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In 1884, Samuel R. Donald and 11 other men founded the Bloomingdale Cornet Band; and made their debut performance at the Decoration Day (now known as Memorial Day) parade through Bloomingdale & Butler on May 30^th of that year.  New Jersey’s oldest and continuously active marching & concert band has had 12 directors during its existence, with Samuel R. Donald being elected Director in January 1889, and holding the position for 50 years.  Our great school was named after this pioneering community leader.

With humbled pride I assume the role of Principal of Samuel R. Donald Elementary School, and I am delighted to serve this learning community, and to have you as partners during the 2008-2009 school year.  I am dedicated to ensuring that our students (your children) are nurtured and cared for as the SRD faculty and staff work alongside of you to help promote the balanced, healthy, and successful social, emotional, academic, and physical development of the students of SRD.  Through my involvement as Vice Chair of the newly-established statewide New Jersey Alliance For Social-Emotional And Character Development (NJASECD), I will continue to share information and resource materials with everyone throughout the school year so that together we can guide the students of SRD to reach their individual and highest potential.

It is an honor and privilege to serve this outstanding educational community, and I invite you to stop by SRD over the next couple of months so that I can meet you personally.  If we don’t get to meet during the summer months, I look forward to meeting you after the start of the new school year.  In the meantime, please take a look at pages 5 & 7 of the hyperlinked article to get to know a little more about SRD’s new Principal --
                                    Sharon Biggs\Spring[1].2008.Column.Final.pdf.

Also, in keeping with Samuel R. Donald’s mission to honor our veterans, and the NJ Department of Education’s core curriculum standards designed to help promote student citizenship and patriotism; SRD will host a Veterans Day Assembly on Tuesday, November 11^th for our students, staff, and parents.  If you are a veteran of any war/conflict and might like to participate in the program, please call or e-mail Mrs. Lois Manella during the summer to provide us with your contact information so that I can contact you between now and the beginning of October.  We’d like to be able to include as many parents, grandparents, and community members in the assembly program as we can in some way.

            On behalf of the entire SRD faculty & staff, we are looking forward to working with all of you and your children during the upcoming school year.  If you have questions or concerns at any time during the school year, please feel free to call your child’s teacher, any member of the school staff, or me personally.   The SRD leadership, faculty, and staff are here to help you and your child experience an outstanding school year!

Best Regards,
Mrs. Sharon M. Biggs
Principal
Samuel R. Donald Elementary School

“A teacher affects eternity; he can never tell where his influence stops.”  (Henry Brooks Adams)

sbiggs@bloomingdaleschools.org