Superintendent's Update

December 2024

Dear Rye Neck Families,

I hope everyone enjoyed the Thanksgiving holiday. The next three weeks are super busy for students and staff. Both the MS and HS holiday concerts take place this month and our 3rd graders kick off the F.E. Bellows concert season as well. After the break-- and this is one of those years the calendar provides a two-week Winter Recess-- our secondary students have only 18 days until the final day of the 1st semester on January 31st, signaling the halfway point of the school year. December is a lot of fun, but still an important period for learning!

Best regards,

Dr. Eric Lutinski
Superintendent of Schools

Strategic Plan Update

Our third of six early dismissal days is coming up on Wednesday, December 18th. There has been activity within each of the Strategic Plan goals throughout November: last week’s 4th Grade Native American Artifact Museum put on display our students abilities to answer deep questions about Native American culture (#RNlearns); the Special Services Department will be looking at data from our initial 6-12 Social-Emotional Screeners this month (#PantherVoices); and our Professional Development Committee met to refine schedules for teacher “intervisitations”, the structure for our new Professional Learning Communities, and teacher-generated professional coursework (#LeadersLeaRN). We will conclude our trio of Action Plan presentations with the co-chairs for Goal 1, HS Principal Melinda Folchetti and the 6-12 Special Services Department Chairperson Kristina Schlote, at the Regular Meeting of the Board of Education on December 18th.

Weather

It’s that time of year when we need to start talking about how the weather might impact school. Not too far north of us, parts of New York and New England got enough snow over the long weekend that it would have impacted schools if it had been on a weekday. Snow can be disruptive, so even though I welcome the precipitation after our fall drought it makes sense to review our procedures.

First, any emergency messaging from our schools comes through our Mass Notifications system, so it is important that our families have their contact information correctly registered with the District. If you have any recent changes, or you suspect something may be missing after the test we conducted in September, please contact your child’s school. Alerts regarding delays, closings, or any other weather or emergency-related schedule changes will be sent by our usual combination of phone/text/and email messages. As mentioned in our Communication Survey, Rye Neck will be changing to ParentSquare in January. If you missed it, please see the ParentSquare Introductory Video (it’s less than three minutes!).

Second, the decision-making process varies greatly based on time and forecast. If we have good information and the timing is right, we may decide to call a delay or closure the night before a weather event. Or, we might call a delay the night before and possibly announce a closure in the morning. If the forecast is uncertain, our local superintendents get up early and share information during one or more remote meetings. I consult with our Department of Public Works, police, and grounds crew to assess the conditions of the roads. A significant factor in these decisions are the road conditions around our region, particularly for our staff. My 43-mile one-way commute is not the farthest for employees of our district. Although we have the advantage of not being bound to a relationship with a bus company, our district employs 260 people that have to travel to serve our students.

And last, our calendar has capacity for a few emergency days without putting our minimum time requirements in jeopardy. The Rye Neck One-Page School Calendar 2024-25 found on our website notes the dates of our emergency closure make-up dates in blue. Those “blue” days are currently non-school days. However, if one day is missed, May 27th becomes a school day; a second makes April 21st a school day; and third makes May 23rd a school day. The use of our emergency Remote Instruction Plan would be just that, saved for instructional necessity.

Student Spotlight

In each monthly message, we spotlight high school students who are doing interesting things in or out of school. Based on the relationships our staff members forge with their students and their knowledge of what’s going on in their lives, our teachers suggest students for consideration. Mary Lanza, our Director of Technology and Communications, then interviews the students to “get their story.” Here are the students for December. To read about the students, click on the name below their picture.

CHRISTOPHER MICELI

TARA O'REILLY

Staff Spotlight

We also like to highlight teachers and other staff members each month. Each shares personal reflections on how they got into education, memories from their time as students, and their favorite activities outside of school. To read about a staff member, click on the name below their picture.