September 19, 2012 THE VILLADOM TIMES I • Page 17 Separate principals now head each elementary school The school year opened in Midland Park with Godwin and Highland schools each having its own full-time principal after several years of sharing the top administrator. Highland’s Principal, Danielle Bache, and Matthew Murphy, who took office as the new principal of Godwin School in August, will work collaboratively and many of the two schools’ programs and policies will overlap. The new administrative structure, however, will allow Bache to focus her attention on the third to sixth grade students at Highland School, while Murphy concentrates on kindergarten through grade two. The district adopted the Go Math Program from Houghton Mifflin for the kindergarten through sixth graders. The students will work from the new consumable textbook and have access to the online components. The two schools will also continue the Character Education Theme, Bucket Fillers, and title it My Bucket Isn’t Full Yet! New activities and projects will focus around this theme to reinforce the ideals of kindness and respect. An elementary schoolwide convocation on Sept. 7 kicked off the theme. Parents joined in, and everyone held hands to signify that “We Are Better Together,” according to Bache. A new Social Studies teacher was added to the sixth grade roster, therefore having students travel to five teachers throughout the day. Mary Simmons is rounding out the sixth grade team and focusing on Cultures Around World. The fourth and fifth grade students will be traveling this year for two periods a day, with every teacher partnering with another as a team to teach either reading/language arts or math to two classes. This allows each teacher to become the content specialist in a specific subject area therefore benefitting the students. The district’s music program is being enhanced with the addition of Ms. Loreto Angulo-Pizarro, who has joined the faculty as the new full-time music teacher. Increasing this position back to full time allows the school to bring back the sixth grade musical as a full class endeavor. The sixth graders will no longer perform at the Spring Concert but will perform in the sixth grade musical on June 6, 2013. Name that pooch Midland Park Lions Club members were on hand at the Midland Park A&P to raise funds for their annual Name the Seeing Eye Dog contest. The club aims to raise the puppy’s $5,000 sponsorship cost. For a $1 donation participants may submit a name suggestion. The winning name will be announced at the club’s Pancake Breakfast set for April 13, 2013. Front row: James Klas with Folly and Richard Tirello of the Seeing Eye Dog Foundation. Back row: Lions Amy Klas, Peter Comet, Nick Papapietro, Alan Makela, and Club President Jack Romano.