County Executive George Latimer, Ossining UFSD Superintendent Ray Sanchez and Student Advocacy recorded a PSA earlier in the school year regarding the importance of excellent attendance. Please listen:
For information on registering your child, please click here.
Would you like to help us with the Board Room project by donating school memorabilia? Click here for more information.
The New York State Education Department is requiring that school districts develop an AIS policy for the 2016/2017 school year. This policy must include a second measure and must be uniformly applied to all grade levels. Please see attached for more details.
October 30, 2018
Dear Community Members,
Given the current disparity in the level of support for the Capital Project, the Board of Education at its October 25th meeting, decided to put the project under consideration on hold – as is, to be revisited the summer of 2019. It is my opinion that moving forward without a consensus of support for the project will not likely result in a positive outcome and it is best to refocus our efforts in the short term.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who served on committees, attended meetings, completed surveys, shared ideas and expressed their opinions. Three years of time and effort was invested by many. This work will provide a solid springboard for future consideration, and any needed repairs will be addressed within our annual budget.
Sincerely yours,
Carol Conklin-Spillane
Pocantico Hills Board of Education Begins Executive Search
Dear Community Members:
The Pocantico Hills Board of Education has begun the process of searching for a Superintendent of Schools. We are committed to seeking your input into this process, and to keeping you apprised of progress along the way.
As a first step, we will involve diverse groups of community members to help us formulate a desired profile of the next school leader. While the Board of Education has the responsibility for selecting and appointing the Superintendent, we consider input and feedback from stakeholder groups an essential component in guiding our search and making our final selection.
We have engaged Bob Christmann, lead consultant at NY State Leadership Group, to support our District throughout this process. Mr. Christmann will be leading and facilitating each of the input sessions.
Please review the list of engagements below, organized by stakeholder group, and feel free to attend the one that is most appropriate for you. You are welcome to attend any of the sessions. However, please keep in mind Mr. Christmann will tailor each session to the specific needs of each group. Additionally, we will arrange an online survey for community members to provide additional guidance (details forthcoming).
If you are unable to attend any of the sessions, or wish to provide further input, you are welcome to call Mr. Christmann directly: 716-777-0451. Also, you can also contact the Board of Education at any time via: boe@pocanticohills.org.
The sessions will be held in the School Library, and are as follows:
Warmly,
Al Pacile, President, Pocantico Hills Board of Education
The ability to recognize, understand, label, express and when necessary, regulate our emotions is critical to our emotional health and success in school. Understanding these skills using the RULER approach provides our students with an opportunity to utilize the Mood Meter—an important component to the Anchors of Emotional Intelligence. Our Mood Meter Mondays allow students to utilize this resource to self-identify their emotion prior to lunch. This provides one data point to assess our students’ emotional well-being and our overall culture and climate at Pocantico at the beginning of each week.
As part of our successful transition back to school, our 8th grade students were charged with creating a school-wide character pledge that reflects our core values—kindness, respect and perseverance. Their successful work was chronicled throughout the week and captured on video Pocantico Character. Our Pocantico Character Pledge is recited each morning following the Pledge of Allegiance as a school community. Again, a special thank you to the class of 2019 and Mr. Murray, Mrs. Carruth and Mrs. Hongell, who facilitated this important work with our students.
As a student of character at Pocantico Hills …
I pledge to not give up when obstacles are in the way. I will persevere.
I will listen to others and use careful words. I will be respectful.
I will smile and greet people in the hallways. I will be kind.
The Pocantico Hills School staff believes that each student is a complex and unique person. We are committed to helping our children realize their complete personal potential – academic, creative, physical and emotional. We will ask the students to stretch themselves and help them to discover the rewards of working hard.
We will treat the students with respect and understanding and encourage them to be caring and contributing members of society, students who are thoughtful, honest, fair, kind and self-disciplined.
2018 Summer Day Camp Family Survey
BRIARCLIFF HS AM BUS STOPS.pdf
Transportation - Delayed Openings - Important Information
Every Student Succeeds Act - Five Things You Should Know
Third-graders went on a field trip to the New York Botanical Garden in November.
The highlight of the day was a tour of the annual Holiday Train Show.
Students made mandalas from natural materials.
They explored rain forests, deserts and other environments in the garden's conservatory.
The train show featured model trains and trolleys moving through magical landscapes of historic New York buildings.
The weather was perfect for the students' Halloween parade Oct. 31.
Some teachers dressed up too, including as Play-Doh, M&M's and a rain cloud.
Inflatable costumes were popular this year, as were unicorns, the Incredibles characters, princesses and superheroes.
Children had parties in their classrooms after the parade.
Students picked carrots, squash, corn and other vegetables for the annual Harvest Soup Festival.
Staffers Jose Zamora, who tended the garden, and Kassie Arcate, school chef, helped with harvesting, cleaning, chopping and cooking.
The whole school enjoyed the harvest soup the next day, along with herb butter and carrot leaf pesto they put on rolls.
The largest vegetable grown in the garden was the Italian zucchini, which required many hands to safely carry it to the chopping table.
Children picked, washed and peeled the vegetables, and they peeled and grated garlic.
The school has held the event for about 10 years.
The school launched a new Makerspace this year to foster creativity and develop children’s skills in science, technology, engineering and math.
In their second class, first-graders had a chance to work with any of the supplies they wanted, from Styrofoam balls and felt to markers.
The Pocantico Hills Foundation is a sponsor of the Makerspace and raised money to help start the program.
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