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POCANTICO HILLS CENTRAL SCHOOL DISTRICT

In the event that we are forced to close or delay the opening of the district or school you will receive a notification explaining the situation and providing specific guidance.

School/District Delays and Closures:

In general, emergency notifications are categorized into two main areas: delays and closures.

Delays:

When a school is delayed this will impact both the start of school and associated transportation times. For example, if there is a 2-hour delay, school will start 2 hours later than normal. Additionally, for students that receive transportation services either to Pocantico or other schools, your pick-up time will be impacted by 2 hours. Students who would normally be picked up at 7:00am would now be picked up at 9:00am, etc.

Closures:

When the Pocantico Hills Central School DISTRICT is closed, all activities, including all transportation services are cancelled.

If there is an event that is localized, such as a power outage on our campus, school will be closed, but transportation services to partner schools might still occur. When this happens, you will receive specific information regarding pick-up and drop-off times directly from Pocantico.

Partner schools will communicate directly with impacted families if they are delayed or closed.

How Will You Receive The Message?

When an emergency occurs, you will be notified of the situation through a variety of communication channels. You will receive an automated call, as well as an e-mail, directly from the school, and the information will be posted on our website. Additionally, if you have opted to receive text messages and/or if you have the Pocantico Hills app, you will receive the notification through those channels as well. District specific weather-related closing information is also shared with News 12 Westchester, WABC-tv7, the Patch, WHUD 100.7. and Instagram: “superintendent.calkins” forgive the shameless promotionJ.

When Will Closing Information Be Disseminated?

This information will be communicated to families in as timely a fashion as possible. Sometimes it may be feasible to notify you the night before the event takes place. Other times you will receive notifications in the morning. We will try to communicate this information to you between 5:30am and 6:00am.

Other Emergency Situations:

We will also utilize the aforementioned communication methodologies to communicate other emergency information to you. A good example of this would be if we were forced to close school and send our students home early.

Here at Pocantico Hills

Instrumental music teacher Michael Murray is working with middle school students to record their parts for the holiday concert. Joshua R. practices the tuba part for "Carol of the Bells."
Mr. Murray leads Bella P. and Galvin N. in practicing the flute part for "Carol of the Bells."
Mr. Murray shows Joshua R. how he will use software to combine all the performances.
Poco students enjoyed some rousing games of four square on a brisk December afternoon.
A representative of Briarcliff High School gave Pocantico eighth-graders information and a virtual tour of the school Nov. 17 as they consider which of three partner high schools to attend next year.
Normally, eighth-graders visit each high school during the decision-making process, but Pocantico and partner districts decided to do them virtually this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The virtual visit for Pleasantville High School takes place at 9 a.m. on Nov. 18. The presentation for Sleepy Hollow High School will be rescheduled.
Virtual visits for parents of eighth-graders take place Dec. 8 (Sleepy Hollow); Dec. 9 (Briarcliff); and Dec. 10 (Pleasantville).
Students show off the butternut squash they harvested with custodian and gardener Jose Zamora. Children in grades 1-4 helped gather vegetables on Oct. 6.
Children also harvested seeds from marigolds and beans from dried pods to be planted in the garden for next year's Harvest Day.
Thank you to Chef Kassie and her staff, Mr. Zamora, Mr. Brown and everyone who helped make this year's Harvest Soup Day a success!
Our amazing Health & Safety Committee has prepared a Return to School Safety Video that reviews our reopening plans and expectations for families. Please click here to view: Return To School Safety Video
Faculty and staff have been arranging classrooms, setting up technology, putting social distancing reminder stickers on floors, planning curriculum and making other preparations for the start of school.