Jefferson Walks to School

Jefferson marks Walk-to-School Day and says farewell to Ralph Celebre.

On Friday, Oct. 9, Jefferson students, teachers, aides and parent volunteers walked to school. For the eighth year in a row, the school marked International Walk-to-School Day by meeting at Orchard Park and walking from there to Jefferson School. The walk, originally planned for Wednesday, was rescheduled due to weather. The event is organized by Andrea Wren-Hardin. “I like the sense of community it gives us,” she said. “Jefferson is a school that draws from both our towns, and many kids take the bus. This is a day when we can walk together.” School buses dropped eager students at the park, while those who normally walk met their classmates there. Volunteers directed foot traffic as the procession set off, led by interim principal Ralph …

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Autumn Festival with A Sweet Tooth

Sunday showers didn't deter Seth Boyden families from gathering for the Autumn Festival and eating lots of cupcakes.

  It wasn’t going to rain on the parade of cupcakes at the Seth Boyden Elementary School Autumn Festival. As it started to rain early Sunday afternoon, several parents lifted the long table covered with 15 platters of cupcakes and carried it under a small canopy. Selling re-commenced briskly. In fact, over the course of the afternoon, every single cupcake was purchased. (Note to PTAs everywhere: who doesn’t like a cupcake?) However, these cupcakes were special. They were competing in the Second Annual Autumn Festival Cupcake Contest. Inspired by the theme of the Festival, amidst a farm stand, pumpkin patch, and steaming pots of chili and warm cornbread, the cupcakes were like a grand mosaic to Fall. The categories were Most Autumnal, Most …

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Band Instructor Dies After Being Hit by a Car

Susan Weitzer, 63, was hit by a car while crossing Mount Pleasant Avenue in Livingston and pronounced dead shortly afterward.

Susan Weitzer, the district's fifth-grade band instructor, passed away after being hit by a car on Friday evening in Livingston. “As a longtime member of the South Orange-Maplewood School District, her love of music inspired hundreds of students and touched the lives of staff members throughout our district,” said Superintendent Brian Osborne, in a statement. Weitzer, who was 63, had worked in the district since 1998. She received a B.S. degree in music education from Penn State and an M.A. in early childhood education from Kean University. No charges have been filed against the driver, according to a Star-Ledger report. Weitzer's daughter, who was also struck by the car, sustained non-life threatening injuries.

Photos: Jefferson School Ice Cream Social

Students, teachers and parents kick off the school year with cold treats.

On Thursday, Sep. 10, Jefferson School held its annual ice cream social. Ice cream was, of course, the centerpiece of the affair, but there was other entertainment as well, including a DJ. South Orange and Maplewood school district Superintendent Brian Osborne was on hand to introduce recently hired Jefferson School Principal Susan Grierson.  Jefferson School PTA member (and Patch columnist) Brooke Lefferts was on hand to snap some pics.

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New Principal for Jefferson School

Supt. Osborne recommends Susan Grierson, a former Jersey City school principal, for the job.

On Thursday, Aug. 13, the school district sent a letter to parents of students at Jefferson School announcing that Schools Supt. Brian Osborne will recommend that the Board of Education appoint Susan Grierson as the new Principal of Jefferson Elementary School. Grierson has been the principal of the K-8 Learning Community Charter School in Jersey City for the last eight years. The appointment is not official until the school board votes on it at their Monday, Aug. 17, meeting. The full letter is below. To the Jefferson Elementary School Community,  The search for a new principal for Jefferson Elementary School is reaching a conclusion.  This Monday, August 17, 2009, I will recommend to the Board of Education that it appoint Ms. Susan …

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Cathrine Evans is New Marshall Librarian

A kindergarten teacher at Marshall for the last two years, Evans will take over for Arlean Lambert in the fall.

Marshall kindergarten teacher Cathrine Evans loves the central position the school's library occupies in the front of the building just through the front doors, its old-fashioned wooden shelves, and its range of books catering to the school's kindergarten through second grade readers. "The library is the heart of the building," said Evans, who learned three weeks ago that she'll be taking over for Arlean Lambert as the school's librarian next year. Evans is wistful at the thought of giving up the large kindergarten classroom that she painted and furnished, which overlooks the school's playground and a garden her students planted. But she's looking forward to the opportunity to run the library and have an impact on a larger number of …

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Invention Convention 2009: Move Over, Rube Goldberg

Jefferson students presented inventions on Tuesday.

Tired of cleaning up your pet parakeet’s poop? Soaking with sweat after a few rounds of Two Square at recess? Maybe you have a big sister who’s forgotten your name since she got that new cell phone. Third graders at Jefferson Elementary School found solutions to these and a hundred other everyday nuisances and presented them at their annual Invention Convention on Tuesday, June 16.  Invention Convention is a district-wide program in South Orange/Maplewood that dates back to the '70s. Each spring, every third grader is asked to come up with a list of practical problems in his or her life, and then winnow it down to one they’re really itching to solve—on a budget of $10 or less. We’re not talking Intel Science Fair here; think more Rube …

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