Weekend Highlights: Your Guide to a Fun Memorial Day Weekend

BY  |  Friday, May 24, 2013 1:00pm  |  COMMENTS (0)

 Cloisters Museum

Memorial Day Weekend is here and there’s so much to do with the family if you’re staying local.

We’ve told you about the Memorial Day services and parades, Maplewood’s Rubber Duck Race, the West Orange Downtown Street Fair, and Maplewood MayFest, and there’s even more!

Check our Upcoming Events to find out all the local happenings. Also, if you haven’t already, sign up for our newsletter to get some great deals and find out about more great events and subscribe to our daily newsletter so you don’t miss a thing on Barista Kids. While you’re at it, “like” us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter and check out our new Pinterest page. We post a lot of important information over there, so you don’t want to miss out.

Here are your weekend highlights:

The Met’s Cloisters Museum is holding  Family Festival: In Search of the Unicorn, a two day event celebrating unicorns, Medieval times and magic. (Saturday, May 25)

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Friday Night Family Flicks at Kip’s Castle

BY  |  Friday, May 24, 2013 10:30am  |  COMMENTS (0)

Singin in the RainSave the dates so you can take the family to Essex County Kip’s Castle Park to watch movies under the stars Friday nights in June. The Essex County Free Friday Night Family Flicks film series are  free and includes a  diverse line-up of  children’s favorites and features that teens and adults will enjoy. Gates open at 7 pm and movies begin at dusk. Pack your blankets and chairs and go enjoy!

Friday Night Family Flicks at Kip’s Castle schedule :

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Day Trips To Take Over Memorial Day Weekend

BY  |  Friday, May 24, 2013 7:00am  |  COMMENTS (0)

Grab your keys, pack the kids into the car and arrive at your destination in less than two hours! A few of these Day Trips could be made into an overnight trip too.

Here is a list of Day Trips we’ve reviewed that offer fun for the entire family:

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Montclair Film Festival Kicks Off Summer Series With Annie

BY  |  Thursday, May 23, 2013 6:30pm  |  COMMENTS (0)

annieIt’s a dark, stormy day today, but the sun’ll come out tomorrow! The Montclair Film Festival has announced the kickoff film of its Outdoor Summer SeriesAnnie!

Bring the family to the Presby Iris Gardens in Montclair on Friday, May 31, and enjoy the 1982 classic, directed by John Huston. Featuring the star-studded cast of Albert Finney, Carol Burnett, Ann Reinking, Tim Curry, Bernadette Peters, and, my personal favorite ‘Annie,’ Aileen Quinn. Sing Annie hits, such as“The Sun Will Come Out Tomorrow,” “It’s a Hard Knock Life” and “Maybe” with the crowd of fans. The lyrics will be shown on the big screen, so there’s no excuse not to belt out “Your Never Fully Dressed Without a Smile.”

 Bring your lawn chairs and blankets and be happy that “We got Annie!”

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Montclair High School Student Interns Assist Township Engineering Bureau

BY  |  Thursday, May 23, 2013 4:30pm  |  COMMENTS (0)

Montclair High School

L-R: Spencer Haley and Tyler Baisden

Two Montclair High School students are getting valuable hands on engineering experience during their month-long internship with the Township. In the process they’re learning that the position of Township Engineer is definitely not a desk job.

Seniors Spencer Haley and Tyler Baisden are working closely with Township Engineer Kimberli Craft monitoring stormwater outfalls and assisting with the Montclair SAFE (Streets Are For Everyone) initiative.

“I’m so pleased to have these aspiring engineers helping us and getting some early exposure to the working world and what engineers really do.” says Craft. “Their contributions are a real asset that will help us move both of these programs forward.”

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Jersey Shore Round-up

BY  |  Thursday, May 23, 2013 11:30am  |  COMMENTS (0)

Jersey Shore

Tomorrow begins the Memorial Day weekend and the unofficial start of summer, so we’re giving a big fist pump to the Jersey Shore, which needs your love this summer, after Hurricane Sandy ravaged the area. Show the shore some love by taking the family to enjoy the beaches and attractions:

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Convos With My 2 Year Old: A Look Into the Creepy, Self-involved World of a Toddler

BY  |  Thursday, May 23, 2013 10:00am  |  COMMENTS (3)

Filmmaker and dad, Matthew Clarke, has tapped into the crazy, self-involved world of two year olds by launching a new series called Convos With My 2 Year Old. In it he takes actual conversations he’s had with his daughter and reenacts them with an adult man standing in for her. It’s strange, a bit creepy, and hysterical all at the same time.

Montclair Superintendent Addresses World Languages Instruction Concerns

BY  |  Wednesday, May 22, 2013 8:26pm  |  COMMENTS (4)

world languagesSeveral parents voiced their concern about having quality district-wide World Languages instruction in Montclair in a letter we ran yesterday. Tonight, Superintendent of schools, Dr. Penny MacCormack, sends the following message addresses the issue:

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Talking Education With Mark Alexander

BY  |  Wednesday, May 22, 2013 9:00am  |  COMMENTS (5)

Mark Alexander Last week, I had the pleasure of interviewing 34th district state senate candidate Mark Alexander about his views on education. He was a warm, gregarious, and easy to talk to. With five children, four of whom are currently in Montclair public schools, it was quite easy to start a conversation about education in Montclair.

Barista Kids: What is your overall view of education?
Mark Alexander: There are a few things that drive me when I talk about education. The first is my personal involvement in education. I’ve been a professor at Seton Hall Law School for 18 years. I’m also from a family of teachers—my mother and sisters are both university professors and my grandparents were one of the original families who founded Tuskegee University. There’s this ongoing passion of education in my family that’s been passed down so me, and so that’s one perspective I bring to my campaign. Another perspective is I’m a parent. I currently have four kids in the public schools. It’s really important to me, as a dad to think about the kind of education my kids should be getting. And the third thing that really motivates me is that I grew up in a family that was very active in the fight for civil rights. My father worked for Lyndon Johnson and was the lawyer that helped write the civil rights acts.

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Montclair Parents Write Letter Asking For Support For District-Wide World Languages Instruction

BY  |  Tuesday, May 21, 2013 11:30am  |  COMMENTS (12)

world languageSeveral Montclair parents have put together a letter urging others to speak up for district-wide World Languages instruction. After budget cuts a few years ago, many schools lost language teachers, which were replaced by computer programs, such as Rosetta Stone:

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