Superintendent Blog Post - December 7, 2018

BOCES Capital Project Update

Reminder – The 2018 Dutchess BOCES Capital Project Vote is Tuesday, December 11, 2018 from 12:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.  The Central Administration Offices for the Beacon City School District is hosting a voting location. We are located at 10 Education Drive, Beacon, NY  12508.
Qualified Dutchess County residents may vote at any of the 14 locations in the county.  To see if you are a qualified voter and for a list of voting places, please visit:  https://dcboces.org/capitalproject

By visiting the link above, you can also read more about the Capital Project, view a PowerPoint Presentation and browse Frequently Asked Questions.

Wellness Committee Update:

The district has much gratitude to all the members of the Wellness Committee  that have worked tirelessly over the past four years to advocate for the importance and necessity of a wellness-minded approach for all members of the school community through by creating policy revision and promoting planned activities.  Focus of the work of the Wellness Committee in 2018-19 includes the planning and organization of district activities for its students, families, staff and community; the creation of communication platforms to celebrate the work that is happening in our schools; and to provide accessible education and resources on emerging topics to support the greater school community’s health and wellness.  The committee is a representative group of district stakeholders of teachers, administrators, family members, board of education members, and community based organizations and agencies committed to these priorities that meet on the first Wednesday of the month from 4:00 - 5:00 pm in the Community Room at Beacon High School. We want your input, insight and energy to accomplish our work and encourage you to volunteer as a committee member to help lead this work.   Please contact Cecilia Dansereau-Rumley, Assistant Superintendent for HR & Accountability Systems with an email of interest at rumley.c@beaconk12.org.  Next Wellness Committee meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, January 3rd at 4:00 pm.   

 

RMS Star Student

Avneet Kaur is a 6th grade student at Rombout Middle School. Avneet is very friendly, kind and conscientious. She is a Principal's honor roll student and she maintained a 95.92 average for the first marking period. Avneet is a natural born leader with a contagious smile who has spearheaded an incentive geared towards improving our school community. In September, she set up a meeting with administration to pitch a fundraising idea that would benefit the Farm to School Committee and Ms. Coto's ADL class. This idea has enhanced the current recycling program by adding a fundraising component and a plan for more community participation. When she is not pitching school improvement ideas to the principals, she can be seen helping staff in the cafeteria with the sign out table, taking pictures for the yearbook or volunteering to work in the school store. Avneet's investment in the RMS community and her commendable attitude is truly inspiring; she is a young lady with a bright future ahead of her!

Employee Recognition

Darlene Mazzacone has been a Food Service Associate in Beacon City Schools for 36 years, our longest standing associate. She has worked all of those years at Rombout Middle School. Darlene has a true devotion to her work and runs a fabulous program at RMS.  She leads her staff with a strong team approach and works hard to assure her staff feel part of the larger community of RMS. She has seen generations of students go through the school and many of the students she served years ago are now staff members in our district. She is a true leader and loves what she does . Her spotless kitchen, large service numbers  and committed staff members are a testament to her devotion.

 

Superintendent Blog Post November 20, 2018

Happy Thanksgiving!  This a great time of year to think about things that I am thankful for in my life.  On a professional level, I am so thankful to be in Beacon serving the school district in my role of Superintendent.  I absolutely love the district and the community and am so happy to be here! The people in our district is what makes us great so a new and regular feature on the blog will be the Star Student and Star Employee.  Our Star Students will be young people who display kindness on a regular basis and our Employee Recognition will focus on people in our district who go above and beyond the call of duty. Please see below for the first installment of our Start Student and Star Employee. 

The Beacon City School District is on Instagram!  Yes, we are on Instagram now.  Our account name is BeaconCitySchool.  I can’t promise great pictures (I am a mediocre photographer) nor can I promise a lot of hashtags but we will update regularly and we hope to engage with you on that space.  We will use our Instagram account to highlight things in the district and will not use it to update on things like snow days. For that we will continue to let you know through email, text, phone, website, app, Facebook, and Twitter.  

Strategic Planning Committee Update

We had over two hundred people participate on the Thought Exchange app/website and many great ideas were shared, read, and rated.  Our committee will meet for the entire day on November 27 to create a Graduate Profile for the district. We will continue to update the community on this important work.

Glenham Star Student

Our student that we would like to showcase is Marcus "MJ" Brooks. He is a second grade student at Glenham Elementary school in Ms. Marsh and Ms. Selber's class. Marcus is one of the only students to already receive 2 Character Awards for being a great friend. Marcus is honest and hardworking. He, along with his mom and dad, taught all of the classes at Glenham about alopecia. We all support MJ with our "No Hair, Don't Care" bracelets! Marcus has a shining smile and personality that brightens everyone's day.

Employee Recognition

Mike Pennacchio is a staple here in the Beacon City School District. With 35 years of service to the district and community, he is the longest standing member of the facilities team.  These days, as part of the RMS night crew, he is integral in making sure the building is ready for the many community organizations that use it after school hours. He is always willing to accommodate any needs they may have and does it with a smile. Mike is always willing to help out with extra work on short notice and is so dedicated that he even stops in to check on the building on his days off.  The District is grateful to have had Mike as part of the team for so many years! Submitted by Anthony D’Amato, BCSD Facilities Director

Superintendent Update - November 1, 2018

Breakfast and Lunch Menus now on the District App!

I wanted to take a moment to plug the District App for smartphones.  If you go into your app store, search for the Beacon City School District, and our app will appear.  Once you download it, you can customize your app to follow the schools you want to follow.  The app has a great calendar function, it allows for notifications and updates from the district, and it now has breakfast and lunch menus which is a very popular addition in my world!  

Sustainability Committee

We are forming a Sustainability Committee for the district.  The Sustainability Committee will help the district create a more formal plan for recycling, composting, and other important issues in this area.  There have been many efforts in the district started by PTOs, students, or staff and we want to find ways for the district to support and be more strategic in the ways we help.  Our first meeting will be Tuesday, November 27 from 4:00-5:15 and we will try to meet monthly. The committee will be comprised of administrators, teachers/staff, parents and community members.  If you are interested in joining, please email me at landahl.m@beaconk12.org.  Let me know what school you are affiliated with in the email.  

Thought Exchange to Support Our Strategic Plan

Thanks to all who have supported our Thought Exchange.  You still have time to participate.  Once you enter the exchange, you can answer the question posed about creating our profile of a graduate, or just rate other people’s responses.  It is very easy to use and we would love to have more input.  Here is the information:

 It could take you as little as 5 - 10 minutes to participate.

1. You can complete questions at your own pace and come back to review your answers at any time.

If you know someone else who would like to participate, you can forward this invitation.

If you need technical help, please call Thoughtexchange at 1-800-361-9027 ext. 4 or email feedback@thoughtexchange.com.

Participate in this exchange by using the following link: https://my.thoughtexchange.com/#713723496

Alternatively, you can also use the Thoughtexchange app on your iPhone or Android device – or go to thoughtexchange.com and enter the code 713-723-496

Update on Air Quality Work at Beacon High School

Our air quality work at the high school is mostly complete.  The Beacon High School theater has been open for a couple of weeks and it looks beautiful! We will be working on our air chiller this year to see what improvements need to be made.  Thanks to the community for your patience with this process.