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Volume 8, Issue 3

April 2012

The Thirteenth

Avenue School PTA

objectives are:

1) To enhance the learn-

ing opportunities for our

children.

2) To ensure that our

children have access to

learning.

3) To eradicate any

challenges that impede

our children’s academic

progress.

2012 PTA OFFICERS

President

Mr. Lyndon Brown

Vice-President

Ms. LaTisha Barnes

Secretary

Ms. Antuan Austin

Treasurer

Mr. Manuel Rivera

Sgt-At-Arms

Mr. As-Samad Harvel

PTA Meetings for

the 2011-2012

September 21, 201

October 19, 2010

November 16, 2010

December 16, 2010

January 20, 2011

February 17, 2011

March 14, 2011

April 20, 2011

May 19, 2011

June 16, 2011

Our 2012 “Connect for Respect”

Parent Conference will be held on

Saturday, April 14, 2012 from 10

a.m.-12 noon. Presenters will share

valuable tips on Gang Violence

Prevention, Bullying, Autism and

the new Core Curriculum Content

Standards for New Jersey students.

Door Prizes

Buffet Breakfast

Voter Registration

Job Information

Thirteenth Avenue

School PTA will be

hosting a Summer

Camp/Programs

Fair on May 17,

2012 from 5:30-7:30

p.m. All parents and

guardians are urged

to attend!!

Our PTA Membership

for 2011-2012 is $5.00

Our 13th Avenue School PTA

Fundraiser will conclude on April

25th. Each parent is asked to sell a

minimum of one case of candy bars.

Each case contains 50 assorted candy

bars at $1.00 each.

April is National

Autism Month

There will be various events held

at 13th Avenue School in

Celebration of Autism Month

including a Autism Awareness

Breakfast for Parents on April

18, 2012 and an Ice Cream Social

on April 25th.

Newark Public School

Advisory Board Meeting

will be held on April 24,

2012 at George

Washington Carver

School at 6 p.m. New

Board members will be

sworn in and a new

President will be elected.

Come out and see what

plans the Board has for

your child’s school this

fall.

NJPTA President, Judy Hyde presented five awards to the Thirteenth Avenue

PTA at the NJ PTA Convention in Long Branch, NJ on March 23, 2012. The

13th Avenue PTA received the NJPTA’s 2012 Parental Involvement Award,

2012 Education Reform Award, Partners in Programming Award, 2012 Parent

Education Award, and the 2012 Special Education Award. PTA Delegates also

attended Parent workshops on Teen Suicide Prevention, Forms, Fees & tax re-

turns, how to work with your local school boards, New Jersey Core Curriculum

Content Standards, Special Needs Children & Beyond, Let’s move in School,

Bullying Prevention & intervention Strategies. See photos on page 3.

Attention Parents of Special needs

students. It’s time to update your

child’s IEP for the upcoming year.

Do you have copy of your child’s

IEP at home? If not, contact your

child’s case manager.

Any parent who has a special needs

child in 7th Grade, please be re-

minded that the summer bridge

program is mandatory for special

needs students who plan to attend

Newark Tech in 9th grade.

Kudos to our students and staff

who have been working on the

revitalizing our School Garden

Thirteenth Avenue School PTA

hosts Grandparents Coffee Hour on

April 20, 2012 from 8:30-9:30 a.m.

in Parents Place (Room 321). All

grandparents and great-grandparents

are welcome to attend!!

Page 2

Thirteenth Avenue School PTA MEMBERSHIP 2011-2012

T HIRT E E NT H A VE NUE S C HOOL PTA NE WSLE TT ER

Ms. Geraldine Adamkiewicz

Ms. Anna Acey-Robertson

Mr. Kevin Amos

Mr. Elijah Akinwunmi

Mr. Antuan Austin

Ms. Elma Avila

Ms. Latisha Barnes

Ms. Kalimah Bolden

Mrs. Dorothy Boone

Ms. Cassandra Bowles

Mrs. Annie Brown

Mr. Lyndon Brown

Ms. Sarah Brown

Ms. Jessica Castillo

Mr. Chris Coats

Mrs. Michelle Coats

Ms. Andrea Collins

Ms. Denise Crawford

Mr. Andre Daniels

Ms. Inezz Evans

Mr. Pete Evans

Mr. Tanek Fleming

Mrs. Patricia Gigon

Mrs. Eleanor Giles

Ms. Darnisha Gordon

Ms. Kelly Green

Mr. As-Samad Harvel

Mr. Mecal Jones

Ms. Betsy Landers

Mrs. Iris Matthews

Mr. Manuel Rivera

Mr. Kyle Rivers

Mr. Keith Sadler

Ms. Shirley George

Ms. Wilhelmina Holder

Ms. Doris Holloway

Ms. Laura Kelly

Ms. Sonia Lopez

Ms. Patricia Mincey

Ms. Anisah Muhammad

Ms. Lucille Murphy

Ms. Irma Nieves

Mr. Sean O’Connor

Mr. Ronald Polhill, Sr.

Ms. Jenise Reedus

Mr. Anthony Rivera

Mr. Manuel Rivera

Mr. Willie Rowe

Ms. Juanita Sledge

Ms. Monique Sykes

Ms. Barbara Waddell

Ms. Julia Williams

President Barack Obama

First Lady Michelle Obama

Congressman Donald Payne

Senator Ronald Rice

Councilwoman Mildred Crump

Mrs. Mavis Aiken-Wright

Mr. Ju-Tias Bryant

Nr. Nathaniel Casera

Mrs. Lorraine Cobb

Mrs. Alfreda Daniels

Mrs. Marion Hardy

Mr. Lou Jones

Ms. Monica Hunter

Mrs. Monique Sykes-Washington

Councilman Ronald Rice

Ms. Alicia Robinson

Ms. Elizabeth Rigsby

Ms. Shaunta Mosley

Mrs. Maria Zarakostas

THE LAST Day to

join the Thirteenth

Avenue School PTA

for the 2011-2012

school year is May

17, 2012.

NJPTA CONVENTION 2012

Upcoming Parent Meetings

The Thirteenth Avenue School PTA will be hosting its

next Special Needs Parents Meeting on April 19, 2012,

5:30-7:30p.m. Parents will have the opportunity to share

various concerns. ? Come out and have your concerns

addressed. Guest Speaker: Mr. Shawn Ferrara, Special

Needs Department, NPS and Ms. Janice Chavis, Title I

Director, NPS. Learn the terms: Rubrics, Differentiated

Instruction, Exemplars, AYP, Inclusion, DRA’s, Discreet

Trials. Refreshments will be served!!

The Thirteenth Avenue School PTA

will host a Mother’s Club Meeting on

Tuesday, April 17, 2012 from 5:30-

7:30 p.m. All mothers, step-mothers

and God-Mothers are welcome to

attend! Dinner will be served!!!

The Thirteenth Avenue School

Leadership Council Meeting

will be held on April 26, 2012 at

3:30 p.m. in our School

Library. We will be addressing

the challenges that plague

academic achievement at 13th

Avenue School.

The Thirteenth Avenue PTA’s Blue Moon Club is

seeking parents who can only volunteer, “Once in a Blue

Moon” to assist with several upcoming PTA

Projects/Events. We will be meeting on Friday,

April 30th from 5-6 p.m. in Room 321. Come out and

volunteer at your child’s school.

2012 NJ Parent Leaders Expo: Edison, NJ: March 13, 2012

The Thirteenth Avenue School

PTA will be hosting a Father’s

Club Meeting on April 26, 2012

from 5:30-7:30 p.m. in Room

321. All Fathers, God-Fathers

and Step-Fathers are welcome to

attend!!

The Thirteenth Avenue School

PTA will be circulating a PTA

Business Directory. If you own

your own business or specialize in

a certain service: Catering, Hair

Styling, Auto Mechanics, Painting,

Babysitting, Home Repair, Resume

Writing etc. Please submit your

contact information at our PTA

Conference on April 14, 2012.

2012 School Board Election

will be held on April 17,

2012. don't forget to exercise

your right to vote!!!

Our 2012 Panther Boys Basketball Season will begin on

Saturday, April 14, 2012. Staff and Parents are encouraged

to come out and lend your support to our Panther Boys

Basketball Team.

April 14th

13th Avenue vs. Belmont Runyon at First Avenue-2-3 p.m.

April 21st

Abington vs. 13th Avenue at Central High-12 noon

April 28th

Camden Street vs. 13th Avenue at West Side-10 a.m.

April 30th

13th Avenue vs. Park Elementary at Barringer-4:30 p.m.

May 2nd

13th Avenue vs. First Avenue at Central-4:30 p.m.

May 5th

13th Avenue vs. Dr. Martin Luther King at Central-12 noon

May 14th

Quitman Street vs. 13th Avenue at West Side-4:30 pm

May 16th

Hawkins Street vs. 13th Avenue at Central-4:30 p.m.

Our Panther Boys vs. Staff

Basketball Game was held on

March 13, 2012.

Parents, Staff and Students

came out to attend this awesome

event. Our Staff won with a

final score of 58-53.

The 13th Avenue School PTA Spotlight airs Thursdays on Chan-

nel 19 from 6-7 p.m. to catch our Panther Basketball Games, PTA

meetings and other Panther Pride Events tune in.

Congratulations to our Media/Public Relations Committee for

their efforts this past year. Our Weekly PTA Spotlight was

recognized at the New Jersey PTA Convention on March 24,

2012 in Long Branch, NJ where we received the 2012 PTA

Programming Award!!

Thirteenth Avenue School hosted a successful Career Day Celebration on March 28,2012. A Plethora of

business professionals, Educators, Community Leaders and Law Enforcement Officers were on hand to

share their career experiences with our students. We thank our Career Day Planning Committee and our

Career Day participants :

Joanna Cetera, BET/ Maureen Nakly, Assistant US District Attorney, FBI Agent, Loettia Ross/Angela

Coachman Kin, Manager/ Kyle Coles, Seven Sons Theater Cassandra Bowles, Continental Airlines/Khalil

Nassiruddin, Babyland Services/ Richelle Anderson, Newark Police/ Shay Goolsby, Carpenter, City of New-

ark/Jackie Gills, Lawyer/Tony Gills, Pro Basketball Player/James Means, Health Insurance/Michael Camp-

bell, Columbia Banking/Kenneth Gilford, CEO/ Rev. Patrick Council, Pastor/ Tomyka Brackin, Event Plan-

ner/ Mr. Craig, Guitarist/Paula Savino, Travel Agent/ Major John James, ARMY Major/ Mr. Amiri Baraka,

Poet/ Tia Montague, Recreation Program Coordinator/William Freeman, Head of Security/Bonnie Watson,

Freeholder’s Office/Bonnie Watson, Freeholder’s Office/Cleo Tucker, Assemblywoman/ Sen. Ron Rice/Beth

Vecchio, Doctor/ Mr. Mark Chisolm, Verizon/ Kim Green, Sanitation.

Dinosaur Day will be celebrated at the Newark Museum on April 29th from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. there will be games, prizes,

treats, fun and more fun.

Families in Technology Day will be celebrated on May 5th at NJIT from 9:00 a.m.-3p.m.Technology workshops for

all ages. Students must pre-register online. Student paragraphs must be at least 4-5 sentences and must be submitted

on-line. The Registration fee is $15.00 which includes Breakfast and Lunch. The Essay title is, “How will a laptop

help me with my Education?”. Students must be accompanied by an adult in order to receive their FREE Laptop.

Students who received a laptop last school year are eligible to re-submit for this year’s laptop essay giveaway. This

program is sponsored by BDPANJ. There will also be informative lectures, Cultural Entertainment and other give-

aways.

In light of the recent carjackings outside of our school. Staff and parents are asked to be aware of your surroundings.

When walking down the street make sure you are facing traffic. Have your car keys in hand prior to exiting the

building.

We are also promoting our Safe Corridors Initiative. Local Merchants, parents and residents are asked to be visible

at your front door during from 8:00-8:25 a.m. and 2:50-3:25 p.m. to ensure the safe passage of our children, staff and

families before and after school.

The 2012 School Board Election will be held on Tuesday, April 17th. Don’t forget to exercise your right to vote!!

The 2012 City-Wide Parent Conference will be held on April 20, 2012 at the Robert Treat Hotel in Newark.

NJASK Testing will commence later this month. Please make sure your child is well rested, punctual and prepared

for school.

Our 2012 Employment Seminar will be held on April 30th at 5:30 p.m. Parents who need assistance with resumes,

Employment tips and Interview Attire are urged to attend this informative session.

Report Cards for Cycle III will be issued on April 25th.

Any parent who would like to stay connected and informed of PTA Events, Meetings and Projects are encouraged to

visit our PTA website at 13thAvePTA.ning.com

Kudos to our Autism Month Celebration for the awesome banners and quilts that are on display in our School’s

lobby. The information displayed on the quilts is both informative and inspiring.

THE NJPTA recently appointed its new Essex County President. Mr. Lyndon Brown is now serving as President of

Thirteenth Avenue School PTA and Essex County PTA.

Steps to Conducting an Effective IEP Meeting….

For a child on the autism spectrum, the IEP is the most important document in their school file. Having an IEP that comprehensively addresses all of the child’s academic and functional needs is critical to the child’s success in school and future development. Developing an effective IEP for children with autism presents additional challenges because schools are often reluctant to provide the intensity of services the child needs due to financial and staffing limitations. Since the IEP is developed in an IEP meeting, you must have a strat-egy going into that meeting if you hope to develop the plan your child needs. The steps below will help you develop that strategy. These steps represent the gold standard in strategic planning for an IEP meeting -- it may be difficult to follow them all exactly, but the closer you come, the greater your chances of having a successful IEP meet-ing.

Step 1: LEARN, LEARN, LEARN!!!

The adage “knowledge is power” is more true than ever when it comes to your IEP meeting. You are already an expert on your child; now make yourself an expert on your child’s disability. Keep in mind that the definition of an expert is someone who knows more about a sub-ject than the other people in the room. Make a list of the books and articles you have read as well as any presentations you have at-tended, and bring it to the meeting with you. Nothing increases you standing in the IEP meeting more than starting a comment with “According to Stanley Greenspan…,” or “The research conducted by the National Research Council concluded…” The same is true when discussing the law. School personnel fre-quently cite the law but often get it wrong. Therefore, it is important that you know and understand special education law better than the rest of the team. The best way to learn about the law is to attend a special education law conference. Wrightslaw presents conferences around the country that are specifically directed to parents. The Coun-cil of Parents, Advocates, and Attorneys (COPAA) holds an annual conference that provides extensive information about the law and ad-vocacy. If you want to dive in on your own, read some court cases that have interpreted the law. The best cases to read are Board of Education v. Rowley, Burlington School Committee v. Department of Education, Cedar Rapids Community School District v. Garret F., and Shaffer v. Weast. All of these are Supreme Court decisions and are controlling, which means that all courts and Hearing Officers must follow the Court’s interpretation of the law. The IDEA requires every state to pass its own laws and regulations to implement the IDEA. State laws generally mirror the IDEA but you should try to be aware of any signifi-cant difference. For example, with the exception of children who take alternate assessments, the IDEA does not require short-term objec-tives or benchmarks in the IEP, but many states do require them.

Step 2: ORGANIZE AND PREPARE

Be sure you have your child’s complete school file, including old IEPs and assessments. If you are unsure whether your file is complete, request to see the school’s file on your child. Upon written request, a school must provide you access to your child’s file. If you find docu-ments that you are missing, ask for copies. Organize your file so that you can quickly find any document you need. I use a three-ring binder with numeric tabs for each document and a Table of Contents. For larger files I also create an index in which I separately list all of the IEPs, assessments, report cards, etc., with their tab numbers. It provides another quick reference tool. The school team will be very impressed if you can quickly produce docu-ments referenced during the meeting, especially if they are unable to find the document in their file.

Parent involvement is crucial to the health and well-being of a child. As a parent, you are the most important influ-ence in your child's success in school and in life. In this role, you have a fresh opportunity every day to get in-volved with your child.

Parent involvement in children’s education allows kids to perform better in school, and navigate more easily some of the challenges of growing up, such as bullying.

PTA is committed to being the leading resource for parent involvement. We offer comprehensive resources for help-ing parents get involved and stay involved in the lives of their children.

The Thirteenth Avenue School PTA would like to

thank those parents who have volunteered a minimum

of three hours this school year:

Mr. Maurice Williams

Ms. Patricia Mincey

Mr. As-Samad Harvel

Ms. Cassandra Bowles

Ms. Jenise Reedus

Mr. Antuan Austin

Ms. Doris Holloway

Mr. Manuel Rivera

Mr. Mark Knight

Mr. Keith Sadler

Mrs. Michelle Sadler

Mrs. Annie Brown

Mr. Ju-Tias Bryant

Ms. Alicia Stover

Ms. Katherine Dundon

Ms. Juanita Sledge

Ms. Cheryl Conaway

Ms. Marion Hardy

Ms. Elizabeth Rigsby

National PTA’s “Three For Me” Campaign

requires parents to volunteer a minimum of

three hours during the school year. If you have

not volunteered at your child’s school this year.

It not too late!! Visit our Parent Liaison, Ms.

Hardy in Room 221 and make a difference in

your child’s school.