Good afternoon, 

I hope you had a great Thanksgiving, quality time with loved ones, and a good week. Today, I will provide an update on our district's Strategic Plan and next steps. As you may know, our current Strategic Plan, which started in 2019, expires at the end of this school year.   

Our strategic plan drives our priority initiatives and focus as a school system.  

It is important for me to explain that our strategic plan functions as a promissory note to the community that clearly defines what we promise to accomplish as a school system.  A strategic plan should also prioritize where and how we guide our budget decisions.  Our strategic plan will also communicate our goals and metrics for student achievement.  

As we begin planning our roadmap forward for 2024-2030, we seek and need your input. 

We plan to align our focus with the SCSD 2030 Revitalization Plan. Again, please remember that our Strategic Plan is our vision of success for multiple years and serves as our roadmap moving forward. It provides the pillars and foundation of what we do and where we focus our attention. This must align with what is essential to our school community. 

I encourage you to please share your thoughts by completing this survey or attending one of our upcoming focus groups in our Strategic Plan Listening Tour. This is an in-person opportunity for you to share what's most important to you and for us to learn what you think we currently do well, what you want us to focus on in the future, and what you think we should do better as a school system. 

The survey is now open. You can participate by clicking here.

The focus groups will be held in January 2024 as follows. We are asking that you please register to participate. You can register now, by clicking here.

Thank you to those who have registered to attend Schenectady's Right to Read event scheduled for December 11 at Proctors GE Theatre. This is an important event, not only designed to bring attention to the literacy crisis, but presents an opportunity for us to collaborate to address it. At this event, we will provide a viewing of the national film, "Right to Read," followed by discussion and Q & A. We will also discuss how everyone can play a role in helping our youngest learners. You can learn more here.

SIGN UP TO ATTEND HERE. Please share our flyer and invitation to all in the Schenectady community.

Congratulations

Congratulations to Schenectady High School Swimmer Alexis Gibson and Gabbie Norton. Both seniors qualified for states.

Thank you

I'd like to express a huge "thank you" to Al Magid, founder and executive director of Reading Is Fun, a program that brings volunteers into our schools to read with elementary children. Mr. Magid and his team are great partners. On November 27, a letter to the editor, authored by Mr. Magid and titled Praise for Sch'dy school drama team, was printed in the Daily Gazette. Mr. Magid sent the copy of his letter along to us so we can share.

The letter is as follows.

"A paean of praise: ... for the Schenectady city school district’s John Sayles School of Fine Arts in Schenectady High School.

... for the Sayles School’s William J. Ziskin Black Box Theatre, memorializing its beloved English and drama teacher founder and longtime artistic director.

... for Schenectady High School’s formerly Ziskin-led, student membership Blue Roses Theatre Company, which by being associated with Proctors Theatre’s community-outreach program, has in most aspects of theatre arts (casting, staging, technical support, etc.) been imbued with a virtual professional perspective.

... for the Henry M. Butzel Family Foundation, which has long been Black Box/Blue Roses’ “Broadway angel,” the major financial donor.

... for the recent staging by the Blue Roses Theatre Company in the Black Box Theatre of “Love/ Sick,” scripted by John Cariani, a noted playwright and On and Off Broadway and TV actor.

“Love/Sick” is organized around nine fast-moving short plays, each one mildly contorted and relentlessly funny. Their themes are keyed to personalities and situations and moods just about anyone would find familiar: different blends of comedy and sadness, of love and loss, of imperfect lovers and dreamers, some of them zany, wacko.

All of this together spanning a lifetime arc of complicated human relationships, dating and mating, sometimes culminating in painful divorce.

A real challenge for a large cohort of Schenectady High School thespians bent on getting “Love/ Sick” all right.

They did, by my reckoning earning an A grade."

Al Magid

Thank you to Mr. Magid for taking time to write this letter and recognize our fine arts programming, collaboration with Proctors, and latest theatre production at Schenectady High School.

Way to Go!

I also want to give a shoutout to Rebekka Henriksen, the district's farm-to-school project manager, who was featured as the Community Spotlight in the Schenectady Foundation's latest publication. Rebekka does extraordinary work for the students and families of our district. She continues to be the force behind the 15 school gardens, our farm-to-school initiative and so much more. Read more here.

Mont Pleasant Middle School sold 223 sweatshirts and polos for a total of $2230 for Cancer Awareness. Thank you to Social Studies Teacher Steve Balogh for spearheading this effort, all who were part of it, and all who purchased items and donated to this important cause.

Counseling Department Kudos

Recently, the Schenectady High School Counseling Department collaborated with the Schenectady College and Career Outreach Center to take 30 seniors for campus visits at the University at Albany and Siena College. Students had the opportunity to tour the campuses and attend informational sessions. Thank you to our counseling department and the Schenectady College and Career Outreach Center for providing this opportunity because without our assistance and support, not all students are afforded the opportunity to attend a college visit.

In the News

This week WAMC reported on the Big Brothers Big Sisters program in our schools. You can listen to it here. Thank you again to BBBS for collaborating with us to not only make this mentorship program available to our youngest students but to also give our older students an opportunity to be leaders and mentors.

New Information

BMI Reporting
Our district has been selected to participate in a data collection project being done by the New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH) regarding student Body Mass Index (BMI). BMI is calculated using weight and height and helps medical professionals determine if a person's weight is in the healthy range or is too high or too low. BMI and weight status groups are included as part of a student's health exam. A summary report on weight status groups will be provided to the NYSDOH. The information collected by NYSDOH will be used to help health officials develop programs that make it easier for children to be healthier. The information that we provide will not include student names or other personal information. You can however choose to have your child's data excluded from the report. If you do not want your child's weight status group information included as part of the Health Department's report, please contact your school nurse or complete the opt-out form here by January 2, 2024.

Newsletter
Please take a look at the Department of Innovation, Equity and Engagement (IEE) December newsletter here. It includes news and updates, important calendar information for families as well as information on the mobile food pantry and how to contact your parent liaison.

Reminders

COVID-19

We've had a parents and staff members ask what the protocols are when testing positive for COVID-19 so I'm providing this as a brief reminder. Any person testing positive should do the following:

• Isolate for 5 days with day zero being he first day of symptoms or the positive test if symptomatic

• You can return to work/school on day 6 and wear a well-fitted mask if symptoms are resolving

Staff members should contact your school leader or complete the self-report form here.

High School Information Sessions for 8th Graders

Information sessions are scheduled to help 8th grader learn about Schenectady High School programs and opportunities. The transition from middle to high school is a big step. We are working to make it a smooth one for our incoming high schoolers. The sessions are as follows:

Holiday Concert

If you're looking for some holiday festivities, please consider attending the Schenectady High School Winter Concert coming up December 13 at 6:30 p.m. in the auditorium. The jazz bands, concert band, chamber strings, Patriot Orchestra, treble choir, Serenders and concert choir will all be performing. I'm sure it will be a treat.

Winter Sports
Winter Sports are underway. Please come out and support our athletes. You can find the schedule here.

Happy Hanukkah

Hanukkah will be observed December 7 - 15. Happy Hanukkah to those in our school community who celebrate. Hanukkah is a Jewish celebration that is observed for eight nights and days with a variety of traditions. The festival is observed by lighting the candles of candelabrum with nine branches, commonly called a menorah.

The next Board of Education meeting will be held Wednesday, December 5 at 6:30 p.m. in the Mont Pleasant Middle School Schenectady Room. This will be a regular meeting. The Quarter 1 Academic Update will be presented. The meeting will also be available via livestream. The agenda will be posted and meeting link available on BoardDocs.

This is a busy time and often stressful time of year for many. Please be sure to make time for rest, relaxation and self-care.

Have a great weekend.

Sincerely,

Anibal Soler, Jr.
Superintendent

Pre-K Openings in Woodlawn and Yates Areas

We have a limited number of immediate openings for Pre-K in the Woodlawn and Yates attendance areas. If your child will be 4-years old by Dec 1 and you live in the Woodlawn or Yates attendance zone , you are invited to apply here

Girls Lacrosse Intramurals

Girls in grades K-6 are invited to participate in Lacrosse Intramurals beginning in January. 

You can choose Mondays or Wednesdays! 

All skill levels welcome. See flyers for more information and to register.

Community Job Fair
December 7
11 a.m. - 3 p.m.
Center City Lobby (433 State St.) See flyer for more info!

MOBILE APP SUPPORT Click here to watch a short video on how to set your school and language preferences on our mobile app: hhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=saNC9ek2Lqg

PREVIOUS BRIEFS: For the index of Volume 1, 2 and 3 briefs click here.