April Newsletter 2022

CEDAR HILL PREPARATORY SCHOOL

April Newsletter Mission to Mars

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Mathcounts Winners Every year, our Seventh and Eighth Grade students participate in the MathCounts Competition. This year, the annual Regional MathCounts Chapter Competition was held online on February 17th. Every year in the contest, we have a “Best in School” award and this year’s CHP winner is Neal Patel from 8th Grade! Neal came in 1st Place among the other Seventh and Eighth Grade participants. Coming in a close 2nd was Sarah Karlekar (8th), followed by Sriram Banigallapati (8th) in 3rd place. All participants performed very well, and we are confident they will continue to excel in the fields of mathematics and other STEM disciplines.

THE MATH LEAGUE WINNERS

As is a tradition in CHP, our Sixth Grade students participate in the Math League Competition every year. This year, the annual competition was held online on February 24th. Jwala Rajinikanth came in first place out of all hte 6th graders. Coming in a close 2nd was Ethan Sanbeg, followed by Ayan Joshi in 3rd place.

Congratulations to all of our 6th grade participants! We are confident you will all continue to do fantastically in your future endeavors!

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PRESCHOOL - KINDERGARTEN NEWS Preschool Science Fair Our Preschool children participated in the Annual Cedar Hill Prep School Science Fair. Throughout the year, our children learn about the 4 seasons. During circle time they learned about the seasons through books, songs, poems, and games. Their assignment was to choose their favorite season and create a diorama with the help of their parents. On the day of their presentation, all of the parents joined the class on Zoom to hear the children and their peers present their projects. At the beginning of the presentation, the parents were serenaded with the season’s songs that the children have been practicing all year. What a wonderful job these children did!!!

Pre-Kindergarten Science Fair The Pre-Kindergarten classes blew us away with their Science Fair projects! Our little scientists were so creative in their thinking and the execution of their projects. They experimented with items that sink and float, as well as with explosive volcanoes, living/nonliving creatures, wind, mammals, birds, and fish.

Presenting their projects in front of their classmates and families, each did an amazing job! Way to go Pre-Kindergarten! We are so proud of you.

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PRESCHOOL - KINDERGARTEN NEWS Kindergarten Science Fair On Tuesday, April 12th, our Kindergarten students participated in the annual CHP Science Fair! Our Kindergarten scientists have worked so hard to prepare their projects and presentations for this special event. Projects were created based on topics that have been discussed throughout the school year in our Science curriculum. This includes topics such as Animal Habitats, Earth Science, Space Science, Physical Science, and more!

Congratulations to the Kindergarten class on a fantastic science fair! We are so proud of all your hard work!

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PRESCHOOL - KINDERGARTEN NEWS Easter Egg Hunt The Kindergarten children had a wonderful celebration welcoming the arrival of Spring. It started in the morning when each child was given a basket filled with colorful grass.

What an exciting day to go outside and go on an Easter Egg Hunt!! The weather could not have been any nicer. Each child found five eggs with wonderful surprises in them! The celebration continued with an awesome party in the afternoon. Happy holidays everybody!!

Swift Farms Visits CHP The students in Preschool through Kindergarten had a special visit from Swift Farms. Farmer Karen and her helpers brought baby chicks, goats, a lamb, bunnies, and a pony named Dora for the children to learn about. The students were so excited to pet these animals and play with them. They even had a turn brushing Dora, the pony. The animals were so happy to play with the children!

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ELEMENTARY SCHOOL NEWS First Grade Science Fair Elementary school hallways were once again buzzing with families visiting our Science Fair in-person!

First Grade Science Fair was comprised of a variety of topics that the students learned throughout the year! From the tiniest of creatures to the tallest of mountains, from handmade toys that showed forces of push and pull to the faraway planets in our solar system, and from reusing household items to magnetic fun... the First Grade Science Fair had it all! The very proud First Graders took every effort to present their ideas and impressed their families, friends, and teachers. Kudos to their hard work and creativity!

Second Grade Science Fair Second Grade scientists produced incredible display boards and presented them to the class. Each student chose a question, made a hypothesis, and used the Scientific Method to test this hypothesis.

Their projects were culminated in an evening where they shared them with parents, grandparents, and other family members. This Science Fair was a very impressive showing for our Second Graders!

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ELEMENTARY SCHOOL NEWS Grade 3 Science Fair “Always question, always wonder.” This was the motto for the Science Fair! As Third Graders prepared for their annual Science Fair, they wondered how to organize all the knowledge they had in Science and narrow it down to one project! Some students displayed a love for life science, whereas some were fascinated by chemical reactions! A few students loved working with electricity and made circuits while some others tested what sank and what floated. Many fascinating projects filled the evening with excitement as the Third Graders confidently demonstrated their projects to their audience.

Some opinions from Third Grade students included: “The Science Fair was a fun project. I liked putting my board together and doing the experiment. I especially liked presenting my experiment to other people. I thought that making the graphs was also really fun.” Another student chimed in: “If at first, you don’t succeed, try the experiment again.” What a great thought to live by!

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ELEMENTARY SCHOOL NEWS Grade 3 Mystery Reader Third Grade welcomed yet another Mystery Reader, Mrs. Hajar Shirley, Zinnia’s mom. She read two books, What Do You Do With a Chance? by Kobi Yamada. In this story, a child is visited by his first chance―and not being sure what to do with it, he lets it go. Later on, when a new chance arrives he reaches for it, but this time he misses and falls. Embarrassed and afraid, he begins ignoring each new chance that comes by, even though the truth was that he still wanted to take one. The other book was JT’S BIG PLAN: An Entrepreneur Kid by Tamara Prather. JT, a young boy, sees an opportunity and acts on it. This book took us on a trip into the workings of JT’s entrepreneurial mindset. The third graders loved Mrs. Shirley’s animated reading. Thank you for being part of our classroom, Mrs. Shirley!

Third Grade welcomed a new Mystery Reader this month. Mr. Uday Patel, Ayaan’s dad, read a wonderful book called The Bravest Dog Ever: The True Story Of Balto by Natalie Standiford. The book chronicles the fascinating true-life adventure of Balto, the dog who traveled more than fifty miles of snow-covered terrain to bring medical relief to the children of Alaska. Balto, a real-life rescue husky, goes on a mission to deliver life-saving medicine to a sick little girl before it is too late. He accomplished the mission. The students loved the enthusiastic and animated reading by Ayaan’s dad. Thank you for reading to us!

Congratulations Yajur in Grade 3!

On Saturday, April 16th, and Sunday, April 17th, Yajur participated in the 2022 SpellPundit National Online Junior Spelling Bee. On Saturday, he worked hard and after many rounds made it to the finals on Sunday. On Sunday, he placed sixth overall out of many students. Congratulations to Yajur on this amazing accomplishment!

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ELEMENTARY SCHOOL NEWS Grade 4 Science Fair Water wheels spinning... carousel turning... cars traveling... cats feeding... kite lifting... catapult launching... marbles and coins dropping... objects lifting... wheel barrels moving... catching fish... rice spilling... WOW! These were some of the many exciting sights and sounds at this year’s 4th Grade Science Fair! Congratulations to the Grade 4 students, all of whom excelled in designing and building their compound machines... and gave imaginative and informative presentations. It was great to see parents, grandparents, other family members, and classmates watching and participating in the demonstrations. This truly was an unforgettable event!

Poetry Month During the month of April, Grade 4 students selected their poems for Poetry Day, which has been moved to June 9th. The Grade 4 theme is Poetry Across America. In class, the 4 th graders continued to explore poetic formats. After listening to the limericks of Edward Lear and other poets, the students identified the pattern of those often humorous poems and brainstormed to create a class limerick.

They are now ready to branch out on their own…and love the endless possibilities of writing very silly poems!

Happy Birthday!

Grade 4 celebrated another classmate turning double-digits!

Happy Birthday Ethan!!!

Thank you to Ethan’s family for providing yummy cupcakes for his celebration!!!

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MIDDLE SCHOOL NEWS Mission to Mars Grade 6 Science students prepared for a full week of astronaut activities for their session on a Voyage to Mars. After testing their skills in robotics and reaction times, students filled out job applications for specific jobs on the spacecraft at Buehler Science Center in Paramus, N.J. Students did a top-notch job of building a mock satellite, communicating with Mission Control, testing Mars rocks and substances, and checking the health of the crew. These young scientists had an experience that was truly out of this world!

Congratulation to Grade 5 Student Demi for Winning the Eastern Region First Team Scholar for the Year 2022 CHP 5th Grader Demi Rott has been selected as an Eastern Region First Team Scholar for 2022. This honor is based on her accomplishments both academically and in cheerleading! Demi was chosen as one of a highly select group of students in her grade, from more than 25,000 students taking part in Pop Warner’s Eastern Region. Demi’s achievement was celebrated during a Scholar Dinner and Awards Ceremony at the Park Ridge Marriott. Her application was also submitted to Pop Warner National Headquarters to place her in the running for National Scholastic honors. We applaud all of Demi’s contributions to the CHP community and look forward to seeing what she accomplishes next!

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MIDDLE SCHOOL NEWS Middle School Science Fair The Cedar Hill Prep Middle School Students celebrated their Science Fair projects as they marched into Spring Break. During the day, 11 professional scientists volunteered their time to come in and judge our learners’ projects. The event culminated with friends and families enjoying an evening during which Grades 5-8 demonstrated what they have learned in individual ventures regarding various topics. These included but were not limited to Power/Energy, Magnetism, Wavelengths, and Physics. The Science students began their quest in November with extensive research papers on their individual topics. Then they devised their experiments with controls and variables. The results were charted, analyzed, and the hypotheses were discussed. All in all, it was an enlightening experience for us all.

Grade 8 Princeton-Blairstown Trip On Friday, April 29th, our 8th Graders, accompanied by Mrs. Lekhi and Mrs. Villafranca, traveled to The Princeton-Blairstown Center for a fun-filled day of activities! The day started with team-building activities. Each team rose up to the challenging tasks presented to them. After a tasty lunch, the students enjoyed a challenging ropes course. The day ended with a hearty dinner and outdoor activities.

It certainly was a fun and adventurous day!

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SPECIALS

National French Contest/Le Grand Concours Awards 2022 The National French Contest/Le Grand Concours is an annual competition sponsored by the American Association of Teachers of French.

Students of French in Grades 1 - 12, in all 50 states and abroad, took a written test and competed against students with similar educational background for prizes. Grades 1 - 6 participate in the FLES Contest. Grades 7 - 12 in the Secondary Contest.

French language students in grades 6 - 8 participated in the National French Competition (Grand Concours).

Level FLES: (6th graders ) 2,083 enrollment.

Level 01A: (7th graders) 2.976 enrollment.

Level 1: (8th graders) 11,145 enrollment Gold Tea Florencio 98th national percentile Silver Margaret Kim Sriram Banigallapati Aarushi Gupta Anaya Raju Bronze Aarna Rao

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SPECIALS

ART Scrap Paper Cities Busy hands of First Grade students tear, cut, twist, arrange, then glue paper scraps onto a surface in order to create Scrap Paper Cities. These collages are a unique and aesthetic way to utilize odd shapes and sizes of leftover construction paper. Nice work, First Grade!

Newsstand Third and Fourth Graders presented their graphic composition skills by way of their completed magazine covers and spreads. A variety of magazine topics were hung and displayed, just like a real magazine stand. Magazines topics included: animals, sports, food, science, languages, and more!

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SPECIALS

WILDCATS SPORTS Congratulation Coach Tierney on Being Coach of the Year CHP’s very own Coach Courtney Tierney has been named Coach of the Year for her achievements with the Hillsborough Girls Basketball team as part of New Jersey’s Skyland Conference. This is Coach Tierney’s second season with the Hillsborough team, which she led into the Somerset County Tournament semifinals. We are very fortunate to have her on staff at CHP, where she encourages and guides our student athletes in bringing the very best of their skills on the court to every practice and game.

Sports USA On Tuesday, USA Sports kicked off their Spring Sports Sessions at CHP! The kids had a blast with Coach Kevin teaching them basketball skills. They learned dribbling, passing, and shooting skills while also playing some fun games together! If you would like to join, contact USA Sports today!

Join USA Sports Today

Pep Rally

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CHP students and faculty congregated in the gym on Thursday morning, the 27th of April, to join the school’s mascot, Chip, in a pep rally celebration of our athletes. The co-ed teams included students from 5th Grade and up, with many students participating in more than one sport. The volleyball, tennis, and track teams were introduced one team member at a time as each ran through the gym to high fives, cheers, and applause. Coach Tierney, Coach Griggs, and Coach Frankie beamed with pride as the teams joined them at the front of the gym. The rest of the school showed their support through dance, the gymnasium coming to life as everyone jumped up and down to music, keeping the energy high and the excitement abundant. Go Wildcats!!

SPECIALS

CHP Wildcats Track CHP’s Wildcats hit the track twice this week, on 4/25 at Greenbrook Middle School and at the 13th annual Big Blue Relays held at Pingry School on 4/27.

There were 9 other schools in competition: Pingry, Central Middle School, Gill St. Bernard’s, Harding Middle School, Kent Place, Stuart, Far Brook, and Montclair Kimberly. Both the boys and the girls team entered the 100m, 200m, 400m, and 4 x 100m and 4 x 200m races. Eleven girls represented CHP on the track: Grace Liu, Valentina Garcia, Maddy Ngo, Mikaela Rose, Kasmyra Rao, Mikaela Rose, Jwala Rajinikanth, Skylar Biddle, Anya Garg, Ananya Mehta, Zara Webley, and Meryl Patel. In three separate 100m heats, Grace, Valentina, and Zara secured 1st place for CHP and Skylar secured second place in a fourth heat. In the 200m heats, Grace was first to cross the finish line in her race, Skylar secured second, and Meryl, third. Congrats to our boys for a performance well done: Shameek Parab, Noah Evans, Rishabh Dagli, Revant Jear, Aakash Mehta, and Jayden Jefferson. CHP’s fastest boy over 100m is Shameek Parab with a personal best of 15.2 seconds. The fastest girl over 100m is Valentina Garcia with a personal best of 15.1 seconds. Kudos to the Wildcats on the track!

Volleyball Our Coed Volleyball Team had two competitive matches vs.

Metuchen Christian and Princeton Charter School. In our first match against Metuchen Christian, we tied 2-2 in our matches.

In the match with Princeton Charter School, we ended up losing 1 to 2 against a very tough opponent. In both matches, our team showed lots of determination and improvement.

Go Wildcats!

Tennis This is CHP’s first year having a Boys Tennis Team, and the twelve boys have been working hard since March preparing for their matches. The Boys Tennis Team had three matches this week against Princeton Academy, Rutgers Prep, and Pingry.

They have demonstrated outstanding sportsmanship and integrity during their matches. Third Singles, Hunter Terborg, had a victory against Rutgers Prep as well as First Doubles, Revant Jear, and Vihaan Bal. CHP will be successful with the tennis program as the team continues to develop skills and strategies to enhance their performance.

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AROUND THE SCHOOL Questions and Answers with Senator Vin Gopal On Wednesday, April 6th, 2022, Senator Vin Gopal held a Q&A session with members of the Cedar Hill Prep community, including faculty and students. Senator Gopal has been Senate Majority Conference Leader since 2018, in addition to Chairman of the Senate Education Committee.

He held an open dialogue with CHP that touched on a variety of issues and concerns, ranging from topics like education to behavioral healthcare. The response from both the Senator and the school was tremendous. The session was a great success on both ends. CHP is grateful to Senator Gopal for taking the time to grant us some insights into state government and how local politicians advocate for and champion their regional constituents, far beyond the voting booth.

Click to Watch Questions and Answers with Senator Vin Gopal

Lunch with the Principal April’s lucky students sat down with Mr. Seeley to discuss topics ranging from favorite CHP class to favorite pizza topping. Every month, a student from each homeroom is selected to enjoy a slice and some conversation.

On April 1st, Mr. Seeley played a prank on the students, announcing the homeroom teachers for each grade as the names that would be joining him for lunch. After a moment of much confusion among the students, he jumped back on the intercom to announce the real names that would be joining him this time!

On April 28th, Principal Seeley sat down once again with students from each grade for Pizza With the Principal. It was fun, delicious, and informative for all!!

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Our next PTO Meeting is May 11, 2022.

The meeting will be via Zoom and we will be discussing upcoming events and fundraisers.

Be on the lookout for an email with details regarding the meeting.

Thank you and we look forward to seeing you all there.

SAVE THE DATE

Masquerade Dance 7th and 8th Grade Graduation Celebration

The Imperia on Tuesday, June 14, 2022 Dance Begins at 6:30 pm • Dinner at 7:30 pm Photo Booth • DJ • Dress to Impress Masquerade Masks are Required

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SAVE THE DATE Tuesday, June 7th

Of Pirates and Princes a CHP original play

Join the Alumni Instagram and Facebook Page

Staff Birthdays Happy Birthday to Leslie Wallant, Dawn Francavilla (Coach Frankie), Sumedha Kotasthane, and Platty Patel who celebrated their birthdays in April.

Hope they enjoyed their birthdays!

Stay connected and network with the CHP Community.

You will receive invitations to events and the latest CHP and academic news. This will also allow us to share news and acknowledge all your achievements.

Be Part of the Alumni Community Today! Join and share with family and friends to follow and like!

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