Elysian Charter School of Hoboken
Elysian Charter School of Hoboken
www.ecsnj.org friendsofelysian.org
Harry Laub, Ph.D., Director
Elysian Charter School
Weekly Newsletter

A Positively Different Public School

January 17, 2017         Vol. 12  Issue 18
The school newsletter is sent out on Mondays.  When there is a holiday, the newsletter is sent the following day. 

Please note:  From January 3 to February 10 send news to deb.rosner@ecsnj.org by 10:00 AM on Mondays.

The weekly newsletter is archived on Elysian's website, www.ecsnj.org, so that you can always access both the most recent newsletter as well as all previous ones.
Harry's Corner
As part of the Dr. Martin Luther King celebration here is the background of his most famous I Have a Dream speech and a link to the actual audio of it.
I Have a Dream Speech Background
Summary: "I Have a Dream" is a 17-minute public speech by Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered on August 28, 1963, in which he called for racial equality and an end to discrimination. The speech, from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial during the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, was a defining moment of the American Civil Rights Movement. Delivered to over 200,000 civil rights supporters, the speech was ranked the top American speech of the 20th century by a 1999 poll of scholars of public address. According to U.S. Representative John Lewis, who also spoke that day as the President of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, "Dr. King had the power, the ability, and the capacity to transform those steps on the Lincoln Memorial into a monumental area that will forever be recognized. By speaking the way he did, he educated, he inspired, he informed not just the people there, but people throughout America and unborn generations” (from MLKonline.net).

Volunteers Wanted

We are looking for a volunteer or two to head up a welcoming committee to organize and assign mentors to incoming families.  

This involves reaching out to existing families in the community to volunteer to be a mentor to one or more incoming families. They will organize the volunteers and assign the mentors to new families.  The mentors will then place phone calls to their new families (no emails initially - emails are ok after the initial contact. We like to start with a friendly phone call in the beginning). Mentors are there to answer any questions about Elysian and help new families navigate where to go for assistance or questions. Hopefully, the mentors will meet up with their new families at the annual picnic which takes place June 7.  

The assignments should be ready by April and mentors should be in place by mid May when the Kindergarten orientation takes place. We have yet to decide a date for this - it is usually after the PARCC testing.  

The good thing is that this year, due to the many siblings in Kindergarten, there will only be about 6 or so families. We will need additional mentors for families who come to Elysian in the summer. 

Carter and Stephanie Craft organized this last year and have graciously volunteered to share all their knowledge and details about this job. The mentor to the mentors, so to speak.  

For the position of Mentor Organizer, please email Susan Gilbertson at: susan.gilbertson@ecsnj.org  

Individual Family Mentors will be recruited at a later date.

Important Meeting—School Climate
 
On Monday, January 30th at 6:00 p.m. there will be an important meeting in which Dr. Paula Rust will be discussing the results of Elysian’s latest School Climate Survey. “Dr. Rodríguez Rust is a professional sociologist with thirty years of experience teaching about diversity, social relations, and violence, and conducting original survey research on prejudice. She received her doctorate at the University of Michigan--Ann Arbor, with subspecialties in social psychology, prejudice and group relations, and research methods including survey methodology and statistical analysis.” (from Spectrumdiversity.org).  This is the third survey that Dr. Rodriguez Rust has conducted at Elysian.  As part of her presentation she will discuss the longitudinal data that she has collected.
 
Babysitting and pizza for the children will be available. Please RSVP at ElysianPTSO@gmail.com so that we can know how much pizza to order.
 
Winter Session After School Enrichment Clubs

This Wednesday, Jan.18th will be the last class of the Fall session of Chess. The Winter session of Chess will begin next Wednesday and run for the next 14 weeks.  

The Winter Session of after school clubs begins next week (the week of Jan. 23rd). Welcome letters for the clubs that your child has been accepted into will go home later this week.  Please look out for them so that you (and your child) know which clubs they are in. Thanks to all of you for such a wonderful response to the club sign up.
If you have any questions, you can email pam.clubs@ecsnj.org.  

PTSO Corner 

                                                MARK YOUR CALENDARS! 

10th Annual Chili Cook-Off - Saturday February 11th at the Elks Club in Hoboken.
Get your taste buds ready and your chili-pots shined, because the 10th annual Elysian Chili Cook-Off is just around the corner! Come one, come all, and invite your friends to the Hoboken Elk’s club at 5pm on February 11th to compete or just to relax and enjoy great chili. Amenities include a supervised kid's room, live musical entertainment, a wine and beer cash bar for adults, and of course all the chili you can eat. Look for the sign up list soon and register as a cook, a baker of sweet treats, or to help with set up/clean up. Any questions can be directed to Ted Mauseth tedmauseth@gmail.com or Regan Michaels michaelsregan@gmail.com

                                           NO BRAINER MONEY MAKERS

- Go to www.iGive.com/ElysianCharter. Register for the iGive button. It is free. Then go to your favorite online store and shop! Nothing else to do!
During the holiday season, 6 people made $25 through iGive for Elysian! That's $86 for 2016. Please consider signing up for free. This is a true no brainer, but we need more people to sign up.
- Shop through our store at ElysianCharter.ShutterflyStorefront.com to earn 13% for Elysian at Tiny Prints and Shutterfly. 
10 people have shopped through our Shutterfly storefront and earned $142 for Elysian! 
- Go to http://smile.amazon.com/. Click on ‘change your charity’ and select Elysian Charter. Bookmark this address and shop as usual. 
-Keep bringing in those box tops. Just in the first half of 2016, we've made $413.90 from box tops! 
Please forward these links to friends and family!

Friends of Elysian
SAVE THE DATE!
2017 Annual Fundraising Party & Auction
Friday, March 10, 2017
We are very happy to announce the date for this year’s annual auction! There are a lot of exciting details to come VERY soon, but please note this date on your calendar.
Also, we need your help to make this important event a rousing success! We are having a planning meeting on Tuesday, January 24 at 5:45 pm at the school.
If you can’t make it right on time, though, please feel free to still stop by. However, if you can’t be there and would still like to help, please email us at friends@ecsnj.org.
Thank you so much for your support!
A Message From the Nurse
Children, Preteens and Teens Should Not Consume Energy Drinks
Energy drinks, such as Red Bull contain high doses of caffeine and other stimulants.  In an article for the American Association of Pediatricians, it is pointed out that some energy drinks contain over 500 mg of caffeine, which is more than the amount in 14 cans of soda.  Sports drinks, on the other hand, are different.  Sports drinks, which contain carbohydrates, minerals, electrolytes and flavoring, are intended to replace water and electrolytes lost through sweating during exercise. Sports drinks can be helpful for young athletes engaged in prolonged, vigorous physical activities, but in most cases they are unnecessary. These drinks do have a great deal of calories. Otherwise water is considered the best way for children to rehydrate.  Amongst their recommendations, The American Association of Pediatricians include:
  • Energy drinks pose potential health risks because of the stimulants they contain, and should never be consumed by children or adolescents.
  • Routine ingestion of carbohydrate-containing sports drinks by children and adolescents should be avoided or restricted, because they can increase the risk of overweight and obesity, as well as dental erosion.
  • Sports drinks have a limited function for pediatric athletes; they should be ingested when there is a need for rapid replenishment of carbohydrates and/or electrolytes in combination with water during prolonged, vigorous physical activity.
  • Water, not sports drinks, should be the principal source of hydration for children and adolescents
For more information click here
Student Dress
Parents, please be sure to dress your children appropriately for winter weather. When we have our monthly fire drills, students do not have time to get their coats.
Elysian Collects Box Tops and LABELS for Education: 
Look for the container near Deb's desk in the office!  Thank you! 
As per state law, we no longer publish the exact location of trips for security reasons.
Please read the calendar weekly, as changes are updated regularl

JANUARY CALENDAR
Tuesday, January 17
  • Basketball: 6th Grade at Wallace, 6:45 PM
Thursday, January 19
  • Basketball: 7th and 8th Grade at Multi, 6:15 PM
Saturday, January 21
  • Basketball: 3rd Grade White and Green teams at Wallace, 1:50 PM
  • Basketball: 4th Grade at Wallace, 2:40 PM
  • Girls Basketball at Multi, 1:00 and 3:00 PM 
Monday, January 23 
  • Basketball: 6th Grade at Wallace, 7:45 PM
Tuesday, January 24
  • Basketball: 5th Grade Green team at Wallace, 7:45 PM
Wednesday, January 25
  • 7th Grade Trip
  • Basketball: 7th and 8th Grade at Wallace, 6:45 PM7th Grade Trip
Thursday, January 26
  • Basketball: 7th and 8th Grade at Multi, 6:15 PM
Friday, January 27
  • Basketball: 5th Grade Green team at Wallace, 8:45 PM
Saturday, January 28
  • Basketball: 3rd Grade White Team at Wallace, 1:00 PM
  • Basketball: 3rd Grade Green Team at Wallace, 6:40 PM
  • Basketball: 4th Grade at Wallace, 7:30 PM
  • Girl's Basketball at Multi, 3:00 PM
Monday, January 30
  • Parent Forum: School Climate/Bullying Prevention, 6:00 PM
  • Board of Trustees meeting, 7:00 PM.
Tuesday, January 31
  • Basketball: 6th Grade at Wallace, 7:45 PM

FEBRUARY CALENDAR
Wednesday, February 1
  • Half day of school for report card writing, 12:30 dismissal.  After School Program available as usual.
  • Basketball: 7th and 8th Grades at Wallace, 6:45 PM
Friday, February 3
  • Community Meeting
  • Basketball: 5th Grade White Team at Wallace, 7:45 PM
  • Basketball: 6th Grade at Wallace, 8:45 PM
Saturday, February 4
  • Basketball: 3rd Grade White Team at Wallace, 12:10 PM
  • Basketball: 3rd Grade Green Team at Wallace, 1:50 PM
  • Basketball: 4th Grade at Wallace, 2:40 PM
  • Girls Basketball at Multi, 2;00 pm
Monday, February 6
  • Basketball: 5th Grade Green Team at Wallace, 6:45 PM
  • Basketball: 7th and 8th Grade at Multi, 7:15 PM

Wednesday, February 8
  • 5th Grade Trip
Friday, February 10
  • Basketball: 5th Grade Green Team at Wallace, 6:45 PM
  • Basketball: 5th Grade White Team at Wallace, 7:45 PM
Saturday, February 11
  • Chili Dinner, The Elks Club
  • Basketball: 3rd Grade Green Team at Wallace, 5:00 PM
  • Basketball: 4th Grade at Wallace, 5:50 PM
  • Basketball: 3rd Grade White Team at Wallace, 6:40 PM
  • Girls Basketball at Multi, 1;00 PM
Tuesday, February 14
  • Basketball: 6th Grade at Wallace, 6:45 PM
Wednesday, February 15
  • Report Cards distributed
Thursday, February 16 - Tuesday, February 21
  • Elysian closed for February Break
Wednesday, February 22
  • Elysian back in session. 
Thursday, February 23
  • Basketball: 5th Grade Green Team at Wallace, 6:45 PM
Friday, February 24
  • Basketball: 5th Grade White Team at Wallace, 6:45 PM
  • Basketball: 6th Grade at Wallace, 7:45 PM
Saturday, February 25
  • Basketball:  3rd Grade White Team at Wallace, 3:20 PM
  • Basketball: 3rd Grade Green Team at Wallace, 5:00 PM
  • Basketball: 4th Grade at Wallace, 7:30 PM
Monday, February 27
  • Board of Trustees Meeting, 7:00 PM
Tuesday, February 28
  • Basketball: 5th Grade White Team at Wallace, 6:45 PM

1460 Garden Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030
Harry Laub, Ph.D., Director | harry.laub@ecsnj.org | Phone:201.876.0102 | Fax:201.876.9576
powered by emma
Subscribe to our email list.