Greenspan's MAMS Chorus Wins 2014 Music in the Parks

The Matawan Nadine Greenspan and her 205-member Aberdeen Middle School (MAMS) chorus and ensembles won high praises at the 2014 Music in the Parks competition held at Monroe Middle School on May 30th. They were rated superior and won first place in the following categories: Mixed Choir, Women's Ensemble (for Dolce) and Men's Ensemble (for Vigoroso). The ladies' performance of Dolce was awarded outstanding overall performance. Individual awards went to Karl Kim and Benedikt Winzer for his piano and violin accompaniment, respectively, and Ryan Deahl as outstanding soloist. After the competition, the group spent the day at Six Flags Great Adventure.

Park Cleanup in River Gardens (Cliffwood)

River Gardens is a part of the Cliffwood section of Aberdeen Township. It was developed by Laurence Harbor Heights Company in the late 1940s. The neighborhood is situated between Matawan Avenue, Route 35, Matawan Creek and the Matawan border (just north of the Garden State Parkway). West Prospect Avenue is the major route through the neighborhood, running from Route 35 to the Matawan Avenue Middle School (MAMS).

River Gardens is home to a 25-acre undeveloped park located on Riverdale Drive along Matawan Creek. The land was acquired as public open space by Aberdeen Township in 2004. The Bayshore Regional Watershed Council and the NY/NJ Baykeeper organized a recent park cleanup, according to The Matawan-Aberdeen Patch and other sources.

The Township's Environmental Commission is looking into the history of the area's renowned brick companies, which established their works along Matawan Creek and the railroad to facilitate shipment of their goods to market. Remnants of at least one brickyard, most of which were uprooted by the building of the Garden State Parkway in the 1950s, have been found in Riverside Park.

History of the River Gardens Subdivision

According to the 22 Dec 1949 edition of The Matawan Journal, outgoing councilman William Regan complained to the Matawan Township Council that developers were receiving preferential access to the water supply from township officials, while local residents remained on a long waiting list. He asked in particular about deliveries of pipe "at the old Pennsylvania Railroad property in Cliffwood, now in the course of development as River Gardens by Laurence Harbor Heights Co." Regan pointed out that there hadn't been any Council discussion of the River Gardens development since January 1947. Township Chairman John Marz Jr said that the company had agreed to buy its own pipe and the Township would take possession of it after 20 years. One councilman suggested that the Council was working in the dark and should have a copy of the plans.

The 27 Sep 1951 edition of The Matawan Journal featured a complaint to the Township Council from a River Gardens residents group. The developer had installed septic tanks at $250 each, but the State came in and found the septic systems inadequate. The residents wanted Laurence Harbor Heights Co to fund their required deposits on a new sewer system, including a plant, piping and pumps. The estimated cost of the system was $75,000 to $85,000.

The 30 Jan 1958 edition of The Matawan Journal included coverage of a River Gardens residents group that petitioned the school board for a restoration of bus transportation for their high school students. The article identified River Gardens as a section of Cliffwood.

Laurence Harbor Heights Company

I found references to land transfers by Laurence Harbor Heights Company in The Matawan Journal as early as 1935, but no fundamentals about the company itself. I checked the web and found a Google Books record showing that the company advertised in an 18 Oct 1922 "Railway" magazine under Rivers and Harbors as a builder  of bulkheads, boardwalk and gradings. The ad appeared in The Collected Works of Sir Humphrey Daly, by Halbert Powers Gillette. A New Jersey court case titled Villa Corp vs S D Walker, et al (187 F.2d 493), heard in 1950 and decided the following year, said that Laurence Harbor Heights Company was owned as of 1947 by one S D Walker.

MAMS Student Among State Finalists at 2012 Geo Bee

Brian Slobotsky, an eighth-grader at Matawan-Aberdeen Middle School, was among the eight finalists out of 100 contestants at the state round of the 2012 National Geographic Bee, held on Friday at Rowan University in Glassboro, according to NJ.com. The winner, from Monmouth Junction, will vie for the national championship in late May.

Mr Slobotsky has been mentioned in three articles at The Patch: a 26 January 2012 piece mentioned his third place win at the local level of the VFW's Patriot's Pen national essay contest; an 18 Nov 2011 piece lauded his perfect score on the NJ ASK; and the most recent item, dated 15 Mar 2012, announced his qualification for the above geobee.

Congratulations to Mr Slobotsky, but also to his parents and the teachers and administrators at MAMS who promote such a thirst for knowledge of geography.

Patricia O'Keefe Retires; New Principal Sought for Lloyd Road Elementary

The online podcast of the 27 June 2011 MARSD Board of Education meeting includes the following interesting pieces of information:

O'Keefe

• Ms Patricia O'Keefe has announced her retirement as Principal at the Lloyd Road Elementary School. (The job is already posted online.)
• The district has hired two new Vice Principals -- Mr Michael Wells at MRHS and Mr Mark Van Horn at MAMS. Mr Wells begins his duties 1 July 2011; Mr Van Horn on 1 August 2011.
• The Board has participated in two mediated sessions of negotiations with the Matawan Regional Teachers Association (MRTA), on 27 April and 6 June 2011, and plans to attend a third session on 8 August.
• The Superintendent of Schools and the Mayor of Matawan (on behalf of both Aberdeen and Matawan) each recognized Kathleen Eovino for her years of dedicated service to the community through her work in the school system and on the board of the Matawan-Aberdeen Public Library. The student representative likewise praised her service and thanked her on behalf of his fellow students. Ms Eovino, in turn, recognized the service of teachers in our district. She also recognized the library board for their efforts. She received a well deserved standing ovation from those in attendance.

Two More Chances to See Once

The Matawan Aberdeen Middle School (MAMS) is performing its 2011 spring musical this weekend. If you hurry, you can catch "Once on This Island" tonight at 8 pm, or you can stop by for the Sunday matinee tomorrow at 2 pm.

Matawan Varsity Winterguard Heading to Wildwood

Matawan Varsity Winterguard "Enigma" is scheduled to compete at the Tournament Indoor Association's Tournament of Bands All-Chapter Championships at the Wildwood Convention Hall this Friday evening with finals set for Sunday afternoon.

Scholastic A Color Guard Preliminaries begin at 7:15 pm on Friday 29 April in the Wildwood Convention Hall. Matawan's preliminaries performance is scheduled for 8:03 pm. The top 8 out of 12 teams move on to the finals on Sunday afternoon. Matawan is in Group D and will be vying for one of two finalist slots with Southern Regional (performing at 7:31 pm) and Central Mountain (performing at 8:35 pm). Groups A, B, and C likewise will advance only two of three guard teams per group on Friday evening.

Scholastic A Color Guard Finals begin at 1 pm on Sunday 1 May at the same venue. The two Group D finalist performances are scheduled for 1:08 pm and 1:40 pm. The top performances will be announced at the full unit retreat scheduled for 3:35 pm.

Enigma earned the gold medal (as did the MAMS guard) at the Mid-Atlantic Indoor Network (MAIN) Championships at South Brunswick on Saturday 16 April. Enigma also ranked 1st in their category at the Tournament of Bands (TOB) Chapters 1/10 Championships at Timber Creek High School on Sunday 17 April.

A word of warning: Southern Regional and Central Mountain each scored in the 86 point range in their respective 17 April championship performances, while Matawan scored an 83, so this Friday's event presents a sizable challenge to Enigma.

Congratulations to all on performances to date and the best of luck to Enigma this weekend.

MARSD Special Action Meeting

The BOE met this evening at 1 Crest Way. The board quickly retired to Executive Session to hear recommendations on tenure from school administrators. There was considerable hand-wringing in the mostly empty room as principals waited their turn to present their cases to the board.

The meeting finally reconvened for a presentation by Dr. Debra Sheard and Mrs. Michele Ruscavage on how the high school will help incoming 9th graders make a successful transition from MAMS. The Freshman Initiative will use core curriculum, team teaching, attentive counseling, closely situated classrooms and lockers, a positive attitude, and strong parental involvement in all aspects of the initiative to improve the students' academic and time management skills, attendance and behavior, thereby increasing the rate of student promotion to 10th grade. 

The budget and finance section of the meeting was too complex and too quick to be informative to the casual observer and the board had already spent considerable time on the tenure issue.As far as instructional assistants are concerned, they of course aren't tenured. Instead, they receive RIF notices each year and must await job renewal offers that come in May or June.

MAMS Wins 1st in Academic Bowl

MAMS wins 1st place trophy at 2011 Goetz Academic Bowl

The Matawan Aberdeen Middle School 7th graders took first place honors at the 19th Annual Goetz Academic Bowl on Wednesday 6 April 2011 at the Carl W Goetz Middle School in Jackson. Lloyd Road Elementary won first place for 5th graders.

Autism Awareness Gets Bumped Up at MAMS

Matawan Aberdeen Middle School (MAMS) plans a hair raising time on Friday in support of autism awareness. For a small donation, teachers, administrators, and students can wear their hair in a faux-hawk or bumpit. I'm hearing the event has spread around the district like a virus. I wish the program coordinators good luck in their promotion!

MAMS Team Places at DOE NJ Regional Science Bowl

Matawan-Aberdeen Middle School (MAMS) participated once again in the US Department of Enegry (DOE) New Jersey Regional Science Bowl competition at the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL). This year's team, advised by Sean Cronin, included Ananya Joshi (8th grade), Mario Liu (8th grade), Athul Nair (8th grade), Rafal Stapinski (8th grade), and Tyler Marolda (6th grade).

Glenfield Middle School from Montclair won high honors and will move up to the National Science Bowl in May. MAMS came in a respectable third place.

You can read about the year's regional event in considerably more detail in this Department of Energy news release. Background on the 2011 National Science Bowl process can be found here.

Matawan-Aberdeen School Board Approves 2011-2012 District Calendar

The 2011-2012 MARSD calendar has been approved and is now available online.

Here's a few of the major items:

• Students start school next year on the Tuesday after Labor Day (6 September). 
• Winter break begins with a half day on 23 December 2011 and runs through New Year's Day. 
• Spring break begins with a halfday on 5 April and runs through 15 April 2012. 
• The last day of school is a half day scheduled for 20 June 2012.

If you want to receive notices from MARSD, simply click REGISTER in the top right corner of the District's website and follow their instructions. (Be sure the box is checked to receive mail from the district.)

Aberdeen and Matawan Sidewalks Impassible

How are kids in Matawan and Aberdeen supposed to get to school with many of the sidewalks impassable? I was looking at the sidewalks along Matawan Avenue between Aberdeen Road and MAMS, for example. Where are the kids going to walk to get across the Garden State Parkway? They'll be walking in the street. Same along Cliffwood Avenue on the way to the elementary school there.

The elderly are in the same situation. Even worse, actually, since they aren't as agile as a young teenager or pre-teen. I just got to the Matawan Aberdeen Public Library and watched as an elderly lady with a walker made her way to the library down Broad Street because the sidewalk was so dangerous for her.

I don't envy the Public Works folks for the challenges they face, but piles of snow plowed along the side of the road remain unaddressed and make it difficult for our kids to get to school safely. I'm not sure what the answer is, but a metal plate in one of our kids' heads shouldn't be the default. We've had kids hit by cars because they walked in the roadway because of covered sidewalks. More care needs to be directed to the plight of those youngsters.

MAMS Conducts Greenhouse Project

Check out this article from The Independent about a Matawan Aberdeen Middle School (MAMS) greenhouse project called Planting the Seeds of Compassion. The article highlights Barbara Gray, a special education teacher at the school who used a $1,400 grant to erect an outdoor classroom for her students.

MAMS Anti-Bullying Campaign is "Kickin' It"

I was privileged to be present this week at the Matawan Aberdeen Middle School during their anti-bullying campaign.

Each day featured another facet of the program, which seeks to continue reporting declines in vandalism and violence, according to this week's Independent.  My personal favorite was "No Diss" Tuesday, a day we could do with a lot more of (and not just in our schools).

Despite the half-day schedule, today the school managed to host 2 assemblies for grades 6 and 7, designed to bolster student self esteem, and give the children the tools to help themselves and help their friends to reduce physical, mental, and social bullying. Led by the 2010 Muay Thai Champion Chris Romulo, the students wrote poetry, drew pictures, and used boxing gloves to destroy bullying placards.  They also got to discuss how it felt to be bullied, and how they would stop it.

Students were all given a Student Kickin' It Kit, and many ways to contact the presentation team, to ask for help or share ideas.  Before leaving, the entire presentation team stopped by to visit with Ms. Redzinak's 6th and 7th grade students, delivering signed autographs and chatting for a few minutes.

Students can visit the Kickin' It Facebook page.

They can send e-Mail to bullyingwerekickinit@yahoo.com

They can visit the campaign's web-site at WereKickinIt.com.

Hopefully the school will post key contact information for parents and students about the program on their web site.

MARSD Bond Refi Expected to Yield Big Annual Savings

The Independent reports that the Matawan-Aberdeen School Board is looking to refinance the debt incurred by the district for the 2003 renovation of the middle school while interest rates are at record lows. Depending on the final deal, the total savings could be substantial while the instrument's tenure would remain unaltered. Board President Charles Kenny pointed out, "That money could be used for teachers, technology and taxpayer [relief] savings. It is certainly money that would be otherwise spent with no benefit to the district.”

Long Neck Creek, Aberdeen, New Jersey

When I wrote my recent article about the Route 35 water main project, I couldn't find any information online about Long Neck Creek, cited as the place along Route 35 where the deteriorated main crosses the highway. Today, while reviewing the Aberdeen Township Master Plan at the Matawan-Aberdeen Public Library, I found a State Plan Policy Map that showed the creek zoned in the Environmentally Sensitive Planning Area (PA5). [See slide 20/31 in this State Development & Redevelopment Plan (SDRP) slide show for further information about PA5 status.]

Long Neck Creek looks to originate near the end of Roosevelt near Gordon in Cliffwood. It crosses under the New York - Long Branch train tracks between County Road and Cliffwood Road. It crosses Route 35 between those same two roads and feeds into Whale Creek near the end of Lenox Road in Cliffwood.

According to a 1999 NJDEP report, the watershed drainage into Long Neck Creek once received non-source pollutants from the Anchor Glass plant.

A Federal Writers' Project map on page 2 of Township of Matawan: 1857 - 1957, a book compiled by Mrs Frank Tiemann, shows the creek as the southernmost unnamed tributary of Whale Creek. By the way: the unnamed tributary pictured on that map as feeding into Long Neck Creek is likely the stream that crosses under Matawan Avenue and passes through the woods next to MAMS.

Matawan-Aberdeen Regional School District - Classes Resume Thursday!

School is back in session this week beginning Thursday 2 September! Teachers return to work on Wednesday.

The kids have off three days next week - Monday is Labor Day, then Rosh Hashanah is Thursday and Friday.

Back to School nights will be held at 7 pm at these locations on the following dates:

• Cambridge Park Pre-School - September 14th
• Cliffwood Elementary School (CL) - September 15th
• Ravine Drive School (RDS) - September 16th
• Lloyd Road School (LR) - September 21st
• Strathmore Elementary School (ST) - September 22nd
• Matawan Regional High School (HS) - September 23rd
• Matawan-Aberdeen Middle School (MA) - September 29th (6th Grade)
• Matawan-Aberdeen Middle School - September 30th (7th & 8th Grades)

Keep up with what's going on by checking the district's online calendar. Individual events on the calendar are preceded with an acronym for the particular school, as indicated above in the Back to School listings. (DT represents the entire school district. BOE stands for Board of Education.)

Meet the MAMS Principal at Upcoming BBQ

Driving by the Matawan-Aberdeen Middle School yesterday, I noticed a sign promoting a BBQ scheduled for later this month. We're invited to come and meet the new principal, Tyler Blackmore.

If someone would be kind enough to post a comment or send me an email with the date and time of this event, that would be great.

In Their Shoes

Put yourself in an eleven-year-old's shoes and pretend you're walking to MAMS. You have to make your way from the apartments on Aberdeen Road or Sutton Drive. You walk along Matawan Avenue and have to contend with overgrowth that forces you into the street. Or in the winter the snow is high on the sidewalk, plowed by the township into the only safe spot to walk.

These are problems for any kids who have to walk to school in our district. What's the Board of Education's role in making sure the way is clear for MARSD kids to make it safely to school all year round? What about the two local councils? The process is a failure, if there is one.

News Updates as of 16 June 2010

• The Independent just published a picture of the seining event at Cliffwood Beach on 29 May.
• Patricia Hillyer, science instructor at MAMS, has won a position in the prestigious Department of Energy ACT teacher mentoring program. The Independent says Mrs Hillyer will spend the next three summers at the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory as part of her ACT award. You might recall from a March 2010 article in this blog that Mrs Hillyer took her science class to PPPL,where they took second place in a regional competition.
• Matawan Borough Council recognized members of the Matawan PD for their efforts related to a major car accident on Route 34 at Peter's Fishery, per The Independent.
• See a list of Rock n' Music Idol winners from the VFW's recent competition in CentralJersey.com.