Third grader Hayley Dunne stood side-by-side with Amanda Licci, principal of Newbridge Road Elementary School, as cars pulled up to drop off students on Jan. 23. Assisting at morning arrival was her first of many duties as principal for a day. 

Hayley won a PTA raffle to spend the day with her school’s leader. She got to Newbridge Road a little earlier than usual so she could join Ms. Licci out front. Once students were settled into their classrooms, Hayley joined third grade student council members to do the morning announcements, concluding it with a message about good character and a reminder to always show their “Newbridge HEART.”  

The principal pair visited sixth grade classrooms for a read aloud of “Why Not,” followed by a walk-and-talk through the hallways. Ms. Licci answered Hayley’s questions about life as principal in between their visits to classrooms.  

At Newbridge Road, classes that earn 20 hearts by showing good behavior during lunch and recess get special prizes. Hayley joined Ms. Licci for Pause and Play in a fourth grade class and Cub Comedy Corner in a third grade class, where they told corny jokes. She also handed out markers to second graders to write their names on the windows across from the cafeteria, a prize known as Tiger Ink.  

Hayley also got to eat lunch with Ms. Licci in her office, and the PTA provided the food. Her meal of choice was macaroni and cheese with a Sprite and strawberry ice cream. In the afternoon, there were more classroom visits, another announcement and assisting at dismissal. Hayley briefly returned to student status in the middle of the day for recess and physical education with her classmates.  

“I never knew what it is like to run a school,” Hayley said. “It is a hard-working day but a lot of fun. It was really fun to spend a day with the principal because you rarely get to do that.” 

Hayley, who bought a special outfit to look professional, said her favorite part was visiting classrooms and getting know more students beyond her grade.  

Ms. Licci noted that this was the first year of the principal for a day raffle and hopes she gave Hayley valuable insight into the innerworkings of a school. The purpose of the initiative was to give a student a taste of what goes on behind the scenes. 

“Being a principal, you’re constantly moving,” Ms. Licci said. “Hayley got to see a lot of different things a principal might do. I hope she has a memory that she’ll think about for a long time.”

Date Added: 1/28/2026

Fourth graders at John G. Dinkelmeyer Elementary School are making a crosstown connection with their future classmates. In the beginning of January, students in Janine Steinert’s class wrote letters to peers in Ashley Vella’s fourth grade class at Martin Avenue School, who then responded back. 

Children from the two classes at the district’s northern-most and southern-most schools are now pen pals. On Jan. 22, Ms. Steinert unveiled a large brown envelope, sent via interoffice mail, that contained the first letters from Ms. Vella’s class. The class gathered and individual envelopes were handed out. Together, Ms. Steinert’s students opened and read their letters, then began work on their own responses.  

Ms. Steinert said the plan is for the two classes to remain pen pals for the rest of the year, and hopefully have a meeting over Zoom in the spring. The letters will remain hand-written. She added that it is a great way for them to make connections with other students they will go to middle school and high school with.  

Letter-writing is a lost art among a tech-savvy generation of students, Ms. Steinert said. Before sending their initial letters, she led a class discussion about information that should be included. Ms. Steinert noted the importance of writing conversationally and asking questions that would evoke thoughtful responses from their pen pals. Students also learned how to address an envelope and although they weren’t sent through the actual mail, each still had the recipient’s name and school address, sender’s name and school address, and drawing of a stamp.  

Click here to view the JGD, Martin Fourth Graders Become Pen Pals slideshow.

Date Added: 1/26/2026

What does it mean to be a visionary? That was the question posed to students by Martin Avenue Elementary School Principal Dr. Michael Yannucci to teach children about renowned Civil Rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. 

In the week leading up to the three-day weekend, Dr. Yannucci visited each class for a read aloud. He read, “Who Was Martin Luther King Jr.,” written by Beth Kaiser and illustrated by Stanley Chow, then engaged students in conversations about Dr. King’s dreams for equality and justice. Children learned how they could live that dream by showing kindness and love to others. 

Students from Antonietta Fischetti’s second grade class were helped by their buddies from Rachel Graber’s sixth grader class for an “I Have a Dream” writing project. The older students helped their younger friends think of a dream they have for the world, write it in on a paper cloud, and then cut it out and glue to a piece of construction paper. 

Date Added: 1/20/2026