SOM Middle Schools in Action Thursday

SOMS and MMS will host special night for rising sixth-graders and their parents.

South Orange Middle School (SOMS) and Maplewood Middle School (MMS) will both host the annual School-in-Action Night on Thursday from 7 to 9 p.m. The evening is intended for parents of fifth-graders and their children who will enter middle school next year. (All students must be accompanied by an adult, unless students are part of a teacher-run activity.) School-in-Action night is an exciting evening that celebrates the schools' excellence in academics and the arts. At SOMS, for example, visitors can look at student work submitted for the science fair, experience a living wax museum, view digital portfolios of student writing and reflection, peruse the work of students in the art program, and visit teachers in their classrooms. "This is a …

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South Orange MS Library Hosts Cupcake Decorating

Elissa Malespina hosts author Elizabeth Antoine for a fundraiser

South Orange Middle School keeps it sweet. Librarian Elissa Malespina hosts author Elisabeth Antoine for a Thursday afternoon cupcake-decorating workshop. Students will join Antoine, whose baking artistry is known to Able Baker fans, on Thursday, at SOMS, from 3:15 - 4:15 p.m. to make edible cupcake toppers in the shape of owls.  The workshop, which is limited to 10 students, costs $10. The cost covers the cupcake, icing and fondant and supports the work of the SOMS library. To register, contact Malespina at SOMS: emalespina@somsd.k12.nj.us or register here.

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Guys and Dolls Struts in to SOMS

This year's all-school musical is coming soon. Get your tickets now!

  South Orange Middle School (SOMS) has been preparing for this year’s All School Musical: Guys and Dolls. Guys and Dolls takes us back to 1955. A simple story that is centered on the fact that all the hot gamblers are in town, and they're all depending on Nathan Detroit (Josh Watson-Lewis) to set up this week's incarnation of "The Oldest Established Permanent Floating Crap Game in New York." There only problem is, he needs $1,000 to get the place. Throw in Sarah Brown, (Olivia Pryor) who is short on sinners at the mission that she runs and looking for few; Sky Masterson, (Thomas Fetner) who accepts Nathan's bet that he can't get Sarah Brown to go with him to Havana; Miss Adelaide, (Mia Gladstone) who wants Nathan to marry her; and Police …

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Photo of the Day: South Orange Teen Vogue-in' It

South Orange teen Phoebe Joseph is in Teen Vogue

Shout out to Phoebe Joseph!  The 13-year-old South Orange teen appears in the current Teen Vogue.

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South Orange MS Kids Take on National History Day

Congratulations to South Orange students!

South Orange MS News is Hot off the Press

The South Orange Middle School newspaper has moved online.

Hot off the presses, the latest issue of The Odd Orange Journal is out. The South Orange Middle School newspaper is student-written, led by teacher Anthony Cicenia. Staff of The Odd Orange Journal propose story ideas, research, write and then submit their copy; Cicenia does the online layout. "We're completely online," he explains. The January edition recommends healthy meals, features a great place in South Orange for students to grab a snack, and offers the ever-popular advice column. Best wishes to the staff and editor of The Odd Orange Journal. If you want to learn more about writing for the SOMS newspaper, see Mr. Cicenia.

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Middle School Warns of Suspected Pertussis Case

South Orange Middle School reports one "suspected" case of whooping cough

Joseph Uglialoro, South Orange Middle School principal, Wednesday distributed the following letter: We have had 1 case of suspected pertussis (whooping cough) identified in our school. Pertussis is a highly contagious disease that is spread through the air by a cough or a sneeze. Pertussis begins with cold symptoms and a cough, which become much worse over 1-2 weeks. Symptoms usually include a long series of coughing fits followed by a whooping noise. However, older children, adults and very young infants may not develop the whoop. There is generally only a slight fever. People with pertussis may have a series of severe coughing fits followed immediately by vomiting, turning blue, or difficulty catching breath. The cough is often worse at …

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South Orange MS Students Send Sympathy to Newtown

SOMS sixth graders wrote letters to residents Connecticut town.

Students in Caroline Pew's sixth grade classes wrote and decorated cards for residents of Newton, Conn., in the wake of Friday's school shootings. The sixth graders made 300 cards of sympathy and support, including poems and letters.

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Updated Again: McCort Private Hearing is Tuesday; Cohen's is July 18

Kathleen McCort's hearing is Tuesday

Kathleen McCort's Donaldson hearing is Tuesday, June 26, at 6 p.m. at the Board of Education building on Academy Street.This has been confirmed by the involved parties. It will be a private hearing. Steven Cohen's hearing has been postponed until July 18. The Donaldson hearings will allow the eighth grade Social Studies teachers to challenge the decision made earlier this year not to rehire each of them. That decision, in their tenure year, led to numerous student protests and parents speaking on their behalf at Board of Education meetings. The superintendent, Brian Osborne, and first-year principal of South Orange Middle School Joseph Uglialoro took the unusual step of meeting with concerned parents to discuss the situation. At the most …

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Op-Ed: YouthNet Flourishes in Community

After-school program continues to grow for middle school students in Maplewood and South Orange.

Here in Maplewood and South Orange there’s a thriving, exciting after-school network advancing the social and intellectual development of our youth. YouthNet, now entering its fifth year, offers an after-school learning opportunity at South Orange Middle School and Maplewood Middle School, staffed entirely by district teachers. At YouthNet’s core are more than 30 after school enrichment activities offered free of charge, along with a fee-based developmental program for focus on homework help and tutoring. Far from being just custodial, YouthNet has measured its success by advancing the learning and life training skill sets of our students with its programs, helping them broaden their participation in both social and work settings.  …

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