Dear Beacon Community:

I am writing to inform you about the permanent closure of Matteawan Road by Fishkill Correctional Facility.  We were informed yesterday that officials at the Fishkill Correctional Facility are permanently closing the part of Matteawan Road that runs past their facility.  This closure will take effect on Monday, November 1, 2021.

Many of our school busses use this road as well as parents and students driving to Beacon High School and Rombout Middle School.  The closure will cause traffic congestion at arrival and dismissal time at Beacon High School and Rombout Middle School and will cause delays for many of our bus routes.

We are currently analyzing all of our bus routes and we will update the community with revised pick up and drop off times for the impacted routes.  The bridge construction on 84 has already caused delays this year for many of our routes so I apologize for this in advance.  We will also work with the City of Beacon to see if anything can be done to help alleviate traffic congestion on Matteawan Road heading to Verplank Avenue.

We will update the community next week with more information about bus routes and this situation.

Thanks,

Matt Landahl

Superintendent Update October 16, 2021

Dear Beacon Community:

I wanted to take a moment to provide a few updates to you.  

Homecoming Week Thanks!  

We wrapped up homecoming week last night and it was a successful week.  Thanks to all of the administrators, teachers, coaches, students, and families who made everything possible!  Special thanks to the Beacon Soccer Club for donating the fireworks for Thursday night’s event!

Upcoming Capital Project Info

Just a reminder that the vote is on October 26, 2021.  It is a $26 million project but is tax-neutral and allows us to transform learning spaces across the district and address key infrastructure issues.  

You can view recordings of zoom town hall meetings or check out the slides at our capital project website here: https://www.beaconk12.org/domain/577

On Wednesday, October 20 at 7:00 at Beacon High School the BCSD Board of Education is hosting a special meeting focusing on the capital project.  At the meeting, the public can comment on the project and/or ask questions.

Please let me know if you have any questions as well.

Inclement Weather Days

At all of the Homecoming activities this week, the weather was absolutely perfect and it was hard to imagine that snow and ice will come in the next few months.  But it will!  So I wanted to take a minute and talk about weather days this year.  Here are a few key points for this year:

• We will do our best to make weather cancellation decisions by 5:15 am so people can plan.
• We are able to use a two-hour delay again this year due to our return to regular schedules.
• We will use full snow/weather days when it is needed.  We have six inclement weather days built into our calendar.
• Inclement weather cancellation day decisions are based on road conditions or sometimes the weather forecast for later in the day.  
• If we have used all six of the weather/snow days, we will utilize remote learning days for any remaining inclement weather days.  This will keep us from having to use Spring break as make-up days.

If anything needs to change with our weather day plans, we will communicate the changes to everyone.

I hope everyone has a great weekend!

Matt Landahl

Superintendent Update October 8, 2021

I hope everyone had a good week.  Before the updates, I want to congratulate Boys Soccer Coach Craig Seaman on achieving his 200th win this past week.  What an incredible accomplishment, congratulations Coach!

Capital Project 2021 Zoom Town Hall

Tuesday, October 12 at 5:30

We will review all facets of the project and answer any questions that you may have.  We will try to make this town hall a little shorter than the last one.

Please click the link below to join the webinar on Tuesday October 12 at 5:30:

https://E2CCB-GST.zoom.us/j/91404317675?pwd=bVlyYkJFQW9FYmlWSml3Vk1JaXJZQT09

We will send a reminder about the meeting on Tuesday.

You can check out this past week’s Capital Project town hall on Youtube here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mCW-vJ3C6vk

Our Capital Project website is here: https://www.beaconk12.org/domain/577

We will have a special Board of Education meeting about the Capital Project on Wednesday, October 20 at 7:00.  We will go over the project and answer questions that people have.

Remember the vote for the Capital Project is on October 26th from 6:00 am-9:00 pm.

Save the Date- Homecoming Week Fireworks at the Athletic Field at 6:45 on Thursday, October 14 after the Boys Soccer Game which starts at 4:15.  The fireworks are made possible by community donations.   You can find other athletic events on the website here: https://www.beaconk12.org/Page/52#calendar85/20211001/month

District Diversity/Equity Committee:

Our first meeting this year will be Thursday, November 4 at 7:00.  We will provide more information about meeting formats and committee working groups before the meeting.

Health Screener Update

The daily health screener will start on Wednesday of next week.  I will send an update about it on Tuesday.

Have a great weekend!

Matt Landahl

Dear Beacon Community:

I hope everyone is doing well!  I wanted to take a moment to share a few updates and reminders.

Capital Project 2021 Zoom Town Halls

Tuesday, October 5th at 7:00.  Join me, Ann Marie Quartironi, Board of Education Facilities Chair Kristan Flynn, and our architect Bill Wisbauer.  We will go through a slide show that will detail the project and you will be able to ask questions.  We will post and send out the link next week.

Tuesday, October 12 at 5:30.  We will do a repeat presentation but answer any new questions that come up.

Both town halls will be recorded and put on Youtube and shared with the community.  The slides will be shared as well.

Remember the vote for the Capital Project is on October 26th from 6:00 am-9:00 pm.

Social/Emotional Inventory Zoom Town Hall

Thanks to those who joined us last night as we went through an overview of the results of the survey we did at the end of last school year.  We posted the town hall on Youtube here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fZQeSmgVQ5s

Save the Date- Homecoming Week Fireworks at the Athletic Field at 6:45 on Thursday, October 14 after the Boys Soccer Game which starts at 4:15.  Attached to this email are other Homecoming week events at Beacon High School.  You can find other athletic events on the website here: https://www.beaconk12.org/Page/52#calendar85/20211001/month

The schedule for homecoming week can be found here.

Coming Soon

Yes, the daily health screener will start next week.  I will send out a robocall the night before to remind folks.

Wellness and Diversity Committee updates and schedules will be set next week.

Star Students and Star Employees!

Have a great weekend!

Matt Landahl