Time for Summer

I think I have gained about five pounds from attending so many graduation parties over the weekend! It is hard to believe that I am finishing my fifth year as Superintendent of our District. As many of you know, I was born and raised on the west side and it is a privilege to be able to come back home and lead such an incredible community.

We have certainly been through some good times; and some not so good times. We have been to the highest of highs together academically, in our fine arts, and athletics; and have shared the lowest of lows together when we lost staff and students. Through it all, we have become an even stronger school community and have shown those outside of our community what true teamwork, trust, and cooperation looks like. I am very proud of all that we have accomplished.

I am also very happy to be able to tell you that the Board of Education has extended my contract through at least 2018. This gives us plenty of time to continue on the path we started, and allows me to continue to lead us through unprecedented change in education. My family and I are truly blessed and appreciative to be home and to be working with such great people in this community. Thank you for your continued support.

Over the summer, I am going to be working (of course!), but I will be taking a couple of weeks off from writing in my blog. I hope that you enjoy the start to what will hopefully be a great summer in Syracuse, New York!

Thanks,

Chris

Moving On

Graduation: This past weekend we held our high school graduation in the SRC Arena at Onondaga Community College. This is the first year that we have held the ceremony at this new location. In the months leading up to the event our staff met and planned to make sure that everything would go well in our new home. That planning paid off. The venue was spectacular to say the least and the entire afternoon was very special for an exceptional group of seniors. I would like to say thank you to all of the employees at the SRC Arena, our  faculty and staff, our community, and of course our graduates for a wonderful time. You will all be missed. Please come back or check in when you can to let us know how you are doing!

Exam Time: Regents exams are going well, students at our Middle Schools are finishing up their final exams, eighth graders have had their moving up ceremonies, and elementary students are putting the finishing touches on another great school year.

On the Agenda: In the coming weeks we will wrap up the business end of the school year before we roll everything over for the new school year that begins on July 1.  On the agenda for the summer will be:

• Putting together a small Capital Project to address security, technology, and building level needs. You will hear much more about this during the summer months and into the fall. 
• We will also be working to totally integrate full-day Kindergarten for the first time.

Enjoy the week. I am hopeful that the rain will stay away for graduation parties, end of the year get-togethers, and just because we are ready for some better weather.
Take care and I will see you soon.

Chris

Swansong

Weekend Events: I think there has been enough rain for a while. I love the green grass and fewer allergies, but I also like being able to attend events without wearing full rain gear!  Thankfully, the rain did not stop a lot of great things from happening over the weekend.

• Senior John Clare won the Post Standard Amateur Golf Tournament.  He is tied for the youngest player to win at 17 years old. Congratulations! 
• We had runners at state competition.
• Our Boys Lacrosse team played for the New York State Championship. Unfortunately, they did come up short, but considering the ups and downs of their season, having an opportunity to actually play in the title game is pretty remarkable.
• East Hill, Split Rock, and Onondaga Road Elementary Schools held their mini-triathlon which was well attended.
• The Fine Arts Department held their annual awards reception that was also well attended.

Upcoming Events this Week:

• Students at the high school will be taking final exams this week
• The first high school graduation will be held at the SRC Arena at Onondaga Community College Saturday, June 15, at 1:00 p.m.

As the School Year Winds Down: Now is the time that I enjoy visiting middle  and elementary school classrooms. Students are excited to be finishing projects and assignments because summer is right around the corner. At the same time you can sense that students are sad to leave their classroom. There is a lot to be said about that I think. Very strong relationships are built throughout the year and that is wonderful to experience. We always remind our students that even though they will be leaving for the summer, we are right here and will be excited to see them again in the fall.

In the Future: In my next few blogs leading up to July, I will include pictures of picnics and end of the year celebrations, but I should also be able to provide some insight as to what our students will be facing academically during the upcoming school year. I think it goes without saying that our students and faculty have had to face some pretty interesting things. Once the State has had a chance to process what they did to all of us this year, the voice of reason will hopefully enter so that we can strike a better balance next year. I will keep you posted for sure.

Have a wonderful week and congratulations to our seniors!

Chris

Intergalactic!

I hope that all of you had a great weekend. I think I need a few days off after mine! I got a lot of work done and made it to a lot of events, but I was dragging getting up this morning to say the least.

Congratulations to the West Genesee Boys Varsity Lacrosse Team. They defeated Ithaca by a score of 10-9 on Saturday night in the first round of the New York State Class A State Championship. They will play Penfield on Wednesday, June 5, at St. John Fisher College in Rochester. If they win, they will play in the New York State Championship game at the same location on Saturday, June 8. Best of luck!

On Sunday, I had the opportunity to join many students and parents in the 2nd Annual Save Modified Sports Run/Walk. It was great that the weather held for the event and everyone had a great time. If you are a runner but did not get a chance to participate, I think you would have liked the race course. You can find out more information about the race and the course at http://www.savemodifiedsportsatwg.com.

I would like to take the opportunity to thank Mr. and Mrs. Northrop and the rest of the Modified Boosters. As a superintendent I could not have been more pleased and appreciative of their organizational skills, business practices, and professionalism. They have been unified about helping modified athletes to continue to get an opportunity during budget challenges. They raised $75K twice, and will raise $35K for next year, $18K for the following year, and then will work to provide equipment, uniforms, etc., in the years thereafter as the District re-assumes the cost of modified sports. To say thank you is an understatement. If you have a chance, please help them to get across the finish line (pun intended) with the money they need to raise for next year and the year after. Their efforts will be remembered for years to come.

Tonight is our Senior Awards Night, and Thursday is a BOCES graduation followed by the Fine Arts Reception. We will certainly be busy! Thanks for your continued support and have a wonderful week.

Chris

Race to the Finish!

I hope that you all had an opportunity to enjoy the long weekend.  The weather was a little suspect at times but that did not keep me from getting all of the yard work done!

Kaleidoscope 38: Leading us into the weekend was an awesome Kaleidoscope presentation at the Civic Center. This event is the capstone of our Fine Arts program and the students did not disappoint. The beauty of Kaleidoscope is that the musical pieces are all arranged so that there is very little down time. Balconies, lifts, and a double stage are all utilized so that the two hour performance seems to fly by.

I really enjoyed the finale. I am a fan of the band Chicago, and Mr. Davern and his crew did a great arrangement of a couple of Chicago tunes that featured all of the students in attendance. It is always the coolest thing to see the curtain rise and see almost 500 students perfectly positioned and ready to sing. Thanks to all for an amazing evening!

Memorial Day Parade: Thank you also to all of our students and staff who participated in the Memorial Day Parade in the Village of Camillus. Well represented is an understatement. I really do feel as though our students truly understand the meaning of Memorial Day.

Last Day of Classes at  the High School: My boys reminded me that there are only seven class days left in the high school before final exams. Wow! We are here already and I know the time will fly by quickly. In the days to come, we have some honors and awards nights followed by graduation rehearsal. Crazy.

Athletic Teams Compete: Congratulations to our athletic teams.  The boys lacrosse team won the Section III Championship in double overtime, we still have runners in competition, as well as members of the tennis and boys golf teams. 

West Genesee Phone App: Hopefully you have had an opportunity to download our new "West Genesee" phone app. The more I use it and customize it, the more I like it. There is also a Schooltool mobile website that we linked to last week that works very well. Windows and Blackberry apps are coming soon. Enjoy!
 
Construction to Start Soon: Lastly, I was asked to update the community on the construction along West Genesee Street. The major area of work is between Stonehedge Drive and Route 173. There will also be limited work between Munro Road and Parsons Drive, but that will not be as disruptive. The work between Stonehedge Drive and Vanida Drive will not begin until school is completed in a couple of weeks.

Don't blink or you might miss the end of the school year!

Chris

Thank You and Heads Up!

Budget Vote: On behalf of the Board of Education and all of our staff, I would like to personally thank our community for their overwhelming support of our 2013-2014 school budget. We do not take your support for granted, and we will continue to provide the excellence that you have come to expect at West Genesee.

Upcoming Road Project: On another note this is a heads up to let you know that Onondaga County has a very large road project that is about to begin on West Genesee Street between Parsons Drive and Route 173. We met with their engineers who were very friendly and informative. They also did not pull any punches.

This project is going to cause major inconveniences along West Genesee Street, particularly at the High School entrance and Vanida Drive, which is the main roadway to West Genesee Middle School, Stonehedge Elementary School, and the District Office.

As the construction begins, there will be lane closures and flag people. My suggestion is to prepare an alternative route to our facilities and plan for the possibility of additional driving time. We must keep in mind that this construction is the "price of progress" with the results being:

• additional sidewalks, 
• improved and safer driving lanes, traffic lights, crosswalks, and 
• drainage 

The construction is set to begin any day now with the high school and Vanida Drive areas affected first. The project could go deep into the fall and work will include Saturdays.

I hope to see all of you at Kaleidoscope tomorrow night at the Civic Center or at many of our sporting events today through Friday. If not, have a wonderful Memorial weekend and I will write again next week.

Thanks again for your continued support!

Chris

A Great Week to be a Wildcat!

I hope that you all enjoyed the beautiful weekend. Last week many great things happened.

Olympics are Special: First, many of our students attended the Special Olympics that were held at North Syracuse High School. My thanks go out to all of the organizers and to the host of this awesome event. If you haven't had the chance to attend the Special Olympics, you should take some time to attend if even for a half hour. Students compete in many different activities throughout the late morning and early afternoon. (Click here to view a short video of the event.)

I like to watch the students try their best, overcome obstacles, and then see their smiles as they show how very proud they are of their accomplishments. I like to think that I am pretty "tough" because of all that I have to deal with every day, but I have yet to leave with a dry eye and this was fourteen years and counting. I am proud of all who participated. Thanks for trying your best!

Seniors have a "Diamond Studded Affair": The Senior Ball was this weekend along with the After-the-Ball Party. The Ball itself was a very enjoyable affair. The students were great. It was like a big dinner party with some dancing afterwards.

Who was crowned King and Queen you ask? This class has been so enjoyable for all of the staff that ALL of the students were crowned King and Queen. This is the first time that I have seen this happen in all of my years in education. The after party was extremely well attended, as well.  I want to thank all of the organizers  for pulling it all together AND giving up their evening to help keep our students safe.

West Genesee CSD Phone App: Yes, there is an "App" for that.  If you have a smart phone and are interested in all things West Genesee, then you need to go to your App store and download the "West Genesee" App (Blackberry and Windows phone compatible coming soon).  The App allows you to completely customize what you receive from the school.  

• Twitter feeds, Facebook and blog posts, sports scores, calendars, SchoolTool, MySchoolBucks, Edmodo, and Blackboard among other things are available to users. (You can customize each section by clicking change/gear/icon in the top right of that page and selecting the appropriate category/school.)
• The APP is free. 
• To use it on an iPAD, download it from the App store as an iphone App, then use it on the iPAD in 1X (stays the size of the iphone screen) or 2X mode (to expand to the entire screen). Check it out!

Annual Budget Vote: Tuesday is a very important day for West Genesee. Voters will be considering our spending plan for the next school year and will also be electing Board of Education members. Please remember to take the time to vote from 6:00 a.m.-9:00 p.m. at the high school auditorium. Your continued support is greatly appreciated!

Kaleidoscope/Days Off: Remember that Kaleidoscope is this Thursday night at the Civic Center downtown. Also, school is closed on Friday as well as the following Monday and Tuesday.

Have a wonderful week! Thanks!
Chris