For those kids (young or maybe on the verge of young adulthood) whose sweet tooths already may be tingling at the thought of Easter baskets on the way, this weekend looms second only to Halloween as an opportunity to indulge a love of candy. Certainly, now that today's parents are supposed to be dieticians along with everything else, we all try to be somewhat responsible in what we select, and the amount of candy mysteriously delivered by the bunny. (Did anyone ever specify how the bunny makes the rounds to fill these baskets?) On Easter mornings, I used to wake to a beautifully arranged …

Editor's Note: It's difficult to write this column without noting the sudden passing of William Zimmermann, who soon would have turned 20, in a March 7 car accident while on spring break in Mexico. For the many residents with children who may know members of Billy's family in Bernards Township schools, the tragedy seems just a little bit closer to home. For those of us who moved into Bernards Township part-way through our children's school careers, the extra weeklong February vacation may have been a bit of a mixed blessing. Sure, the kids loved having that extra week's holiday in February, …

There have been some frightening examples of bullying noted in the media lately, and in the not too distant past. Just this week, a 12-year-old Pennsylvania boy died of injuries he received in a schoolyard attack, during an alleged bullying incident by a bigger boy who reportedly insisted on fighting him. And of course, our own Rutgers University still is dealing with the aftermath and implications of the cruel ridicule of Tyler Clementi, an 18-year-old freshman student who committed suicide in 2010 after another student posted Clementi's private gay encounter online. That type of criminal …

From what I can tell, bagel lovers in this section of the Somerset Hills seem to be obsessed with "everything" bagels. No matter what side of The Hills I head to in search of fresh, (ideally warm!) everything bagels on a weekend morning from a local bagel shop, there always seems to be a line ahead of me, waiting to snap up those desired bagels. If they haven't already done so. Now I think everything bagels — covered in salt, seeds and lots of flavoring — are pretty good, but with all that salt, I can take them or leave them. My kids are another matter. They want everything bagels. Whole …

The Bernards Board of Education has always planned well in advance — the school calendars for the 2013-14 and 2014-15 school years already have been approved — but questions that have arisen this year about when students should begin, end and have holidays off from school mean that those calendars will be re-examined — and possibly changed. "Please be advised that changes to the 2013-14 calendar may be coming," Bernards schools superintendent Nick Markarian said in a special "Friday Folder" announcement to parents last Friday. Among one of the potential changes for both upcoming school years…

One can hardly say that school days are completely back to normal, even though Bernards Schools now are back in session for regular hours after two full weeks of being closed. Bernards Schools reopened on a two-hour delayed start schedule on Monday, just a day or so after the last school building regained power in a municipality where power outages dragged out for two weeks after Hurricane Sandy. Schools Superintendent Nick Markarian noted at Monday night's board meeting that the two-hour delay allowed parents and buses to find their way along streets that still had not been cleared of storm …

This week's discussion at the Board of Education meeting regarding whether the school year ends too late in June and whether the Indian festival of Diwali should be added as a school holiday brought back to the front burner a topic that's been brought up several times. On Monday, two parents spoke up and reminded the board that hundreds of residents had either sent e-mails or signed a petition about the same time asking why with the township's Indian population growing, Diwali can't added as a day off on future school calendars. Diwali, the Festival of Lights, falls on Nov. 13 this year. But …

There are few among us adults for whom the date September 11 will ever be the same. Whether or not we officially attended or were part of a moment of silence on that day, it's probably safe to say that we all paused to recall exactly what we were doing, and what came afterward, on that sunny September morning in 2011. That is especially true in a community where some 20 residents lost their lives, by one count. And that doesn't include those who spent endless hours agonizing while they were unable to contact loved ones, those with family members or friends lost in the attack. And even those, …

A few weeks ago, Patch posted a story that set off a flurry of comments, "School Lunch Standards to Take Effect This Year." The conversation, which began about whether healthier school lunches should be mandated on a federal level — as they will be starting this year — later turned to a discussion over whether parents should take more control over what their children eat in school by getting ambitious and packing up a lunch themselves. As a parent myself who feels I have so far packed a zillion school lunches (and am continuing to do so for that Ridge High School student), I have to say that …

With students preparing to return to school next week, we're all wondering a little bit about how some "new relationships" will turn out. The special yearlong relationship — one which will continue through next June — is that of student and teacher. Some teachers are really great at connecting with students. But of course, it works both ways, and some teachers reach your student in a way they will always remember, perhaps changing the course of their lives. Who has been the one teacher, or perhaps more than one, who especially turned on the light for your student in learning a subject? Or who…

Ridge High School and Bernards High School graduates, students and the schools' future students might be pleased to know that their alma mater — or the source of their someday diploma — have moved up even higher on New Jersey Monthly's just-released list of top public high schools. Ridge, ranked no. 12 during the last year that the list was released, in 2010, was now moved up to ninth place in the state, according to the New Jersey Monthly ranking, detailed online. Bernards High School, located in Bernardsville and serving grades 9 to 12 for the Somerset Hills Regional School District, as …

Last weekend, I spent some time with a friend whose daughter is heading off to college, after graduating this June from a nearby high school. A happy time, in many ways, but undoubtedly more than a bit nerve-wracking for both. Having never lived in a dorm, (although I did live in an apartment about a half-hour from my home base for a good portion of my time in college) I really can't say too much of what it feels like from the student's point of view. Nevertheless, I remember sending off my first son to college, in Charleston, S.C., following his graduation from Ridge High School in 2007. I …

Editor's Note: This summer we are borrowing some D.A.D. (Diapers and Deadlines) columns from two of our next-door Patch editors, Russ Crespolini from the Mendham-Chester Patch and Jason Koestenblatt, Local Editor of the Long Valley Patch. (Longtime Basking Ridge Patch readers may remember Jason as our guest editor in summer 2010.) Jason and Russ both are dads to younger children/babies, so they provide a little insight that age group. (How soon we forget!) Regarding today's column: Do the Moms in our area feel obliged (or capable) in being a Ms. Fix-it around the house. For example, a spouse…

Editor's Note: The reprise of this column was, among other things, inspired by the extreme complaints I have been receiving from my son regarding "Marvel 1602" as a selection for summer reading before British literature. Being a British literature junkie, I can think of many better choices. (Two of the four choices, and one must select two, seem definitely geared towards girls' taste. I read "Rebecca," and loved it, but he's not me.) Hey, what about Macbeth? Or even the scary, thought-provoking "A Christmas Carol?" What do you think? Or are your students pleased with their selection? By now, …

Are we there yet?It’s unconfirmed, but I’m pretty sure that statement entered the lexicon as soon as Karl Benz completed his modern-day automobile in 1886.It’s summertime, and with that comes good ol’ fashioned road trips. Day trip to the beach. Weekend trip to see out-of-state family. Week-long trip to a theme park or vacation spot.Road trips are different, I've learned, when you’ve got kids.College road trips were sought after; they were journeys with the sole purpose of creating memories.Early marriage drives with your spouse were exciting, as you explored landmarks and picked up–or …

Sitting in the audience the other night, it seemed a safe bet to say that most (although maybe not all) at the meeting would like to come up with a better idea for relieving morning traffic than rerouting buses carrying students to the back entrance of Ridge High School. That partial solution, in place since Feb. 1, has infuriated many Homestead Village residents as Ridge-bound buses and cars head along their streets toward the Cedar Hill Elementary School. Following a very comprehensive report by a traffic consultant, which was presented at Monday's board meeting, board members at least were…

Graduation is tomorrow, Thursday night, for this year's eighth graders at the William Annin Middle School, and on Friday night for seniors leaving Ridge High School following a high school career that undoubtedly will leave its mark, hopefully mostly for the best. As I write this, neighboring high school students in the Somerset Hills School District, who graduated from Bernards High Wednesday night, probably already are in possession of their newly minted high school diplomas. And then there's the college degrees that some of our children may have just received... I've been through all three…

The Ridge High School summer reading list was recently revealed on the Bernards Township school website, and the other township schools undoubtedly have their own lists. So, to some extent, your student has guidance, if not a requirement, for what he or she will be reading this summer. Will it be a chore for you to nudge them to read, or do they willingly dive into books? Of course, if you need more suggestions, area libraries have well developed summer reading programs. The Bernards Township Library will begin sign-ups for its summer reading program on June 19, although children don't need …

Soon, your student's test scores will help determine whether his or her teacher makes the grade. Is that fair? And how would what sounds like a good idea in some ways play out in the real world, and real classrooms? Within the next year or so, teachers in Bernards schools — and other districts all through New Jersey — are due to have about half of each teacher's evaluation based on how that teacher's students perform on tests, including state standardized tests. Bernards schools Director of Curriculum Sean Siet recently told the Board of Education this week, is that by the 2013-14 school year…

Monday was a nice and warm reminder that summer really is here, but by Tuesday, a temperature topping 90 degrees with yucky humidity was a reminder of the flip side of summer — those days when there's not a breath of fresh air to be found, day or night. My older son arrived home late that afternoon after starting classes as the University of Medicine and Dentistry in Newark — where he said he saw a temperature reading of 97 degrees. But while our air conditioning-challenged home may have initially struck him as a cooler haven after urban heat, he soon grew tired of sitting in a still …