About Our School
Dear Griebling Community,
It is with great pleasure that I welcome you to Griebling School. I am extremely proud to serve as the Principal of this incredible community where parents, staff and students work together to strive to build a strong educational foundation.
About Griebling:
Joyfully educating children in grades Pre- K-2nd, Edith M. Griebling School maintains a keen focus on honoring the unique learning needs of our young students through developmentally appropriate learning experiences. Home to the district's special education class programs, Griebling takes great pride in promoting an inclusive environment that nurtures and celebrates an appreciation of diversity.
Griebling School’s student-centered philosophy emphasizes the importance of lifelong learning. The administrative team and staff are committed to providing learning experiences that encourage students to think deeply, explore areas of interest, collaborate with peers, and cultivate a passion for learning. The teachers and support staff remain dedicated to engaging students in rigorous learning opportunities in all content areas guided by the New Jersey Student Learning Standards with Social and Emotional Learning Competencies embedded within the curriculum.
Our students are supported to actively engage in their learning journey through taking part in designing their academic and social-emotional goals. The structures of the classrooms enable our students to engage in whole class lessons, receive individualized instruction through small groups and also work independently while monitoring progress towards their goals, as our instructional staff measures growth through use of various formal and informal benchmark assessments.
Every student is provided with an iPad to elevate their learning experiences across all content areas through such resources and applications as Scholastic Literacy Pro, Savvas Realize Math digital tools and the Mystery Science web-based program.
Through our Positive Actions Will Shine (PAWS) school-wide program, it is our goal to provide our learners a framework to model from and utilize to reinforce positive behaviors used in our students’ daily routines and interactions with peers and staff. Through modeling behavioral expectations and strategies, our PAWS program encourages our students to continuously make positive behavior choices while caring about and respecting themselves and others. The incorporation of our school mantra, Be the 3, our students are provided with a common goal and clear expectations. The language of Be the 3: Be Safe, Be Kind and Be Paw-some, is utilized throughout our building in all learning environments. Additionally, students are assigned to one of three house colors; red, blue or white as an added opportunity to build upon our school-wide Bulldog spirit. Each house works as a team to collect points for their respective house team during various events throughout the year. The winning houses are celebrated and recognized during our trimester “pup”-rallies across the school year.
Additionally, each month Griebling School introduces a new “PAWS Challenge, centered around the Social Emotional (SEL) Sub-Competencies. Paired with the monthly read aloud book, this “PAWS Challenge” (i.e. “Be Kind”) is explicitly taught, modeled and reinforced daily through morning meeting routines, classroom procedures and activities. Students will have the opportunity to discuss the characters’ actions and emotions to relate to the SEL challenge of the month.
The Griebling School team of educators will communicate these PAWS Challenges each month to our families through the PAWS Book of the Month newsletter, where a summary of the book and tips to support your child at home are provided.
Griebling School has been awarded the Sustainable Jersey for Schools Silver Certification, as well as a Digital Star School. Reflective of a 21st century learning environment, our school continues to engage students in opportunities that immerse them in developmentally appropriate skills to prepare for the future.
The Griebling-Memorial Parent Teacher Association (PTA) provides our students and families experiences both in and outside of our schools to create exciting and memorable experiences, such as Fall BINGO Night, Kindergarten Social, Book Fairs, Holiday Bazaar, BMX Bike Show, and so much more.
In addition, the district’s Special Education Parent Advisory Council (SEPAC) is an organization that is dedicated to supporting families with resources and programs with regard to our special education programs.
Our Griebling School Weekly Wrap-Up newsletter is emailed to our families weekly. These newsletters provide reminders and details regarding upcoming school and community events and activities. Additionally, activities and events are highlighted over the course of the school year via our Twitter account.
Our team of educators are committed to partnering with our families to provide a positive, supportive learning journey for our students. We welcome our Bulldogs each day with a personal greeting that leads to our daily morning meeting, the core to building a classroom community.
We look forward to the what our students’ futures have in store.
Educationally yours,
Mrs. Ferrigno
School Principal