Principals's Page

Dear Parents and Students,

 

   Welcome to a new school year! It is with great pride and pleasure that I welcome back our 7th and 8th grade students, as well as open our doors to this year’s incoming 6th grade students. As Principal of Joseph B. Cavallaro I.S. 281, it is my hope that together we will provide each student with a nurturing and educationally challenging school year. Please join us in setting high standards of excellence and expectations for each and every child aligned to the Chancellor’s 4 pillars: 1. Reimagining the student experience; 2. Scaling, sustaining and restoring what works; 3. Prioritizing wellness and its link to student success; 4. Engaging families to be our true partners.

 

   Our mission statement reads, “As the magnet school for STEAM, we at Joseph B. Cavallaro will provide every child with the support to grow intellectually, physically, socially and emotionally. In an advanced inquiry based learning environment, we will serve as leaders for the 21st Century, in both technology and the arts.” As a school that prides itself on offering our students an educationally and culturally rich environment, it will be our goal to continue forward in that direction. This year’s Instructional Focus reads, “Students will engage in targeted instruction using advanced literacy and high level questioning to meet the individual needs of all learners, as determined by unified, data based assessments tracking students’ progress towards proficiency within each standard.” Our emphasis will be placed on advanced literacy, physical and emotional well-being and family engagement.

 

   In partnership with the entire school community, it is my vision to provide every child with a safe, nurturing and educationally equitable learning environment complete with a rigorously challenging curriculum setting all students on the road to college and career readiness. If together we hold true to the values of equity, integrity, communication, perseverance and trust, it will ultimately permeate into the hearts and minds of our students through our example. Please feel free to join us in the many events we hold throughout the year. Thus, our mission of preparing each and every child on a successful path will be attained with your involvement. I look forward to a promising school year.

 

Sincerely,

 

 

Maria Bender

Principal, Joseph B. Cavallaro I.S. 281

 

 

 

Principal’s Educational Philosophy: 

 

“I believe that it is crucial to provide students with a safe and nurturing learning environment, whereby consistent goals are set and monitored, pedagogy is coherent, standards-based and data-driven, activity is motivating (relevant), engaging and measurable, and education is equitably distributed to promote the success and progress of each and every child.”

 

 

 


 

“Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and the success of liberty.” - John F. Kennedy

“With courage you will dare to take risks, have the strength to be compassionate, and the wisdom to be humble. Courage is the foundation of integrity”- Keshavan Nair
"Mama was my greatest teacher, a teacher of compassion, love, and fearlessness. If love is sweet as a flower, then my mother is that sweet flower of love." —Stevie Wonder

"It is our attitude at the beginning of a difficult task which, more than anything else, will affect its successful outcome." -

William James

“There are always flowers for those who want to see them.” – Henri Matisse

“The only person you are destined to become is the person you decide to be.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson

“Spring is the time of plans and projects.”― Leo Tolstoy
"If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant: if we did not sometimes taste of adversity, prosperity would not be so welcome." — Anne Bradstreet
“It took me quite a long time to develop a voice, and now that I have it, I am not going to be silent.” — Madeleine Albright
”Never limit yourself because of others' limited imagination; never limit others because of your own limited imagination." - Mae Jemison, first African American female astronaut
“I raise up my voice – not so I can shout, but so that those without a voice can be heard.” – Malala Yousafzai
“It isn’t enough to talk about peace. One must believe in it. And it isn’t enough to believe in it. One must work at it.” – Eleanor Roosevelt
"Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we've been waiting for. We are the change that we seek." – Barack Obama
“When we’re talking about diversity, it’s not a box to check. It is a reality that should be deeply felt and held and valued by all of us.” – Ava DuVernay
“Doing the best at this moment puts you in the best place for the next moment.” — Oprah Winfrey
"Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that." – Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
“Better a diamond with a flaw than a pebble without.” – Chinese Proverb "We may have all come on different ships, but we're in the same boat now." – Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

“We must remember that intelligence is not enough. Intelligence plus character – that is the goal of true education.”

– Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

“Not everybody can be famous but everybody can be great because greatness is determined by service… You only need a heart full of grace and a soul generated by love.” – Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
“For last year's words belong to last year's language. And next year's words await another voice.” – T.S. Eliot
“How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.”– Anne Frank
“Balance, peace, and joy are the fruit of a successful life. It starts with recognizing your talents and finding ways to serve others by using them.” – Thomas Kinkade
“Try to be a rainbow in someone else's cloud.” – Maya Angelou
“Be thankful for what you have; you'll end up having more. If you concentrate on what you don't have, you will never, ever have enough.” - Oprah Winfrey
“Let gratitude be the pillow upon which you kneel to say your nightly prayer. And let faith be the bridge you build to overcome evil and welcome good.” ― Maya Angelou

"As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them." -- John F. Kennedy

“Let us remember: one book, one child, and one teacher can change the world.” – Malala Yousafzai
“Treat people as if they were what they ought to be and you help them to become what they are capable of being.” - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
“An optimist sees an opportunity in every calamity; a pessimist sees a calamity in every opportunity.” – Winston Churchill
“Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn.” – Benjamin Franklin

“Do not be afraid to ask a question or be curious. It is curiosity at the end of the day that solves the problem. Things will take longer, be harder, and be full of times when you think you have solved a problem when in fact you have to start over.” – Nancy Brinker, Founder of Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation

“You hit home runs not by chance, but by preparation.” – Roger Maris
“I know of no single formula for success. But over the years I have observed that some attributes of leadership are universal and are often about finding ways of encouraging people to combine their efforts, their talents, their insights, their enthusiasm and their inspiration to work together.” – Queen Elizabeth II

“Don’t judge each day by the harvest you reap but by the seeds that you plant.” – Robert Louis Stevenson

“School is a building which has four walls with tomorrow inside.” ― Lon Watters