Message to the community September 4, 2020

 
 
 
Message from the
Spackenkill Superintendent

September 4, 2020

Dear Spackenkill Community,

Welcome back! We’re set to open next week. As a reminder, next Tuesday and Wednesday, September 8 and 9, are conference days. Our Hybrid 1 Orientation Phase-in Period will run from Thursday, September 10 through Friday, September 18. Please note: remote learning begins for all students on September 10, unless they are attending an in-person orientation. Our Hybrid 1 schedule fully begins on Monday, September 21. Please refer to the attached guides below for schedules:
Elementary Schedules Secondary Schedules














We’ve all been working hard to prepare, and our teachers, administrators, and staff are excited to see students, since we ended school so abruptly on March 13. This week our teachers completed Virtual Tech Academy, taught by 24 teachers, who taught over 500 classes! Over the course of the summer, close to 800 courses were taken in professional development. The amount of time and effort that everyone has put in is impressive and our teachers are well prepared and optimistic about teaching both in person and remotely.

Our nurses have been busy ordering medical supplies, setting up isolation rooms, and keeping up with CDC and Department of Health guidelines. They are also working on our new prescreening app. As a reminder, all students and staff will need to complete the prescreening app questions each day in order to attend school that day. You’ll learn more about that next week, when we send out information in a separate communication on this topic. 

thank you for socially distancing

In addition, our custodians have been placing signage and hallway and stairwell markers throughout the buildings to ensure social distancing (see image from Todd at left), while also practicing stringent cleaning guidelines. This past Wednesday, summer staff gathered in the Todd Middle School Custodian in Charge Colin Burgess with Covid stickcafeteria and ate lunch in a socially distanced setting as a trial run for how students will use the cafeteria in coming weeks. Todd Custodian in Charge Colin Burgess (right) shows off a “Covid stick,” which measures out six-foot lengths required for social distancing.

You might have read an article in the Poughkeepsie Journal about the new Dutchess County Covid Relief Scholarship Fund, which could potentially assist our district families in need of daycare. The application is due September 18, so please complete it ASAP if you think you might qualify.

Have a great Labor Day weekend and enjoy the last few days of summer break.                                                               

Sincerely,

Paul M. Fanuele, Ed.D.
Superintendent of Schools
 

 

 

15 Croft Road, Poughkeepsie, NY 12603; 845.463.7800