• June 18, 2024

    Greetings Everyone,

    The last couple of weeks have been very busy as we wrap up the 2023-2024 school year.  I won’t try to tell you all of the great end of the year activities that have gone on, but I will refer you to our facebook and instagram pages for highlights of all of them.

    Here are a few things going on now that might be of interest to you:

    Excessive Heat

    I wanted to let you know that we are expecting high temperatures later this week.  Here is the outlook as provided by the compuweather alert notification system

    TEMPERATURES:

    Today: 

    Highs 85-90. Heat index 90-95.   

    Tonight: 

    Lows in the upper 60s

    Wednesday: 

    Highs near 90. Heat index 93-98. 

    Wed night: 

    Lows around 70

    Thursday: 

    Highs 88-93. Heat index 95-100. 

    DISCUSSION:
    The hottest temperatures so far this season will begin to filter into the region today. Hot, humid and dry weather is expected today as heat index values rise into the mid 90's this afternoon. The hot and humid weather will continue through late this week as heat index values approach 100 degrees by Thursday, which is the day summer officially begins. Please exercise caution when outside for any extended period of time during the afternoon hours, especially for people in high risk groups.

    The next statement will be sent around 8am Wednesday.

    GENERAL WEATHER OUTLOOK:
    The hot, humid and dry weather will persist into Friday before a weak cold front approaches from the north. The front will bring the threat of showers and thunderstorms by late in the day on Friday. The front stalls over the area on Saturday, resulting temperatures that are not as hot as well as more afternoon showers and thunderstorms possible.

    In an effort to cool down the classrooms at night, the facilities department has scheduled the Uni-vents that bring fresh air into every classroom to turn on at 1:00 am in the morning. This should fill the classrooms that do not have air conditioners with the coolest air possible when students enter in the mornings.  Shades will be kept pulled down to decrease the amount of solar heating that will occur.

    We will keep safety in mind if the temperatures increase.  Teachers are working with their building Principals to identify in advance places they can take their classes if the temperature in their room gets too hot. We will limit the time that students are outside in the sun and we will make sure students stay well hydrated. We encourage parents to send their children to school with light clothing and to send water bottles as appropriate.

    All regents exams in the HS will be proctored in rooms that are air conditioned.  We will continue to monitor the situation as the week progresses.  From what I have heard, the hottest day is going to be Wednesday so it is fortunate that school will not be in session tomorrow in celebration of Juneteenth.

    Evaluation of Student Attendance

    As you may recall, last fall the school board generated district goals for the 2023-2024 school year and beyond.   While these goals are still very much in progress, it seems like a good time to look at our success so far.  In particular, I would like to focus on attendance.

    We have made efforts to get students to school on a regular basis.  We updated our district attendance policy to identify excessive absence as missing 20 or more days of school.  The district has sent out letters to parents throughout the year if their child reached milestones of 5, 10, 15, and 20 days.  Any child missing 20 or more days has been required to attend an attendance meeting to discuss the reasons for excessive absences.  In some cases, students have been required to serve extra time during lunches and during regents week to make up lost time and assignments.

    Throughout the school year we have tried to gauge our progress on this goal.  Here is the latest comparison chart:

    You can see that we have made some progress.  While the percentage of students missing 5-9 days has not changed much, we have seen a decrease in students missing more than 10 days.  In particular, the percentage of students missing 15-19 days and 20 or more days shows some very positive improvements.

    I expect you agree with me that the progress we are seeing does not equate to a goal met.  While we greatly appreciate the efforts of students and parents to improve attendance, we have more work to do.  We will continue to stress the importance of good attendance and we look forward to working with families to further improve our attendance next year.

    Looking for Continuing Education offerings

    As you may have heard, we are looking for community members who are interested in being part of our upcoming adult/student continuing education program.  We will be seeking proposals for offerings until mid-July.  We will have a course catalog out in August and offerings for the fall will begin in September.

    If you would like more information about the program, please contact me.  If you would like to submit a proposal, please follow this link.

     

    Upcoming Events

    Although many events have concluded, there are still a few items you will want to know about:

    June 18th School Board meeting 5:30 pm (anticipated executive session until 6:30 pm)

    June 19th No school in observance of Junteenth

    June 20-24th Regents exams continue

    June 24-26th Early release for Duzine, Lenape, and the Middle School

    June 24th 5th grade moving up ceremony, 10 am in the HS auditorium

    June 25th 8th grade moving up ceremony, 9 am at the SUNY New Paltz Wellness Center

    June 26th High School graduation ceremony, 6 pm on the Floyd Patterson Field

    For more information about high school graduation, please click here.

     

    We need your help next year

    The 2023-2024 school year ends soon and the 2024-2025 school year officially begins on July 1st.  A great deal of work goes on during the summer to prepare for next year, so it is not too soon to ask you for your help.

    We need more staff.  All year long we have been in desperate need of substitute teachers, aides, and cafeteria workers.  If you have any free time next year or if you are looking for employment, please let us know.  You do not need to be a certified teacher to sub for us.  You simply need to have a high school diploma and you need to be out of high school for at least one year..

    If you have any interest in being a sub teacher, aide or cafeteria worker, please contact me for more information or go to our website to look at employment opportunities.

     

    Thank you for reading my update.  I hope it was helpful.  Please contact me if you have any questions.  I look forward to seeing you at events in the future.

     

    Best Wishes,

    Stephen Gratto - Superintendent