The BFHSA & BF Media Center invite you to celebrate your child’s years at BF with a Library Legacy in their honor.  It’s been three fabulous years at BF!  How quickly they’ve flown by.  Here’s your chance to cherish their years at BF by leaving a library book in their honor for future BF students to enjoy.

It's as easy as 1-2-3:

1. Click here to preview a list of books available for purchase.

2. Email your selection to Marla Sherman.  She will confirm that your selection is still available.  Please realize that books are available on a first come, first served basis and every effort will be made to keep the list of available books up to date.

3. Once your selection has been confirmed, fill out this form and send it, along with a check for $20 made out to BFHSA, to the main office clearly marked: Library Legacy

A personalized bookplate will be created and placed inside the book you have selected and your child will be the first to take this book out of the library to enjoy.

We hope you will take advantage of this wonderful new program.  Not only will you be recognizing and celebrating your child, but many others will enjoy your gift for years to come.

Thank you in advance for your generosity.

Any further questions, please contact Mrs. Rothschild at the BF library or Marla Sherman at 444-9788.

 

 

 

Please join us for a Cut-A-Thon to help Haiti on Sunday, January 31st from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. at Tabatha Coffey’s “Industrie Hair Gurus” Salon located at 88 Godwin Avenue, Ridgewood (telephone: 251-4600). Get a wash & cut for $30.00. All proceeds will be directed through the American Red Cross of Northern New Jersey for the International Response Fund for Haitian Relief.

 

 

 

We need your help. Traditionally, the BF HSA has done little or no fundraising and the lack of extra funds is probably obvious to many of you.  After polling many parents, we have determined that there is strong support for an annual fundraising drive to benefit BF.  Therefore, we have created the Friends of BF.  The mission of the Friends of BF is to raise funds to enhance the educational experience for all of the students at Benjamin Franklin Middle School.  The monies raised will have an immediate and valuable impact on every student.

The Special Fundraising Committee works directly with our principal, Tony Orsini, to identify worthy expenditures that will not be funded through other channels in the school system.  In our inaugural year, we hope to raise enough money to begin upgrading the main student areas of the library and cafeteria, as well as to continue the work in progress in the auditorium and the BFBN studio.  All of your generous donations will be deposited in a dedicated account and are tax-deductible.

Our children are very lucky to be a part of the BF community.  In 2007-2008, parents built a new stage for the BFBN studio and painted and redecorated the Nurse’s office.  The members of Dad's Night gifted BF with much-needed spotlights for the auditorium.  The auditorium will receive additional upgrades from the money raised from the Razzle-Dazzle Talent Show(s).

Won’t you please become a Friend of BF today?  If every family contributed just $20.00, we could raise over $12,000.00 for our children and BF!  To contribute, please fill out this form.

Thank you for your support.

 

 

 

BF Cares is looking for your help!  We are pleased to be available to provide meals, transportation and related help to those in our community unfortunate enough to need this kindness.  Please contact Jo Marie Quinn, BF Cares Chair, indicating your willingness to help out.  Thanks in advance for your stepping in to help!

 

 

 

Starting October 9, 2009 through March 25, 2010, BF will have the opportunity to earn money through the Stop & Shop A+ Bonus Bucks Program.

All you have to do is log on to www.stopandshop.com/aplus to register online or dial 877-275-2758 to register your card over the phone.

After you register your card, each shopping trip to Stop & Shop using your Stop & Shop Card earns money for our school!  Each month, the amount awarded will be updated on the Stop & Shop website.  You can track the amount of points you earn for our school by checking your grocery receipt and online when you create an account at Stop & Shop.  BF will receive a check at the end of the program.

Please be sure to register your card to benefit Benjamin Franklin Middle School using ID #07478.  Also, don’t forget to encourage your friends and relatives to do the same.

 

 

 

In the last two school years, Benjamin Franklin Middle School, George Washington Middle School, Travell, Orchard and Willard Elementary Schools and Ridgewood High School participated in the Rural School Project in Cambodia, raising money to build a school.  Their efforts have succeeded and the children are enjoying their new school located in the Khsach Kandal district of the Kandal province in Cambodia.  It is about 50 kilometers from Phnom Penh and can only be reached by crossing the Mekong River by ferry.  It takes about two hours to reach the school.

Read more about the project at the GW website and read a letter from the students here.

 

 

 

Olive Kitteridge, by Elizabeth Strout (288 pages)

At times stern, at other times patient, at times perceptive, at other times in sad denial, Olive Kitteridge, a retired schoolteacher, deplores the changes in her little town and in the world at large, but she doesn’t always recognize the changes in those around her:  a lounge musician haunted by a past romance:  a former student who has lost the will to live:  Olive’s own adult child, who feels tyrannized by her irrational sensitivities, and Henry, who finds his loyalty to his marriage both a blessing and a curse.

As the townspeople grapple with their problems, mild and dire, Olive is brought to a deeper understanding of herself and her life–sometimes painfully, but always with ruthless honesty.  Olive Kitteridge offers profound insights into the human condition–its conflicts, its tragedies and joys, and the endurance it requires.

For more information about the BF Book Group, see our web page.

 

 

 

Everything You Wanted to Know About Accommodations, Testing and Modifications

On Wednesday, January 20, 2010, the Learning Services Home and School Association will host a seminar discussing accommodations and modifications available to our students.  Three district learning consultants, one from each school level will lead the discussion.  The presenters are: Carolann Marino, LDT-C from RHS, Leah Dodd, LDT-C from GW, and Pam Seidenberg, LDT-C and Molly Sher, 4th grade teacher at Ridge. They will focus on:

• How the accommodations and modifications are determined for each student and what the terms mean along with how to receive these services.
• How are they documented in the IEPs and then implemented in their classrooms?
• What do the accommodations and modifications mean at every class level?
• What provisions are available for standardized testing?

Questions and Answers will follow.

Please join us on Wednesday, January 20, 2010 from 7:30-9:00 p.m. in the Ridgewood BOE Third Floor Conference Room at 49 Cottage Place.

 

 

 

The SAVERS program at Regent Cleaners is designed to sell gift certificates that you can either give away as gifts or that you can use yourself at the Regent Cleaners on Chestnut Street for your everyday dry cleaning.  To support the Ben Franklin Middle School's fundraising efforts, they will donate 20% of the total dollar amount purchased to the HSA.  Also, they will add a 10% bonus amount on the gift certificates.  For example:  if you purchase a $100 gift certificate, you pay $100 but receive a $110 gift certificate.

If you have any questions, please contact Melissa Bourn.

The deadline for ordering is the 15th of the month.  Your gift certificates will be available for pick up at Regent Cleaners the following week.  (Free Parking/Valet Parking)

Please fill out this order form and return it to the main office.  Please note on the envelope:  Regent Cleaners/BF HSA.  Make checks payable to BFMS HSA.

 

 

 

We are happy to announce a new partner in our fundraising efforts.  Federated Home and School Association has joined TD Bank’s* Affinity Program which provides us with an opportunity to earn annual cash donations from TD Bank.  We are thrilled with how easy it is to participate in this program and there is no cost to do so.

Here’s how it works:

TD Bank will donate a percentage of the annual balance in every one of our members’ accounts.

No withdrawal is made from your account; TD Bank donates its own funds based on your balance.

Checking, savings, money market, CDs and retirement accounts are all included!  Also, there is no limit on the amount of our potential donation!  (All balances are confidential; only TD Bank will have that information.)

Here’s how you can help:

If you already have a TD Bank account, just call any office and tell a Customer Service Representative you would like your account linked to our Affinity Membership Program.

That’s it……..TD Bank will take care of the rest.

* Formerly known as Commerce Bank

 

 

Do your shopping at Amazon by clicking through this site and support our school!  Tell your friends and family too--anyone can help! Here's how: before you go directly to Amazon.com for your purchases, please visit this website first.  Click on the links above or any other link on this site and BF will receive a percentage of your purchase (check out our Book Group page for some excellent reading choices!).  There are no forms to fill out, no surveys to take, no hassles whatsoever!  Just click through this website, shop ’til you drop, and support BF!

 

 

 

If you haven't subscribed to the HSA and school eNews yet, please take a minute to do so now.  Click on a link below and an email will open.  Then just click 'Send' and you're done!  Subscribe using the HSA link below and then whichever link is appropriate for your student(s).  Once you have done this you will begin to receive notices regularly.

Subscribe to HSA eNews

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For those of you leaving us for the high school, you may unsubscribe using the following links:  HSA, School.

Please note:  Once you have subscribed you will receive eNews until you have unsubscribed.  There is no need to re-subscribe each school year.

If you have a problem, please contact Linda Willk.

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Benjamin Franklin Middle School

335 North Van Dien Avenue, Ridgewood, NJ 07450

School Hours: 8:00 a.m.-2:53 p.m.

Minimum Days: 8:00 a.m.-12:15 p.m.

Absence Verification Line: 670-2700, extension 30699

GO RED SOX!!!

Webmaster:  Linda Willk