Mendham Student Community Forges Friendships

Mendham Township, NEW JERSEY (December 7, 2020) – While it may seem like time this year is either moving glacially slow or it is “zooming” past at breakneck speed, depending on the task at hand, Principal PJ Ciccone at Mendham Township Middle School (MTMS) is focused on creating as authentic a school environment, as possible, throughout the entire year. That goal includes both academics and the familiar process of forging and nurturing childhood friendships typically made during middle school years.

As the world has had to adjust to dealing with a pandemic, faculty, staff, and students in Mendham Township have coordinated an amazing response to ensure that school children can safely continue their education and build upon their social skills in sustaining friendships. For the 2020-2021 academic year, MTMS has offered parents/guardians a choice in learning configurations, whenever possible, to best meet the needs of each student within the given constraints imposed by the pandemic. However, Dr. Ciccone emphasized the importance of not only academic achievement, but also the essential need for young students to form and maintain school friendships as an important requirement for their social and emotional development during middle school years. As Dr. Ciccone explained, “The time may be passing quickly, or slowly, depending upon the individual student, however, these years will not be repeated and they are especially important to our student community in learning how to connect with their peers.”

The importance of communicating with peers, staying-in-touch with friends, being an active member of a larger community, while the school is deploying its distance learning configuration, is facilitated by Principal Ciccone and his team through virtual “Lunchtime Gatherings” and “After Hours Gatherings.” Each online gathering offers some structure, e.g., joining a discussion on favorite Disney movies or playing chess and encourages students to participate and then manage the direction of the discussion. There are even lunchtime “Eat & Meet” gatherings so that students can enjoy eating their lunch while continuing to discuss daily topics and events with familiar friends. These activities will start Monday, December 7, 2020 and plan to be continued through January, 2021.

Principal Ciccone is proud of, and grateful for, the seamless, integrated efforts by Mendham Township families and MTMS staff and faculty in making safety a priority while allowing students to experience many of the familiar aspects of regular school activities. Whether students are physically on campus or virtually online, the ability to connect, in a safe environment, is always there. Principal Ciccone notes the efforts made by faculty and staff to adopt and deploy the latest software and applications to ease the transition of students to virtual classrooms and online gatherings. Students continue to progress with their studies and to grow as individuals in forming school friendships and creating fond memories of their middle school years.