Superintendent Blog Post - July 23, 2019

I hope everyone is having a great summer.  We have been working on a couple of important things that we wanted to share with you for your information and also to provide opportunities to give input.

District Safety Plan 2019-2020

Mark Thomas, our Director of Security, and I have been working on making revisions to the District Safety Plan with the District Safety Team and Altaris, our safety consultants.  For the upcoming year, we will be adding an anonymous reporting feature on our website for students and community members to report safety issues to us. The state requires a 30 day public comment period for the plan before it is adopted by the Board of Education in late August.  

You can view the plan at this link: https://www.beaconk12.org/domain/474

You can direct comments on the plan to me at landahl.m@beaconk12.org.  

Each of our school buildings has a safety plan as well but they are only available to staff, not the public.  Thanks and let me know if you have any questions.

Draft Code of Conduct 2019-2020 School Year

Erik Wright, our Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum and Student Support, has been working with different focus groups and the Board of Education to revise our Code of Conduct.  The newly revised Code of Conduct provides more clarity regarding infractions and the range of consequences, encourages the use of restorative practices, and provides for a more gender neutral dress code.  

You can view the draft at this link: https://www.beaconk12.org/domain/475

There will be a Public Hearing on the proposed Code of Conduct at the August 12 Board of Education meeting at 7:00 at Beacon High School.  You can also write feedback to Erik Wright at wright.e@beaconk12.org

District Accolades

The New York Public High School Athletic Association has declared Beacon High School to be a New York State School of Excellence for having 75% of our Varsity teams achieve a team academic average of over 90%.  Congratulations to our students, teachers, coaches, administrators, and families for making this happen!

Keep having a great summer!  

Matt Landahl

Superintendent Blog Post - June 25, 2019 

Thank You!

During the last week of school you will probably not catch me at my most reflective but I wanted to take a moment to reflect and say a huge thank you to the Beacon community for the past two years.  I was randomly looking at some pictures a few nights ago of our move to Beacon and had those thoughts that a lot of us have when looking at old pictures: the last two years went by so fast, the last two years also went by so slow, and I have a lot more gray hairs on my head now than I did then.  That all said, I just wanted to say thanks for your support of our staff, our budget process, and most importantly your children and all of the young people in the community. Beacon is a very special place and I am proud to be here and I am incredibly excited for graduation later this week, a little bit of down time this summer, and even more exciting plans for the district for next year and beyond.  

Have a great summer!

Where are our amazing Seniors going next year?

Do you ever find yourself slowing down at the BCSD sign on Verplank this time of year to see where every senior is going next year?  I sure do.  

Here is the list of where every amazing Senior is going next year.  Roughly 85% of our Seniors go on to post-secondary education with that group split evenly between four year colleges and two year colleges.  Our Seniors also serve our community by joining the Armed Forces and by entering the workforce. Congratulations to an amazing group!

Adult Services/ACCES VR, Adult Services OPWDD, Albany State University, Baruch College of the CUNY, Belmont Abby, Binghampton, Capri Cosmetology, Carnegie Mellon University, Cedar Crest College, Central Piedmont Community College, Christopher Newport University, Culinary Institute of America, College of Mount Saint Vincent, Colorado College, Concordia College - NY, CUNY John Jay, Curry College, Dutchess Community College, Florida State University, Hofstra University, Howard University, Hunter College of the CUNY, Iona, Ithaca College, James Madison University, Johns Hopkins University, Keister University, Kent Preparatory, Lasell College, Le Moyne College, Liberty University, Marist College, Marymount Manhattan, Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, Mercy College, Michigan State, Mount Saint Mary College, New England College, Orange BOCES ALI, Orange County Community College, Pennsylvania State University, Sacred Heart University, Siena College, Springfield College, St. John’s University, St. Rose, Sullivan County Community College, SUNY Albany, SUNY Buffalo, SUNY College at Brockport, SUNY College at Cortland, SUNY Delhi, SUNY John Jay, SUNY College of Technology at Canton, SUNY New Paltz, SUNY College at Oneonta, SUNY Plattsburgh, SUNY Purchase, SUNY Sullivan, Susquehanna University, Temple University, The Sage Colleges, United States Marine Corps, United States Navy, University of Chicago, University of Delaware, University of Hartford, University of Pennsylvania, Utica College, Wagner College, West Virginia University, Western Connecticut State University

 

Superintendent Blog Post - May 31, 2019

In this blog post there is some information about the capital project work, my welcome letter for the Calico Ball, and some information about a couple of free events worth checking out this weekend.

Capital Project Begins

Bulldozers were sighted behind Beacon High School today to begin the work for our new athletic field!  Most of the work of the capital project is taking place this summer.  In addition to the new turf field behind the high school, we are also working on a renovated science, home and careers, and special education classrooms at Rombout, and repairs and upgrades at all of our schools.  We will update the community on the progress of this work through social media and blog posts throughout the summer.  You can find out more information about the capital project here:   https://www.beaconk12.org/domain/437

30th Calico Ball next week!

A few quick things about the Calico Ball.  We are celebrating the 30th year of the performance, the district is now back to funding it in our regular budget, and most importantly, a huge thanks to the Beacon Arts and Education Foundation for keeping it going for so many years.  Below is my welcome letter in the Calico Ball program.

Welcome to the 30th Calico Ball!  This treasured tradition has a remarkable history in our district.  For three decades, BCSD students have taken the stage to demonstrate how they have expanded their understanding of cultures around the world through dance, music and storytelling .  It has become a rite of passage for our third graders and a powerful learning experience. No doubt there are many parents in the audience who participated in the Ball themselves! Special thanks to the Vanaver Caravan for bringing this opportunity into our classrooms for so many years and to all of our teachers and support staff for deepening students’ experiences with in depth studies of the countries that their class is focussed on.

In 2010, theThe district was faced with the difficult decision to pull the Calico Ball from the budget but luckily, the program did not end there.  Pete Seeger, a long-time supporter of the Ball, generously donated to the Beacon Arts & Education Foundation (BAEF) in order to keep the tradition alive and BAEF took up the torch from there.  I am grateful to the Beacon Arts & Education Foundation (BAEF) for keeping the Ball alive for the last nine years. This year I am very proud to announce that this great piece of out of the box programming is back in the district budget!!

Thanks again to co-presidents Lori Merhige and Anna Bergin for your support and advocacy during the past three Calico Ball seasons and for all of the programming you have made possible through fundraising for this district! Your leadership has made a huge difference!

A Couple of Free Events Worth Checking out this Weekend!

On Saturday, June 1 from 12:00-4:00 I AM Beacon is hosting the Rock Out 4 Mental Health Event at Pete & Toshi Seeger Riverfront Park.  The event is free and a chance to connect with community members, learn more about resources available to those in need in our community, and enjoy great music.

On Saturday, June 1 at 9:00 am the Beacon Greenway Trail Committee and the City of Beacon will be hosting a walk of the Fishkill Creek Greenway and Heritage Trail.

The event will begin at 9 am at the Scenic Hudson's River Center (aka Red Barn) at Long Dock Park and cover the entirety of the planned length of the Trail in Beacon, approximately 4 miles. The walk will end at the The Lofts at Beacon (Rte 52 and Mill Street). Shuttle service will be provided to get walkers back to Long Dock Park.

The event coincides with National Trails Day, a celebration of America’s magnificent Trail system. With this walk, the organizers hope to encourage Trail use in general, and to specifically spread awareness of Beacon’s Fishkill Creek Greenway and Heritage Trail.

The walk is expected to take roughly 2 hours. All are encouraged to join for the walk of the entire length or any portion of the Trail.

Please come out for the event to see parts of Beacon you may have never seen, and experience firsthand Beacon’s Fishkill Creek Greenway and Heritage Trail.

For additional information and updates, please refer to Beacon’s Facebook event page at https://www.facebook.com/beaconny/.