Tuesday, May 21, 2013
Student was one of two winners in state
Maple Place student Christopher Forlini was shocked when he walked into the main office of his school on Tuesday morning. Christopher, 11, was given an XBOX 360 after being chosen as the winner of drawing held by the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Christopher donated $100 to the society's Pasta For Pennies Program, which encourages schools to get students to donate funds for leukemia and lymphoma reserarch. "I had no idea," Chris said. "I didn't even know the contest was going on." Chris said he made his generous donation because his aunt died from cancer last year and he wanted to do anything he could to help others who suffer from the disease. Students who donated a minimum of $50 were eligible to enter the drawing for the gaming system…
Wednesday, March 20, 2013
Students from the Oceanport middle school present three performances of their annual spring musical beginning Friday.
There were "mike checks," "places" and "action" at Tuesday's dress rehearsal for Maple Place's annual spring musical The Little Mermaid premiering Friday night and running through the weekend. Directed by Wolf Hill music teacher Erica Siegel, the production has bubbly sets created by art teacher Kelly Jakubowski, fabulous costumes designed by Patty Cooper (wait 'til you see Ursula) and serious theater chops lent by Siegel's college pal DJ Brown (who's back for his sixth production with the school). Fifth grade teacher Cathy Kornick once again leads the stage crew through its paces. Siegel says about 70 fifth through eighth grade students are involved in the production and that a lot of them go on to perform with the Shore Players in high …
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Maple Place Middle School
2 Maple Pl, Oceanport, NJ
/articles/video-go-under-the-sea-with-the-little-mermaid-at-maple-place
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Monday, March 11, 2013
Following an accident in front of the school last week, now might be a good time to brush up on the rules for dropping students off at the Oceanport school.
After a car became wedged beneath a school bus one morning last week at Maple Place School, some readers spoke out on Patch about drop off procedures at the Oceanport middle school. "It is ALWAYS chaotic there!" commented one poster. "It is not surprising at all that this happened ... and I am shocked it didn't happen sooner!" Another reader posted, "I was always worried about cars, buses and children trying to get into the school at the same time. I am amazed at how many parents spend their time and gas driving their kids to school when we have buses scheduled for every student." As we cruise through the second half of the school year, perhaps it's a good time to brush up on the procedures for drop off at Maple Place each morning as …
Friday, March 1, 2013
The district's geography and spelling champs were honored at the Feb. 28 meeting.
Winners of this year's geography and spelling bees in the Oceanport School Distric were recognized Thursday night by the board of education. Seventh grader Nat Koenig took top place for the second year in a row at Maple Place's geography bee. Principal Matt Howell said at the Feb. 28 meeting he expected Koenig to go for the "threepeat" next year. Fourth grader Michael Murphy, whose dad is member of the board of education, won the spelling bee at Wolf Hill this year, correctly spelling "factoid" to take home the prize. Audrey Terrany won Maple Place's spelling bee but did not attend Thursday's meeting. She and Murphy will compete at Monmouth University in the Spelldown Regional Spelling Bee on March 11.
Wednesday, January 23, 2013
The board needed to give a one-year notice if the contract was not to be renewed.
When Andrew Orefice was appointed Oceanport's superintendent in 2007, his three-year contract stipulated that it would roll over for another four years if the district did not give written notice, one year in advance, that he would not be reappointed. That one-year mark came and went in 2010 and so the contract automatically rolled over for renewal in July 2011 under the same terms and conditions. This past summer, Orefice signed a new contract with the district through 2015, which was the subject of a public hearing at last week's board of education meeting. (The contract, which has been posted on the district's Web site and available at the superintendent's office, can be found alongside this article.) "Did anyone know about the roll …
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Maple Place Middle School
2 Maple Pl, Oceanport, NJ
/articles/oceanport-superintendent-s-contract
1819138
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Tuesday, January 22, 2013
Maple Place eighth-graders traveled back to Wolf Hill to celebrate MLK on Monday with a day of service.
While not originally scheduled to be in school on Monday, Oceanport students turned lemons into lemonade and celebrated the teachings of Martin Luther King, Jr. with a day of service. A bus load of eighth-graders from Maple Place School arrived at Wolf Hill on Jan. 21 to take part in activities geared that morning toward commemorating and building upon lessons imparted by the civil right icon with younger students. Wolf Hill Principal Melanie Lipinski said that bringing students from both schools together had often been discussed by administrators and adding the holiday back onto the school calendar to help make up days lost following Hurricane Sandy provided the perfect opportunity to do so. The Maple Place students were place in …
40.3079
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Wolf Hill Elementary School
Wolf Hill Ave, Oceanport, NJ
/articles/peace-love-and-happiness-at-wolf-hill-school-for-mlk
1819145
/locations/8651699
Thursday, December 13, 2012
The middle school's Charger Band kicked off Wednesday night's Winter Concert.
"We practice a lot," Diane Ruggeri, director of Maple Place's Charger Band, told the audience at Wednesday night's Winter Concert, before leading her musicians through a festive round of holiday music. The award-winning band kicked off the annual concert that featured performances by the middle school's brass-woodwind ensemble, chimes, cadet band and chorus. Check out Patch's video of the Charger Band performance with snippets of "Holiday Hoedown," "Hanukkah Holiday" and "Christmas in Jamaica." Do you have pictures or video from the concert? Share them with everyone on Patch!
40.31763
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Maple Place Middle School
2 Maple Pl, Oceanport, NJ
/articles/video-maple-place-concert-charges-into-the-holidays
1819138
/locations/8377826
Saturday, September 22, 2012
Superintendent Andrew Orefice has four goals for the year, including filling a major vacancy in the district business office.
Oceanport Schools Superintendent Andrew J. Orefice shared his four goals for the new school year, which include finding a suitable replacement for departing district Business Administrator Norma Tursi. Orefice presented the “rough draft” of these goals to then board of education at its regular meeting on Thursday, Sept. 20 at Maple Place School. “These are my most pressing priorities,” Orefice said as he presented his list. Goal one, he said, is to work with the building and grounds committee to tackle the most urgent issues regarding school buildings. A study was recently completed to assess these issues, but details have not yet been released. The superintendent’s second goal related to the district Web site. Orefice said he would like …
Friday, September 14, 2012
Sharing the position with nearby districts is back on the table.
To share, or not to share: In Oceanport, that is the question. With the resignation Thursday night of the district's business administrator, Norma Tursi, Oceanport now has the opportunity to share that position with another district. "This is a major vacancy and a major crossroads in our district," said Oceanport Superintendent Andrew Orefice at the Sept. 13 board of education workshop meeting. He said the board had three options: maintain status quo and hire another administrator to take over the position solely for Oceanport; investigate participating in an established shared arrangement between West Long Branch, Monmouth Beach and Shore Regional school districts; partner with another district. "Sharing is definitely an option," said …
40.31763
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Maple Place Middle School
2 Maple Pl, Oceanport, NJ
/articles/oceanport-schools-biz-admin-stepping-down
1819138
/locations/7839028
Tuesday, September 11, 2012
Organizers are looking for 30 vendors for the indoor/outdoor festival on Oct. 20.
If you've got a great product to sell, Oceanport's PTO is looking for you. On Oct. 20 the PTO will hold its Fall Festival at Maple Place from noon to 4 p.m. This is the first year for the Fall Festival, which will replace the annual holiday fest held at Maple Place School. Organizers are hoping to take advantage of the crisp fall weather to use the fields of Maple Place, as well as the inside of the school, for family games, pumpkin picking, a gift auction and shopping. Organizers say so far they have six of the 30 vendors they want lined up for the event, including Lia Sophia Jewelry, Pampered Chef, Scentsy and a jams and jellies seller. PTO President Michelle LaValle told Patch that her festival committee is deliberately setting the …
Wendy McNicholas
11:33 am on Tuesday, May 21, 2013
How terrific! Way to go, Chris! more ›