Hooper Highlights Mr. Michael Citta, Principal

Mrs. Mallory Kennedy, Supervisor

February, 2014

FEBRUARY CALENDAR

26 Joe Corbi Pick-up 3:00-6:30PM

28 Progress Report Portal Open

28 Talent Show Practice 3:00-5:30PM

MARCH CALENDAR

7 Talent Show Practice 3:00-5:00PM

14 “Hooper’s Shining Stars” Talent Show

7:00PM, High School North

19 PTO Meeting 7:00PM

26 Lunch With the Principal

School Calendar Update Due to the number of school can-

cellations we have had this snowy

winter, Toms River Regional Schools will be

OPEN on Monday, April 21, 2014. Previously,

this date was to have been the final day of

spring break.

Dear Hooper Families, Happy Valentine’s Day to all, as we all share the LOVE of learning. This month our fifth grade stu-dents have opened up their hearts by participating in the annual “Hoops for Heart” event in our gym. All of our fifth graders participated in raising money for the American Heart Association and playing basketball at our event on Tuesday the 11th. Next month our fourth graders will be participating in a similar program focus-ing on healthy hearts called “Jump for Hearts”. Also, the month of February has been focused on the 2014 Winter Olympics. It has been very motivating to see all of the wonderful projects and stories the students and the teachers have been sharing this month. The cur-riculum for the Olympics is very comprehensive and can be found right on our Toms River Schools homep-age www.trschools.com. Please stop by and visit! Please continue to be involved with your child’s reading and writing. We are so proud of all of their hard work and I know they love to share every-thing that they are learning. The teachers are very busy and excited utilizing the great LCD projectors that have been provided by the PTO through our Race for Education fundraiser. Words cannot thank you enough for these great tools. The teachers are now bringing our iPads into the classrooms as well as the lab turning our teaching and learning styles into amaz-ing visual experiences. We look forward to ending this cold weather and springing into action when it warms up, so for now be safe and thank you for all of your support. Respectfully,

Mr. Michael Citta, Principal

Ocean County Library, Toms River

Upcoming Programs for March

Tues, Feb. 25, 4:30PM: Sign Language. Children

ages 5-10 learn basic signs. Register.

Tues, Mar. 4, 6:30PM: Musical Seussical. Dr.

Seuss fans ages 6-12 can immerse themselves in

his virtual world. Register.

Wed, Mar. 5, 6:30PM: Boys’ Club. Boys ages 8-12

do a fun library activity. Register.

Thurs, Mar. 6, 7:00PM: Youth Stages Festival

Presents Alexander and the Terrible, Horri-ble, No Good, Very Bad Day. A performance by

the Surflight Theater Company for children and

their families. Register.

Sun, Mar. 9, 2:00PM: Bilingual Stories & Activi-

ty. HSS Spanish Honor Society presents stories

and activities in both Spanish and English. Drop-

in, families welcome.

Tues, Mar. 11, 7:00PM: Bonk! Expressive Drum-

ming for Everyone. Drumming fun for all ages.

Family program. Register.

Wed, Mar. 12, 6:30PM: Girls’ Club. Girls 8-12 do

a fun library activity. Register.

Thurs, Mar. 13, 6:30PM: LEGO Club. LEGO build-

ing fun for ages 6-12. Register.

Sat, Mar. 15, 10:30AM: Homework Help. An In-

ternet program to improve academic potential of

students ages 9-12. Register.

Mon, Mar. 17, 3-5PM: Magical Shamrocks. Kids

ages 5-10 make their very own magical sham-

rocks. Drop-in.

Tues, Mar. 18, 4:30PM: Measurable Meet-Ups.

Kids ages 6-8 are invited to a Discovery Party.

Register.

Tues, Mar. 18, 6PM: Paper Moon Puppet Theatre

presents Sleeping Beauty. Marionettes interact

with the audience. Register.

To register for programs, please visit our web-

site @ www.theoceancountylibrary.org

or call 732-349-6200, option 6

Tree of Warmth

Hooper Avenue faculty and

Hooper Husky parents cel-

ebrated the spirit of giving

during this holiday season.

Donations of gloves, hats

and scarves filled the tree

and were delivered to local

charities in Toms River.

Thanks to all for your gen-

erous hearts and caring

hands.

These Super Students Had Lunch With

Mr. Citta in January!

Isabelle Anderson

Angelina Befumo

Isabella Bousquet

Daniel Brandzel

Nicholas Caravello

Alexa Carlson

Natalie Christie

Isabella Ciaravino

Alyssa Cino

Jacob Cosentino

Samantha Errion

Selena Fall

Christopher Filep

Thomas Garofalo

Noah Hilsdorf

Jilliana Howard

Liam Lembo

Ali Longo

Ryan Maillard

Armone Markland

Anthony Mazzola

Krystin Moore

Maggie Morse

Jessica Placa

Alexa Primiani

Trey Scollan

Paige Seitz

Raiven Sikorski

John Tritto

Aidan Vetter

Christine Vincent

Julia Weppler

Colin Wise

Blue Ribbon Students!

Third, fourth, and fifth grade Hooper students have been busily preparing for the upcoming NJ Ask tests

utilizing an online program called Study Island. Students move through a series of math, language arts, and

science lessons and try to earn “Blue ribbons” by correctly answering most questions. Winning classes and

individuals for the past 2 months deserve a round of applause!

Fifth Grade “Hoops for Heart” Event Raises Money for American Heart Association

This year’s Hoops for Heart event took place on Tuesday, February 11th in the school gym. After fund-

raising and collecting pledges to benefit the American Heart Association, fifth grade students and

teachers participated in the annual physical competition.

Fifth grade students enjoyed watching Mr. Citta, Mrs. Kennedy, and their teachers compete in a wheelie

chair basketball shooting segment. Second was the “Knock-Out Challenge”, which involved all fifth grad-

ers in all classes. Class members were pitted against one another to see who could sink baskets quicker

than their opponents. The male and female winners from each class in the Knock-Out Challenge went on

to the “Hot Shot Blitz” round. In this championship round, players had 2 minutes to sink as many bas-

kets as they could from designated areas on the court. The more difficult the shot, the more points

awarded. When the points were totaled, fifth grade students Brandon Feigin and Julia Lamparello had

the high scores.

Fourth grade students will participate in the Jump Rope for Heart event in March, also benefitting the

American Heart Association.

DECEMBER, 2013

Grade 5~~

Class: Mr. Hynoski’s Class (625 correct answers)

Individuals: Michael Jacobus, Rainna Arminal, &

Sophia Capili (5 blue ribbons each)

Grade 4~~

Class: Mrs. Casselli’s Class (711 correct answers)

Individual: Aidan DeBiasi: (9 blue ribbons)

Grade 3~~

Class: Ms. Lewis’s Class (268 correct answers)

Individual: Madeline Jackson (3 blue ribbons)

JANUARY, 2014

Grade 5~~

Class: Mr. Cicala’s Class (728 correct answers)

Individual: Jacob Tomasi (5 blue ribbons)

Grade 4~~

Class: Ms. O’Hara’s Class (1,024 correct answers)

Individual: Amanda Olsen (17 blue ribbons)

Grade 3~~

Class: Mrs. Donovan’s Class (2,419 correct answers)

Individual: Taylor Maire (35 blue ribbons)

CLASSROOM NEWS

“Different”,

By Josephine McKenna, grade 3

It doesn’t matter

If you’re different.

That’s good because…

You are your own person.

I hope you never change.

You’re perfect the way you are.

It’s always better to

Be creative.

Have a wild mind.

You’re better in your own way.

Persuasive Letters at Work

Mrs. Brattan's second grade class wrote persua-

sive letters to GALERIE, a toy and candy compa-

ny, back in November. The letters were written

to the company in the hopes that they would

make more of a discontinued stuffed ani-

mal. The creators from the company responded

with a very personal letter to the class and with

it came 25 stuffed bears for the children arriv-

ing just before the winter break! We would like

to thank the company for taking the time to

read and answer our letters and of course for

the generous gifts to our class!

Students in grades K-4 have the option to purchase a 2013-2014

yearbook. Featuring 60 full-color pages and photos of every class in the

school, this memory book is available for pre-order. Order forms have been sent home; the deadline to order is March

28th. No yearbooks will be sold in June.

OTHER NEWS

Classroom Close-Up Air Dates NJEA’s “Classroom Close-Up” television

show crew visited the Hoop in November

to film our Take a Vet to School activities. The

episode featuring our school is set to air on NJTV

on March 2nd at 12:30PM and 7:30PM. If you

miss it, catch it on March 8th at 7:30PM. It will

run again on April 6th and 12th. You can watch

NJTV on Comcast

channel 23, Verizon

Fios channel 23,

DirecTV New York

channel 50, and

Dish Network New

York channel 58.

The school nurses would like to remind

parents to keep contact information up-

dated. If you have a new job, phone num-

ber, email address, or schedule, please keep

the Nurse’s Office informed.

Thank you!