Join us for the Common Ground lecture series featuring three important life topics for you and your children:

Guyland: The Perilous Place Where Boys Become Men
Tuesday, November 10, 2009 at the Peddie School

How to Talk to Your Kids About Sex
Thursday, February 11, 2010 at the Pennington School

Beyond Time Out: From Chaos to Calm
Thursday, April 8, 2010 at Princeton Day School

Click on the links for more info and details

Barnes & Nobel are running a summer reading club for kids in grades 1-6. They read 8 books and then fill out a questionnaire about the books and in return get a free book. This site explains it the requirements:

I hope you’re having a fun summer!

The EQUITY meeting scheduled for Thursday, 1/17/08 has been CANCELLED due to the winter storm.

Chess Day featuring World Champion chess player Susan Polgar on March 17 at 12:30 …lecture, book signing, and simultaneous chess match at the Princeton Library…info call 924-9529 ext 240 or www.susanpolgar.com or www.princetonlibrary.org

Please join EQUITY at its next meeting, Wednesday, March 14, 2007, from 7:30 to 9:00 pm in the Elementary School Media Center, as we welcome Susan Edwards, Ph.D., Psychologist, who will speak on “The Social and Emotional Needs of Gifted Children.” The program will include an overview of the needs of gifted children and ways parents and teachers can help in areas such as self-esteem, self-acceptance, and making friends. A question and answer session will follow. Refreshments will be served.

Please note that the NJ State Board of Education hearing described in the posting below has been cancelled. Here’s Roberta Braverman’s email explaining:

Dear NJAGC members and friends of gifted education,

We are now on a detour mode. So sorry to have sent the email to our NJAGC membership before I tried to make my appointment to speak next week. Unfortunately, after this email went out, I was told by the secretary to the board that the public hearing for this month was canceled. And it gets worse. The “open topics” will not be heard until May.

This makes it imperative that as many people as we can reach, write to the State Board of Education NOW to politely and firmly request:

1. that the February State Board of Education public hearing “limited topics” includes gifted education, especially needed due to no action since July, 2005 on the Report of the Governor’s Commission to Study Gifted Programs, and that this issue be given time and consideration.

2. that in the upcoming announcement of the reorganization of the Department of Education that the State Board assures that gifted education has representation at the DOE in Trenton, and a staff person assigned to serve the educators, parents and county offices, as well as to assure that gifted children are included in all Department initiatives.

The letter should be directed to
Dr. Arnold G. Hyndman, President
NJ State Board of Education
500 Riverview Plaza
P. O. Box 500
Trenton, NJ 08625-0500

Be sure to include your full name and mailing address. Note that you want your letter to be included as part of public record and distributed to the full board. The Commissioner of Education is a member of the State Board of Education.

It may also be helpful to copy the Governor, as he appoints members to the board, and education falls in the executive branch of government.

*Governor Jon Corzine:*

Office of the Governor _http://www.state.nj.us/governor/govmail.html_
PO Box 001 South Jersey Office North Jersey Office
Trenton, NJ 08625 856-614-3200 973-648-2640
609-292-6000

on the web form choose topic: /Education/, choose sub-topic: /K-12 schools/

In most cases, you are writing as an individual, not as a spokesperson of a group, so keep the/ N/A/

subject: /Gifted Education at DOE/

Please copy njagc@njagc.org with any correspondence you send or receive from this campaign.

Thank you so much for your help and for understanding. Although it isn’t easy, we will not give up or give in. Together we can make a difference for gifted children in New Jersey.

Respectfully serving gifted children,

Roberta Braverman, njagc@njagc.org
Vice president Advocacy on behalf of NJAGC Officers
and Board of Trustees

November 29, 2006

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

An invitation is extended to all parents and community residents to meet two new members of the administrative staff of the Upper Freehold Regional School District on Wednesday, December 13, 2006, 6:15 – 7:15 p.m. in the library of the Elementary/Middle School at 27 High Street in Allentown, preceding the regular meeting of the Board of Education which will begin immediately after.

Judy Chevalier, Director of Special Services, began her service in the PreK – 12 position on October 16, 2006. Kelly Huggins, K-4 Principal, will begin her service on January 2, 2007. The reception that evening will provide the opportunity to meet each new staff member for the first time or to become better acquainted after having met her previously.

Cake and beverages will be served.

(click if it’s hard to read)

EQUITY is pleased that the UFRSD administration has welcomed our assistance in surveying district parents, with the goal of obtaining feedback from the community regarding the school’s programming for academically advanced students.

As you may know, our district is in the process of evaluating the school’s current G&T programming. Therefore, now is the time to voice your opinions and offer your ideas and recommendations. To facilitate this process, EQUITY has developed a “survey“, the results of which will be summarized and presented to the UFRSD administration. We ask for your participation in this effort by completing the attached survey by May 15th. Responses can be returned to EQUITY via email (ufrsdEQUITY@aol.com), by fax (609-259-1422), or by dropping in the PTA basket in the elementary/middle school’s main office. All responses will be treated with respect and confidentiality.

If you are unable to print the attachment and would like a printed copy of the survey delivered or faxed to you, please contact EQUITY at ufrsdEQUITY@aol.com.

This survey is for individuals who have previously expressed an interest in EQUITY and/or the school’s G&T programs, but is not intended to be limited to those people. Please ask anyone and everyone in our community to reply to the survey if believe they are interested and concerned about issues affecting academically advanced students in our elementary and middle schools.

Thank you for your participation in this effort. We look forward to hearing from you!

Here’s one more link to the survey in case you missed it above.

Some of our readers may find this upcoming presentation in West Windsor interesting:

The PTA of Dutch Neck Elementary School will be having a meeting on Wednesday, February 15, 2006, at 7:30 p.m. in the Media Center. The topic for discussion will be: “Understanding the Gifted and Talented Program and Pressure Students Face in School.” The speakers for this special will be:

Patricia Buell. Ms. Buell is the WW-P K-3 Resource Specialist. She will discuss the district’s Exceptionality Program.

Gabrielle Gill. Ms. Gill is from PEI Kids (www.PEIKIDS.org) and she will talk about the pressures K-3 students face today.

This informative program is open to everyone within the district.

Dear Community Members,

EQUITY is planning the next session for our Club periods. This activity was extremely successful during the 2nd marking period and we would love to continue to offer this worthwhile activity to our students for the 3rd and 4th marking periods.

EQUITY invites those interested in volunteering their time during the 3rd or 4th marking periods (Club for 7th and 8th grade students meets on Mondays and Wednesdays from 11:15-12:05) to come in and share your expertise/talent with the students. You may volunteer for one or more days during the marking period.

Please contact us at ufrsdequity@aol.com if you are interested or have any questions.

Thank you!

The New Jersey Association for Gifted Children will hold its 15th annual conference “Gifted Education: Investing in the Future” at the East Brunswick Hilton on Friday, March 3, 2006 and Saturday, March 4, 2006. ((more info))

There are three types of student contests. Enter now!

Check their Conference Page often for the latest news and updates on our Annual Conference. You will also find the registration form, and related forms on that page.