October 2015 Newsletter - Ichabod Crane Central School District

ICHABOD
CRANE
CENTRAL SCHOOL DISTRICT
CHATHAM • GHENT • NASSAU • KINDERHOOK • STUYVESANT • SCHODACK • STOCKPORT
INSIDE THIS ISSUE:
„ New Faculty and Staff
„ Adult Education Program
„ District & Athletics Now on Twitter
„ Second Year of Tax Rebates
„ Capital Project Update
www.ichabodcrane.org
Smart Schools Funding
OCTOBER 2015
Summer Program Helps Reinforce Skills
T
he Ichabod Crane Central School District is
preparing to secure $1.3 million in funding
that has been allocated to the District under the
New York State’s Smart Schools Bond Act. The
$2 billion Bond Act, which was approved by voters
in November 2014, is intended to provide school
districts with funding to improve educational technology and infrastructure to improve learning and
opportunity for students throughout the state.
The bond funding can be used for capital
projects including high-tech security features
in school buildings, purchase of classroom technology, such as interactive whiteboards, laptops
and tablets, and technology infrastructure, such
as high-speed broad band, wireless capabilities
or servers.
With the Board of Education approving the
Instructional Technology Plan on October 6, the
plan was then submitted to the New York State
Education Department (NYSED). The District has
started working on the Smart Schools Investment
Plan, which NYSED requires school districts to submit demonstrating how Smart Schools funding will
be used. It also requires districts to solicit stakeholder involvement by posting the preliminary plan
on the school district website for written comment
and holding a public hearing. Once stakeholders
have had input into the preliminary plan, the District will prepare a final plan for Board approval.
The final Smart Schools Investment Plan will be
posted on the District website and submitted to
NYSED for approval.
“The District is pleased with the potential
opportunities provided with the passing of the
NYS Smart Schools Bond Act,” said Superintendent George Zini. “We intend to fully utilize the
$1.3 million in funding to further strengthen and
enhance our current Information Technology and
security programs. Details will be announced
once a formalized comprehensive plan has been
completed.”
For updates on the Smart Schools process,
visit the District website at www.ichabodcrane.org.
T
his past summer, approximately 70 IC students grades K-3 participated
in “Invitations,” an academic program designed to provide Language
Arts and reading support to students who may benefit from additional
instruction in these areas as they enter the 2015-2016 school year. The
20-day program was reinstated last summer as part of the 2015-16 budget voters approved in May. To reinforce their reading and writing skills,
students worked on writing personal narratives, identifying character
traits and main story ideas, comparing and contrasting and of course lots
of reading! The teachers for the program were Kathryn Bernarde, Kara
Abatto, Lindsay Meyers, Ashley Burke, Teresa Kirker and Angela Shevy.
Board of Education Fills Two Vacancies
O
n October 6, Barbara-anne Johnson-Heimroth and Michael
Stead were sworn in as the newest members of the Ichabod
Crane Board of Education. Five candidates were interviewed by
the Board before Johnson-Heimroth and Stead were selected
to fill two vacancies created when former members Tricia
Mavrides and Kyle Aschenbrenner resigned due to changes
in residency. Both will serve approximately nine months until the term
expires June 30, 2016. New York State law allows school boards
to fill such vacancies by appointment until the next regular
election in May. These two seats and Anthony Welcome’s seat
will be up for election on May 17, 2016.
(Continued on page 4)
ICHABOD CRANE CENTRAL SCHOOL DISTRICT
New School Year Brings New Faculty & Staff, Changes to Positions
When students returned to school in September, they were greeted by some new faces as well
as some familiar faces in new positions or buildings. The Ichabod Crane Central School District
is pleased to welcome several new faculty and staff members to the 2015-2016 school year.
HIGH SCHOOL
Ichabod Crane High School welcomed Alicia Caldara
and Kathleen Hegarty, who are both fulfilling leaves in the
Counseling and Career Center, and Bernadette Torre, who
has moved to the high school as a teaching assistant.
Changes: Tom Call has moved from the elementary to
the primary school to teach physical education. Jennifer
Dunn is now a permanent teaching assistant.
DISTRICTWIDE
Dwight Grant has been hired as network systems engineer
for the Information Technology Department.
ELEMENTARY/MIDDLE SCHOOL
The Elementary/Middle School welcomed Karolyn
Eberhardt as a music teacher, Ashley Knowles as Speech
Language Pathologist, Lori Jean Kruger as a Special
Education teacher, Sarah Cotsonas as a health teacher,
Jennifer Gecewicz as a science teacher, Helen Park as
a music teacher, and Blair Pantoja, Jessica Madden and
Rebecca Rogers as teaching assistants.
Changes: Adam Vooris has moved from the middle to
the elementary school to teach physical education. Emily
Marcella now teaches integrated 4th grade. Nancy Dolan
moved from the elementary to the middle school as a teaching assistant.
TRANSPORTATION
Changes in the Transportation Department include
Sharon Thorsey as head bus driver, Tami Barlow as assistant head bus driver, Lori Creeron as bus driver/school bus
driver instructor and Eric Carey as head mechanic.
FACILITIES & MAINTENANCE
Facilities & Maintenance welcomes Steven Sigler as
general mechanic. Rich Lauster now serves as custodian
at the elementary/middle school. Harold Hutchinson has
changed positions from general mechanic to building
mechanic and Camille Praga has changed positions from
cleaner to custodian.
PRIMARY SCHOOL
The Primary School welcomed Laura Franzese, Kristina
LaBarge, Jennifer Farrell and Selena Hawver-Cook as
Academic Intervention Services’ teachers, Taylor Stringer
as Speech Language Pathologist, Jodi Jacque as music
teacher, Ashley Hughes and Jennifer Warrington as special
education teachers, Nicholas Ronca as a term substitute, and
Rebecca Chapman and Gina Slyer as teaching assistants.
Also hired was Tara Silverman, an English Language Learner
(ELL) teacher, to meet increased ELL population needs and
state required changes in service delivery to ELL students.
STUDENT BOARD MEMBER
The Ichabod Crane Board of Education welcomed
Ichabod Crane High School senior Alexander MangioneSmith as its student representative for the 2015-16 school
year. As a non-voting board member, Mangione-Smith will
attend board meetings and act as a representative of the
student body.
2
ICC’s 2015-2016 Adult Education Program
I
chabod Crane is pleased to offer a variety of courses to meet the diverse
needs and interests of the community through its Adult Education Program.
Courses are offered in creative arts, finance, physical fitness and new driver
training. The program is offered in two sessions—the first is held September
through December and the second from January through May. While some
programs are offered for several weeks, there are plenty of courses that are
offered in one or two evenings.
Any person age 16 or older who is not enrolled in a private or public secondary school may enroll in any course. When possible, priority is given to
residents of the Ichabod Central School District in courses where the demand
is great and enrollment limited.
The brochure and registration form is available on the district website
at http://www.ichabodcrane.org/adult-education/ or can be obtained by
calling the Adult Education Co-Coordinators Mindy Potts at 758-7575, ext.
3001 or Amy Boothby at ext. 3002. If you would like a brochure automatically
emailed to you each semester, please submit your email address to mpotts@
ichabodcrane.org.
Minimum fees are charged for registration, instruction and materials. All
registration must be done either by mail or in person in the District’s Central
Office, located in the Ichabod Crane High School building.
We are always looking to offer new topics in our Adult Education program.
If you have a particular skill or expertise that you would like to share with
others, please contact the Adult Education Office at the numbers listed above
to find out about opportunities to teach future Adult Education courses.
Second Year of Tax Rebates
For the second year, eligible homeowners in the Ichabod Crane Central
School District can expect to receive
a tax rebate check this fall under the
two-year New York State Property Tax
Freeze Credit program.
Homeowners who already receive the
STAR property tax exemption and reside
within a school district and municipality
that stay within the New York State tax
levy calculation are eligible to receive
a tax rebate from the New York State
Department of Taxation and Finance.
In the first year of the program, eligible homeowners received rebates
for increases in their property taxes
because Ichabod Crane’s approved
2014-15 budget stayed within the
District’s allowable property tax cap.
In this second year of the program,
homeowners will once again receive
a rebate check since Ichabod Crane’s
2015-16 budget stayed within the
allowable property tax cap and the
Government Efficiency Plan the District
was required to submit was approved.
For more information about the program, please visit the NYS Department
of Taxation and Finance’s website.
ICHABOD CRANE CSD & ATHLETICS NOW ON TWITTER!
The Ichabod Crane Central School District community now has another way to stay
connected with news and information. The District has extended its social media reach
by launching District and Athletic Department Twitter accounts. You can follow them at
www.twitter.com/IchabodCraneCSD and www.twitter.com/
IC_Riders. Alongside Facebook, Twitter will continue to improve
district communication with parents, students and community.
The District encourages staff, parents and
students to “follow,” “tweet” and “retweet”
to help share information. Please consider
helping us share the great things happening
in our schools and tweet the next time you
are at district events and activities using the
hashtag #ICCRiderPride.
3
Board of Education…
(Continued from page 1)
BARBARA-ANNE JOHNSON-HEIMROTH
Johnson-Heimroth is a graduate of
Ichabod Crane and previously served on
the Ichabod Crane Board of Education
for one term. She is the director/owner of
Little Wonders Early Childhood Enrichment
Center in Valatie. Johnson-Heimroth has
worked in education since 1990 when
she started working for the Columbia
Opportunities Inc. Head Start Program
in Hudson as a home visitor, classroom
teacher and site supervisor before becoming education manager for Early Childhood
Learning Center Head Start Program in
South Cairo, NY for a few years and then
a Universal Pre-Kindergarten Teacher for
the Head Start Program in Hudson. Johnson-Heimroth earned a master’s
degree in education and a bachelor’s
degree in elementary education, both
from The College of Saint Rose. She holds
dual certifications as a New York State
Public School Teacher, birth-grade 2 and
grades 1-6.
MICHAEL STEAD
Stead is a fourth grade teacher in the
Chatham Central School District and brings
more than 17 years in public education to
the Board of Education. He was a tenured
teacher in the Ichabod Crane CSD where
he taught fourth grade from 1998-2001.
Stead served several districts as an art
teacher and is also an author, designer
and illustrator.
Stead earned his master’s degree in
education from the Massachusetts College
of Liberal Arts and a bachelor’s degree in
elementary education and art studio from
SUNY Potsdam. He holds NYS permanent
teaching certifications N-6 and K-12 Art.
In the community, Stead coaches soccer and baseball and is actively involved
with St. John the Baptist church in Valatie.
He and his wife live in Valatie with their
three sons who attend Ichabod Crane
schools.
Other members of the Ichabod
Crane Board of Education are Anthony
Welcome, President; John Chandler, Vice
President; John Antalek; Tracy Farrell;
Susan Ramos; Regina Rose; and Cheryl
Trefzger.
Ichabod Crane PTA
T
he Ichabod Crane Central School District’s Parent-Teacher
Association (PTA) is a partnership among parents, faculty and
community members to support students in the district. Officers are
parent representatives from the Ichabod Crane Primary, Elementary
and Middle Schools. The PTA sponsors a number of programs and
events throughout the year, including the Welcome Back Picnic
(held Sept. 11), the Harvest Moon Party (Oct. 29), Breakfast with
Santa (Dec. 5) and Family Fun Nights.
Since research shows that strong home-school partnerships
lead to better academic success, the PTA hopes you will consider
getting involved and join a wonderful local community of people
interested in helping to make Ichabod Crane School District the
best it can be!
Meetings are generally held the second Wednesday of every
month in the IC Elementary/Middle School Library from 7-8 p.m.
The meeting schedule can be found on the PTA website at http://
www.ichabodcrane.org/pta
For more information about the PTA, including volunteer opportunities, please visit the website at www.ichabodcrane.org/pta or
contact the PTA Co-Presidents Lorraine Warner at RaineyWarner@
yahoo.com or Joe Herwick at [email protected].
The ICC PTA is also on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/
IchabodCranePTA.
PTA officers at the Welcome Back Picnic on September 11 at the Primary School,
are (l to r) Vice President/Membership Star D’Angelo, Co-President Joe Herwick,
Treasurer Jamie Stickles, Co-President Lorraine Warner, Corresponding Secretary Katie Snyder and Recording Secretary Mary Holliday.
4
CAPITAL PROJECT UPDATE
D
rivers traveling on Route 9 most likely have noticed the
new electronic sign in front of Ichabod Crane High School.
This summer, the District sign was installed and the high
school entrance received additional door locks complete
with card swipes as Phase I of the $2,385,000 capital project
residents approved in May 2014.
The capital project focuses on district-wide security
improvements and additional space at the Ichabod Crane
Primary School to alleviate overcrowding issues and improve
delivery of programs and services. Based on the recommendation of the District’s architectural firm, the capital project
was broken into two phases. Phase II of the project calls for
the construction of four classrooms at the Primary School
and secure vestibule entrances complete with card swipes
at the Primary School and Elementary/Middle School.
While both phases were submitted to the New York State
Education Department (SED) in October 2014, SED was backlogged on engineering reviews so final approval for Phase II
didn’t come in until this past July. Project work for Phase II
is expected to go out to bid in December with construction
beginning as soon as the school year ends in June 2016.
The secured vestibules are expected to be completed and
ready for the start of the 2016-2017 school year, while the
four classroom addition at the Primary School is expected
to be occupied for instructional use in January 2017.
“After some delay in getting our plans approved by SED,
we are pleased to be able to move forward with security
improvements and the addition at the Primary School that
will provide the needed educational space to support all of
our K-3 programs,” said Superintendent George Zini.
He added, “The electronic sign is a great addition to our
schools and will provide another avenue to communicate
school activities, events and news with the public.”
For more information, please visit www.ichabodcrane.org
and click on the “Capital Projects” link.
IC RIDERS BOOSTER CLUB
T
he Ichabod Crane Riders Booster Club is a volunteer group organized
by parents to support all sports at Ichabod Crane, from the modified
level in the middle school to the Varsity level in the high school. It is the
Booster Club’s goal to provide opportunities to all of our athletes to play at
their best, through providing equipment that is not paid for by the school
budget, or travel opportunities, or outside sporting camps, and much more.
Every year, the Booster Club also hosts summer camps for students
entering grades 4 through 10. These camps give student-athletes an
opportunity to get better at a sport they love, or to try a sport they have
never tried before. The Booster Club also hosts Senior Nights to honor our
senior athletes and their families, helps with end-of-the-year awards ceremonies, and provides college scholarships. The club is able to do all of this
by raising funds through concession and apparel sales, their annual golf
tournament, and the Dodge Bowl Tournament in conjunction with the PTA.
Through its “ICC Fan Shop,” the Booster Club provides a way for the
community to purchase Ichabod Crane Central School branded apparel
and gear online. With the holidays fast approaching, you can order online
by visiting the Booster Club webpage at www.ichabodcrane.org/athletics/boosterclub.php and clicking on the “ICC Fan Shop” link.
Booster Club meets the third Monday of the month at 7 p.m. in the
Ichabod Crane High School library. Booster Club officers for the 2015-16
school year are Holly Kilcer, president; Julie Valliere, secretary; Carol Van
Denburgh, treasurer; and Tim Ragosta, vice president. For more information, “Like” the Ichabod Crane Booster Club on Facebook for upcoming
events and to see what they have planned. Go Riders!
5
UPDATE ON
ATHLETIC FIELD
LIGHT POLES
Last winter, one of the
light poles on the athletic
field fell over in a storm.
As a result, the District had
the three remaining poles
tested and it was determined that all four poles
should be replaced.
Over the last several
months, the District has
worked with the pole
manufacturer to replace all
four poles. It is anticipated
that the new poles will
be installed by the end of
December and will be ready
for spring events.
ICHABOD
CRANE
CENTRAL SCHOOL DISTRICT
Non-Profit Org
U.S. Postage
PAID
Permit #7
Valatie, NY
CHATHAM • GHENT • NASSAU • KINDERHOOK • STUYVESANT • SCHODACK • STOCKPORT
P.O. BOX 820 • VALATIE, NY 12184
BOARD OF EDUCATION
Anthony Welcome, President
John Chandler, Vice President
John Antalek
Tracy Farrell
Barbara-anne Johnson-Heimroth
Susan Ramos
Regina Rose
Michael Stead
Cheryl Trefzger
Postal Customer
CENTRAL ADMINISTRATION
George Zini, Superintendent
Michael Brennan, Business Manager
DISTRICT OFFICE
518-758-7575
www.ichabodcrane.org
NON-DISCRIMINATION COMPLIANCE STATEMENT: The Ichabod Crane Central School District hereby advises students, parents, employees, and the general public that it offers educational opportunities including
vocational opportunities without regard to sex, race, color, national origin, handicap or religion. Inquiries regarding this non-discrimination policy may be directed to: Title IX Compliance Officer, Melissa Murray, and
Section 504 Compliance Officer, Robert McCloskey, at 758-7575, Ichabod Crane Central School District, Valatie, NY 12184. A copy of the “In Compliance with Section 1.4 (a)” is available in the Superintendent’s Office.
Produced by Questar III Communications Service
CALENDAR DATES
NOVEMBER 2015
3 Board of Education Meeting, 7 p.m., Ichabod Crane High School
6 Go Home Early Drill (Students dismissed 15 minutes early)
11 Veterans Day – No School
12 Parent Teacher Conferences – Half Day
19 Parent Teacher Conferences – Half Day
26-27 Thanksgiving Recess
DECEMBER 2015
1 Board of Education Meeting, 7 p.m., Ichabod Crane High School
85th Grade Concert, 6:30 p.m., Ichabod Crane HS Auditorium
6th Grade Concert, 7:30 p.m., Ichabod Crane HS Auditorium
10 7th & 8th Grade Concert, 7 p.m., Ichabod Crane HS Auditorium
16 High School Concert, 7 p.m., Ichabod Crane HS Auditorium
23-1/3 Holiday Break – No School
JANUARY 2016
6 Board of Education Meeting, 7 p.m., Ichabod Crane High School
For a complete listing of Ichabod Crane CSD events, please visit
the Google calendar at www.ichabodcrane.org/calendar.php.
Our Schools/
Important Numbers
Ichabod Crane Primary School
758-7575, ext. 6002
Principal Suzanne Guntlow
Ichabod Crane
Elementary/Middle School
758-7575, ext. 5007 (Elem),
ext. 5002 (Middle)
Principal Tim Farley
Assistant Principal Tony Marturano
Ichabod Crane High School
758-7575, ext. 4002
Principal Craig Shull
Assistant Principal Daniel Farley
Central Office
Located in High School Building
758-7575, ext. 3001
Transportation
758-7575, ext. 3551
For additional information, visit the District’s Website at WWW.ICHABODCRANE.ORG