Hello North Rockland Families,

While this month will certainly be remembered for its record cold, our students and teachers will also remember its mentoring activities! In honor of Mentoring Month, we celebrate unique programs like Reading Buddies and Forever Friends, which foster meaningful connections and a love for learning between our kids and their mentors. As we celebrate these supportive initiatives, we are also looking ahead to further expansion to include even more opportunities for our students to realize the benefits of collaborative learning relationships.

In the weeks ahead, our Calendar Planning Committee and Board of Education will finalize the 2025-26 academic year calendar. We’re already planning for next year and are grateful for the feedback from our community as we work to enhance a PreK-12 instructional program that reflects our values and meets the needs of our school community.

We are also deep into the budget season and are focused on planning for next year’s fiscal priorities. I’ll present updates on the 2025-26 budget at the next Board of Education meeting on February 4 at 7 p.m. at Fieldstone Middle School. This is a key opportunity to hear about how we plan to continue supporting our students while being responsible stewards of taxpayer dollars.

Speaking of exciting developments, North Rockland Central School District was recently recognized by the New York State Office of Bilingual Education and World Languages and the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of English Language Acquisition for our Dual Language Immersion (DLI) program. We were one of only three districts statewide to be highlighted for our exceptional efforts to support English Language Learners (ELLs). As we move forward, we’re excited to expand our nationally-recognized program to third grade at one of our schools and continue making improvements based on feedback from families.

We also had the pleasure of welcoming the Class of 2029 to North Rockland High School for its Ninth Grade Orientation today. We hope our incoming students gained a deeper appreciation for the many opportunities that await them, from diverse academic courses to award-winning athletics and extracurriculars. We look forward to supporting these students as they begin their high school journey in the Fall.

The Film Festival at Fieldstone Middle School, originally scheduled for tomorrow, January 25 at 7 p.m., has been postponed. A new date will be announced soon.

In the spirit of giving, our schools have been raising funds for the Stony Point Seals 26th Annual Super Plunge, an event with deep roots in our community. Many of our staff members and students will plunge into the icy Hudson River on February 9 and we’re proud to support this worthy cause. (These are brave souls, no doubt!)

As a reminder: there will be no school on January 29 in observance of the Chinese Lunar New Year.

-Kris Felicello

Superintendent of Schools