NorthStar Lights
North Syracuse Central School District's Electronic News
Happy New Year North Syracuse Central School District Parents, Guardians, Teachers and Staff,
I hope you were able to spend time with family and friends over the break and had a chance to rest and rejuvenate. I'm eager to tackle the challenges of the remainder of the school year and I look forward to enjoying the great things still to come. In the next few weeks we will have a District Dispatch newsletter hitting mailboxes of all homes in the District. There are a lot of things in the works and we want to make sure our whole community is in the loop.
In December, Associate Superintendent for Business Services Don Keegan, presented preliminary budget projections to the Board of Education. We want very much to keep our community informed as we move through the budget process leading up to the annual school budget vote and board of education member election in May. To help in this area, we have created a special "budget news" category for ParentSquare subscribers. Any community member can provide an email address and opt-in to receive notifications whenever new budget information is available. Signing up is as easy as putting your name and email address in a simple form and confirming with an email.
It is important to know that budget priorities will be aligned with Brighter Together, our updated strategic plan. Our Building Planning Teams (BPTs) met earlier this year to set individual building goals in alignment with the overall plan goals. We know that budget preparations will be challenging due to the impact of inflation but we look forward to the creative ways our staff will use to honor our renewed Mission and Vision.
Again, I invite you to subscribe to our budget news and to encourage your family, friends and neighbors to do the same. Thank you for staying informed and for your ongoing support.
Sincerely,
Daniel D. Bowles, Superintendent of Schools
Cicero-North Syracuse High School and Cicero Elementary School Students Partner as Book Buddies for Children's Literature Class
Students in Lisa VanBeveren's Children’s Literature class at Cicero-North Syracuse High School had a great time this week working with students at Cicero Elementary School to create personalized children’s books for their “Book Buddy”. The kindergarten students gave their “buddies” feedback on the potential storylines and illustrations, as well as ideas on how to personalize the books. The high school students will be creating the stories and illustrations and will give the final book to their buddy at the close of the semester.
Applications Welcome for Optimist Essay Contest
The Optimist Club of Cicero-North Syracuse is sponsoring an Essay Contest with a top award of a $2,500 college scholarship. Students under the age of 19 who live within the boundaries of the North Syracuse Central School District are eligible to participate. Entries for this year’s contest, “Who is an Everyday Hero that Brings out the Optimism in You?,” are due by January 27, 2023.
Click here to see the contest rules and to download the application form.
New York State Education Department Seeking Input on Graduation Requirements
The New York State Education Department (SED) is engaging education stakeholders as they convene a Blue Ribbon Commission to take a look at graduation requirements for New York state students. SED is asking educators to consider these questions:
- What skills and mindsets will be necessary in a rapidly changing and complex world?
- What are the skills and traits that your community members take pride in and hope to pass on to their students and children?
Thought exchange: http://www.nysed.gov/grad-measures/thoughtexchange
The deadline to provide feedback via the Thought Exchange is January 9th.
Families Encouraged to Check MySchoolBucks Account for Student Meal Balances
Did you know that the North Syracuse Central School District uses a program called MySchoolBucks for student meal accounts? With the program, families can create a free account to check their child’s meal balance, see their meal activity at school and set alerts for low balances. Payments can also be made through the system for a small fee.
Enrollment in the program is easy!
- Go to www.MySchoolBucks.com and register for a free account.
- You will receive a confirmation email with a link to activate your account.
- Add your students using their school name and student ID.
- Make a payment to your student's accounts with your credit/debit card or electronic check.
After the holiday recess, the District will begin sending notifications to families of students with negative meal balances as in previous years. Families with questions about the meal program, can contact the food services department at (315) 218-2176.
Snow Day, Delay and Early Closing Information
Winter weather is sure to arrive in Central New York soon and the NSCSD wants to remind our families and community members of some important snow day, delay and early closing information.
ParentSquare - ParentSquare is a unified app for school communication so parents and guardians can receive all announcements from the District, their children’s schools and teachers in one place, with options to specify how and when parents/guardians are notified. NSCSD students, parents and employees are automatically connected to ParentSquare through our school and employee information systems.
Community members and NSCSD partners can also sign up for the system in order to receive District Alerts. If you would like to receive messages from the District, simply go to https://www.parentsquare.com/community_signups/c20fecde-1b97-4e1b-9d37-ac66a49208ac/new and enter your name and email address. You can opt to receive messages in a variety of categories including “Emergency Alerts” for school closures and weather-related delays and dismissals.
NSCSD Board of Education Member Robert Crabtree shared photos from some of the events he was able to attend over the holiday break. Mr. Crabtree was a special guest on Northstar Network with C-NS High School student broadcasters Junior Johnny Lisi and Sophomore Hunter Baciuska from the announcers' booth at the ice rink.
The Cicero-North Syracuse High School Hockey Team was one of four to take the ice in several games over the two-day tournament. In the end, the C-NS team took second place after being defeated in the championship game by a team from Christian Brothers/Jamesville-DeWitt. Mr. Crabtree presented trophies and all tournament team plaques to the teams and individual players.
District Reminders!
JANUARY 9: Board of Education meeting at 6 PM at the Jerome F. Melvin Administrative Office Building (5355 West Taft Rd.) in North Syracuse. If you'd like to attend the meeting in-person, you must pre-register by Friday, January 6. Please email jherrera@nscsd.org to attend.
JANUARY 16: Schools Closed for Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day
JANUARY 23: Board of Education meeting at 6 PM at the Jerome F. Melvin Administrative Office Building (5355 West Taft Rd.) in North Syracuse. If you'd like to attend the meeting in-person, you must pre-register by Friday, January 20. Please email jherrera@nscsd.org to attend.
JANUARY 31: Half-Day for students in grades Pre-K-12 for Staff Workshops
North Syracuse Central School District
Email: webmaster@nscsd.org
Website: www.nscsd.org
Location: 5355 West Taft Road, Syracuse, NY, USA
Phone: (315) 218-2100
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NSyracuseCSD/
Twitter: @NSyracuseCSD