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Ridgefield Memorial High School provides students with rigorous academic programs and
diverse opportunities in a community where they are treated as individuals. Students are
immersed in an environment that allows them to attain personal and academic goals and
establish values which foster thoughtfulness and compassion for others.
February 8, 2016
Contact Information:
201-945-4455
Volume 8
Principal’s Corner….
Dr. DePass, Principal
tdepass@ridgefieldschools.com
Mr. Lennox, Assistant Principal (School
Counseling)
mlennox@ridgefieldschools.com
Mrs. Thrower, Vice Principal
(Attendance & Discipline)
lthrower@ridgefieldschools.com
Mr. Kahn, Supervisor (Special
Education)
skahn@ridgefieldschools.com
Mrs. Echavarria, Nurse
vechavarria@ridgefieldschools.com
Mrs. Kim, Anti-bullying Specialist
ckim@ridgefieldschools.com
Upcoming Events
February 8: World Language Honor
Society Induction Ceremony
February 12-16: School Closed
February 9, 2016
Let’s Talk: Planning the Journey
Through the Teen Years – Parent-toParent Exchange Meetings for
Parents of Students with Disabilities
Age 14 and Older
BCSS Educational Facility
540 Farview Avenue
Paramus, NJ
compel@bergen.org
February 23, 2016
Financial Planning for Individuals
with Special Needs
February 23: FAFSA Workshop
Resources:
www.ridgefieldschools.com
http://www.ridgefieldschools.com/Page/
4340
http://www.ridgefieldschools.com/Page/
4503
http://www.ridgefieldschools.com/domai
n/132
http://www.ridgefieldschools.com/Page/
4548
http://www.state.nj.us/education/parents/
BCSS Educational Facility
540 Farview Avenue
Paramus, NJ
compel@bergen.org
March 9, 16, and 23
Free Workshop Series for
Parents/Caregivers of Elementaryaged Children
BCSS Educational Facility
540 Farview Avenue
Paramus, NJ
http://cape.bergen.org
School Counseling
The next SAT is Saturday, March 5, 2016. The
registration deadline for the March test is
Friday, February 5th. This will be the first SAT
given in the new format. For more information
on the new SAT, visit:
https://collegereadiness.collegeboard.org/sat/ins
ide-the-test
and
http://sat.ivyglobal.com/new-vs-old/
To register for the SAT, visit:
https://sat.collegeboard.org/register/sat-us-dates
The next ACT will be given on Saturday, April
9, 2016. The registration deadline for this test is
Friday, March 4, 2016. To register for the ACT,
visit:
http://www.actstudent.org/regist/dates.html
Juniors should begin thinking about taking the
SAT and/or ACT. It is a good idea to take the
SAT and/or ACT at least one time during the
Junior year. Please see your guidance counselor
to discuss which test may be better for you, and
what you can do to prepare.
The FASFA became available on January 1,
2016. If you are a college bound senior you
should begin filling out this form as soon as
possible. Pay close attention to deadlines that
colleges put in place for FASFA completion.
You can fill out the FASFA here:
https://fafsa.ed.gov/
According to Inquisitr News, “A record number
of college admissions officers are now looking
at content on social media when deciding who
to admit into their respective universities. What
you put on your Facebook page can not only
have to do with whether or not you get that job
you want, it can now have an effect on whether
or not you even get into college in the first
place. A recent study by Kaplan Test Prep says
that a record number of college admissions
officers are now looking at social media sites.”
Read the full article here:
http://www.inquisitr.com/2735272/record-
https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-pressoffice/2015/12/03/fact-sheet-congressacts-fix-no-child-left-behind
http://www.parcconline.org
GreetingsfromMrs.
Thrower…
Based upon my observations as Dean,
research, and the advice of parents and
educators around the country, here are some
examples of practical skills our students need
to have before they go to college:
1. An 18-year-old must be able to talk to
strangers — faculty, deans, advisers,
landlords, store clerks, human resource
managers, coworkers, bank tellers,
health care providers, bus drivers,
mechanics—in the real world.
2. An 18-year-old must be able to find his
way around a campus, the town in which
her summer internship is located, or the
city where he is working or studying
abroad.
3. An eighteen-year-old must be able to
manage his assignments, workload, and
deadlines.
4. An 18-year-old must be able to
contribute to the running of a household.
5. An 18-year-old must be able to handle
interpersonal problems.
6. An 18-year-old must be able to cope
with ups and downs of courses and
workloads, college- level work,
competition, tough teachers, bosses, and
others.
7. An 18-year-old must be able to earn and
manage money.
8. An 18-year-old must be able to take
risks.
LearningCenter
On Monday, February 1st, The Gavrilov
Dance Company made its first visit to the
high school. It began a 14-week session of
dance instruction for Learning Center
students. Everything from Salsa to ballroom
dancing will be taught in the Gym beginning
at 11:15 during these sessions.
number-of-college-admissions-officers-nowuse-social-media-ascriteria/#utm_source=feedburner&utm_mediu
m=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheInquis
itrNews+%28The+Inquisitr+%C2%BB+News
%29
SocialStudies
The winter has brought on the end of the
second quarter and the beginning of the second
half of the year. The department is utilizing the
Achieve 3000 reading program and fully
integrating it into the curriculum. As a group
they have embraced the program and its
purpose and have begun to see positive
progression in the students’ reading skills.
The History classes are also entering election
mode as the Primary season heats up. The
United States History courses are discussing the
election process and the Current Issues course
is researching the candidates and the positions
they are taking. Look for election information
on the bulletin boards soon!
Music
The annual high school winter concert was held
on Wednesday, February 3, 2016. There were
many highlights including the performance of a
chamber music composition, “A Sincere
Goodbye” by 15-year-old sophomore, Peter
Suh. A professional Opera singer and RMHS
alumni (class of 2008) Sammy Huh, presented
a stirring performance of Dein Ist Mein Ganzes
Herz by Franz Lehár. The concert celebrated
the accomplishments of our currents students as
well as that of some of our distinguished
alumni.
A new Region 5 Speech Therapist, Beth
Levetown, started on Monday, 2/1, as a
replacement for Ms. Broizman.
Mr. Buffa has begun rehearsals for the April
20th and 21st concerts. We are looking
forward to another great performance.
STRIVE has visited post 21 programs to give
students and parents a chance to make
informed choices. They visited Golden
Years, Broadway Medical, and Friendship
WorldLanguages
Ms. Olga Escobar and Mrs. Linda Muccia
collaborated on a project that combined the
RMHS World Language Honor Society and the
“Cooking with Miss Linda” class together. The
plan is to have each cultural group within the
high school honor society visit the cooking
class to offer a presentation from their specific
House already and are searching for new
programs to visit.
Science
Students in the robotics club have started
engineering their robot to compete in this
year's FIRST Robotics Competition. This
year's competition is Called "FIRST RESQ." The robot will earn points by resetting
"rescue beacons", transporting "climbers",
and by ascending a vertical "mountain" and
hanging on to it. The students in the robotics
club are in the process of designing their
robot to reach these goals. Over the next two
months, the students will engage in many
engineering practices in order to make sure
their robot is ready for the competitions.
cuisine (Italian/Korean/Spanish).
This collaboration began with the Korean
Honor Society students sharing their culture
and will continue with the Italian and Spanish
Honor Societies. The World Language
Department is proud of their efforts to honor
and celebrate the cultural diversity of our
community.
PhysicalEducation
A student sorts out hardware in order to
build a prototype robot.
English
After reading Shakespeare’s famous play,
Romeo and Juliet, Ms. Scirocco’s English 1
classes participated in various culminating
activities that allowed students to utilize
multiple intelligences and work
collaboratively. The Bulletin Board
Decorating Contest engaged students with
both the text and one another. Small groups
of approximately four students were each
assigned a bulletin board on which to create
their best representation of one of the themes
of this classic play. Groups discussed
various topics including the dangers of
young love, the idea of love at first sight, and
the senselessness of feuds. Students then
designed their own bulletin boards, some
recreating the famous balcony scene, others
representing the feud, while others
representing the characters, Romeo and
Juliet, as star-crossed lovers.
The Learning Center Physical Education Class
is currently working on a Volleyball
Unit. Students are working on developing
skills and, if appropriate, playing games. Some
students have also signed up for dance on
Mondays with the Gavrilov Dance Company,
which will continue for the next several
months. The dance classes are being held in
the Ridgefield Memorial High School
gym. Students are excited about the social
interaction and the movement that comes from
both units.
In health classes, students are working on
nutrition. They are using the app "fooducate"
which allows students to look up nutritionally
information.
Mathematics
Students in Mrs. Mattessich’s Math Strategies
class used an app called Doceri. Doceri is an
interactive whiteboard where the students are
able to record a video and show others how to
solve any problem. Students were broken up
into 4 groups. Each group had to solve a
quadratic using a different method. Group 1
had to show others how to solve a quadratic by
graphing. Group 2 had to show others how to
solve a quadratic by factoring. Group 3 had to
show others how to solve a quadratic by using
the quadratic formula. Group 4 had to show
others how to solve a quadratic by completing
the square. At the end, students watched the
videos which were uploaded to YouTube.