Welcome To the Northern Valley
Regional High School District
Dear Parents/Guardians of Northern Valley Students,
In an effort to enrich the Senior Service program at Northern Valley by providing career exploration that is rewarding and diverse, a committee of parents, teachers and administrators has been established to recruit volunteers from the community. We are looking for professionals in several areas, including but not limited to:
Accounting
Business
Law and Medicine
Social Services
Education
Technology and Communications
Engineering, Construction and Architecture
Visual and Performing Arts
Arts and Entertainment
Trades – Plumbing, Electricians
Landscaping and Landscape Architecture
If you or someone you know is interested in introducing a career to our high school students, please inform us by completing the survey (page 2) and returning it to me at 162 Knickerbocker Road, Demarest, NJ 07627 or via e-mail at furman@nvnet.org.
We are looking for volunteers to introduce career opportunities to our students in several ways:
Career Exploration Days (two per year).
Professionals would present their specialty in the form of a display as well as give a presentation to
introduce their profession to interested students. The time frame set aside for this day would be
approximately two hours.
Brown bag lunch sessions.
Professionals would come in at lunch time and meet a group of students interested in learning about their
profession.
Senior Service:
Shadowing a professional from mid May to mid June for students who have met the Northern Valley
Regional High School criteria for participation the program.
Summer internships or visits to the professional’s work site to gain first-hand experience of the profession.
Expansion of the Senior Service program will increase students’ knowledge of career choices and assist with college decision making while providing a meaningful experience.
All questions and or comments may be directed to me at 201-768-2200, ext. 12160, or furman@nvnet.org. We look forward to the Northern Valley community providing unique opportunities for discovery and exploration for all of our students.
Sincerely,
Jan A. Furman
Superintendent of Schools
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
Senior Service Program Interest Survey
Name: _______________________________________________
Address: ______________________________________________
Phone Number: ________________________________________
Profession you are interested in sharing with high school students:
_______________________________________________________
Location of your work:
_______________________________________________________
Please indicate the following formats in which you are interested.
_____ Career Exploration Days (two per year).
Professionals would present their specialty in the form of a display as well as give a presentation to introduce their profession to interested students. The time frame set aside for this day would be approximately two hours.
______ Brown bag lunch sessions.
Professionals will meet with a group of students during lunch time.
_____ Senior Service:
A senior would shadow a professional during the one month period set aside from mid May to mid June.
_____ Summer internships and/or visits to the professional’s worksite to gain first-hand
knowledge of the profession.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
June 23, 2009
To the Northern Valley Community,
As the 2008-2009 school year draws to a close, it is my pleasure to highlight some of the accomplishments of our students and staff. Our students have excelled in academics, on the athletic fields and in the arts. As you can see from the list below, our students are a diverse group with many interests. A partial list of accomplishments follows:
Seton Hall University honored Laurie Hageman and Keonho Lee with the “Excellent High School Student of Japanese Language” award.
Four of our students participated in the Northeastern Regional Speech Contest in Japanese held at the United National International School. Dasol Park, Soo Min Jung, DanBi Lee and Jinsung Kim attended and Dasol advanced to the final round.
Students participated in the annual New Jersey Science League competition. Ten students received plaques for performance in the top 10%. They are Connie Choi and Raza Zaidi for Biology I; Emily Gleason, Seung Hee Lee, David Jun and Kevin Sung for Chemistry I; James Maher, William Park and Raymond Bellon for Chemistry II; and Woojin Yang for Physics I.
Joshua Tiprigan won first place in the State and National Library of Congress Letters About Literature Contest. Gabriella Conte was the second place State Winner. Honorable Mention Honors at the State Level were awarded to Stephanie Tsimis, Caitlin Fuliam, James Maher, Chris Roh, Christina Scilingo, Andrea Kang, Mike O’Reilly and Minji Cha.
Kegham Khosdeghian and Collin Russo placed first in the State Technology Student Association Structural Engineer Event at the College of New Jersey.
Olivia Woo placed first, Yun Chung, second and Lindsay Stewart, third in the Annual Arbor Day Note Card Art Contest.
Lisa Rinaldi was named Best Delegate for Global Financial Crisis Committee and Sam Wagstaff, Alison Block and Nikolas Rodriguez won Honorable Mention for their respective committees at the One-Day Model UN Conference.
Luk Ostrow and E-Soo Kim were named to the All-State Chorus.
Julie Kyung, Anthony Kim, Sarah Szulecki were named to the Regional Symphonic Band.
Minjeung Kim, Soohwen O, Sarah Rhee, Michelle Lee, Andy Park and Catherine Kim were named to the Regional Orchestra.
Michael Magaraci won the Regional competition and set the NVOT record for wins in Wrestling.
Justin Siegel, Pat Kiernan and Justin Hussong were named First Team All League in Bowling.
In swimming Trevor Leland and Devon Bill were named 1st Team All League. Trevor set an NBIL record by winning the 500 Free at the League Championship.
The Demarest Girls Spring Track team was undefeated in regular meets and captured the league championship.
Luke Isaacson, Sam Miller, Jeremy Singer and Josh Taylor participated in the NJ Shouts Down Drugs Music competition.
Victoria Cervone was named to first Team All NBIAL, All County and All State in swimming. She set new State records in both the 200IM and 100 Butterfly and was named New Jersey Swimmer of the Year by the Bergen Record.
The Old Tappan NJ Challenge Team was one of only four New Jersey schools to go into the fourth round of competition in a tri-state quiz bowl competition for teams in the tri-state area.
We are equally as proud of our faculty.
Arpi Lajinian who teaches mathematics at Old Tappan was named the District’s Teacher of the Year. Leslie Van Slooten who teaches Special Education at Demarest and Curt Ebersole, Music teacher at Old Tappan were named Governors’ Teacher Recognition Award Winners. All three of these honorees were chosen to represent Northern Valley Regional by a committee of their peers.
English teacher Allison Beesley will be finishing her MA at Middlebury College’s Bread Loaf School of English this summer. She has won the Robert Haiduke poetry Contest at Bread Loaf.
The Bridge Program will be recognized at a state-wide conference in the Fall. Dr. Bruce Sabatini, Mrs. Leslie Van Slooten, Dr. Stephen Kuwent and Mr. James Santana will make a presentation on the overall effectiveness of the Program.
Students in Michael Peri’s English classes earned second place and several honorable mentions at the state level in the Letters About Literature Contest.
Brook Zelcer raised over $600 for the Smile Train charity through a Reflections fundraiser.
Catherine Burns has been selected by the College Board’s Advanced Placement Program and Education Testing Service to serve as an AP reader. She will be evaluating the scoring the AP Physics Exam.
Richard Veon was selected by the Senior Class of 2009 at Demarest as their Teacher of the Year. Mr. Veon teaches Honors Chemistry and Applications of Science and Technology, a senior science elective.
Beverly Cardino was invited by the International Reading Association, in conjunction with People to People Citizen Ambassador Programs, to serve as part of a delegation to China specializing in language and literacy education.
Old Tappan English teacher Brian Hanson Harding has won a fully-funded fellowship to attend the Seminar on Korean History and Culture and the Korean American Experience in Los Angeles in August.
Summer is a busy time at Northern Valley. The Administrative Team will attend a one-day regional workshop with administrators from the seven elementary districts. This will be followed by a two-day workshop for Northern Valley Regional High School Administrators which will include topics such as strategic planning, differentiated instruction and learning communities.
Our Technology Team will be addressing network issues, updating computer software and installing new computers and programs for students and faculty.
Our Office Professionals will be mailing out information for parents and students, updating the student, parent and faculty handbooks, and processing paperwork for new faculty members.
Our custodial staff will be working hard to make sure the buildings are sparkling and ready for students in September.
Thanks to the support of our communities in passing the building referendum in April, a number of building projects will be taking place over the summer including roof and electric work, unit ventilators, gym floor refinishing, interior partitions, and window replacement.
Have a pleasant and restful summer break. We will be happy to welcome you back in September.
Sincerely,
Jan A. Furman
Superintendent of Schools
____________________________________________________________________________________________
June 4, 2009
Dear Parents/Guardians
I am sure you have been following the continuing news reports on the increasing number of cases of Novel Influenza A (H1N1) virus, previously called Swine flu. We have several confirmed cases of influenza in both Demarest and Old Tappan. Our school district, Northern Valley Regional High School, has been in frequent communication with our local Health Departments and the School Physician.
The New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services (NJDHSS) and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) have issued guidelines on school closures. According to these guidelines, “school closure is not advised for a suspected or confirmed case of novel influenza A (H1N1) and, in general, is not advised unless there is a magnitude of faculty or student absenteeism that interferes with the school’s ability to function.”
There is influenza circulating in Bergen County. This flu may be H1N1 or regular seasonal influenza. The symptoms of both of these types of flu are similar and can include fever greater than 100 degrees F., cough, sore throat, lack of appetite, fatigue, headache and/or body aches, and with H1N1, sometimes nausea, vomiting and diarrhea. If you observe any of these symptoms in your child, please keep him/her home and call your health care provider with any questions or concerns. It is very important to keep your child home if he/she is sick. It is thought that novel influenza A (H1N1) flu spreads in the same way that regular seasonal influenza viruses spread; mainly through the coughs and sneezes of people who are ill with the virus.
I am asking for the cooperation of our parents and guardians during the occurrence of this virus. In accordance with the CDC and New Jersey Department of Health and Services guidelines, any student who has been diagnosed with influenza is advised to stay home for seven days or until symptoms are no longer present, whichever is longer.
We are paying special attention to the daily maintenance and cleaning operations at all of our schools, with a special emphasis on shared areas such as door knobs, desks, railings and faucets.
Please teach your children the steps they can take now to decrease their chances of catching the flu:
o Wash hands thoroughly and often with soap and water.
o Avoid touching the face, nose and eyes.
o Cover coughs and sneezes with tissues and dispose of them properly.
o Cough into the sleeve or elbow, if a tissue is not available, not into the hands or the air.
Sincerely,
Jan A. Furman
Superintendent of Schools
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
J
Superintendent's Message
Dear Parents/Guardians:
During the current school year, as in previous years, Northern Valley Regional High School continues to upgrade the different forms of electronic communication available to our students. Our students increasingly have access to more sophisticated means of electronic communication via laptops, Blackberries, cell phones, etc. and are very skilled in using these technologies. They often send pictures, videos and voice as well as text messages.
The district has recently been advised by local law enforcement officials of the need to caution our students about this use. Specifically, certain photos or videos which may be taken by cell phone and transmitted that way, or over the Internet, can be considered trafficking in pornography, which is a very serious criminal offense. I am conveying this information to you at the request of our local law enforcement officials, suggesting you discuss this issue with your children so that a “teenage prank” does not turn into something much more difficult for both our students and their families to handle. The majority of cell phones used by students are owned by the parents. Any inappropriate action, may also implicate the owner of the phone.
In the coming weeks, additional communication about this matter will be sent to you directly from our building principals.
Sincerely,
Jan A. Furman
Superintendent of Schools
School Emergency Closing Information
If inclement weather or another emergency causes a delayed opening or an all-day closing, radio station WOR and WCBS will announce school closings. Cablevision Channel 12 will also announce school closing information. An automated message service, Swift Reach, will be implemented in which a recorded phone call message will be placed to your home.
It is important that that guidance office have your accurate phone number on file. Please follow the prompts as directed by the Swift Reach message so that the message may be delivered to you. The school district is currently considering the option to have parents provide the high school with a secondary phone number for another contact. In addition, parents may call 201-768-3200 or 201-784-1600 and press 9 for NVOT or 4 for NVD to hear emergency school announcements and information. You may also refer to the school district website, www.nvnet.org.
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