Pine Brook Boy Continues to Fight Epilepsy as Second Birthday Approaches

Bruno Stillo will turn 2 in June as he works with doctors in Miami to treat his Dravet Syndrome.

For most, a birthday is a celebration, a day to be happy and surrounded by loved ones and rejoice in the day you came into the world. For Bruno Stillo's first birthday last year, he was celebrated and surrounded by the entire Montville community. But this year, as the Pine Brook boy turns 2, his mother will also be reminded of what happened just after the community came together to raise money to fund the high medical costs associated with treating his illness. Stillo suffers from Dravet Syndrome, a rare and serious form of childhood epilepsy where he breaks out into unexpected seizures, sometimes triggered by controllable factors, like changing lights or temperatures. Immediately following his birthday last June, Stillo suffered from one …

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$1K Reward Offered for Montville Schools Bomb Threat Information

Morris County CrimeStoppers hoping to find out who was responsible for three separate threats in a week.

Morris County CrimeStoppers is hoping to help Montville Township Public Schools get to the bottom of who was responsible for three separate bomb threats to Montville schools in one week earlier this month by offering a $1,000 reward for information, according to NJ.com. The first bomb threat, on March 5, was written and found inside the Robert R. Lazar Middle School, causing a school evacuation as local police and county officials searched the school. In what Montville Township Police Capt. Rudy Appelmann called a "copycat" incident, Cedar Hill Elementary School was evacuated on March 8 after a similar threat was made. The following Monday, Hilldale Elementary School was also evacuated for a written threat found on a bathroom wall. …

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Bomb Threats Taken 'Very Seriously' as Schools Seek to Educate Students

Assemblies and classroom talks will target Montville students in grades 3-8 following three threats in one week.

As Montville Township Public Schools saw its third bomb threat in a district school within one week Monday at Hilldale Elementary School, district officials and local police officers have gathered to develop ways to educate students in grades 3-8 against the dangers and consequences of making such threats and asked parents to talk to their kids at home. "We're taking this very seriously and there will be consequences if anybody is caught," Superintendent of Schools Dr. Paul Fried said Tuesday. On Monday, students were evacuated to a nearby firehouse from Hilldale after a threat was written on a bathroom wall. On March 4, the Robert R. Lazar School was evacuated around lunch time after a threat also was written on a bathroom wall. Last …

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'Copycat' Bomb Threat Made at Cedar Hill School

Students safely waited on buses while school was cleared Thursday, police said.

Just days after another district school was evacuated because of a bomb threat, Cedar Hill Elementary School students were also evacuated because of a similar threat, according to Montville Township Police Capt. Rudy Appelmann.  The students were safely placed on school buses, as part of the school's evacuation plan, around 11:20 a.m. while officials determined whether they should be bussed to another location, Appelmann said. Ultimately, the buses did not leave the parking lot and students were able to return within about 20 minutes. Appelmann said police believe Thursday's threat, which is still under investigation, originated from inside the school, similarly to Monday's bomb threat at the Robert R. Lazar Middle School. However, …

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Students Learn 'Gift of Giving' By Donating to Hospital Kids

Teacher encourages students to continue spreading joy in the new year.

Cedar Hill Celebrates the Holidays

Elementary school holds annual 'Holidays and Traditions' celebration.

The following was submitted by the Cedar Hill School. Have something you'd like to announce? Upload it here. Cedar Hill School was loud with the sounds of music, laughter, and enjoyment Thursday as the school celebrated its annual “Holidays and Traditions” day. “Holidays and Traditions is a way for the children to be exposed to the foods, music, games, and stories of holidays from around the world.  It’s a tradition that started at the school before I arrived, and it’s a well loved day,” said Principal Dr. Michael Raj.  “Parent volunteers come into the school bringing dishes to pass, music, photos, books, and stories of their traditions, including Kwanzaa, Hanukkah, Diwali, and Christmas.  The children learn a lot through seeing, hearing, …

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Sandy Victims to Benefit From Cedar Hill 'Beach Day'

Students dress for the beach while supporting Seaside Heights families.

The following was submitted by Cedar Hill School. Have something you'd like to announce to the community? Upload it here. Cedar Hill "Beach Day," held this past Monday, raised more than $617, allowing the school to give a check for $88.25 to each of the seven families affected by Hurricane Sandy that the Cedar Hill community is supporting.   The students and staff paid $1 to wear sunglasses, bring in a beach towel or dress "beachy." Through the grade level donations, the school packed seven large bags full of toothbrushes, soaps, shampoos, towels, slippers, construction paper, glue sticks, brushes and combs, hand lotions and love.  The donations will be delivered shortly to Seaside Heights.

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Montville Rallies to Support Epileptic Baby

Bruno Stillo's first birthday brings community together.

Eleven-month-old Bruno Stillo cannot catch a cold. He cannot be exposed to heat in the summer, or be held by a stranger, or catch too much sunlight in the backseat while he is riding in the car with his mother. If any of these things happen to him, he could suffer a life-threatening seizure. Stillo suffers from Dravet Syndrome, a rare but serious form of childhood epilepsy where the baby breaks out into unexpected seizures, sometimes triggered by controllable factors, like changing lights or temperatures, but sometimes not. Stillo will be turning 1-year-old on Thursday. He will also be celebrating two months to the day he has been without a seizure-the longest he has gone without a seizure episode since he was three months old. And Stillo …

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Cedar Hill Students 'Connect With Respect' With BOE

Students honored for achievements in writing contests, leadership.

Students on the Cedar Hill Elementary School Character Education Committee shared their “Connect with Respect” Character Education message with the Montville Township Board of Education Tuesday night. Eight students talked to board members and community members about Cedar Hill’s Character Education program, which was established in 1998. One student said that Cedar Hill was ranked the third kindest school in the entire state. “The children make the school what it is,” Kathy Lindquist, advisor of the Character Education program, said. “The teachers support the students and the  administrators support the teachers. That’s why Cedar Hill is what it is.” Through “Connect with Respect,” also the name for the Character Education program, …

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Students Show Off Products at TREP$ Market

Young entrepreneurs from Cedar Hill School sell products during marketplace Saturday.

Cedar Hill School fourth- and fifth-graders were able to show the community the end results of weeks of business planning during the school's third annual TREP$ Marketplace on Saturday. The students who participated spent two months meeting after school to receive guidance on their business projects and working to develop products to individually sell. "They learn everything, marketing, sales," said one teacher who assisted with the event Saturday. The TREP$ program began in West Milford, when two teachers' sons had an idea to sell wrapping paper at a school event and were impressed by how much they learned about business through the process. Schools throughout the state now hold TREP$ Marketplaces after the students have the time to fully…

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