August 2025 Paw Prints & Pedagogy

A warm welcome back to the 2025-2026 school year! For those I haven’t had the chance to meet yet, my name is Suzanne Guidry , and I’m proud to serve as your Assistant Superintendent. I joined the Tinton Falls family in January, stepping into the role previously held by Dr. Cole, and I’m beyond excited to experience my very first school year opening here with all of you.

I’ll admit something. While I enjoy the easy pace of summer, I absolutely love the back-to-school season. There is something special about this time of year: the crisp new notebooks, the buzz of a fresh routine, the cheerful “welcome backs” in the hallways, and yes, even those first-day butterflies. I love it all! And speaking of traditions, I believe a first-day-of-school picture is a must, no matter how old you get. I still insist on taking one every single year. In fact, I am including a photo from last year’s first day to prove it!

One question I often hear from students is, “Who are you?” And once they figure that out, the follow-up is usually something like, “Do you give homework?” (Spoiler alert: no—but I do love talking about learning!) That usually leads to the bigger question: “So… what do you actually do?”

Here’s how I like to explain it: I’m here to help our teachers be the very best teachers they can be and to help our students be the very best students they can be.

This year, I’m thrilled to launch something new for our families: Paw Prints & Pedagogy, a quarterly newsletter designed to bring you the latest and greatest curriculum updates. And because I love a good vocabulary moment pedagogy simply means the method and practice of teaching. In other words, we’ll be sharing the “why” and the “how” behind what your children are learning, and how we’re working to keep their experiences engaging, meaningful, and fun.

I’m looking forward to a year full of learning, growth, and plenty of laughter. My door is always open, and I feel so fortunate to serve this incredible community. Let’s make it a fantastic year together!

We know that life happens. Kids get sick, family emergencies pop up, and sometimes absences are simply unavoidable. We also know it can feel frustrating to receive attendance letters from us when you are doing your best. Please know the reason we pay such close attention to attendance is because research is clear: chronic absenteeism has a major impact on student learning and success.

What is chronic absenteeism?
It means missing 10% or more of the school year for any reason—excused or unexcused. With only 180 school days, that’s just 2 days a month. It adds up quickly!

Why does it matter?

• Students who are chronically absent in the early grades are far less likely to read on grade level by third grade.

• Missing school regularly can make it harder to keep up, impacting grades, confidence, and engagement.

• By middle school, chronic absenteeism is one of the strongest predictors of whether a student will graduate from high school.

We’ve seen an uptick in absences in our district, and we want to better understand how we can support families in promoting regular attendance. At TFMS, our chronic absenteeism rate is high enough that the school is now on a corrective action plan for attendance. This is why your feedback matters so much.

We’ve included a QR code above to a short Attendance Survey. Please take a few minutes to share your thoughts and experiences. Your input will help us identify barriers and partner with you to find solutions. You can also access our survey by clicking HERE.

Together, we can make sure every student gets the full benefit of each school day—because every day really does count.

The school day ends, the backpack hits the floor, and you ask that classic, hopeful question: "How was school today?"

If your house is anything like mine, you probably get a one-word answer. My own son Joe, now a senior at High School East in Toms River, has perfected the art of the one-word response: "Fine." Sometimes we get an "Okay," or maybe even a shrug. While "fine" is easy, it doesn’t tell us much about their day!

The trick is to ask more specific, open-ended questions that can’t be answered with a simple 'yes' or 'no.' For example, you might try asking "If your school day was a movie, what would the title be?" Questions like this one can help spark a real conversation and give you a better window into your child's world. Check out more fun questions all designed to spark a conversation in the graphic below:

We're excited to announce that after a successful pilot program, we are officially launching Innovamat's Thinking Math in all our K-5 classrooms! We've heard your feedback and are thrilled to adopt this fresh approach while strengthening our home school connection! Our goal is simple: to help our students build a deep and lasting understanding of math, reduce the stress of nightly homework, and maybe even learn to love it!

A key feature of our new program is its "spiraling" approach. It’s a bit like the difference between binge-watching a TV series versus watching it one episode at a time. A 2017 study showed that when you watch a show episodically over a period of time, you are better able to remember the key elements of the show than if you binge-watch it all at once. Our math curriculum works the same way. Students will learn a concept, move on to something else, and then revisit that original concept later, but with a bit more depth. For example, in the first Stretch of the year 2nd grade students will practice ordering and estimating length. They revisit this concept in Stretch 3, but this time they apply it to the real world by "Measuring Classroom Length" and use standard units like inches. This method helps ideas stick and gives every student multiple chances to truly master the material.

A New Partnership with Home

We know that you want to be kept in the loop on what your child is learning, and we are committed to creating a strong home-school connection. Here’s what you can expect instead of traditional nightly worksheets:

• Family Stretch Overviews: At the beginning of each new unit (which we call a "Stretch"), your child’s teacher will share an overview of the key skills and concepts they’ll be covering. Each Stretch lasts about five weeks.
• Checks for understanding will come home after students have had several opportunities to practice a concept in class. These won't be sent home every day, but will provide insight into your child's progress

• Stretch Review Practice Packet: At the end of each Stretch, your child will bring home a supplemental practice packet. This isn't busy work; it’s a chance for them to practice independently the skills they just learned in the classroom.

First Things First:

September is all about learning new routines and getting our young mathematicians feeling confident in the classroom. With that in mind, you can expect the very first practice packet for "Stretch 1" to come home in October, after students have had time to learn and practice the new skills with their teacher. We are confident that by working together, we can help our students thrive!

This year, the state is introducing a new, more personalized version of its annual test called the NJSLA-Adaptive. The test adjusts question difficulty based on your child’s answers, which can reduce stress and give a more accurate picture of their skills. Students in grades 4-8 will take a field test in late October, with the official test for grades 3-8 in late April. During the field test, students will not take a complete assessment rather they will interact with a sample of ELA and Math test items. Field test results with not be shared with districts, schools, or families since the purpose is evaluate the quality and performance of the test items and not to measure student achievement. All districts in New Jersey are required to participate in the field test.

Our 8th graders will also take the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) in English Language Arts and Math in late January. Known as the "Nation’s Report Card," NAEP lets us compare student performance across states, but individual scores are not reported. We’ll share more information as we get updates from the Department of Education.