Dear Craig families,
Welcome back, and welcome to 2024!!! We are so excited to announce that The Craig School has been selected as a founding school for the newly formed Association of LD Schools. This honor indicates Craig’s unwavering commitment to our community and the regional and national community of LD learners, teachers, and parents. As a founding member of this organization, we will have the opportunity to learn from other schools as well as spotlight some of our excellent programs and educators. Below is a description of the association; be on the lookout for announcements about free webinars and programs that will be useful to you as parents as you navigate this unique educational journey!
Best wishes for a phenomenal year!
Warmly,
Susan
Connecting and Supporting LD Schools and the People in Them
Founded in 2023, The Association of LD Schools (ALDS) is a formal community for schools that specialize in the education of students with learning differences, such as dyslexia, dyscalculia, dysgraphia, and executive dysfunction. With over 200 schools specializing in this type of education, ALDS aims to connect the people who make these schools as transformative as they are. By dedicating both time and resources to this very important cause, ALDS makes it possible to involve more members of our school community in these collaborations and to reach other schools with our same goals. Ultimately, ALDS allows this community to reach more students and change the future of education.
Let us be one of the last to welcome you to 2024! We hope you had an amazing holiday break and a wonderful start to the New Year. Before we can immerse ourselves in this new year, we need to officially close out 2023 and share a few things that led us into our December holiday break: Our Ugly Sweater Contest, our Winter Spirit Day, and our 1st annual COACH’s Door Decorating Contest. All of these events were spectacular and brimming with Craig School Spirit! More about them can be found in this week's newsletter.
As far as the start of 2024 goes at CHS, we are excited to welcome a new member to the Craig High family. Griffin will be joining our 9th grade. He is from Bernardsville, a big fan of hiking and biking, and an all-around great guy. We are excited to welcome him and his family to our community.
Also starting up in our new year we have our 2nd trimester, putting our hoops team together, and coordinating our annual CHS GRAD Panel where you will have the opportunity to hear from recent CHS grads and their post-secondary adventures.
Here is to a great 2024,
Dr. Cap
January Calendar
Tuesday, January 9th
First Afterschool Hoops Practice (3-4:30PM)
Friday, January 12th
CHS Annual Virtual Grad Panel (1-1:45PM)
Monday, January 15th
School Closed: MLK Day
Tuesday, January 16th
First Afterschool Hoops Practice (3-4:30PM)
Tuesday, January 23rd
Hoops Practice (3-4:30PM)
Tuesday, January 30th
Hoops Practice (3-4:30PM)
SAVE THE DATE-Craig High Virtual Grad Panel 2024-Friday, January 12th: We are excited to extend an invite to all of our Craig parents to join us for our annual grad panel on Friday, January 12th from 1:00-1:45 PM. We have assembled quite a special team of former Craig grads who will be sharing their insights into navigating the college landscape from choosing a school and major to the challenges of college and the resources available to students with learning disabilities.
Craig High College Grad Panel (Virtual)
Friday, January 12th, 1:00-1:45 PM
2024 Craig Grad Panel Zoom Link
The panel will be Virtual so we will re-share the Zoom Link and grad speaker bios prior to the panel. We hope you will join us.
Ugly Sweater Contest Results: As a lead into our Spirit Day, we held a few Craig High traditions with our pre-holiday crowning jewel being our Annual Ugly Sweater contest.
The colors were bright, and the ugly lived up to the billing. This year's voted winners and their self-named ugly sweaters were:
CHS Winter Spirit Day 2023: We closed out our 1st trimester with our annual Winter Spirit Day. It started with almost 100% attendance. Take that and a handful of alumni and guests joining us and you have the makings of our best Winter Spirit Day ever!
Our morning started with a PACS-provided breakfast buffet filled with bagels, muffins, cinnamon rolls, fruit, and a big glass of OJ to wash it all down. Thank you, PACS!
Our first Spirit Day event was the BOTTLE FLIP RELAY where students went head-to-head with the goal of being the first to land four water/soda bottles of varying sizes (stubbies to gallon) before their opponent did. We had friends battle it out, siblings throw down, and when the last bottle landed, 10th grader Eli stood tall as our annual champ! Next up was FLIP FLAP FLO (FFF), a cup game where players needed to land a plastic cup face down and then place it on a Tic-Tac-Toe board. The goal was simple. Land your cup and get your three in a row before your opponent. For the first time ever, a CHS guest took the FFF title so congrats to Ava’s guest, Maddie.
Next, we took a Santa Break for Hot Cocoa and Cookies. We had a fully loaded Hot Chocolate Bar equipped with syrups, whipped cream, sprinkles, pocky stirrers, and chocolate straws! Then it was time for our student-teacher CORNHOLE Tourney. We started with 8 Teams made up of students and teachers. When the last bag was tossed, the student-teacher team of Miles and Dr. Cap took home this year's title.
At exactly 11 AM, Craig High welcomed back our favorite PE Teacher and new Dad, Mr. Norton who made a guest appearance to help ref our school-wide Rolling Stone game. While this was going on, our favorite Art Teacher, Mrs. Tartaglia opened up the art studio for a holiday bracelet-making workshop. We all came back together at 11:45 AM to crown our Spirit Day champs and to announce our 1st Annual COACH Door Decorating Contest winner. Our holiday doors were festive and amazing, to say the least.
From Left to Right: Take a s-ELFie, Sweater Weather, Ho Ho Shalom, Winter Games, Jerry The Swinging Snowman, Let it Snow, Meowy Christmas Ya Filthy Animal, O Christmas Tree, Letters to Santa
This year's Best Overall Door- Merry Oink-mas by Mrs. Tartaglia and her COACH crew
Our DOOR VOTES were tabulated and we announced our 4 winning categories with their prizes being an all-expense paid off-campus lunch at the famous Red Barn Restaurant located in Montville. Congrats to Mrs. T and her COACH crew (BEST OVERALL), Mrs. Brown and her COACH crew (MOST HOLIDAY SPIRIT), Ms. Knutsen and her COACH crew (MOST INTERACTIVE), and Mrs. Bhakta and her COACH crew (MOST SCHOOL SPIRIT). Add up all the above and what you get is our Greatest Winter Spirit Day ever!
Badger Hoops Starting Up NEXT WEEK: The CHS JV Basketball Team will be starting its winter season next week. All practices will be at the CHS Gym from 3-4:30 PM on the following Tuesdays:
Hoops Practice Dates
We are working on our home hoop schedule and will share that when we finalize it. Most games will be played during the school day.
Craig School Annual Giving Campaign is in Full Swing!
The Craig School Annual Giving Campaign is officially underway! Your contributions make a world of difference!
Our goal this year is simple yet impactful: 100 % participation from our incredible Craig community. Every gift, regardless of size, contributes to the success of Craig School. You are a crucial ingredient in the recipe that makes Craig thrive!
Ready to be part of something amazing? Click the Donation Button to make your contribution.
Donate Here - Every Gift Matters!
If you have any questions or need assistance, please don't hesitate to reach out to Mary Calvano, Advancement, at mcalvano@craigschool.org or call 973-334-1234 x229.
Thank you for being the key to Craig's success!
18th Annual Golf Outing
TONIGHT-RSVP Craig School Alumni Night Jan 5th in Mt. Lakes: For all of our graduates of the Craig Middle School, TONITE Friday, Jan 5th is Alumni Night. The event will be held on our Mt. Lakes campus in the Wilson building from 6-8 PM. There is still time to RSVP at RSVP Link Craig Alumni Night
PARKING MESSAGE
Mountain Lakes Campus
We are very grateful to have such an involved community! As with any large family, we can overwhelm those around us sometimes. As you come to campus for drop-off, pick-up, and various activities, please continue to be good neighbors to our community.
When coming onto the Mountain Lakes campus for activities, please only park in lined spots in our lot, in empty spots in the Blue House parking lot, or across the Boulevard at the Masonic Lodge.
We truly appreciate your support and commitment to your children and The Craig School!
For more information on ways of giving or to make a donation online you can clicking here.
