Raider Report October 2023

The sound of student voices could be heard throughout Red Hook Central School District as they returned to classes for the first day of the 2023-24 school year Sept. 6, 2023. Over 1,600 students entered their respective schools and were greeted by faculty, staff and administrators who spent the summer preparing facilities and programs for the students’ return.

Mill Road Primary School

At Mill Road, some students excitedly waved to teachers and staff gathered outside while others joked around with their friends. A few tears were shed but those quickly faded as Mill Road Primary School staff welcomed them with smiles and friendly greetings. Ryan Sherwood, the physical education teacher, said he was happy to see students again. “It’s good to see friendly faces – they're excited,” he said. Among the things students will learn in P.E. are gymnastics and team building.

Mill Road Intermediate School

MRIS third grade teacher Connie Burud took a unique approach to introducing students to each other on the first day. She created a word search puzzle with all of their names hidden inside and displayed it on the large screen in front of the class. One by one the students went up to the desk, found their name and highlighted it. Then, they gathered for a reading of, “Mrs. Nelson is Missing,” a book about a class of students, their teacher and a substitute teacher.

Linden Avenue Middle School

At LAMS, some eighth graders were excited to begin their last year at the school.

“It isn’t as scary as last year and the year before,” Scarlett, a LAMS student, said. “It’s nice being an eighth grader and being the oldest at the school.” Scarlett is looking forward to algebra class because she can earn credits toward high school. Meanwhile, seventh grader Max had a slightly different take on the start of school. “I wasn’t really looking forward to it, but it’s pretty fun,” he said from atop the new playground equipment. Asked what changed his mind, he said simply, “I had a positive attitude. Classmate Ella said she is adjusting to having many more teachers. “I have the biggest binder Staples sold,” she said. Ella noted social studies is her favorite subject and she gets to end the day with it.

Red Hook High School

Students moved from class to class in an orderly fashion at Red Hook High School.

“It was an outstanding first day back,” Principal Kyle Roddey said. “On behalf of the entire staff, we are so delighted to see the students back in our buildings and our halls alive.” It is a moment that was somewhat strange for senior Edmund. “This is unbelievable because I didn’t have a freshman year,” he said when asked what it felt like to start his last year of high school. The pandemic took over Edmund’s first year of high school. But that didn’t stop him. He persevered and plans to enjoy the senior privileges and traditions before heading to college. “I plan to major in economics and swim for college,” he said, adding that he is looking at SUNY Geneseo among other schools.

Red Hook Central School District takes emergency preparedness very seriously. We have a districtwide safety plan, building-level emergency response plans and provide ongoing crisis management training to school administrators and other key staff members throughout the district. A building-based Emergency Response Team oversees the plan for each school, and committee members have assigned roles and responsibilities should an emergency occur. These teams meet regularly to review procedures, conduct annual training and drills with the Red Hook Police Department.

An emergency involves unexpected events and rapidly changing conditions. We train to deal with different kinds of problems. Please know we will do what is necessary to protect children first and then inform you as accurately and fully as we can.

You can help us prepare for such situations by:

• Keeping your child’s emergency information up to date, including alternate phone numbers for you and family/friends you have authorized as your back up. Notify the school promptly if this information changes.
• Talking to your children about the importance of following instructions in the event of an emergency.

For more information, including terms that we may use during an emergency situation, please download our School Emergency Parent Guide.

Our students have been engaging in various activities, running on the playgrounds, displaying critical thinking within their classrooms, competing on the many sport fields and painting their senior parking spots with creative expressions.

These activities bring the unmistakable feel of autumn, which means our homecoming celebrations. The high school hosted a block party with the culmination of this celebration marked by a display of fireworks, which served as a reminder of our tightly knit community.

We extend our appreciation to the Raider Sports Club for their generous sponsorship, which afforded us time to enjoy our school community! The arrival of autumn serves as a reminder that our students learn and grow; it is so important to take time to cherish these moments.

With school now well underway, our board is excited about Red Hook High School recently being ranked by U.S. News & World Report as one of the top 10 percent nationally and one of the top 12 percent in New York State. This is the result of many years of hard work and dedication by our administration, teachers and staff, and of course our students, to help make Red Hook such a great district. We need to continue focusing on continuous improvement and we’re pleased with the ongoing efforts by our administration, principals, and teachers to bring many recent innovations in teaching methods and upgrades to facilities to ensure that we continue to provide the best learning environment for our students. At Mill Road, many classes received colorful and comfortable furniture and the libraries were also significantly redesigned. It looks so great - not the boring desks many of us remember! Mill Road Primary also introduced an Imagination Station and Mill Road Intermediate introduced a new STEAM Lab. At Linden Avenue Middle School, in addition to a lot of progress on the ongoing capital project, a new playground was added. The high school has introduced several new classes, including ones that integrate different functional areas, such as English and food science. Finally, project-based learning continues being further introduced to help students learn core subject matter by engaging in real world, and personally meaningful projects.

These are just a few of the many important changes that have been made and we look forward to continuing the efforts to keep our learning methods and facilities as modern as possible.

-Russ Crafton, Board President

Over the past several years, the district has elevated our mission and vision and put our words into action. The curriculum, classrooms, facilities, current students, and graduates reflect the work we are doing to bridge 21st century learning. Recently, I went on my first college visit with my son and had the opportunity to meet with professors who discussed the pedagogical philosophy of the university. I was struck at how similarly their philosophy aligned with our mission and vision and all the work we are implementing. The university highlighted best practices as project-based learning, flipped classrooms, teamwork, real-world examples, technical communication skills and more. We continue to institute and develop the same practices at RHCSD. It was a proud moment that validated the hard work our Administration and Faculty continue to put in to prepare our students for the future. We are empowering our students to embrace today and navigate the possibilities of tomorrow.

-Kate Kortbus, Board Vice President