Welcome Back!

We are so excited to get this school year started.  I wanted to give you an update on some important summer work that has taken place and how it positively impacts us at the start of the year.   We developed a strategic plan last year and I have found myself focusing on the words “Care, Connect, Engage” as a way to summarize our work with the plan.  We will be continuously working on ways to increase the power of learning experiences in our district and to also increase the sense of belonging we want all of us to feel.  Thanks in advance for partnering with the district to achieve these goals.  

Capital Project Update

Our new athletic field behind Beacon High School is complete and students will begin playing on it in the next few weeks.  It is beautiful and we can’t wait to see our student-athletes in action on it. We will update you soon on the schedule of events on the field so you can check it out as well.

The renovated classrooms at Rombout Middle School have come down to the wire.  Work crews have been working all weekend to complete them and they are ready for students.  We will still need to finish some plumbing work and electrical work in the rooms but it will be done at night and completed in the next few days.  We can’t wait for our students to see the new Home and Careers classroom, the new ADL classroom, and the new Science lab.

The one delay we have experienced with this project is with the installation of unit ventilators in about 80 of our classrooms.  These unit ventilators are slated to be installed in South Avenue Elementary, Sargent Elementary, and Rombout Middle. The delay occurred because both of the major suppliers of the units have closed factories in the U.S. and have delayed producing and shipping the units as a result.  The classrooms are safe without them and they should arrive in the next week or two. When they arrive, they will be installed at night so the instructional day is not disrupted.

I want to personally thank the community for supporting this work.  It positively impacted all of our schools and will make a difference in the experience of our young people.

The Summer of Professional Development

We worked strategically with the 19-20 budget to include powerful professional development that supported our different Board/District goals, namely our Excellence, Equity, and Culture of Care goals.  

This summer we had:

• 40 educators attend the Engagement Institute at BHS to learn about increasing higher order thinking and engaging strategies in the classroom.
• 40 educators attend the Dignity Framework Institute at BHS to learn about ways to build a more inclusive, diverse, and equitable environment for all in our district.
• 20 educators attend the Responsive Classroom Institute at BHS to learn about an elementary classroom model that builds community and positive behavior through relationships.
• 2 educators attend the Sustainability Institute to learn about ways to implement a systems thinking approach to our curriculum development.
• 1 educator attended the Project Lead the Way Institute to be trained in implementing our Computer Science PLTW classwork at the high school.
• 7 educators attend the Restorative Practices Institute in Poughkeepsie to learn about ways to build a restorative culture in the district.

All of this professional development will help us increase levels of learning and a sense of belonging in our district, schools, and classrooms.

Revised Code of Conduct

Last year our Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum and Student Support Erik Wright worked with different stakeholders in the district to review our Code of Conduct.  He developed a short version of it which is on the home page of the District website under the “Our District Tab”. I encourage you to read it and discuss it with your child(ren). You will find changes to the dress code making it more gender-neutral and levels of infractions which we believe will bring more clarity to the process.  

New Technology at Beacon High School

In the 19-20 budget, we provided for funds to allow Beacon High School to catch up with the rest of the district with technology.  Beacon High School will implement a 1:1 Chromebook program with all of its students and all of the classrooms in Beacon High School will have interactive whiteboards.  We feel these changes will positively impact the learning experience now for all of our students.

Menus

Here is the elementary menu: https://www.beaconk12.org/Page/1692

Here is the middle school menu: https://www.beaconk12.org/Page/1693

Here is the high school menu:  https://www.beaconk12.org/Page/1694

Have a great first day of school!

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