On behalf of all Franklin Parents, the Executive PTO Board held a luncheon for Teachers & Staff  thanking them for all they do for our children throughout the year.  The lunch was held in the new Teacher Development and conference/break room on the first floor.  The room provided a clean and bright environment for the festivities.

Summit High School Field Hockey Head Honcho, (& Franklin’s own), Jennifer Schwarzenbek, was recently presented with the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA) Field Hockey Award by the NJSIAA Honor Awards Committee. The honor is in recognition of Schwarzenbek’s service in the field of interscholastic athletics and her dedication to the student athletes of New Jersey. “As I look back on my career as a player and coach, I am reminded every day of how much I love the game of field hockey and hope I have instilled this love to my high school players and the youth just starting out,” said Schwarzenbek. Summit High School Principal Stacy Grimaldi, Athletic Director Patrick Scarpello and Junior Varsity Field Hockey coach Rachel Killeen all attended the event to celebrate and support Schwarzenbek, who enjoyed a highly-decorated high school and collegiate playing career, is a two-time Union County Coach of the Year, led The Maroon & White to North 2, Group 3 Sectional Championships in 2009, 2014 and 2015, and was the catalyst for the Summit Youth Field Hockey program, which she began in 2014. We think she’s Tops at Franklin too! (Copied from www.tapinto.net)

Franklin School’s Student Council is teaming up with Scholastic to bring nighttime comfort to children in need! Please consider donating a book or a pair of pajamas.   Specifications: –  Pajamas and books need to be NEW please –  Pajamas need to be a complete set (top & bottom) or         Nightgown placed in a plastic bag –  All sizes welcome: infant – 18yrs old –  Drop off site and date:  Bins by the office no later than December 14th please Any questions, feel free to ask Mrs. Alfone or Mrs. Polles Pajama Program, a 501(c)(3) non-profit, provides new pajamas and new books to children in need. What makes for a good night? For most children, bedtime is a time of comfort, love and security. A time when children crave intimacy with their moms and dads, a few minutes of bonding and sharing in a safe, secure environment. But for the millions of children living in poverty in America, a good night is a luxury they do not often experience.

Have a Birthday, Student-of-the-Week  or other Milestone?  Recognize and honor your child – and benefit the library at the same time – with a ‘Remember Me! Book.’   Each book adds to the permanent collection and comes with a personalized bookplate; class-wide, library-time recognition; and your child’s picture on the wall of honor!! Great for birthdays or any milestone celebration!  Kids love it! Get started at Amazon by clicking on this link: FLIC Wish list.  As an added bonus, books purchased through this link will earn money for the Franklin PTO through our Amazon Affiliate program!  Books will be sent through Amazon directly to the school – just remember to use “Gift Options” to write a message for your dedication.   Questions?  Want to know more about the program? Contact:  Ms. Stochaj (lstochaj@summit.k12.nj.us)  or Mrs. Priscu (npriscu@summit.k12.nj.us)   Thank you to the following families for donating a Remember Me Book 

Thursday, December 15 and Friday, December 16 The Holiday Surprise Shop is coming soon! This is an annual fundraiser where our kids have the opportunity to shop during the school day for 2 holiday gifts for someone special.  The Holiday Surprise Shop is stocked full with an array of gifts that range in price of approx. $8 per gift. Students are invited to bring their chore money to buy gifts so please have them bring in $16, in an envelope on the day their class is scheduled to shop (see Class Schedule below). For financial assistance, please see Marta. Students and parents are all invited at the end of the second shopping day on Friday, December 16th at 3pm, to return after school to buy additional gifts from the leftover inventory. This is a lot of fun for the kids and parents so please come by and support Franklin in this fundraiser! We are accepting donations for holiday wrapping (wrapping paper, cellophane bags, ribbon, gift/name tags and tape). Donations can be delivered to the home of Kristin Pustylnik (8 Warwick Rd) LOCATION : FLIC (Thank you Ms Stochaj!) FRIDAY 3pm Open Shopping! Click Here to Volunteer Surprise Shop Co-Chairs: Kristin Pustylnik and […]

Friday, Dec 2nd at 8:30am Jennifer Ambrose will join us at our general PTO meeting. Click here to view Jennifer’s bio – we hope to see many of you there!

80+ Franklin students all worked hard this past week- we are all in for an incredible show in February! Save the date(s) now- Feb. 10- 12, 2017.  Pictured is the workshop from last week..

With Thanksgiving around the corner, I wanted to take a moment to express my gratitude to all of you for making these first few months of the school year a success! Thanks to all of you volunteering your time and energy, and sharing your support and school spirit, our children have enjoyed the following so far this year: Back to School Popsicles An unforgettable first ever Welcome Back BBQ An assembly about the wonders of Hot & Cold elements Two guest Authors (Todd Parr and Audrey Vernick) The ever so popular Book Fair and After school Golf and Chess Club Opportunities And this is just the beginning! SHReK, Jr. the Musical has kicked off and begins tomorrow; the highly anticipated Holiday Gift Shop comes in December, and Astrograss will perform an amazing musical assembly in January. Many more exciting and enriching opportunities will occur in the second half of the year; an early thank you to those volunteers already hard at work to enhance the elementary school experience for our children!  Lastly, thank you for your extreme generosity with your PTO donations! Your donations make it possible for us to bring all of these activities to life!  Warmest wishes to you and your family this Thanksgiving season,  Sheila Cheney -Franklin […]

Audition Workshop:  Monday November 14 3:15-5:5:15pm Tuesday November 15 3:15-5:5:15pm Wednesday November 16 3:15-5:5:15pm   Auditions: Thursday November 17 3:15-5:15pm (Lead Roles only) Friday November 18 3:15-5:15pm (Lead and Ensemble Roles)   All registration and dismissal forms complete with payment must be submitted by Monday November 14 at 8:15am in order to participate in the workshop. If you would be so kind to put the form in the SHReK box near the main office tomorrow am, we would greatly appreciate it. We can not dismiss your child properly without the form.   

A HUGE thank you to the Book Fair Committee, Jenny Birch, Alexis Cohen, Betsy Flaim, and Jamie Kessel, for all their hard work and time. A big thank you to our amazing set up and clean up volunteers who really impressed AllBook with their speed and commitment. Thank you to all the daily volunteers who helped this event run smoothly. Finally, thank you to all who purchased books. It warmed my heart to see the children so excited to buy books and then reading them. Loreli Stochaj Librarian

Our Children had a great time when Audrey Vernick came to visit Franklin last week!

Do Good for Others and Share your Halloween Candy with our Soldiers stationed overseas next week, and write them a letter thanking them for their service and loyalty to the US! Candy can be dropped off in the main office and will be donated on November 11, from 3-5pm. Volunteers to drive candy to Chatham during those hours are appreciated! Please email Ana DeCosta at aandrademail@yahoo.com if you can help deliver these sweet treats and kind wishes from our students.

Great to see everyone who attended the kickoff ‘pep rally.’  Holly and her team were very excited to meet all of you. We are quickly approaching our starting dates: November 14th, 15th, 16th  3:15 – 5:15: Audition workshop November 17th, 18th 3:15 – 5:15: Auditions   Below are the forms.  These forms and fees need to be turned in by Wednesday, November 9th.    SHReK the Musical JR. Registration Packet SHReK the Musical JR. Dismissal Form We are happy to announce that Joyce Cullen and Stacey Supran have joined our core Shrek parent liaison team.  Esther and Joyce will focus on production logisitics and Sue and Stacey will coordinate the volunteers. Musical Parent Liaisons Production Logistics : Esther McNulty (minaanddouglas@gmail.com) Joyce Yao (yaocullen@gmail.com) Musical Parent Liaisons Volunteer Coordination : Susan Flannery Huffman (flannery_susan@yahoo.com) Stacey Supran (ssupran@me.com)

.. Dressed as SHReK to help out on the Drop Off Line on Halloween?  It’s was our very own PTO President Sheila Cheney- from dunk tank to SHRek Costume, there is nothing Sheila won’t do to rally up Franklin Spirit!  Watch out for future sightings of the friendly beast as our 4th & 5th graders start rehearsing.  

Thank you to Ms. Stochaj for winning a visit from children’s author Todd Parr.  The kids had a blast learning the ins and outs of creating a book.  THANK YOU MS. STOCHAJ!