Serving the Towns of Wawarsing, Crawford, Mamakating, Rochester and Shawangunk, and everything in between
(none)   
SJ FB page   
 

Gutter
Readying For School's Start!
Different Start Days, Similar Expectations...

ELLENVILLE – In just over two weeks the doors to our local schools will be springing open and hundreds of students will filter through freshly waxed hallways... and be some of the first to welcome a number of new faculty faces.

Who's new was the lead topic for discussion, in fact, at this past week's August 23 Ellenville Central School District board of education meeting.

Over the summer, it was noted, the district has hired or repositioned many. Going over some of the most noticeable changes, assistant superintendent Angela Urbina-Medina said the district will have two new special education teachers, Kathleen Burns in the middle school and Melissa Bernardini for elementary students, as well as a high school technology teacher, Brian Fediuk, who will be teaching computer programming and coding.

Jenn Williams, the district's middle school principal, will be taking former elementary principal Holly Eikszta's position later in the semester, but to due to circumstances the district will need to hire an interim principal, John Knight, to start the school year off.

Former principal Eikszta will start the year working on special projects within the district office and then officially retire in February.

The middle school will see a new administrative face as well this September: interim principal Genna Suraci will be going full-time after formally retiring from her position at Ulster BOCES in October.

Urbina-Medina further noted that the next few weeks will be busy as returning faculty members come in during the last few weeks of summer to prep their rooms and get curricula ready. A new teacher orientation has been planned for September 1 and the "first day of school," September 6, will be a superintendent's conference day when all faculty will have the opportunity to meet with building principals and go over pertinent information regarding the new school year. The first day for students at ECSD will be Wednesday, September 7.

A freshman orientation session was scheduled for this Thursday, August 25, at Ellenville. Meanwhile, Pine Bush Schools were holding their conference day for Thursday and Friday, September 1 and 2, with the first day for students on Tuesday, September 6. Rondout Valley has also set September 6 for the first day of school, with September 2 a conference day, and September 1 set for fourth and ninth grade orientation sessions.

Back in Ellenville, meanwhile, Urbina-Medina described the district's newly appointed faculty as being "successfully, distinguished" and set to integrate into the community nicely. For returning students, she added, it's time to get back to work.

"Back to school is an exciting time," she commented to the board of education Tuesday.

"Hopefully, their summer was restful, but it's time to get back. It's not the same without them."

The next board of education meeting will be August 30, when a scheduled building walkthrough will take place followed by a workshop meeting.



Gutter Gutter
 
 


Gutter