NorthStar Lights
North Syracuse Central School District's weekly e-news
Hello North Syracuse Central School District Parents, Guardians, Teachers and Staff,
We are now past the half-way mark in the month of March and there is a palpable shift in the energy at the District Office building. We are well into the planning process for next year’s school budget and things will start to solidify in the next few weeks leading up to the budget vote on May 17. As pieces of the budget develop, we will be using this newsletter to provide weekly updates which will also be posted to our budget website at www.nscsd.org/budget so please check back often.
In my travels around the District this week, I was able to spend time at the North Syracuse Early Education Program (NSEEP), which is home to our youngest students. As I shared last week, I’ve been taking time to introduce myself to students and on my visit to NSEEP, I did so too. After meeting one particular four-year-old boy, I knew what I would write about this week. I learned that the student is a voracious reader as he looked at my ID badge and sounded out “Dan-e-el Bowles.” His teacher told me that he is constantly looking for new things to read.
It has been a long time since my own children were so young but I do know that it is pretty impressive to come across a four-year-old reader. I also know that this student’s reading ability is an absolute testament to the critical importance of early education. Our District is very fortunate to have the NSEEP and other early education programs to give young people the best educational beginning.
Next week we will provide information for next year’s Universal Pre-Kindergarten Program, which will begin accepting registration applications in May. This year, we are excited that NSEEP will also be participating the NSCSD UPK grant program. More information about the UPK program will be shared next week so be sure to look for that.
As always, thank you for your continued support! Enjoy the weekend!
Sincerely,
Daniel D. Bowles, Superintendent of Schools
Gillette Road Middle School Proudly Presents "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat" March 24-26
More than eighty students plus directors and adults have been part of the process of presenting Andrew Lloyd Weber and Tim Rice’s production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat at Gillette Road Middle School.
This high energy musical tells the story of Joseph the favored son of Jacob one of founding fathers of the nation of Israel. The musical is filled with humor, dance, great music and showcases the perseverance of a man despite the circumstances in life never lost faith that he was called for a greater purpose.
Decades of Design on Display at North Syracuse Junior High School
For the second time this school year, students in Nita Bellucci’s Fashion in Our Lives classes at North Syracuse Junior High School have turned their school’s library into a fashion runway of sorts. As part of the curriculum for the Fashion in Our Lives course, students spend time exploring clothing styles, designers and trends and investigate influencing factors. As students develop their knowledge of fashion, they learn how to bring their ideas to life by constructing their own textile projects.
For this particular project, students spent time exploring fashion trends from various well-known periods of time and then created presentations about a particular fashion trend/period of time. Additionally, students made clothing replicas from the period of choosing using mini mannequins to display their creations. The mannequins are currently on display in the library along with signs giving a bit of information about the time period along with a QR code that can be scanned to listen to the students’ presentations. Nita Bellucci credits the school’s tech coach, Danielle Barrett for helping the students learn the technology used to create the presentations.
Click here to see the individual designs and to read the complete article online.
Winners chosen in C-NS Optimist Club’s Essay Contest
The Optimist Club of Cicero-North Syracuse has selected its winners for this year’s essay contest, the theme of which was, “How Does an Optimistic Mindset Change My Tomorrow?”
This year’s medalists are:
- 1st place: C-NS Junior Alanna Manning
- 2nd place: C-NS Junior Olivia Marra
- 3rd place: C-NS Junior Golden Duru
Therapy Dogs Make School Days a Little Less “Ruff”
This week, several schools and lots of students and staff in the North Syracuse Central School District, were able to destress with some canine companions. Therapy dogs from a local agency, PAWS of CNY, accompanied by their humans, made visits to North Syracuse Junior High School, Roxboro Road Middle School and the North Syracuse Early Education Program. Pictures were shared of Connor (a Golden Retriever) and his human, Beth Tollar, a C-NS alum, spent time at RRMS and Miss Moose and her human, Laura Hand, spending time at the North Syracuse Early Education Program. As the year continues and more pooch photos are shared, they will be used for various publications and articles.
Sleep Awareness and Mental Health
During the month of March, the North Syracuse Central School District’s team of mental health professionals is devoting time to promoting good mental health through sleep awareness.
Working with the District’s technology staff, the group produced a video about the topic. The video gives an overview of recommended amounts of sleep for students of various age-levels, side effects caused by lack of sleep, setting sleep schedules and offers ideas for reducing technology in sleep space. Kristen Stanton is the District-wide School-Based Mental Health and Wellness Coordinator for the North Syracuse Central School District.
Of the video, Stanton says, "We know that our families have very busy schedules and that attending a presentation on the topic might be difficult so we wanted to share a video that people could watch on their own time.”
Click here to watch the video on YouTube.
Hello NSCSD Families…Can You Hear Us Now?
The NSCSD uses SchoolMessenger to send text and email messages to our families. We recently noticed that some families are “blocking” our messages. We use the system to send important information regarding COVID, academic deadlines, yearbook reminders and much more. We don’t want you to miss out so if you think your email or cell phone is inadvertently blocking the NSCSD, we can help!
You can check your SchoolMessenger settings using an easy and convenient app. If you don’t have the app, you can easily download it to your phone or mobile device. Just search “School Messenger app” in the App Store or in Google Play. Once you have the app downloaded, “Sign up” using the email address you have on file with the District in SchoolTool. Within the app you’ll be able to see and change the types of messages you receive by text/email/push. If your settings show that you should be getting text messages from the NSCSD but you’re not, you can opt in my texting the word YES to the number 67587 from your cell phone.
If you have any questions about SchoolMessenger or your settings, check online at www.nscsd.org/schoolmessenger or email our school information officer, Laurie Cook at lcook@nscsd.org.
GRMS Pancake Breakfast Helps Raise Money for Musical Production
Next week, from March 24-26, Gillette Road Middle School will present "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat" in their school's auditorium. To raise money for the production while having fun, students involved with the show held a pancake breakfast last weekend. Amanda Barrett, the mother of 5th grader Collin Barrett, who plays the character Benjamin in the production, shared photos of some of the cast and crew having a great time.
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