Administrative Team
PATRICIA GIBBONS, SUPERINTENDENT
August 2024
Dear Families, Caregivers, Faculty, and Staff
Welcome Back! We hope you have enjoyed a most restful and enjoyable summer. We are excited to begin the 2024-2025 school year. The start of a new school year brings such enthusiasm and anticipation. We are looking forward to greeting the new and familiar faces of our students, faculty, and families of Lyme Central.
As we get ready to open our doors for another wonderful school year, we wanted to update you on a few matters that will be impactful to you throughout the coming year.
Our Administrative team and our Guidance department have been working hard all summer with planning and preparing for the coming school year. One concept we are excited to share is the implementation of “Anchor Time” for our students in grades 7-12. We adjusted our schedule slightly to accommodate the need for some flex time in the middle of the day. This flex time is approximately 20 minutes, each day, and is intended to allow for more opportunities for activities such as: class meetings, Positivity Project activities, Buddy Program matches, and more contact with teachers in the event a student is struggling academically and requires additional academic support with their teacher(s). You will learn more about “Anchor Time” and other important back to school information in a communication from our Building Principal, Mrs. Emily Burker, in the coming week or so.
Late Spring, the Commissioner of Education and SED, shared with District’s around the state, their proposal to redefine what a graduate may look like in the near future. The Blue Ribbon Commission designed several recommendations to address two critical needs: create equity in NYS public education and to ensure NY students gain the knowledge and skills necessary to succeed in future endeavors. To do so, this proposal will focus on four priority areas. Students will be given multiple pathways to demonstrate their knowledge, leading to one high school diploma, rather than the 3 current diploma types; students will have flexibility in the assessments they take but will still be assessed in ELA, Math, and Science; students will be expected to demonstrate understanding of life ready credentials such as: time management, financial literacy; public speaking skills, etc. and finally, be exposed to and participate in culturally responsive curriculum, instruction, and assessment.
It will be quite some time before this proposal is implemented. There is much work to be done in preparation for this shift. However, I mention this to share that we, at Lyme, are already planning for and applying some of these tenets to prepare our students for their transition to higher education and/or a career in the workforce. Those tenets include, but are not limited to: increased pathways for learning in the arts, languages, and social studies; striving to ensure all of our students take a financial literacy course; exposing our students to career options by way of internships for all students; and expanding our partnerships with local businesses and establishments. We will continue to foster opportunities for our students to learn and grow so they will be prepared to take on a multitude of challenges when they leave our halls.
We wanted to update you on our DODEA grant application. The premise of this grant is to extend our after school program and to offer clubs and family engagement sessions for our students and families. We expect to hear whether we have been selected for this grant by late September. As you may recall, our former after school program (ASP) was funded by the American Rescue funds provided for COVID relief. Since those funds are now exhausted, our after school program (ASP) is obsolete. We are anxiously awaiting the status of our DODEA grant application. If funded, we will be offering the ASP program in late Fall, if possible. If we are not funded, we will need to go back to the drawing board and look for other funding sources to support this necessary program. It is unlikely that we would have an after school program until a funding source is available. Unfortunately, it is too costly for the District to operate a program on our own. We hope to have some good news in the next month or so. We will keep you updated as we receive further information.
Last winter, we sent communication about our need to better protect our 1:1 Chromebook initiative. As you know far too well, we live in a very digital, highly technological world. Our students need to be well versed and comfortable with technology in order to be able to navigate higher education courses and/or compete for jobs and careers that require the skill of being a digital native. As such, much of our students’ exposure to curricula is through their Chromebook. In most situations, this device is their textbook. It is essential for their learning. I know for many of us who grew up prior to the digital world, this concept seems very foreign. Since our students are using technology for the majority (but not all) of their learning needs, we must better protect these tools so that they can last. We are finding that the chromebooks are being damaged faster than we can replace them. Unfortunately, we are at point where we need to safeguard these important tools by offering protection by way of a warranty plan, so that we can continue to offer a school issued machine.
To enter into the warranty plan, we are asking for an annual $15 enrollment fee, per student. This coverage will begin upon the signed contract by the parent and student and will cover the machine through the end of the school year. The warranty will provide deductibles for various damages such as: broken screens, broken keyboards, lost chargers, etc. The deductibles are costs that are considerably less than full replacement prices. If a parent elects not to join the warranty plan, then any damages or lost items will be at full repair or replacement value which could range from $250 to over $500.00. The Chromebook Damage Replacement Contract will be part of the welcome back materials you will be receiving either at our Open House or within the opening week of school. Please look for this and contact us with any questions or concerns.
Every year, all schools across the state must update their District Wide School Safety plans. The State Education Department along with Center for School Safety provide trainings to schools on the required yearly updates. For this coming school year and from now on, school districts must offer drills that are conducted in a “trauma-informed, developmentally and age- appropriate manner”. Trauma-informed is a term that is new. This term means that we have an understanding of what trauma is and how it can affect the physical, emotional, and mental health of students and staff. As such, Districts are not permitted to hold drills or simulations that could elicit a negative emotional or psychological response in staff or students such as a school shooting, incident of violence or other emergency. Students will still be instructed on the protocol for where in the classroom they must go and what to do in any emergency situation.
Furthermore, we must notify families, at least one week in advance, that we are conducting an evacuation (aka fire drill) drill and/or any other type of drill. We will continue to execute the thirteen required drills and more if needed. We must inform you and our students each time we hold these drills. Please know that we sometimes have several drills in a weeks’ time if the weather permits. As such, that type of communication would be something like, “Dear Families, please note we plan to hold a few evacuation drills this week since the weather looks nice. We are having these drills so that we can practice our emergency exit routes as required by SED”. This communication will be forthcoming from the building principal, Mrs. Emily Burker’s, office. Staff, students, and families will not know exactly when the drills are going to be. However, you will be informed that we are likely to have a drill in the coming week.
Also, of importance, our community supported our need for a Building Project last Fall. Well, we are on track to begin the process of making those upgrades to our building this coming Spring 2025. The majority of the work to be done, which you will not be able to see, is the improvements to our infrastructure; upgrading our pipes, heating and electrical systems. The work that you will notice will be a needed facelift to our gymnasium and front lobby. This work will likely take the longest to complete. As such, many of the celebrations and gatherings that we typically have at the end of the school year in our gymnasium will be moved to an alternate location or regrettably, downsized. We are currently working on a timeline and planned adjustment to these celebratory items. It is probable that our graduation ceremony will be moved off site to a local establishment. Details about our end of year celebrations are in the works and forthcoming. Currently, the architectural team is suggesting approximately 5-possibly 7 months of work to complete the building project. The majority of the work will be in the summer or during second shift when students and staff are not in session. We are actively discussing an appropriate timeline for when the work is to be completed. Once a decision is made, we will certainly share this timeline with our community, families, students, and staff.
And finally, I am very happy to report that our Transportation Department is back to full strength. We have all the drivers we need to fully support the necessary runs to and from school. I cannot thank our families enough for assisting the District with our transportation needs last Spring. Your support and willingness to transport your children was truly appreciated.
I would like to take this opportunity to welcome new staff members to the District. Please join me in welcoming the new staff and some staff holding a different position in the District:
Mrs. Elizabeth Netto …… Elementary teacher (grade 6)
Miss Marissa Valvo……… PE teacher
Mrs. Stephanie Askins….. Teacher Assistant (PreK)
Mr. Jeremiah Calhoun…. Bus Driver
Ms. Cassie Gifford………. Bus Driver and Cafeteria Monitor
In addition, we regrettably anticipate both a retirement and a leave of an employee from our District prior to the New Year.
Mr. Tim Mason… Bus Driver with 39 years of service to our District
Mrs. Leah Martineau…. ELA teacher; Change of Duty Station for her family
Just to reiterate, you will soon be receiving a communication from Mrs. Burker’s office. Mrs. Burker will be delving into greater detail in regard to specific school and athletic related information, as well as schedules and timelines for important happenings throughout the school year (ie: Save the Dates). Please keep this information handy as it will likely answer many beginning of the year questions either you and/or your children may have as we edge closer to the opening of school.
There is much to celebrate as we begin the 2024-2025 school year. LCS has great students and staff, a strong, cohesive Board of Education, loving families and caregivers, and supportive communities that believe in our school and our school community. We remain thankful and dedicated to the work that we do to provide our students with a safe, clean, rigorous, and supportive learning environment. However, we cannot do this work alone. We are forever indebted to our families, our parents and caregivers, who support and partner with us to do what is best for our students, each and every day.
We will embrace the smiling faces of our students as we open our doors on Wednesday, September 4th. I hope you enjoy the remaining weeks of summer with family and friends. We can’t wait to see you all on September 3rd for Open House from 5-6:00pm! Be well and we see you soon.
Warmest regards,
Pat