ECE Connection

What's Inside?

Inside this edition you will find:

Director's Message
November Event Dates
MSELC and HOPES Directories
Attendance and Preschool
HPEF Needs You!
What's Happening In Early Childhood?
Communication Flow Chart
PIRS Social Emotional Learning Corner
Important Health Reminders
Nurses Nook
Change is Hard
Director Mara's Book of the Week
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Director's Message

Dear Early Childhood Families,

Happy November! 🍂 As we welcome the month of November, it is the perfect time to reflect on all the things we are thankful for and appreciate the little moments that make this time of year so special.

Throughout the month, our preschoolers will be exploring a variety of topics, including voting, Veterans Day, Thanksgiving, and so much more. Our "Science Eyes" will be taking a closer look at the beautiful changes happening right here in Hoboken as the leaves continue to change colors and fall from the trees. As we watch fall slowly come to an end and winter begin to knock on our doorstep, students will have so many opportunities to observe, ask questions, and learn about the world around them.

The next few weeks will be filled with exciting learning experiences, hands-on activities, and plenty of fun in our classrooms. I love seeing how our teachers bring these seasonal topics to life and create meaningful opportunities for our little learners to explore, discover, and grow. Enjoy all that November has to offer, and take some time to appreciate the wonderful moments this season brings! 🍁

Just a reminder that Thursday and Friday, November 5th and 6th, 2026 the Hoboken Public School District will be closed for the NJEA Teachers Convention. There will be no school on these days. School will resume on Monday, November 9th.

Here are some important days off/ early dismissals coming up to put on your calendar:

Wednesday, November 25th, 2026 there will be a 1:00 PM dismissal. There will be no Wrap services on this day.

Thursday and Friday, November 26th and 27th, 2026 the Hoboken Public School District will be closed for Thanksgiving. There will be no school on these days. School will resume on Monday, November 30th.

Wednesday, December 23rd, 2026 there will be a 1:00 PM dismissal. There will be no Wrap services on this day.

Thursday, December 24th, 2026 through Friday, January 1st, 2027 the Hoboken Public School District will be closed for Winter Break. There will be no school on these days. School will resume on Monday, January 4th.

Friday, January 15th, 2027 there will be a 1:00 PM dismissal. There will be no Wrap services on this day.

Monday, January 18th, 2027 the Hoboken Public School District will be closed for Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day. There will be no school on this day. School will resume on Tuesday, January 19th.

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Remember, our HOPES and MSELC school day starts at 8:30 and dismissal is at 2:30. These drop off and pickup times do not apply for students in morning or afternoon WRAP programs. If you are going to be late dropping off in the morning or picking up in the afternoon, please make sure to call or email your family advocate. Their information can be found in the directories below.

As a friendly reminder, please remember to call your family advocate and let them know the reason for your child being absent no later than 9:15 am. If you can not call your family advocate, please email kdesanti@hoboken.k12.nj.us. In your email, please state:

your child's name
provider
site
teacher
reason for absence
when we can expect them back in school

Please continue reading below to see updates from each site and more 🙂.

Kind regards,

Kimberly Mara

Director of Early Childhood

November Event Dates to Remember! by Site

770 Jackson:

November 16- 770 Flags Around the World

November 25th- 770 Balloons Over Hoboken @ 12pm

Calabro:

November 17th-20th- Calabro Book Fair

November 17th- Calabro Multicultural Feast (Pre-K 4)

November 19th- Calabro Multicultural Feast (Pre-K 3)

November 25th- Balloons Over Hoboken

1414 Clinton:

November 20th- 1414 Balloons Over Hoboken

November 25th- 1414 Harvest Activity

Jubilee:

November 20th- Jubilee Balloons Over Hoboken

November 25th- Jubilee Harvest Activity

Rue:

November 20th- Rue Balloons Over Hoboken

November 25th- Rue Harvest Activity

St. Francis:

November 9th-13th- St. Francis Coin Challenge

November 20th- St. Francis MultiCultural Feast

November 25th- St. Francis Balloons Over Hoboken

Wallace:

November 9th-20th- Wallace Blanket Drive

November 11th- Wallace PTO Show

November 13th- Wallace Multicultural Feast

November 18th and 19th- Wallace Picture Day

November 20th- Wallace 50th Day Celebration

November 25th- Wallace Balloons Over Hoboken @ 12 pm

For any other questions about the events listed above, please reach out to your Family Advocate or Site Program Director/Education Supervisor. You can find all of their contact information in the Directories below.

MSELC Directory

HOPES Directory

Attendance and Preschool

While preschool attendance may look a little different from attendance in elementary, middle, or high school, it is just as important. We track attendance and tardiness throughout the year and this information is reported to the state at the end of each school year.

As we continue through the school year, I wanted to share a few important reminders about attendance:

Being on time matters. When your child is tardy each morning, they may be missing important parts of their school day, including math, literacy, science, social-emotional learning, and opportunities to build social skills. The morning routine is an important part of the preschool day, and missing it can sometimes make it harder for a child to settle in and have a successful day.
Consistent attendance matters. If your child is absent just two days each month throughout the school year, they can be considered chronically absent. Even what may seem like a small number of missed days can add up quickly and result in your child missing important learning experiences and opportunities to build relationships and routines.
If your child is sick, please keep them home. We absolutely understand that children get sick, and their health and well-being always come first. If your child is not feeling well, please allow them to rest at home and return when they are ready. If your child is absent for more than three consecutive days, a doctor's note is required.
Please plan vacations around the school calendar. When making travel plans, please be mindful of the school calendar and your child's attendance. After 10 consecutive absences, a child will be withdrawn from the program. If this occurs, there are additional steps that must be completed through the Office of Early Childhood before your child can be re-registered.
A doctor's note does not excuse an absence. A doctor's note allows us to document that an absence was due to illness, but it does not change the absence to an "excused" day.
Half days count as a full school day. A 1:00 p.m. dismissal is considered a full school day for all students in our preschool program. If your child attends only part of the day, it is still recorded as a full-day absence if they are not present for the school day.

Our goal is always to work in partnership with our families to support children in having a successful preschool experience. Consistent attendance and being on time each day help children feel comfortable, connected, and ready to learn.

Improving our overall attendance is something the Office of Early Childhood is committed to working on together with our families this year. Thank you for your partnership and for helping us give our youngest learners the consistency they need to grow and thrive!

HPEF Needs You!

Know a Book Publisher? Help us fill the new school libraries coming to District students through our Libraries Without Limits initiative! If your employer or network offers bulk book donations or has a corporate giving budget that could go toward books, we’d love an introduction. Once a budget is identified, a District representative will handle the book selection. We just need the connection! Note: We aren’t accepting individual book donations at this time, but we appreciate your generosity!

Social Media Volunteers Wanted! Join our small-but-mighty Communications team and help us post to Facebook and Instagram. The content is already created, we just need someone to set it loose! The time commitment is about 30 minutes a day on average, but not every day. No experience needed, just enthusiasm!

Interested or have questions? Email nicole.jala@gmail.com.

What's Happening In Early Childhood?

Wallace Preschool Wildcats

Students in Mrs. Reading's class ended October on such a joyful note. It started with their thrilling Fall Fest and culminated in a Halloween parade filled with huge smiles as the Wildcats proudly showcased their costumes around the school.

Inside the classroom, the young learners have been hard at work writing the letter C and the number 3. They continue to gain confidence holding their markers and crayons, showing wonderful progress with their three-finger and four-finger pencil grasps! They are having a blast being Wallace’s littlest learners.

MSELC 770

Mile Square students at 770 in Room 116 are focusing on the letter F. To start this lesson, the students ‘share the news’ with their buddy. They ask their buddy which words begin with the letter F and as a class, a chart is made to document all of the words that begin with F that were discussed.

During graphics practice, the class follows the instruction by repeating the strokes for the letter F. They repeat “down, across, across” while they write the letter F. Graphics practice is an activity that is done while listening to music. It teaches self regulation because the students stop when the music stops. This activity also goes beyond self regulation because it also focuses on fine motor skills and teaches letter constructs.

MSELC Calabro

Mile Square students at Calabro celebrated autumn by creating colorful leaf jars! Children gathered leaves for the science center, then put on their "science eyes" to observe them closely comparing colors, shapes, and textures. Their beautiful jars are now on display in the classroom for everyone to enjoy

HOPES Clinton

HOPES students at Clinton had an exciting adventure through the Story Extension activity, part of the Tools of the Mind curriculum! The class read “Mae Among the Stars,” a beautiful story inspired by the life of Mae Jemison, the first African American woman to travel into space.

As they explored Mae’s journey and her dream of becoming an astronaut, students learned a new vocabulary word: “determined.” They discussed what it means to be determined and practiced using this word in their own sentences. The children also shared their favorite parts of the story, put their thoughts into writing, and created their own illustrations to bring those moments to life.

The learning continued during center time! Inspired by Mae’s imagination and creativity, the children worked together to build a play spaceship from the story. They also challenged themselves to complete a 48-piece floor puzzle of the solar system, exploring planets and discovering more about the wonders of outer space.

Through reading, writing, art, dramatic play, and puzzles, the children practiced important literacy, language, problem-solving, and collaboration skills while learning a wonderful lesson: with determination, imagination, and hard work, even the biggest dreams can take flight! Who knows? There may be a future astronaut in the classroom!

HOPES Jubilee

HOPES students at Jubilee in Room 100 have been working hard on their play plans each day! They look forward to choosing their centers, drawing pictures to represent their plans, and practicing their word-to-line match for their messages. They have been including more details to them as well.

HOPES Rue

HOPES students at Rue in Room 104 practiced writing the lowercase letter d, as demonstrated by the teacher on the whiteboard. They used markers to draw on their individual whiteboards, following a start-and-stop routine in response to musical cues while using private speech to guide their movements.

This activity helped the children focus on proper letter formation and marker control while strengthening their fine motor skills. It also encouraged confidence, focus, and self-regulation as they continued developing their early writing skills.

MSELC St. Francis

Mile Square students at St. Francis in Room 403 are celebrating Fall by doing a pumpkin investigation. They started by looking at our pumpkin and using adjectives to describe our pumpkin. Then students predicted how many lines are on the pumpkin as well as how many legos they needed to measure how tall the pumpkin was. Lastly, the class got to open the pumpkin to see and count the seeds. It was so much fun looking inside of a pumpkin!

MSELC Wallace

Mile Square students at Wallace in classroom 004 are moving along with their daily play plans and have become very familiar with each center around the classroom. They are engaging with each other and are playing together during their make believe play. Students are also understanding how to follow their initial play plan and to follow through with their message!

Communication

In the Early Childhood Program we operate using an upward communication procedure. If you have any questions, concerns, etc. please refer to the chart linked below when sending an email. When in doubt please send your email to your child's Family Advocate and he/she will escalate it to the appropriate person.

Preschool Flow Chart

PIRS Social Emotional Learning Corner

Before we can talk about a child’s behavior, we need to identify what we mean by the word “behavior”. Behavior refers to a specific action that a person does that can be observed. Behaviors can be further described as either reflexes (such as blinking, sneezing, and breathing) or learned (such as using a spoon, getting dressed, or making a phone call).

Just as children learn how to color, put together puzzles, and count, they learn a variety of social behaviors. They learn how to walk quietly in the school hallways, how to share toys, and how to say ‘please’ and ‘thank you’. Children also learn undesirable behaviors such as whining, hitting, and not doing what is asked of them. This does not mean that someone has intentionally taught the child an undesirable behavior, but rather that situations occur before and after a behavior which might, without realizing it, have an effect on whether or not the child continues the behavior in the future.

How behaviors are learned: Antecedents

When children are very young, much learning occurs through observation and interactions. For example, toddlers learn to say “bye-bye” when hearing their parents say “good-bye” as someone is leaving. The parents may also encourage the child by saying, “Say bye-bye”.

Antecedent refers to the situation that occurs before a behavior. An antecedent can be any object, person, or event in the environment that cues a person to do something. For example, the antecedent for a child dressing himself may be having the clothes put out where he can reach them. Antecedents often cue a particular behavior, so they play an important role in determining behaviors. Antecedents set the stage for something to occur.

How behaviors are learned: Consequences

In addition to antecedents, what occurs after a behavior is very important. Consequence refers to what happens immediately after the behavior. Some consequences happen naturally, like getting burned if you touch a hot stove.

Sometimes, a person responds to a behavior in a certain way. These consequences are learned responses. At some time in our lives, we learned how to respond in these ways, whether through imitation or direct instruction. A child raises their hand in school and the teacher calls on them. A child forgets to clean up their toys and the parent scolds them.

It is important to choose an appropriate consequence. Rather than going straight to discipline, think about potential consequences that influence whether the behavior is repeated.

Effective consequence suggestions:

Use First/then statements: “First you put away all these toys, then we can go to the park.” This is both an easily-followed direction, as well as a positive reinforcement for good behavior.
Enforce limits, rules and expectations consistently, this allows children to have a better understanding as to what happens when he/she behaves a certain way.
If your child is exhibiting negative behaviors that are not harmful to self or others (e.g. rolling their eyes or singing loudly when their parent is on the phone), the point of these behaviors is to get attention. Sometimes ignoring in the moment is your best tactic. Then providing attention when they have stopped the eye rolling or are quiet.
Remain consistent. Avoid the temptation to give in, which only sets up the child for repeated unwanted behavior.
If you do instill a negative consequence, make sure it’s immediate, specific, and within the context of the behavior you’re trying to stop.
Praise good behavior whenever you see it, the ABCs apply there, too. When a child receives positive reinforcement as a consequence for doing something right, they are more likely to do that again!

Important Health Reminders

*Remember that a flu shot is required before November 30th 2026!

All children who attend preschool are required to receive an annual influenza vaccination as per N.J.A.C. 8:57-4.19.

Please be advised that according to the New Jersey Department of Health regulation, there is NO grace period for this requirement beyond November 30th 2026.

Influenza Vaccine - is now required for ALL children (ages 6 months and up) who are enrolled in childcare/preschool/PreK (the 59 month exemption no longer applies).

Influenza Vaccine Deadline- Due by November 30th (the December 31st deadline no longer applies).

Your child may receive the flu vaccine as early as August, even if they were vaccinated earlier in the same calendar year, because the flu vaccine is updated each season.

Q: What should be included in an acceptable religious exemption?

The parent/guardian’s handwritten statement must be signed and dated. A

type-written statement must include the parent/guardian’s

handwritten signature and date.

Q. Is an emailed religious exemption statement acceptable? Updated:

October 2024

A: An emailed religious exemption without a parent’s signature would not

be acceptable in NJ. A religious exemption must identify the exempted

child, be dated, and be signed by the student’s parent/guardian. A

type-written statement must include the parent/guardian’s

handwritten signature and date and can be given to the school as a

printed document or scanned and sent electronically to the school

Nurses Nook

This is a friendly reminder that there is still time to sign up for our upcoming free childhood vaccination clinic on November 9!

Clinic Details:

Date: Monday November 9, 2026
Location: Wallace Elementary School, 1115 Clinton Street, 2nd Floor, Hoboken, NJ 07030
Appointments: Required/ Walk-ins accepted
Register Here

Vaccines are provided free of charge to eligible children through the Vaccines for Children (VFC) program.

Available vaccines include: DTaP/Tdap, Hepatitis A and B, Polio (IPV), MMR, Varicella (chickenpox), Pneumococcal, Meningococcal, Hib, and Influenza (flu).

Reminder that all children who attend preschool are required to receive an annual influenza vaccination as per N.J.A.C. 8:57-4.19. Parents must submit proof of this vaccination given from September 1st to November 30th to their preschool provider.

Register Here for November *click me*

Change is HARD, you go first

Have you ever heard that? Well the same applies for our youngest learners. For some 3 and 4 year old's this is their first experience with school and being away from home for an extended period of time. For others this is old news- they're been in school/ day care before and know what to expect. Some children who have never been to school find a way to wave goodbye and walk in to school like they own the place while you're standing at a distance in a puddle of tears (speaking from experience). Let's not discount the emotional toll for parents and caregivers too who are feeling all sorts of feelings watching their little one/s walking into school in September.

If your child is experiencing challenges as they transition into a new school year, our ECE team has created a doc for you.

Supporting Transitions for a New School Year

Director Mara's Book of the Week

The last day of our school week always means a new read aloud story!

Do you love animals? I know I sure do! In "Animalphabet" by Julia Donaldson we are taken through the alphabet one animal at a time. Each animal page has a clue about about what animal could be on the next page. We start with ant and move on from there. Do you think you can guess each animal that comes next? Can you use the pictures to see what might be on the next page? Which animal is your favorite? Read on to see all the animals from A to Z!

Read Aloud *click me*

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About Us

Email: kmara@hoboken.k12.nj.us
Location: 1115 Clinton Street, Hoboken, NJ, USA
Phone: 201-356-3695

ECE Connection