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eNews from Peekskill Schools
December 23, 2016
Peekskill City School District: Educating Children of Promise
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Upcoming Events
December 26: Holiday Recess: Buildings Closed; No District Transportation
December 27-29: Schools Closed; Buildings Open
December 30-January 2: Holiday Recess: Buildings Closed; No District Transportation
January 9: PTO Executive Meeting in BOE Room: 6:30 p.m.
January 10:
Board of Education Meeting at Admin. Building; 8 p.m.
January 16: Martin Luther King, Jr. Day: Buildings Closed; No District Transportation
January 17: SEPTO Meeting: PHS Library; 6:30 p.m.
January 18:
PTO General Meeting at PKMS: 6:30 p.m.
January 20 & 21:
PKMS Drama Production: 7 p.m.
January 21: Coffee with the Superintendent; Administration Building; 9 a.m.
January 24:
Board of Education Meeting at Admin. Building; 7 p.m.
February 3:
Early Release Pre-K - 12 (No PM Pre-K)
February 6:
PTO Executive Meeting in BOE Room: 6:30 p.m.
February 7: Board of Education Meeting at Admin. Building; 7 p.m.
View our complete District calendar here.
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Happy Holidays from PCSD!
Peekskill High School's City Singers performed a show stopping version of the Christmas Song, "Mary Did You Know" at the school's Winter Concert, and again at our December Board of Education meeting. If you missed either of these, you can catch an archived live performance on our District's Facebook page. See below for more photos from our holiday concerts throughout the District.
Uriah Hill Holiday Sing-a-Long
Woodside Holiday Sing-a-Long
Hillcrest Winter Concert
PKMS Winter Concert
PHS Winter Concert **
*We apologize, due to illness, our photographer was unable to attend Oakside's concert this year. Please feel free to share your own photos from this event on our Facebook page.
** Photos by guest photographer PHS student Jakyme Brewington-Smith.
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On Thursday, December 8, Peekskill City School District students, parents and administrators paid a visit to Senator Terrence Murphy's Shrub Oak Office to deliver hundreds of letters addressed to Governor Cuomo. The letters, which Murphy will review before delivering to Albany, were written by members of the Peekskill school community and call for the immediate unfreezing of Foundation Aid and a recalculation of the Foundation Aid formula.
The District's letter writing campaign coincides with the Governor's timeline to draft New York State's educational budget for the 2017-2018 year. Next year, Peekskill is hoping to see not only an increase of aid moving forward, but a phase-in of the $11 million dollars of aid owed to the district by New York State from previous years.
Read the full article on this event here.
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Peekskill Schools' Free Lunch Program Reduces Student Stress, Places Focus on Academics
The following article praising the Peekskill City School District's Lunch Program was published in the Journal News on December 19, 2016.
Glazed honey chipotle pork loin, baked parmesan crusted tilapia and chicken tikka masala are some of the lunch offerings this month at Peekskill High School.
And, it's free for all students.
The district's lunch and breakfast program overhaul and affordability was made possible through a federal and state subsidy granted this year, called the Community Eligibility Provision, a component of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010. The program awarded Peekskill a four-year subsidy that grants them about $400,000 annually.
Read the full article and watch a related video on LoHud.com by clicking
here.
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Peekskill students enrolled in two different OC 21 Online Courses recently enjoyed two very different field trips to New York City. Students in Introduction to Anthropology spent the day at the American Museum of Natural History, while students in Foundations of Engineering visited three different New York building sites managed by Turner Construction. Students on both trips met professionals in the field and experienced authentic learning. Peekskill High School social studies teacher Anita Prentice teaches Introduction to Anthropology, which can be taken for SUNY college credit. Offered via a BOCES consortium, the OC 21 program is a blended online learning option enrolling students from 12 Westchester school districts in challenging elective courses. For more information, click here.
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On Dec. 11, the Peekskill Education Foundation welcomed guests to a wine-tasting reception fundraiser held at the Peekskill Clay Studios in the historic renovated Hat Factory. Supporters shopped for pottery and craft gifts and enjoyed wine from Dylan's Wine Cellar with a delicious array of hors d'oeuvres. The PEF raises funds to support new educational programs in the Peekskill schools. Thank you to all who came out to show their support!
Shown in the photo, from left to right, are Jessica Dubin, Director of Peekskill Clay Studios; Ben Green founder of the Clay Studios and steward of the Hat Factory; Jeff Stern, President of the PEF; and state assemblywoman Sandra Galef.
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Just before the Thanksgiving break, Hillcrest Elementary School students in Ms. Rice and Ms. Reeves' classes were busy planning their own Thanksgiving meal.
The task of assembling the feast helped teach Grade 4 and 5 students real life skills by requiring them to set their own budget and plan for the food and supplies that they needed for their feast. They worked cooperatively within groups scanning supermarket flyers and created a shopping list according to their budget. Fo
od was then purchased by classroom teachers. After shopping was completed, students and teachers worked together to cook foods, such as stuffing and mashed potatoes. Other responsibilities included setting the table, serving food and cleaning up.
"This is what learning is all about- real life application," said Ms. Rice. "Students were fully engaged and understood how to budget, plan and prepare a meal. Seeing learning come alive in my classroom was the most rewarding experience I have seen firsthand. This was a win-win situation for all."
Both Ms. Rice and Ms. Reeves say they are looking forward to trying more life skill experiences with their students in the future.
See more photos from this event
here.
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In recognition of Computer Science Education Week, which is celebrated worldwide from December 5 - December 11, students at Peekskill schools recently took part in a variety of Hour of Code activities. Students at Peekskill Middle School in Mr. Frank Bucci' class programmed and mobilized app controlled Sphero robots, while students at Hillcrest in Mr. Troy Lepore's class also spent the week coding during their math block. Children in both classes engaged in various other coding challenges via educational websites and programs such as Code Monkey, Lightbot and Code Combat. Students at PHS' Summit Academy also participated in coding events.
Mr. Lepore said the week of coding activities has inspired a new found love of computer science in his students.
"They love it," said Lepore. "The kids are obsessed with coding."
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Oakside students recently received a special visit from Peekskill High School's creative writing students. The teenagers visited the youngsters and read aloud to them in small groups. Children were excited to have some time to bond with, "the big kids," and PHS students enjoyed helping to foster a love of reading in their younger counterparts.
Special thanks to Mrs. Jennifer Telesco for sharing
these photos
with us!
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On Saturday, December 3, Peekskill High School hosted a FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Tech Challenge, a regional robotics competition for 14 high school robotics teams and youth robotics clubs from throughout the area.
The event offered students a chance to use their engineering skills to design and program robots, develop a strategy and work as a t
eam to complete various tasks in this tournament style competition.
Peekskill High School's own robotics team, the Iron Devils hosted the event, while the school's rookie team, the Mechanical Devils, participated in the competition, which was held in the Peekskill High School gymnasium.
This is the first robotics competition of its kind to be hosted at Peekskill High School. The FIRST Tech Challenge came to the District thanks to a collaborative effort between Peekskill's Technology Department, the PHS Science Department, the PNW BOCES Robotics Program and the FIRST organization.
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The Kraft Mobile Food Truck is coming to Hillcrest! Once a month on Thursdays from 3:30 - 5:30 p.m. we will need volunteers to help set up, distribute food and clean up. Volunteers can sign up for one or two hour blocks. Please call Phyllis Elliott at 914-739-2284 ext. 243. Dates for 2017 are as follow: January 19, February 16, March 9, April 13, May 18,June 15.
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Did You Know?
Peekskill Superintendent Dr. David Fine posts regular monthly messages on our website. You can find these insights, along with the Superintendent's
video blog on our
District homepage in the "e-Corner" area. This is a great way to stay up to date with what is going on behind the scenes at PCSD!
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Peekskill Board of Education
Lisa Aspinall-Kellawon,
President
Richard Sullivan,
Vice President
Trustees: Douglas Glickert,
Maria Pereira,
Michael Simpkins, Colin
Smith,
Jillian Villon
Dr. David Fine
Superintendent
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The
Peekskill Education Foundation
Looking for an effective way to help out the Peekskill City Schools? PEF's mission is to raise funds for local education. They are looking for board members and volunteers.
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We Want to Hear From YOU!
Please contact Superintendent Dr. David Fine by calling 914-737-3300 ext. 303, or email [email protected]
Peekskill CSD Communications
Laura Belfiore, Editor
Peekskill City School District
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Peekskill City School District | 1031 Elm Street, Peekskill, NY 10566 | (914) 737-3300 Contact: [email protected] | Visit our website: www.peekskillcsd.org
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