Did you know…?
Thursday, September 18, 2014, marked a career highlight for Lower School physical education instructor, Coach Kim Franco. She charted her 100th career win as the coach of the Dwight-Englewood Women’s Field Hockey team. Last year, Coach Franco was named Field Hockey Coach of the Year by the Bergen County Women’s Coaches Association. Her streak of excellence in the area of inter-high school sports continues!
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| Coach Kim Franco instructing third graders during physical education class |
When asked about last week’s game, Coach Franco shared the details of the win, focusing not on her role as the coach, but on the stellar sportsmanship, teamwork and confidence of the players:
“Playing the River Dell High School is always competitive for us. They took a 1-0 lead on us and a minute later, Isabel Guerriero ’15, a former Lower School student, tallied unassisted. The game went back and forth with each team knocking on the door but goal-keeping was stellar for both teams. Goal-keeper, Stasia Kuske ’15, another former Lower School student, made 4 diving saves to turn away River Dell. She finished the game with 10 total saves.
The Bulldogs scored with under a minute left in the game on a broken penalty corner play. Olivia D’Alessandro ’15 made a long pass into the circle. Isabel Guerriero redirected the pass to Emily D’Alessandro ’17. Emily pushed the ball toward the right post for the game-winning goal.
Defense was able to hold onto a final surge. It was a very exciting come-from-behind victory!“
Coach Franco is just as passionate about her daily work with Lower School students as she is with her Middle and Upper School athletes. An ever-humble teacher, coach and mentor, Coach Franco enjoys working with our very youngest students. She encourages great technique, sportsmanship, teamwork and confidence in them every day.
Please join us in congratulating Coach Franco on yet another fantastic accomplishment!
Fast Fun Facts about Coach Franco:
Years at Dwight-Englewood School: 17
Years as Lower School PE Instructor: 13
College Attended: Boston University
Sports Played: Field Hockey and Lacrosse
Coaching Experiences:
- Varsity Field Hockey at D-E
- Varsity Lacrosse at D-E
- Middle School Lacrosse at D-E
- Assistant Coach for Basketball and Softball in area leagues
- Special Olympics: Track and Field; Weight-training and Softball
- Enjoys cooking and knitting but can only knit dog sweaters!
“The more we get together, the happier we’ll be…”
Each Friday, the students in the early childhood program, gather together to close out the week as a community of learners, friends and singers. There is a magnetic energy in the hallway as the kindergarten and preschool 4 students and teachers make their way toward the preschool 3 classroom.
Awaiting the smiles, giggles, wiggles, and waves of all the children are the preschool 3 students and teachers, Mrs. Teply, Ms. Cushman and Ms. Yamin. As the children enter the room, many give hugs to their former teachers. Mrs. Cali and Mrs. Geschwer receive hugs and updates about what is happening in kindergarten. Mrs. Pughkem, Ms. DeCos and Mr. Coyne join in on the greetings as we all settle down and await to begin the singing.
Ms. Yamin serves as our lead guitarist and song leader. This past Friday, she was joined “on set” by grade 4 teacher, Mr. Rodenbush. Both played guitar and led us through tunes such as “Brush your Teeth”, “Skip to My Lou”, and “Bottle of Pop”. The children sounded great! Even those who chose to be good listeners and observers appeared to enjoy being a part of the group.
Ms. Yamin shared the following about why the sing-along is an integral part of the academic program:
“The lyrics of the songs encourage our students to pay close attention to the story in the song. Learning the lyrics is a direct form of practice of early literacy skills. Hearing the sounds and singing the rhyming words supports phonemic awareness and early reading. In order to learn a sequence of words, the children need to tap into their memories. The songs we sing also have patterns which relate to mathematics and early numeracy development. Recognizing and practicing high and low pitches are also related to math and, of course, science as well.”
When asked about the role of the movements to the songs, kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Fiore, shared the following:
“The purpose of singing and incorporating large and small body movements is to help students learn to control their bodies as they practice the movements to the songs. The three- and four-year olds look to the kindergartners for guidance with movements to the song. This is a great way for the kindergartners to display their talents and leadership skills.”
Once the sing-along ended and the children headed back to their classrooms to pack up for the weekend, the students in preschool 3 asked, “Are our friends coming back again?” — a clear indicator that they enjoyed having the older children in their space. As the preschool 4 and kindergarten students skipped back to their classrooms, they asked similar questions. “Mrs. Fiore, when are we going to do that again?” She replied with a smile, “We will sing with our friends again on a Friday.”
Important Campus Access Update:
LS Driveway Closure from September 29 – October 3
Please be aware that the campus connector road between the Lincoln Street entrance guardhouse and Mr. Rocky’s Field will be closed for one week, beginning next Monday, September 29 through Friday, October 3.
Thoughtful contingency plans have been made to ease congestion and to ensure that our children have a safe start and end to their school day. We are also aware of the challenges that this road closure will have on parents and drivers. Detailed information about this one week road closure and our contingency plans will be provided in a separate D-E Community Email pushpage in the near future. Additionally we will provide this information in a handout with this week’s “Just the Facts”. Thank you in advance for your cooperation.
Join Us: LS Fall Festival Reception on October 2
All D-E Parents and guardians, faculty and staff are invited to the annual LS Fall Festival Reception on Thursday, October 2, 6:00 – 8:00 PM, at the home of Caralyn and Steven Fuld, 351 Lewelen Circle, Englewood. Please see invitation below for more details. RSVP to Mrs. Rullo at: rullol@d-e.org or 201-227-3220.
