BAYONNE PUBLIC SCHOOLS Office of the Superintendent 669 AVENUE A BAYONNE, 07002

JOHN J. NIESZ Tel. (201) 858-5817 Superintendent Fax. (201) 858-6289

May 21, 2020

Dear BBOED Community,

As all of you know, Governor Murphy is slowly reopening our State thus plans concerning schools, businesses and recreation continue to evolve. We wanted to reach out concerning graduation to advise everyone that we are working on a safe graduation plan for all of our schools. We will do the most we can for our graduates and families while providing an exceptional celebration. We expect to release this information the first week of June.

Every ten years the U.S. conducts a census and a complete and accurate count is critical to Bayonne. Census data will guide how more than $675 billion in federal funding is distributed to states and communities each year for schools, health care facilities, roads, transportation, recreation centers, and more.

You have the power to shape your future, and the future of Bayonne by visiting the Census Bureau's website at https://www.census.gov/ and taking just five minutes to complete the census form.

This Monday, May 25th, is Memorial Day, which is the US holiday to honor those brave men and women who died while in service to our country. We can never forget the sacrifice they made to safeguard our freedom.

Over the years Bayonne has been home to both a U.S. Army and Naval base. Honoring our veterans is something near to the hearts of those in Bayonne and I know everyone will miss not having the annual Memorial Day Parade this year due to the pandemic.

For the past four years, the BBOED has honored veterans through our Field of Heroes program in November. Last year are honorees were Neil J. Carroll, Sr., Jon Christopher Jacobson, Ted Garelick, and Barry David Jones. Also, Bayonne is home to three recipients, Nicholas Oresko, Stephen R. Gregg, and William Shemin. I am proud to mention that two of our Bayonne elementary schools are named after Nicholas Oresko and William Shemin, while our beautiful Stephen R. Gregg Park is named after the third honoree.

Have a safe weekend,

John J. Niesz Superintendent