Monday, July 21, 2014

Mid-Summer Update

Greetings! I thought this would be a good time to check in and let you know how things are going at school.

Rest and Relaxation: Hopefully you have found some time to get away or are planning on getting away. If not, there sure are plenty of things to do in Syracuse this time of the year.

I had a chance to get away on what will probably amount to our final family vacation. We spent about a week in the south including the Fourth of July on the Mall in Washington, D.C. during their fireworks celebration. If you haven't had a chance to watch the fireworks at our nation's Capital, it is worth the trip and all of the museums are open and free. Had I known it was going to be as great as it was, I would have taken the family a long time ago.

Storms can be Damaging: While I was gone we were hit with the nasty storm that caused some damage, power outages, and general mayhem for about a half-hour.

We had to cut down about ten trees between West Genesee Middle School and Onondaga Road Elementary School, and one of our batting cages got pretty damaged. All things considered we were very lucky.

Getting Ready for the New School Year: Our buildings and grounds crew and custodians are hard at work getting our buildings ready for the fall, and we have been busy hiring for our vacancies, providing professional development, and recharging.

Technology Updates for Communications: On the technology side of things we are getting ready to expand our mobile phone app. So many people have downloaded the app that we felt that upgrading is the right thing to do. We are working to seamlessly integrate cafeteria balances, bus runs, and other pertinent student information over the next few months. When we are ready to launch the different features, I will be sure to let you know. In the meantime if you do not have our app yet, please take an opportunity to download it by going to the Apple App Store or Google Play Store and searching for Parentlink West Genesee CSD.

Waiting on the NYS Education Department: The State Education Department is still behind in approving capital projects so we have not had much movement on that front. We are hoping to get some preliminary approvals in the next couple of months.

I will write again in a couple of weeks. Until then, try to find some time to relax and enjoy the summer weather.

Chris