Edison Community Update
Message from Dr. Bolton -
As the year progresses and school work becomes more challenging, students may find themselves in need of some additional “extra” help from a teacher. The vast majority of teachers do maintain either early morning extra help schedules or after school extra help schedules. If your child is in need of some extra help, please encourage them to speak with or email the teacher to schedule an appointment. This is an excellent opportunity to encourage your child to advocate and communicate for themselves with their teachers. If a student needs a more routine schedule of homework support, Edison School offers a homework club that is staffed by a certified teacher. The homework club meets in the media center after school on Monday thru Thursday. Additionally, our community also offers our students various forms of academic support throughout the year such as the Westfield High School Police Athletic League Tutoring Program.
The Westfield High Police Athletic League Tutoring program is ready to begin its 2022-23 school year - PAL Tutoring is a grant-funded program that offers students from WHS, EIS and RIS the chance to access free weekly tutoring from National Honor Society volunteers, while also enjoying free pizza and connections with peers. We will start PAL Tutoring on Wednesday, September 28, and each week’s session will run from 3:30-5:30 in the Student Center. We encourage all interested students to attend. Students from EIS and RIS should buzz in at the front entrance by 4 p.m., and a secretary will direct them to the Student Center. If you have any questions, please reach out to Warren Hynes, WHS assistant principal, at whynes@westfieldnjk12.org. Thanks very much!
Tech Department Information
This week’s Start Strong Assessments went off without a hitch. I believe that the vast majority of our students found it easy to access this week’s assessments with updated Chromebooks. While all student issued Chromebooks are either brand new or less than one year old, as we all know, even new devices can experience technical difficulty at times. Should your child need some form of tech support please read the following message from our tech department.
A student issue should be reported to the IThelpdesk@westfieldnjk12.org email account by the student/parent if it is one of the following: - The Chromebook is damaged (broken screen, missing keys, charger not working, etc.) - They lost or were never assigned a Chromebook - They lost or were never given a charger - Slow or glitchy, has touchpad issues, keys not working properly
Student's can be sent to the building ITS (Mr. Cusumano in the media center) for the following issues: - No wireless connection - Forgot to charge their Chromebook - Left their device at home and/or is in need of a loaner Chromebook for the day
Upcoming Dates & Events -
Schools Closed - September 26th & September 27th in observance of Rosh Hashanah
Start Strong Makeup Testing - Thursday, September 29th - Friday, September 30th
Curriculum in Focus -
Science -
6th Grade
Next week in Science students will begin our light unit by investigating a one-way mirror, asking questions about the phenomenon, and developing ideas for investigations that will be carried out in class the following week.
7th Grade
During the month of September, students learn the important elements of experimental design. These lessons culminate into the mento and soda lab. This past week in Scinece we began our bath bomb unit that incorporates Chemistry. Students start by observing a bath bomb in water and try to explain where the bubbles are coming from. They develop ideas for investigation and design experiments to figure out the phenomenon. Conservation of mass is introduced. Chemical reactions and experimental design are reinforced.
8th Grade
Students in 8th grade science were presented with the situation of accidentally dropping a cell phone to launch our first physics-based unit of the year. They are studying the changes that occur to objects when they are involved in a collision that either results in damage or surprisingly no damage! Students are exploring these changes using cart and track systems to design hands-on investigations to help answer the questions they have developed for their Driving Question Board for the Contact Forces Unit.
Students in biology are studying the chemistry of life. They are working on developing an ideal diet for an Olympic athlete based on what they learn through investigations and discussions about macromolecules and water. Their first big lab investigation will be on the properties of water followed by a catalase enzyme lab during which they will investigate the way in which enzymes behave in different environmental conditions.
Information from the EIS PTSO -
In the coming weeks, you will find a link to the Edison School PTSO Newsletter, The Edison Flash, in this section. This newsletter will contain important updates and community news from the Edison PTSO.