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Principal’s Message
December 12, 2025
Dear Parents and Guardians,
What an exciting December Hoot & Holler we had this morning! We announced our Whiton All Stars, our BEF Kind-a-Thon winners, the Red Carpet Express (featuring Mr. Blaustein and the Black Cat Bus), and our Teacher and Education Support Professional of the Year. Our students closed the celebration by singing Frosty the Snowman—with two very special visitors joining us!
I am thrilled and proud to share that this year’s Teacher of the Year is Ms. Katie O’Shea, and our Education Support Professional of the Year is Ms. Anne Cohen.
In short:
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Ms. O’Shea was nominated because she truly embodies what it means to create a memorable and joyful learning experience. Her classroom is a place where learning is fun, meaningful, and filled with enthusiasm. She inspires curiosity and motivates her students to fully engage in their learning each day.
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Ms. Cohen was nominated for her exceptional work as a paraeducator. Her patience, warmth, and steady support help create a classroom environment where students feel safe and encouraged. She skillfully adapts instruction to meet the needs of each learner and provides thoughtful, individualized support that helps students stay confident, engaged, and successful.
I know you join me in congratulating them on this well-deserved honor!
 Below are the Whiton All Stars we’re celebrating for bringing outstanding character to our school each day:
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Pre-K
Neil, responsible (Harwood)
Gio, caring (Hernandez)
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Kindergarten
Sofia, trustworthy (Ackerman)
Christian, respectful (Peabody)
Sahanya, responsible (Peabody)
Ella, caring (Zayle)
Violet, caring (Cifuentes)
Lily, respectful (Amato/Petronella)
Mya, caring (Apsley)
Olivia, caring (Struble)
Ava, respectful (Fitzgibbon)
Shane, caring (Ollis/Reilly)
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1st grade
Izzy, caring (Santangelo)
Reese, caring (Bula/Ortiz)
Nathaniel, respectful (Arencibia)
Hunter, responsible (Eelman)
Antonia, responsible (Jankowski)
Levi, caring (Palko/Bitner)
Michael, respectful (Meechan/Lilly)
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2nd grade
Callie, respectful (Binko/Coste)
Valentina, respectful (O’Shea/Kinney)
Alex, respectful (Lloyd/Kinney)
Elena, respectful (Pluymers/Corrales)
Joie, respectful (Francescone/Natale)
Madison, responsible (Lewis/Christadore)
Arya, caring (Smeraldi/Christadore)
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3rd grade
Vanessa, respectful (Smith/Aresta)
Ashvika, respectful (Moor/Repoli)
Kyra, respectful (Moor/Repoli)
Caleb, respectful (Moor/Repoli)
McKenna, caring (Donaway/Conklin/Havyar)
Khushi, caring (Bockus/Zelnick)
Ally, caring (Hasse/Roman)
Emilia, caring (Donaway/Conklin/Havyar)
Sage, respectful (Janiec/Repoli)
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Beginning next week, we will be holding spirit days leading up to the holiday break. Please see the schedule below and help your student join in the fun as we make the season a little extra special. Our staff helped show what spirit week will look like at the assembly this morning.
 
Lastly, if you don’t feel like cooking tonight, our PTO is partnering with Panera to support our school. Please see the details below.
Sincerely,
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| School Reminders/ News |
 NURSE REMINDER
Your student must stay home if they have a temperature of 100.4 or higher. The student may not return to school if they have received fever reducing medication. Students must be fever free for 24 hours before they can return to school. Please find more information here.
 Note from our PE Staff:
Just a reminder: please have your student wear sneakers on PE cycle days so they can safely participate in all activities. Mrs. Kolbe and Mr. Bohmer thank you in advance for your support!
 SCIENCE FAIR
The science fair for our second and third grade students will be February 25, 2026. Registration is now open and will end on January 16th. Please find more information here.
PRE-SCHOOL 2026-2027
Applications for pre-school are now open. Please find more information on our half-day preschool program along with the application here. All applications are due by January 2nd.
 LIBRARY VOLUNTEERS
The Whiton library is open to volunteers. This is a great opportunity to help with shelving books, assisting students with book checkouts, and guiding students in finding books on the shelves. Because initial training is needed, Ms. Gale is looking for anyone who is able to volunteer on a regular or semi-regular basis. Any questions, please email Ms. Gale - sgale@branchburg.k12.nj.us. Here is the sign up.
 CAFETERIA VOLUNTEERS
Parents/guardians interested in volunteering in our lunch room should use this PTO sign up link here through December. Please make sure to read the very important information about volunteering located on the sign up.
 SCHOOL SPIRITWEAR
Great news! Our School Spirit wear can be purchased at anytime! The orders will be processed on the 1st and 15th. Please find the link to order here.
 LOST AND FOUND
Reminder: As the colder months approach, please label your student’s belongings to make it easier for us to return misplaced items. We will work to reunite as many lost items as possible before the holiday break. Anything remaining afterward will be donated locally.
 Parent Square Updated Information:
Smart Notification Delivery is now live for post notifications across Parent Square.This update streamlines communication for families using the Parent Square app by sending post notifications through the app first and using text only as a backup. This reduces duplicate messages while keeping families fully informed.
What’s changed (and what hasn’t):
- Post notifications now go to the app first, with a text fallback if needed
- This applies to posts, post digests, and post updates
- Applies only to those who are subscribed to both app and text notifications
- Email notifications still go out for all communications
- Alerts and direct messages continue to go to all subscribed methods
COMMUNITY BULLETIN BOARD
Please find community information on our school website here.
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| PTO/BEF Events |
PTO EVENTS
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Upcoming Dates:
12.23- Single session
12.24-1.1- School closed for winter break
1.2- School closed for Staff Professional Development
1.19- School closed- MLK, Jr. day |
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