Bird's Eye View

Hello Larries Community,

Welcome to our community digital newsletter, the Bird’s Eye View. Each month we will continue to:

1. Give you small snapshots of the great things that are happening here at SLC.

2. Ask for a little help with things to make our school/community the most productive we can be.

Our hope is that you will continue to follow us every month, so we can continue to connect our great community with the students, staff, and programs that are here to help maximize our students’ futures.

A few reminders of important educational dates:

• Monday, January 15th school will not be in attendance as our nation celebrates Martin Luther King Day.

• January 23rd-26th will be mid-year NYS Regents Exams in the high school all students will be in attendance.

• Monday, January 29th will be a Half Staff Development Day for all staff PreK-12. MS/HS students will be dismissed at 11:30 and ES at 12:30 this day.

• Friday, February 2nd the ES will be dismissed at 11:30 for Parent Teacher Conferences in the PM. Teachers will reach out to parents to schedule these as necessary.

• Thursday, February 8th from 5-7 pm in the high school cafeteria, our HS Counselors will hold a FAFSA lab. Any student or family member who would like assistance filling out this college financial aid form is welcome to attend the lab.

A few shout outs and reminders:

• Congratulations to all those that have been recognized, in this January issue, for the outstanding work you are doing.

• Thank you to all community members that came out to vote on our upcoming Capital Improvement Project. The Capital Project Proposition passed with 83-yes votes, 1-no vote and 1-void. The Land Purchase Proposition passed with 76-yes votes, 8-no votes and 1-void. As shared before the vote, this proposal has NO additional tax burden on our local school district community. Thank you again!

• Congratulations to our music department for the great music that they provided our community during this past holiday season. It is always great to see so many families and community members enjoying the concerts. Please continue to support our SLC students and staff during these events.

• Our student athletes continue to show great efforts during this winter season. Dates and times for events can be found on our SLC website and SLC app.

• This month is National School Board Appreciation Month. We all, students, staff, and community owe our volunteers a big thank you for all the time they put into these very important positions. Thank you to all of our BOE Members!

• We are again asking for anyone wishing to substitute (teachers, aides, cafeteria staff, cleaners, etc) in our district to please reach out to 315-389-5131 ext. 29108 for more information.

Please consider sharing this edition with any neighbors, relatives, friends, or alumni that you may know that would like to keep updated on what goes on here at SLC.

Thank you for continued support of our great district!

Christopher Rose

Superintendent

Dear High School Parents and Guardians,

It is hard to believe that we are almost halfway through our school year! The end of the 20 week marking period will be quickly approaching, moving us into the second half of the school year.

As a reminder, some students in New York State will sit for the Regents Exams in January for specific courses. Though the exams will be given, school is still in session during this week. All students will be required to attend throughout the week. Students who are testing will be excused from their classrooms to the main testing site. All students enrolled in 11th grade ELA will be sitting for the exam on Tuesday, January 23rd. Our tests begin at 8:15 AM and students are required to sit for the universal testing time of two hours at minimum but have up to three hours to complete the exam. Students with IEPs and 504 plans will work with their case manager specific to their needs.

Please see the schedule below for the January and June Regents Exams! Be sure to reach out to your teacher, school counselor, or myself if you have any questions about the exams.

• January 2024 Regents Examination Schedules | New York State Education Department
• June 2024 Regents Examination Schedule | New York State Education Department

On Monday, January 29th, SLC HS will have an early dismissal at 11:30 AM for professional development. In the morning, students will participate in a variety of activities including mentoring, our quarterly student of the month awards celebration, and a pep-rally. Be on the lookout for our student award winners next month!

Mrs. Zender

Welcome back! We hope you had a fantastic holiday season with your family!

The FAFSA is now open and available for students and families to complete. Please be aware that this is a soft opening, so there may still be some errors within the FAFSA application. Our FAFSA lab has been rescheduled and will now be held on Thursday, February 8th, from 5-7 pm in the high school cafeteria in order to accommodate the soft opening. Any student or family member who would like assistance filling out the FAFSA is welcome to attend this lab.

Additionally, individual junior meetings are currently being held. Counselors will begin meeting with all sophomore students at the end of January. If you would like to attend your child’s scheduling meeting, please contact the Guidance Office.

Best,

Rachael Huntley (A-K) & Michaela Bethel (L-Z)

The Physics class dressed as the Solar System for family day during spirit week in December.

Stay tuned for news from the Physics students about the upcoming Solar Eclipse on April 8, 2024.

In the high school art classes we have a variety of things going on including: large sculptures, mock stained glass, and white charcoal on black paper. This is some really cool stuff that kids are doing that showcases their skill and creativity.

Before break, students in Spanish Club learned about holiday traditions in Spanish-speaking countries. Members each created their own Tió de Nadal or Caga Tió (Christmas Log). At Christmas time, children in Catalonia, Spain create their Tió de Nadal by decorating a small log and place it near the fireplace or other area of the home. They "feed" it daily and keep it warm by covering it with a blanket. It is believed that if children take good care of their Tió de Nadal, that on Christmas Eve, or Christmas day, when they place their Tió in the fireplace and sing the Caga Tió song, the log will give them candy and presents. At our last meeting before break, students received candy from their Tió de Nadal, participated in a gift exchange and enjoyed some Mexican Hot Chocolate, made with milk, chocolate tablets, chili powder or cayenne pepper (optional), cinnamon and vanilla. Our next Spanish Club meeting will be on Wednesday, January 17th in room 126 during activity period.

In addition, we continue to plan and fundraise for our 2025 Spring Break trip to Costa Rica. If you are interested in obtaining more information about the trip, there will be a parent meeting on January 10th at 5:30 PM in Mrs. Arquitt's room (126). This will also be for parents of students currently enrolled on the trip. If you cannot attend, but would still like more information, you can email Mrs. M. Arquitt at marquitt@bfcsd.org.

We are midway through the Winter Sports season with all teams showing success and promise. Come on out on a cold winter's night and support one of our teams. You can find all schedules at sections710.org, or on our district website and app.

On January 27th, our annual Coaches vs Cancer Day will be held in the SLC Middle and High School Gyms with all six basketball teams competing against Brushton-Moira. The day kicks off with Girls Modified at 10:00 am, and ends with Boys Varsity at 5:30 pm. There will be a suggested donation at the door, 50/50 drawings, and plenty of baskets to raffle off. The Class of 2024 will be running a concession stand. All money raised will stay in our local communities.

Spring sports sign ups will be the week of Monday, January 22nd thru Friday, January 26th.

Dear SLC Community,

I hope that you all had a wonderful break and were able to spend some quality time with your families over the holidays.

We are getting ready to take on the second half of the year in middle school. I will be having class meetings with our students in a few weeks to review school expectations.

• Encouraging positive behaviors of ourselves and others.
• Cell phone policy
• Chromebook care and use
• 2:30-3:25 protocols
• Effort and Grades

I encourage parents to touch base with their children about the items above to discuss how they are doing. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact the school. We appreciate any help from home if your child is not working up to behavioral and academic expectations at school. Parents have access to assignment grades through Schooltool. A good indication of students not doing what they need to do is if they are receiving 0's on Schooltool.

Honors paperwork will soon be sent home for parents to sign, and students to complete. If you receive information, we would love to have your child apply. Please contact their counselor with any questions.

Upcoming in January:

• iReady MOY Diagnostic
• State Testing Simulation
• Sweethearts and Heroes
• End of Term 2 on 1/26
• Half Day for Staff Development on 1/29
• Erin's Law Presentations

Erin's Law: In August 2019, New York State became the 37th state to sign Erin’s Law into legislation. New York State’s law, (Chapter 187 of the Laws of 2019(link is external)) - known as Erin's Law - requires public schools to teach child sexual abuse and exploitation prevention classes to students in kindergarten through eighth grade. Erin's Law is named for Erin Merryn, an abuse survivor and activist against child sexual abuse who has advocated for similar laws nationwide for over a decade. Erin’s Law is intended to help children, teachers, and parents in New York State schools identify sexual abuse, and to provide awareness, assistance, referral, or resource information for children and families who are victims of child sexual abuse.

State testing: This year we are looking to have 100% of our students complete state testing. The information we get from the tests is helpful in helping to support their needs. Experiencing different tests is also a good experience for students as a preparation for high school.

I have included some pictures of our holiday fun and our switch day where students dressed like staff and staff dressed like students.

I am looking forward to a great second half to our school year,

Mrs. LaBarge

Middle School Principal

We hope that everyone had a restful break, it has been nice to see everyone returning recharged for the new year. As we head into January, we will be meeting with students in PE classes to discuss coping skills and the growth mindset. The growth mindset relates to how adults and children can impact their learning through what they say, and how they react to praise and encouragement. This article has some interesting information about how you can support the growth mindset of your child.

We are looking forward to collaborating with Sweethearts and Heroes on this topic later this month. We are continuing to meet with students in grades 7 and 8 for their yearly meetings to discuss their goals for this year and next year. Thank you to Ms. Aldrich, Mrs. Martin, Mrs. Snyder, Mrs. Adams and Mr. St. Hilaire for collaborating with us for circles this month.

We also have some exciting news in the Middle School. Ms. Eve Ruddy, intern from St. Bonaventure University, will be joining us for the remainder of the year. Please help us in welcoming Ms. Ruddy to our school district. Thank you for your continued support and help with your child. If you have any questions, please reach out to your child's counselor.

Mr. Niles (last names A-K) - nniles@bfcsd.org or (315) 389-5131 ext. 29510

Mrs. Roldan (last names L-Z) - rroldan@bfcsd.org or (315) 389-5131 ext. 29511

The SLC Comfort Closet has passed out 124 items, so far this year to students in need. For anyone interested in donating to the Comfort Closet, we are running real low on hair conditioners and boy/girl's deodorant. Please drop off all items to the main district office or contact Michelle Rutledge at mrutledge@bfcsd.org to make arrangements. Thank you in advance for all donations!

Before Christmas break, Ms. Chamberlain, Mrs. Adams and Mr. St. Hilaire took their middle school and high school Physical Education classes skating. Students enjoyed skating for two weeks and showed great improvement throughout the unit!

The 8th grade Extended Day students experimented to find the percentage of water in their popcorn. The students' results were between 8.6% and 8.7% of water in their popcorn kernels.

50 of our Extended Day students attended a SUNY Potsdam hockey game. Every student excitedly threw donated teddy bears and stuffed animals onto the ice for a local charity that evening.

In the month of December, our 5th and 6th graders created clay ornaments to give for the holidays as well as one to donate to LBSH. 6th graders also created clay pinch pots to keep or give as a gift. Some students created jewelry holders, monsters, and animals.

7th grade students learned about optical illusions and created cubes showing different optical illusions. They also worked on creating holiday cards and magnets - one to keep and one to give away to LBSH.

8th grade art students finished creating their styrofoam cup sculptures and then learned how to photograph their cup, insert it into a document, remove and add a new background to the photograph. They then created and participated in the Doodle 4 Google contest!

Hello SLC Family,

Happy 2024! I hope your year is off to a great start. We closed out 2023 at school with the first annual Elf Extravaganza! Since our return, teachers have been working with students on settling back into our routines. The end of this month will also mark the end of the second quarter. It blows my mind to think that the school year is almost half over!

Our school will be celebrating Global School Play Day on Friday, February 2nd. This day actually takes place on February 7th this year, but we are choosing to align it with our 11:30 dismissal on February 2nd. More information about this day can be found here. Please expect to receive more information about this day at SLC from your child's teacher.

As a reminder, with the temperatures getting colder, please be sure your child is properly dressed for the weather. In the winter, boots are always a good idea, but they should also bring their sneakers to school to wear inside the building and for PE class. If you have a need for appropriate winter wear, please reach out and we may be able to help.

• There will be no school on Monday, January 15th, in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
• Monday, January 29th will be a 12:30 dismissal day for the elementary, for staff development.
• Friday, February 2nd will be an 11:30 dismissal day, for parent teacher conferences. Teachers will be reaching out to schedule these in the next few weeks.

Respectfully,

Mrs. Colterman

The Larries Spotlight Award was created to recognize Elementary Staff who demonstrate a specific trait each month! This award is voted upon by peers who want to give a shout out to one of their colleagues for doing an outstanding job.

Akaycia Colbert was The Larries Spotlight Award winner for the month of November. November’s trait was gratitude and Ms. Colbert received the award from her peers based on her positive, upbeat attitude and thoughtful actions. She is always ready to show appreciation, and return kindness in any situation. Ms. Colbert is grateful for help and advice. She genuinely shows that she cares about her colleagues and students each day. We are all lucky to have her at SLC!

Thank you, Ms. Colbert, for showing your gratitude each day!

Ashley Gushea was The Larries Spotlight Award winner for the month of December. December’s trait was supporting others and Mrs. Gushea got the award from her peers based on her willingness and eagerness to help anyone. She supports students in crisis and offers assistance to staff working with these students. Ashley is always there when we need her! She has an open-door policy, and is always open to collaborating to brainstorm ideas to help students and staff better themselves. We are all lucky to have her at SLC!

Thank you, Mrs. Gushea, for supporting others each day!

Miss Miner and Ms. Zook's classes enjoyed breakfast with a book read by a special guest. Mrs. Colterman chose her favorite holiday book to read to the students. It was the perfect way to start their holiday festivities!

Mrs. Liberty's class went over to Mrs. Bryant's classroom to listen to their class debate. The was learning about Julius Caesar in ELA and had discussed prior, if he was a hero or a traitor. They ended the lesson with their own classroom debate. The class had a debate on whether they should wear blue shirts and blue pants to school every day. Once they started the debate, Mrs. Liberty's class jumped into what side they felt was best. The children all came up with some great ideas for and against wearing blue shirts and blue pants to school.

What is a VPN and why should I use one?

If you are like most internet or television users, you have most likely seen one of the many different companies that are out there promoting their product as the best VPN on the market. Do you know what a VPN is, and do you use one? If not, this month’s article is designed to help you understand what a VPN is, and why you should use one, especially when you are connecting to the internet when you are using a public internet connection.

VPN stands for virtual private network, and is designed to establish a private digital connection between your device, and a remote server owned by the VPN provider you are using to make this private connection. This connection is then used to encrypt your personal data, hide your IP address, and allows you to avoid website blocking and firewalls on the internet. It also ensures your activity is private, protected, and more secure than just logging onto a public network.

For most VPN users, there are five general reasons that they use a VPN which include securing their data, having a safe work environment when working remotely, accessing or streaming regional content from anywhere, bypassing censorship and surveillance, and the preventing ISP and third party tracking.

When people use a VPN they use one of three types of VPN connections:

• Remote Access VPN (often known as a Client to Site VPN) – This type of VPN allows users the ability to connect to the network or remote server with their device. This is made by using your authentication credentials on a login page that then allows you to make a connection through a web browser.

• Site to Site VPN - This is a more dynamic internal network made up of several networks within an organization which are all connected to each other through the public internet. These connections then allow users to share information between these networks while still maintaining that the communications stay within the organization.

• Mobile VPN - As indicated by the name, these VPNs are made for mobile devices such as smartphones. They provide the safety of a regular VPN, but also include provisions to protect data when internet connections are not stable or when you are moving from Wi-Fi and mobile data; as long as the app is running, you have a VPN.

As always, if you have any questions, you can contact me via email at kwelsh@bfcdsd.org, or call the technology department at (315) 389-5131 ext. 29250.

Due to the generous donation from Stewart’s Shops, the Community Performance Series from SUNY Potsdam is able to offer free Youth tickets to students, for their March concert. The Free Youth Ticket Voucher is in the image below. Please make sure to read the card to see how to redeem the voucher for a Youth ticket.

Food Sense is a monthly food buying co-op for anyone who wants to stretch their grocery dollars. Food Sense provides a monthly box of staple grocery items at a discounted price as well as a selection of family-sized specials. There is a pick-up location in Potsdam. The January package is just $20.50 and includes many great items. You can learn more about this program here.

Catch up with the latest student stories, events, and news updates. It’s everything Brasher Falls Central School District, in your pocket. Download the app on Android or iPhone it is the best way to get notifications of school closings, delays, and cancellations.

Email: crose@bfcsd.org
Website: www.bfcsd.org
Location: 1039 State Highway 11C, Brasher Falls, NY 13613
Phone: 315-389-5131
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BrasherFallsCSD