Metuchen High School

September 23, 2022 Good afternoon. This week, all New Jersey superintendents received a request from The New Jersey Youth Suicide Prevention Advisory Council to share important information. Here is a resource for parents who are concerned about their children’s mental health: • Tel: (877-652-7624) • Web: performcarenj.org • On YouTube: DCF Children's System of Public Care Service Announcement (youtu.be/KgA7ms-kwoo) According to the letter, “New Jersey families still have little to no awareness of what the DCF’s. Children’s System of Care (CSOC) can offer. CSOC provides all children and adolescents - regardless of insurance status - with coordinated access to mental health supports, substance use treatment, and services for intellectual and developmental disabilities. Too often we hear about families dealing with struggling youth who do not know where to turn and get lost in the myriad of resources.” The letter continues, “Further, the Council is thrilled to report that New Jersey has created a learning portal, Prevent Suicide NJ, for educators, families, youth, and community partners to access resources and training. The portal is set to go live this month.” Remember too, that “988” is the three-digit, nationwide phone number to connect directly to the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. By calling or texting 988, you’ll connect with mental health professionals. Also, know that our school counselors remain ready to assist parents and students. Please reach out to us. For the second time in 5 years Puerto Rico is experiencing brutal devastation because of a hurricane. Let’s do what we can to help our American neighbors, many who have relatives here in our area. This week we reported 25 positive COVID cases: MHS=3, Edgar=15, Campbell=5, and Moss=2. Over the next week, we have a number of exciting extracurricular events at Metuchen High School. Tomorrow, we are hosting Soccer for a Cause, a GMC-wide girls soccer festival. All proceeds will go to great local charities. This year the festival will support the Marisa Tufaro Foundation & Go4TheGoal. Both are pediatric cancer charities. On Sunday, we are hosting Beats in the Borough, a wonderful marching band competition. Then next week, our Week of Lights returns. Girls’ soccer hosts Sayreville on Tuesday. Boys’ soccer hosts Carteret on Wednesday. Field hockey hosts East Brunswick on Thursday. Football hosts Roselle on Friday. All games start at 7pm and will also be the teams’ senior nights. Come out and support all our students, all week long. Have a great weekend. Dr. Vincent Caputo, Superintendent of Schools

September 9, 2022 Good afternoon, and welcome back! We will continue to contact trace to the best of our abilities and continue to report out COVID cases weekly, at least to start the school year. This week we reported 12 positive COVID cases: 4 at MHS, 3 at Edgar, 4 at Campbell, and 1 at Moss. We’ve had a very good first week. I would say it’s been as smooth as any of my 11 years here in Metuchen. Thanks to the students, parents, and staff for making that happen. I have at least walked by every classroom and I am excited to report a high level of instruction already this first week. I have visited arrival and dismissal at our schools. I have attended class meetings and assemblies. I enjoyed the varsity home openers for the boys soccer and girls field hockey teams: both victories! Thanks to Manasquan Bank and HMH-JFK for the high school scoreboards. Both Metuchen and visiting fans commented on how good they looked. Come out to MHS on Saturday afternoon to see the band, the cheerleaders, and the football game versus state-power Hillside HS. Have a great weekend. Go Mets, Rutgers, Broncos, and of course our Bulldogs in various competitions. Dr. Vincent Caputo Superintendent

Tuesday, August 9, 2022 MHS will be open beginning at 6:30 tonight as a cooling/charging station. Stay safe. Dr. Vincent Caputo

Update 3:12pm on 7/18/22 Our phones are working for incoming and outgoing calls. VCaputo

Monday, 7/18/2022 Our phones are still down. No incoming or outgoing calls. Please continue to use email to contact us. Thanks. VCaputo

Good morning: District phones are down. No calls in or out. Please email the schools today if you need anything. If the phones are working before 1:30, I'll communicate again. Thanks. Dr. Vincent Caputo

June 16, 2022 Good afternoon. This week we reported 9 COVID cases. The school-by-school breakdown was as follows: MHS = 4 cases, Edgar = 1 case, Campbell = 4 cases, and Moss = 0 cases. Schools are closed tomorrow in observance of Juneteenth. Monday and Tuesday are early dismissal days for students. Kindergarten graduations will be held during the day on Monday. The eighth-grade promotion ceremony will be Monday evening. The MHS senior awards program is Tuesday evening. And next Friday, we will celebrate the class of 2022 with the MHS graduation program. Both the Edgar promotion and the MHS graduation programs will be live-streamed: on the Metuchen Public School District Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/metuchenschools, on the Metuchen BOE YouTube Page: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzI0xcO85WtxrBZ6EQ1ZLIA, and on Optimum, channel 15. This will be the last scheduled weekly update for a couple months. During the summer, I will of course communicate as warranted. The schools will still be quite busy this summer. We have building maintenance scheduled, including HVAC work that will require some rooms and offices to be out of service. We will be working all summer on the November district referendum details. Please contact us with any questions that you have. We have our Extended School Year program beginning on July 5. We also have a number of our Metuchen Summer Institute programs that will run at various times throughout the summer. Many of the students will be involved with camps and sports and summer league teams. Some will travel and all will have the opportunity to take advantage of the many summer activities and programs right here in the Borough. Please know that our 12-month employees are available all summer to assist you with anything you need. Just reach out to us via phone or email. Have a nice weekend, a great last two days of school, and an enjoyable start to the summer! Dr. Vincent Caputo

June 10, 2022 Good afternoon. This week we reported 11 cases of COVID in the district. The school-by-school breakdown is as follows: MHS=4, Edgar=2, Campbell=5, and Moss=0. New Jersey and our central-east region of the state remain ORANGE (high COVID activity). As we approach the end of the school year, here are some important calendar reminders. Next week we have full days on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. Next Thursday (6/16), plus the following Monday (6/20) and Tuesday (6/21), the final three days of school, are scheduled early dismissal days. Remember, next Friday, June 17, 2022, the district is closed in observance of Juneteenth. To learn more about Juneteenth, check out history.com: https://www.history.com/news/what-is-juneteenth. Enjoy the weekend. Dr. Vincent Caputo, Superintendent of Schools

June 3, 2022 Good afternoon. I hope this message finds you well. COVID activity remains high in New Jersey and in the central-east region of the state. This week, we reported 43 cases to the County. The breakdown by school is: MHS = 34, Edgar = 5, Campbell = 3, Moss = 0, and 1 case classified as other. Influenza activity finally dropped to moderate this week. Tuesday, June 7, 2022 will be a remote day for teachers and students. The state has given this option to districts where schools are used as polling places. As you know, all four of our schools are used for voting. Voter laws restrict us from limiting access to our buildings, and therefore safety is that much harder to ensure on that day. This will be a regular (full) day of virtual instruction. Make sure you have your device at home. Thanks for your understanding. Have a nice weekend. Dr. Vincent Caputo, Superintendent of Schools

Due to forecast highs in mid 90s, the Metuchen Public Schools will operate on an early dismissal schedule for Tuesday, May 31, 2022.

Good afternoon. Happy Friday! This week we reported 39 cases of COVID to the County Health Department. The school-by-school breakdown is as follows: MHS = 14 cases, Edgar = 15 cases, Campbell =4 cases, Moss = 5 cases, and one case classified as other. When the COVID-19 level of community transmission is high, the New Jersey Department of Education strongly encourages all LEAs to follow the NJDOH recommendations, including universal masking for all students and staff. I realize that much of society has essentially given up trying to reduce the spread of COVID. However, with New Jersey and our region of the state in orange (high COVID activity), with local cases at their highest since the January surge, with influenza at high levels unusually late in the spring, and with so many important springtime and year-end events and celebrations coming up, I have decided that, beginning Monday, masks will be required for everyone on school buses and everyone inside school buildings except for when eating. This requirement will be reconsidered on a week-by-week basis. Thank you for your understanding - and for your expected cooperation. Have a great weekend. We are in the middle of two Rutgers graduations for my son. His Rutgers Business School graduation was yesterday, and the university-wide commencement is Sunday. In addition, in his four years “On the Banks” (with essentially a year and a half of it on Zoom!), he also managed to complete a second major in criminal justice, and has a job as an accountant with EY that he starts in September. We are so proud of him. Congratulations to all those in the Metuchen community also celebrating graduations this month. Time flies! Dr. Vincent Caputo, Superintendent of Schools

Good morning. This week we reported 35 cases to the County. The school-by-school breakdown is as follows: MHS=20 cases; Edgar=7 cases, Campbell=6 cases, and Moss=2 cases. Per this week’s state CALI report, New Jersey and the central-east region of the state are still YELLOW (moderate activity). The last four weeks have seen a surge in local cases. While masks are still not required in district, we welcome them, especially in indoor, crowded settings. By the way, influenza activity remains high in the state. This is relatively late in the spring to see such high activity. And this week we had (literal and figurative) ground-shaking events with the on-going Russian invasion of Ukraine and the leak of a forthcoming Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v Wade. Coincidently this week we also received our vote-by-mail primary ballots. Voting is so critical. Please mark primary and election days on your calendars. And now for some good news from around the district: • MHS is proud to announce the honorees for this year’s MHS Star Awards, which recognizes students, faculty, staff, and community organizations that give back in a significant way to the school and community. Congratulations to our award recipients! See this year’s winners here: https://core-docs.s3.amazonaws.com/documents/asset/uploaded_file/1203/MHS/2057819/Star_Awards_Announcement_-_May_2022.pdf. • The Edgar School 5th and 6th grade chorus performed to rave reviews at the Somerset Patriots game on Wednesday night. • With 100 volunteers already dedicated to Campbell School’s June 3rd Field Day 2022 don’t miss your chance to be part of the Volunteer Squad. The Campbell team has already met with local businesses, arranged music, obstacle courses, and more. If you’d like to be part of Field Day 2022, we’d love to have you. The sign-up, linked HERE, will be open through 5pm today. • We have a former employee and Metuchen parent doing a reading at Moss of her newly published book. Havoc in the Hamock - by Kelly Jaques. • And more good news: former student, Joel Nadler, had his book, Abandoned New Jersey, published. You can see him at the photo exhibit and book launch at Papillon & Company tonight from 5 to 7pm. Then he’ll be at the Metuchen Public Library on Tuesday, May 24 at 7pm. Finally, we keep adding new information to our referendum website. Take a look and let us know if you have any questions. You can find it here: https://sites.google.com/view/metuchenreferendum2022?utm_source=Google+Site&utm_medium=Google+Site&utm_campaign=Referendum+ Have a great weekend. Happy Mother’s Day. Dr. Vincent Caputo Superintendent of Schools

Good afternoon. New Jersey and the state’s central-east region both remain YELLOW. That indicates a moderate level of COVID activity. This week we reported 4 COVID cases to the County Health Department. The breakdown is as follows: MHS=1, Edgar=3, Campbell=0, and Moss=0. Have a great afternoon and a relaxing weekend. Dr. Vincent Caputo

Hello there. New Jersey and the state’s central-east region remain YELLOW. That indicates a moderate level of COVID activity. This week we reported eight COVID cases to the County Health Department. The breakdown is as follows: MHS=2, Edgar=3, Campbell=3, and Moss=0. That’s a steep increase. We are watching the new BA2 variant very carefully. We know masking and vaccinations slow the spread of COVID. Stay vigilant. For Edgar students, the Newspaper program will run on Tuesdays on Thursdays after school. Sign up for one of the sessions. The start date is either Tuesday March 29 or Thursday March 31. For teachers and parents, you are invited to register for our third Annual Metuchen Technology Symposium on March 26. It will be a virtual conference emphasizing the use of technology that takes into consideration the students’ and teachers' whole being and their Social-Emotional learning. We are glad to announce we have a great line of presenters. Some of them are part of our Metuchen Family. Registration is FREE. There is no obligation to stay all day (9am-1pm). To register, click here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/metuchen-technology-symposium-2022-tickets-245821638137 Have a great weekend! Dr. Vincent Caputo

Good morning. As of 8:20 this morning, we are not receiving calls from outside the district. We are working to resolve the issue. Please use email to contact the schools. VCaputo

Good afternoon, everyone. I hope you and your family are doing well. The situation in Ukraine worsens by the day. The war this week took an ugly turn when Russia attacked a hospital. Please show kindness to our neighbors in the borough and to those displaced Ukrainians who will need refuge here in the US and locally. The schools stand ready to help them and to support any of our current students or staff dealing with stress or anxiety. The CALI report for this week shows both the central-east region of the state, and New Jersey overall, still in YELLOW (moderate COVID activity). This week, we reported ZERO cases to the County Health Department. This is the first week with no cases since the week ending 11/11/21. See the Road Forward update on the website for details of the COVID protocols we have in place. You can also see weekly and historical data there. Be safe with the winter weather tomorrow. Don’t forget to change your clocks and check your smoke detectors. Baseball is back. We have college basketball games and brackets coming. Have a nice weekend! Dr. Vincent Caputo, Superintendent of Schools

Good afternoon. I hope this email finds you and your family healthy. My thoughts have been consumed with the ongoing invasion of Ukraine by Russian forces. The situation is tragic, and the immediate outlook is grim, with many lives lost. The Ukrainian people are showing unbelievable courage in the face of an assault on their infrastructure and their democracy. My prayers are with Ukrainians here and abroad. After reviewing the CDC and NJDOH guidance issued last week and in consultation with our school physician, the Metuchen Public School District will implement a mask optional school environment beginning March 7, 2022. All key metrics used throughout the pandemic, including current local conditions, were considered in the decision-making process. Cases in the district have dropped significantly during the past 2 months. This week we reported four positive cases to the County. The breakdown (students + staff) is as follows: MHS = 2, Edgar = 1, Campbell = 0, and Moss = 1. The four cases are the fewest for a week since November 18. This mirrors cases across the Borough: in the last seven days, there were eleven cases, also the fewest since mid-November. The NJDOH CALI score lists Central East region is in the “moderate” (yellow) risk range: https://www.nj.gov/health/cd/statistics/covid/#1. The new CDC COVID-19 Community Level report shows Middlesex County in the “low” (green) range: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/your-health/covid-by-county.html. Hospitalizations around the state have continued to decline to mid-November levels, prior to the spread of Omicron. Please note that there are several times when masks must be worn: anytime in the nurse’s office, when returning early from isolation following a positive diagnosis (or presumed positive) or from quarantine following a close contact exclusion with nurse clearance on days 6-10 (unless you return on day 8 with a negative test result from day 5-7). The district reserves the right to reinstate masking at any time. Situations that might warrant reinstating the mask mandate include, but are not limited to, the weekly CALI report showing high COVID activity (orange status), high level of COVID activity within the Borough, or outbreaks in specific classes or school buildings. We may also require masks for a specific school or district event. The updated Road Forward plan is linked here: https://www.metuchenschools.org/article/675549 and will be discussed at Tuesday’s board meeting. Given the age of our students, we are mindful that the decision of whether to wear a mask will be at the discretion of parents and caregivers. Kindness is expected, and bullying related to masking will not be tolerated. Respectfully, I also request that you refrain from asking school staff whether your child is (or other children are) wearing a mask throughout the school day as their primary focus is on the delivery of instruction and services. Our staff members will not be able to monitor and report out masking information to parents. A few other reminders: we will continue to contact trace to the best of our abilities; staying masked reduces COVID transmission and reduces the likelihood of non-vaccinated individuals being excluded if exposed to a positive person; and we need to continue our partnership around all mitigating factors (vaccinations/boosters, staying home when sick, social distancing, and cleaning/ventilation) Be prepared for the temperature roller coaster again this weekend. And enjoy some college basketball (Go Rutgers!). Dr. Vincent Caputo, Superintendent of Schools

The metuchen public schools will operate on a delayed opening schedule for Friday, February 25.

Phone service has been restored to the District.

Our phone system is still down tonight. We are working with our phone service provider. They believe it is a broken Verizon line outside of the district and that the issue will be resolved sometime tomorrow. We don’t expect to have phones in or out for arrival time Friday. Contact us via email. Dr. Caputo