Merry Marshall!

The week before the holiday break saw many celebrations and classroom parties and a great time was had by all. Last Friday, I was on hand for Mrs. Vizcaya’s kindergarten holiday party and the children enjoyed making glittered snowflakes, decorating cookies, and playing musical chairs to live banjo music provided by David Palaitis (better known as Luca’s dad).

Book Fair A Smashing Success

Lots of treasures were dug up during the Marshall Treasure Hunt Book Fair, held November 11th through the 16th! The kids got to pick out some new favorite books, teachers filled their classrooms with new picture books and level readers, the library got tons of new titles, and families were able to get a little early holiday shopping done. Thanks to the generosity of Marshall families, friends, and teachers, the event raised more than $6,000 for the school.

Food, Folks, and Thanksgiving Fun

Thanksgiving week (short as it was) featured parties and feasting in many classrooms as part of a general celebration and lesson on the tradition of Thanksgiving. On either Tuesday or Wednesday, classes had parties with stories, crafts, and yes—even mini Thanksgiving “feasts.” In my daughter’s classroom led by Mrs. Vizcaya, students tried cranberry sauce, stuffing, and corn bread with their turkey cold cuts. We enjoyed Thanksgiving stories and everyone made a paper-plate turkey decorated with “real” feathers. In Ms. Fleury and Mrs. Mathew’s class seen in the photo here, students enjoyed a slightly different feast, but the message was the same: we have a lot to be thankful for here at Marshall School. Being together reminds us of that.

Another Reason to Give Thanks

On Monday, I helped to deliver Thanksgiving dinner packs to community organizations in our area. As a provisional member of the Junior League of the Oranges and Short Hills, I helped to ferry over 250 bags to organizations around the area. That’s a turkey dinner with trimmings for families in need right in our own back yard. And where did the trimmings—like cranberry sauce and stuffing mix—come from? A lot of these items came from our own student body and the greater Marshall community.

So Hot It’s Cool: Mad Science’s “Fire & Ice”

On Friday, October 25th Marshall students gathered for a fun-filled assembly highlighting some of science’s magical qualities. Presented by Mad Science, Fire and Ice gave students an interactive look at the amazing properties of fire and combustion as well as the ultra cool qualities of dry ice. Students were captivated as they took a sip of science behind soda in the Big Burp and bubbled with excitement as they washed up with a Mad Science Shower.

A Weighty Issue

This year, for the first time ever, the Marshall Learning Garden grew a pumpkin patch. Much to our surprise, we grew several giant pumpkins! The largest of the three provided a special opportunity for Marshall students to use their skills of estimation to guess the pumpkin's weight. Each class provided a guesstimation and the winner was announced just before the annual Halloween parade. The pumpkin clocked in at 48.75 lbs, and Ms. Intile's class had a winning guess of 48lbs! That’s Ms. Intile’s class above with their prize-winning pumpkin.

This Is Halloween!

Marshall kids had the opportunity to participate in the school’s annual Halloween parade. Led by Bonita Samuels, teachers, and staff, the parade circled the block as kids got to show off their creative, scary, funny, and altogether wonderful costumes. See for yourself in our scary slideshow:

President’s Message

Welcome to the Marshall PTA’s new e-newsletter! We will use this newsletter to bring you important information about our school, upcoming events, teachers, students, and our fabulous Marshall community. If you have ideas for articles or anything you want to contribute, please contact Maggie at Hoot News (maggiehames@aol.com).

A Nurse’s Note on Food Allergies

Marshall School is no longer a peanut/nut free School, but we do have some classrooms that will remain peanut/nut free. Their lunch tables will also be designated as peanut/nut free. If your child is in a class where a student has a food allergy of any type, you have been advised by the classroom teacher. Please remind your children to not share food at any time. If your child’s classroom is designated as “peanut/tree nut free,” there are several extra strategies and precautions that are in place to help prevent allergic reactions. In addition, our lunch tables are cleaned between lunch sessions with products that remove peanut residue. WISH LIST: Containers of Lysol wipes (no Clorox brand) to assist us with the lunchroom clean up. Keep them coming!

Volunteer Honor Roll

Special thanks to: 

• Alexa Ralff and Kathy Greenstone for an outstanding first day coffee 
• Scott Greenstone for getting marshalljefferson.org ready for the new year 
• Ann Marie Scarpa and crew for assembling the First Day Packets 

The Latest from the Library

October in the Library

How the beginning of the year flew by!  The library is a hoppin’ place and our students are doing a great job of choosing Just Right Books and returning materials on time! 

Stand Up For Fitness

On Saturday, October 12th, students, parents and friends from Marshall and Jefferson walked, jumped, danced, hooped and lunged their afternoon away at the 2nd Annual Family Fitness Day. 

Your PTA Dollars at Work

So far this year the PTA has:

• Purchased decorative cups to spell “Marshall School” on the back fence 
• Purchased a copy of “Have You Filled a Bucket Today? A Guide to Daily Happiness for Kids” for each classroom as part of Marshall’s focus on kindness in our community
• Purchased additional ipads for the classrooms 
• Purchased stools for the new outdoor classroom 
• Sponsored a lunch for the teachers before the start of school 
• Hosted the First Day Coffee