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Dear Parents/Guardians/Community Friends,
Following in the tradition established a few years ago,
Mr. Czadzeck, Building Principal at St. Regis
Falls, has declared this the Year
of Possibilities. Certainly the
members of the Boards of Education of both the Brushton Moira Central
School and the St.
Regis Falls Central School Districts are looking to the staff, students,
communities, administration, and each other for continuing ideas and
suggestions for sharing opportunities that have the potential for enhancing
student class offerings, increased operational efficiencies, and
cost-savings strategies that can be passed onto the taxpayers. We welcome
dialogue from interested others as we assess our early efforts and continue
to explore/implement new opportunities during the 2011-2012 school year.
The summer of 2011 has been very busy at Brushton-Moira with the main focus being the capital
project. This ambitious effort has involved numerous parts of the main
building, the bus garage, and site work on some of our athletic fields.
Many stages of the project are nearing completion as the month of August
unfolds. We are hopeful that the modifications to our school entrances, the
cafeteria, and infrastructure enhancements will also move smoothly and
quickly toward closure for opening day. The addition to the bus garage is
slated for finish later this fall. My thanks to Mr. Grenville, H. S.
Principal and formerly Interim Superintendent, and Mr. Durant, Clerk of the
Works, for helping me get up-to-speed quickly on this project.
BMC clerical and administrative staff have focused on
preparation for the re-opening of school which this year included training
on the entering of student demographic data and routine use of our new
School Tools System. I must say I am very impressed with what I have seen
in my early introduction to this product. It appears to be incredibly
useful and user-friendly. Thanks, Ms. Greeno for
your role in setting up this training and working with your colleagues in
taking the training forward during the two Superintendent’s Staff
Development Days, September 1st and 2nd. I expect others will be
impressed with the capabilities of School Tools once they become familiar
with it.
At St. Regis
Falls this summer, we were pleased to have hosted
the Extended School Year Program for students with special needs from Brushton-Moira, Malone, and St. Regis Falls. The experience has been very
positive for the students, the staff (BOCES and St. Regis Falls), and our community as we also
invited local students to participate in the free summer lunch program for
which our district qualified.
With the help of the Shared Decision-Making Committee
(SDM), SRF administration was able to review and update numerous district
handbooks which are used regularly throughout the school year. These
recommended modifications in the handbooks will now go to the Board of
Education for their approval. Thank you to the SDM Committee for your fine
efforts in completing this important task.
Representatives from both districts (BMC and SRF) have
also attended a variety of sessions across three BOCES areas (FEH, SLL, and
CVS) on one of the latest state initiatives called APPR (Annual Professional
Performance Review). This initiative has two major parts. One focuses on
the evaluation of teachers and the other focuses on evaluation of
principals. Training for principals to conduct the evaluations of teachers,
using the selected rubrics and processes outlined by SED, will be attended
by administrators from both BMC and SRF next Monday and Tuesday (8/22 and
8/23). This training will be provided by the FEH BOCES Network Team in
Malone. Both BMC and SRF are among the districts that are expected to have,
at least a tentative plan in place by September 1, 2011; however, final
work on the template will continue throughout this next school year with
teachers and administrators working together to refine the template as
appropriate. Initially, as I understand the first phase, the new APPR
evaluations will involve teachers of ELA and Math in specific grades. In
future years this evaluation process will apply to teachers of other grades
and subject areas.
As we launch this Year of Possibilities, I want to
extend my hand and my desire to get to know members of both school
communities better. To that end, I have begun inviting BMC Board Members in
to meet with me individually. This invitation will be offered to a variety
of BMC staff, students, parents, and community members over the next couple
of months. This is something I did in SRF last year. I found it most
helpful for getting to know people, but also for hearing their/your
perspectives, concerns, and dreams for the children of this district. If
you have a strong desire to be among those that I meet with individually,
please call my BMC secretary, Christina Dufrane,
at 529-8948 X 1104. I am interested in hearing from a diverse range of
individuals who are willing to speak freely, be that positive or negative.
During the course of this year, I will be looking to
combine appropriate tasks that can generate time-saving routines, but one
thing I already know is that there is no short-cut, no effective substitute
for genuine personal contact. I will do my utmost to attend a variety of
student activities (concerts, plays, athletic, and other), but please know
I will be attempting to do the same in two districts. Please be patient as
I work to balance the activity schedule for two districts. My tentative
calendar for the month of September is on the reverse side of this letter.
You will note that I plan to be in both districts daily with the exception
of meetings and other appointments that may take me away from both
districts on occasion. When known in advance those events will be so marked
on my monthly calendar.
Please know that I am intrigued by the brave adventure
on which we are now embarking: Shared Food Service, Shared Transportation Supervisor/Mechanic,
Shared CSE/CPSE Chairperson Knowledge and Experience, and Shared
Superintendent. Thanks to Mrs. Devins for her
patience during our delay in defining her shared role in special education.
I would also like to publicly thank our key Business Personnel, Mrs. DeBeer and Mrs. Perkins, who continue to crunch the
numbers as we explore each new step in the name of sharing.
It is exciting to be part of such a bold step when the
POSSIBILITIES looming before us may confirm changes that can benefit
students, school organizations, and taxpayers and all at a time when small
communities are struggling to maintain their individual identity when the
resources to do so are withering around us. After all, we recognize that
the soul of small rural communities is their local school district.
Residents of both Brushton-Moira and St. Regis
Falls Central Schools, please share this adventure
with us and give us your valued feed back as we move forward.
Sincerely,
Beverly L. Ouderkirk
Shared Superintendent
Brushton-Moira and St. Regis Falls Central School Districts
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A FAVOR OF YOU IS REQUESTED……
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A favor of you is requested. I need to remind everyone that
the circle in front of our school is ONE-WAY.
Please, if you pull in
through the circle follow the signs.
DO NOT PASS A STOPPED SCHOOL BUS either on school property or on our
streets or highways. Please DO NOT
park in the bus lanes. They are strictly for the students to exit or board the buses.
If you come to school to drop your children off in the morning,
please use the parking lots and the entrances at either side of the
building, rather than the front.
Your cooperation will benefit everyone especially our children. Thank you for your respect for their
safety and for your attention to this friendly reminder. Have a great
week!
Sincerely,
Mrs. O.
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