District Newsletter
November 15, 2019
District Calendar
11/26 Board of Education Meeting, 6:30 p.m.
11/27-11/29 No School for Students, Thanksgiving Break
12/10 Board of Education Meeting, 6:30 p.m.
12/13 Half Day for Students, PM Professional Development Day for Staff
Silent Auction
The wait is over! Our Silent Auction is tomorrow, November 16th at 9 a.m. at the bus garage. Bidding will be from 9 a.m. to 10 a..m. and item pick up is from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. Cash or check only and we will not be holding items.

Here is a sample of some of the items we have for sale!
  • Cubbies
  • Wooden kids lockers
  • Mirrors
  • Coat hangers
  • Filing cabinets
  • Remote controls
  • DVD/VCR combinations
  • Desks
  • Chairs
  • Small pre-k chairs
  • Misc. Electronics (keyboards, vcr/dvd players, universal tv remotes, cable locks and more) 
  • Easels
  • Bulletin boards 
  • Chalk boards
  • Basketball hoop
  • Books
  • Bookcases
  • Misc. Projector bulbs
  • Projector
  • Epson scanners
  • Plastic cases
  • Toy kitchen stove/sink
  • Wooden blocks
  • Piano
  • Electric piano
Veterans Day Assembly at Smith Intermediate
Smith Intermediate School students and staff welcomed over 50 veterans and current military members to their school for a Veterans Day Program on Friday, November 8th. The Fourth Grade Showstoppers sang several patriotic songs to their special guests.  

Research about Veterans Day was done by fourth graders in their library classes. Students presented the research they did during the assembly. 

In preparation for the program, Student Council had made poppies and some of the classes had made "Thank You" cards. The poppies and cards were given to the guests of honor. 

A "Veterans Tree" was also created in the front entrance where students and staff were able to hang pictures of past and current veterans from their families during the weeks leading up to the assembly. The video below captures some images from the assembly!  Read more...
Family Reading
Partnership Bookdrive
The family reading partnership of Cortland County invites you to take part in a holiday book drive that provides families with NEW books to give their children for the holidays.

Collected books will be distributed to Catholic Charities, Salvation Army and Loaves and Fishes so that families may select NEW books for their children. Volunteers will be collecting NEW books for children aged newborn to teen. Books may be donated in the at Barry Primary, Smith Intermediate, Randall Middle and the Kaufman Center. Click here for the full flier.

New books are due by December 4th!
Thank you for supporting our worthy cause!
Author Visit at JSHS Library
On November 14th, Junior High students were able to listen and meet local author, Isabel Sterling explain the writing process. Being a novelist as an occupation may not strike some of our students as a job that may be feasible for them to consider, but Isabel was able to share how a girl growing up in Groton, now is a published author with a major publishing company. 

Part of her presentation went over the seven year process that she went through to publish her first book. She explained, “it is often a winding road. I started this process in 2012. It really took some patience to see the whole process through. There are different stages of editing that take time as well. For example, first there is content editing, where something in the plot or story line can change. Next there is line by line editing that looks for grammatical errors. Just like when you write in school there is a process and multiple revisions!”  Read more...
New Traffic Pattern Will Continue Through Winter
As we start to experience winter weather, we wanted to send out a reminder regarding the new traffic pattern at the Junior Senior High School. As we have previously communicated, the traffic pattern had to change to accommodate the construction of our new auditorium. The pattern for traffic will remain the same.
 
Bus drop off and pick up will continue along the side of the building facing Valley View Drive. Please refrain from entering this area, as this is reserved for buses. We will continue to have no two way traffic or stopping/standing in front of the building. If you drive your child to school continue to drive all the way to the football stadium. You can then drop your child off by the music entrance. Lines are painted and cones are placed strategically to make sure drivers follow this pattern. 
 
As of November 12th, the "evening entrance" is now open. This is the entrance that will be open for afterschool and evening activities. The attached map has been edited to show this.
 
We thank you for your continued patience during construction!
OCM BOCES Crown Road Campus
Cortland Enlarged City School District voters, along with others who live within the school districts of the Onondaga-Cortland-Madison BOCES, are being asked to decide if the educational agency should end its 32-year lease for a campus off Crown Road in Liverpool and purchase the facility for $12.85 million. A public vote will take place on Tuesday, November 19. 

The purchase would result in no additional costs for the 23 school districts that participate in shared services through OCM BOCES, said OCM BOCES Deputy Superintendent Colleen Viggiano. Based on a financial analysis of the proposal, the purchase could save districts an estimated $2.2 million over the next 20 years, she said. Read more...
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