromebooks to its elementary schools by this fall, bringing the total laptop base to now almost 1,000 district-wide. Stuto has been an instructional coach in Wyckoff’s Calvin Coolidge Elementary School since July 2014. She has also taught both fourth and fifth grades in that district.

“As a lifelong learner, Mrs. Stuto constantly seeks new information and outlets to keep abreast of the constant changes in the field of education,” Dionisio said in an email to public school parents today. “She is currently researching and planning for Makerspaces in Wyckoff, while exploring best practices in STEAM education inclusive of the Next Generation Science Standards.” Verona ran a pilot program of that science curriculum this year and will be funding an expansion with the 2016-2017 budget, which was approved last night. A Makerspace is a place for designing and building, both on and off a computer; Verona created a Makerspace at Verona High School this year.

Stuto spoke briefly at Tuesday’s BOE meeting. You can watch her remarks here.

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Our Lady of the Lake School students will hold their second annual TREP$ Marketplace on May 6. The Marketplace is the culmination of a program to teach students about business and entrepreneurship as they develop their own ideas into a product or service.

The Marketplace will be kicked off by a very notable entrepreneur, who is also an OLL alumni: Ariane Duarte, chef and co-owner of Ariane Kitchen & Bar in Verona. “With success that includes beating award-winning Chef Bobby Flay and her honor this May during the 4th annual Women of Influence Luncheon, it’s an honor to have Chef Duarte open this year’s marketplace,” said Nancy Leonard, OLL TREP$ program director.

In March, the students got to learn about marketing and promotion from Sean Ringgold, an actor who has appeared in The Smurfs, Gotham and CSI, and has had a long role as Shaun Evans on One Life To Live. Ringgold discussed marketing and promotion through earned media, giving the students insight on how to engage a target audience.

The TREP$ Marketplace opens on Friday, May 6, at 2:45 p.m. at OLL. It is open to the public.

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