Every Halloween there is a teachers’ costume competition in which each of the seven faculty departments chooses their own theme for dressing up. Each group tries to outshine the competition by raising the bar with their outrageous masquerades, and the students vote the next school day for which set of costumes reigned supreme.

This year, the science department dressed as Disney characters — with a twist. Mr. Lieber was a vampiric Mickey Mouse, while Mr. Beltecas, Mr. Lindley, and Mr. Dibello were characters from Snow White and other familiar animated films.

The math department took flight with their idea: dressing as airport workers. They even decorated the hallways surrounding their classrooms with airplanes and terminals.

Social studies teachers were video game characters, and art teachers dressed as sea animals. The gym teachers, however, chose not to participate as they couldn’t break physical education dress code. Finally, the special education department wore pajamas and sleepy clothes.

This year’s victory, however, belonged to the English department who came up with an idea that no one thought was “half-baked” — they all dressed up as “English Muffins,” ranging from a traditional English muffin (Mr. Beck in a monocle, derby, pipe and crumpet-shaped sign) to pumpkin, corn, chocolate chip, and red velvet. Mr. Schleifer went a little bananas and a little nuts as, you guessed it, a banana-nut muffin.

“Sadly, I could not go into my own classroom, since it is a nut-free environment,” Schleifer quipped.

The idea for the English department’s costumes was suggested by Mr. Schleifer.

“People know my proclivity for puns and I thought, ‘What would be a good play on words that includes the word English?’ Since people also know my predilection for baked goods, coming up with the muffins came naturally,” Mr. Schleifer said.