Congratulations to our retirees and award winners who will be honored at this year’s End of Year Celebration on June 11th at 6pm at the Old Tappan Manor!

• MaryLouise Rabadan, Retiree
• David Morris, Retiree
• Richard Abrahamsen, Retiree
• Ann Joyce Boas, Retiree
• Judy Boland, Retiree
• Michelle Mulligan, Retiree
• Patricia Braun, Retiree
• Esther Turull, Retiree
• Sonia Vukusic, Retiree
• Cynthia Kneisler, Retiree
• Tina Dowling, Retiree
• Seamus Regan, Retiree
• Lois Saland, Retiree
• Cathryn Gaur, Support Staff of the Year & Retiree!
• Susan Baez, Teacher of the Year
• Gregory Mulford, Teacher of the Year
• Aile Gutierrez, Teacher of the Year
• Christine Monaghan, Teacher of the Year
• Christine LaMotta, Teacher of the Year
• Tracy Jerue, Teacher of the Year
• Diane Nasse, Teacher of the Year
• John Mahoney, Support Staff of the Year
• Joanne Mickolajczyk, Support Staff of the Year
• Kerri Klein, Support Staff of the Year
• Mary Murphy, Support Staff of the Year
• Katherine Villone, Life Changer of the Year

Hello Members!,

We hope everyone’s year is off to a pleasant start.  If you were in attendance at the October 1st workshop, we again would like to thank you for your participation and support.  A great time was had by all!  At this time we would just like to take a minute to update you on a few important items.

• Negotiations: As the BEA prepares to enter negotiations we would like to compile feedback from our membership to help guide the negotiating team.  Please take a moment to fill out the negotiations survey.  The link for this can be found on our Homepage right beneath the welcome message.
• November Elections: Elections are an important opportunity where we can offer our support to candidates who want to fight on our behalf at the local and state level.  Please take a moment and visit the Issues and Action page to see who this year’s endorsed candidates are.
• PD Opportunities: One can never have enough Professional Development.  See our PD page for the most recent PD opportunities that the BEA will pay for you to attend!
• Locals in Need: Allendale’s Local is in need of assistance!  See the flyer below for details.

 

Hello Members!,

Hope everyone’s summer is coming to a pleasant close.  I just wanted to take a moment to update you on two professional development opportunities through the BCEA and the NJEA that are available this fall.  One is about SGO’s and the other is about effective Communication.  You can get more info on them HERE.

I also took some time this summer to develop a new page that has important highlights on it about NJ school law.  You can view that by clicking HERE.

We look forward to seeing everyone in a week!

-Joe, Julia, Gabe, Pat, & Tracy

Memorial Day!  The BEA is marching in the Bergenfield Memorial Day Parade.  We will assemble on Englewood & Washington Avenue, and the parade will travel north on Washington to Merritt and end at the Borough Hall.  The parade begins at 2pm, so please try to arrive by 1:30.  If you have a BEA t-shirt, please wear that.  If not, dress in red & bring your families!  We’ll have a BEA banner and small American flags to hand out.

The proposed 2014-2015 BEA Budget can be reviewed in the guidance office or in the main office, by the sign-in sheet.  Voting will begin on Tuesday, May 27th at 3PM and end on Wednesday, May 28th at 3PM in the main office, by the sign-in sheet.  Please, remember to cast your vote!

Have a Great Holiday Weekend!

Check out our PD page for some new development opportunities this spring as well as information on the Dennis Testa Legislative Dinner.

We have reached a tentative agreement with the Board of Ed.  Check out the Negotiations Update page for more information.

The NJEA is collecting testimony on the new teacher evaluation system.  Go to this website: http://www.njea.org/news/2014-01-28/tell-your-story-to-the-sboe and let them know how the state’s new policies are affecting your teaching and your students.

Board Meeting Monday 11/25

The next board meeting is scheduled to take place on Monday 11/25 at 8pm in the High School Cafeteria.  Please make every effort to attend and remember to wear your new BEA T-shirt and buttons!  T-Shirts and buttons should be distributed at your schools on either Friday or Monday (if they haven’t been already).  

Evaluations

NJEA recently sent some updated information about evaluations to Fred.  It can be found here on our evaluations page.  If addition we are looking to form a new BEA evaluations committee.  This team of people will be trained in the new evaluation laws and will help teachers navigate this complicated process.  We are hoping to have at least one representative from each building on this committee.  It is important that different disciplines are also represented, as an observation in an Art or Music class could be very different from an observation in an English or Math class.  If you are interested in being a part of this committee, or just learning more about it, please let your building rep know.

Maternity & FMLA Info

Can be located here on the new Maternity and FMLA page under the resources tab of the site.

This past Saturday the BEA attended the Bears Varsity Football game and distributed seat cushions and BEA flyers to the members of the Bergenfield community who came out to watch the game.  We had a great time and handed out over 150 seat cushions!  To make the day even better the Bears won the game 19-6.  Check out our Community page for pictures from this great event.

We have updated our “Welcome” message on the Homepage in preparation for Monday’s Board of Education meeting.

Speaking of Monday, please try to be there and wear BLACK with your red button. Our fact-finding session has been scheduled for January 9th and it is extremely important that the BOE knows we are still paying attention.

Hope everyone is having a great weekend!

10/28 Board of Ed Meeting at 8pm in the BHS Cafeteria!

Be there & wear BLACK! Our fact-finding session has been scheduled for January 9th and it is extremely important that the BOE knows we are still paying attention.

10/29 Leonia Meet the Mediator Rally

The Leonia EA is headed to mediation and has asked for our support.  They are hosting a “Meet the Mediator Rally” next Tuesday, October 29th at 6:15pm in their high school parking lot.  If you are able to spend about 30 – 45 minutes there showing your support, it could help us in the future when we need to ask other locals to support our events.

10/30 BOE Meet the Candidates Night

If you live in Bergenfield or have family in town, the Parent Associations are hosting a “BOE Meet the Candidates Night” in the RWB auditorium on Wednesday, October 30th at 7:00pm. If you are able to attend, we would like to have a BEA presence at this event.

Job Descriptions

If you have reviewed the “Job Description” we were given during the first week of school and would like to challenge any of the language in it, please let one of us know as quickly as possible.  You can contact Fred via email by CLICKING HERE and using the contact form.  Fred has gotten the board to agree to changing some of the language in our employment agreement and is working on a grievance for the job descriptions.

T-Shirt Update!

T-Shirts will be ordered soon & we should have them in about a week!

 

 

Upcoming State Election

The election this fall is one of the most important upcoming events for the NJEA.  Visit our Issues and Actions page for endorsed candidates and actions you can take to help out.  There is an excellent video produced by the NJEA about why it is so important that we care about this upcoming election.  There is a link for it right beneath the endorsed candidates posters.

PD Opportunities

Interested in professional development through the BCEA?  Click Here to visit our PD page and see what is available to you.

BEA New Members Gathering

Within your first three years of membership in the BEA?  Then consider checking out this upcoming event!

Committee & Payroll Abbreviations

Click Here to decode the alphabet soup of committees that make up the NJEA and more.

NJEA Teacher’s Convention

Planning on attending the state teacher’s convention in November?  Click Here for more information on the event and to find out where the BCEA Hospitality room will be located.

The next BOE Meeting is scheduled for Monday 10/28.  Remember to mark your calenders!

The September Board of Ed. meeting is scheduled to take place this coming Monday (9/23) at 8pm in the High School Cafeteria.  Please come out and support the association.  BEA members remember to wear plain BLACK with your red button (if you still have it).

We are planning on having BEA shirts made up soon!  Make sure you tell your building rep your t-shirt size (if you haven’t already).

Remember to review the job descriptions that were handed out earlier in the school year.  More information on this can be found HERE

See you all on Monday!