Dear Croton-Harmon Community,
We hope you have all been having a wonderful summer, and that you have found opportunities to recharge, spend time with loved ones, and make new memories.
For our Tiger Team, summer is a time to rest and reflect, but also to continue to advance our vision to ensure that Croton-Harmon Schools represent what school can be - through summer enrichment activities for students, beginning the work of the Future Facilities Capital Project, and coordinating technology and communications enhancements.
This edition of Croton Connections will show you some of the amazing work our students have done throughout July and August, whether at camp or one of our summer programs. We also have exciting updates to share on the status of our Future Facilities Capital Project and Energy Performance Contract endeavors.
So that you have regular access to information about our schools, we are updating and enhancing two of our communications platforms. These updates include introducing the Parent Square platform and reenvisioning the district’s website. These changes are based on your feedback and are part of our ongoing commitment to continually strengthening our partnership.
We are thrilled to be preparing to welcome the best faculty and staff anywhere back for Superintendent’s Conference Day on August 30, and our Tiger students on September 5. Until then, we hope these updates and stories will get you up to speed and excited for the coming school year!
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Imaginations Nurtured
at Creative Writing Camp
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From Time-Portal Popsicles to Gen-Z Wizards,.
PVC students brought big ideas to camp this summer
“They have a story to tell. My job is to help them find a focus,” shared 7th-grade ELA teacher Matthew Zinman, who hosted the Creative Writing Camp at Pierre Van Cortlandt Middle School.
Some students admitted that it was their parents’ idea to sign up for the Creative Writing Camp, but rising 5th-grader Brianna wanted to “get better at writing so I can publish a book one day.” Writing is also a calming exercise for Brianna, who uses writing as a way to turn stressful situations into ideas for new stories.
Many students shared that Mr. Zinman’s games and strategically chosen SpongeBob SquarePants episodes helped them enhance their storytelling abilities. Through one SpongeBob episode, rising 5th-grader Ruby learned the importance of establishing characters and settings early in the story.
It is evident that their imaginations were nurtured this summer, and there are plenty of impressive stories to prove it.
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Turning Pages for Pups
Multilingual Students Improve their Literacy Skills.
at the Briarcliff SPCA.
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Our multilingual students had the opportunity this summer to read aloud to a very special, curious, and occasionally boisterous, group. The students visited the newly-renovated SPCA in Briarcliff and were paired up with a pup so that they could practice their reading skills, an exercise that research has suggested leads to improved fluency and reading performance. What’s more, research shows that this exercise has benefits for the reader’s confidence and mental health - an outcome that we were thrilled to note among our students.
“I really liked being here because the dogs are so cute, but some of them are also scared, and I think it’s good for them to hear our voices and then they are calmer,” said participating student Mathiass, who chose a book from his own collection, Diary of Wimpy Kid: Dog Days. He added that he feels comfortable reading to the dogs, and that he “...really likes the way the dogs look at me when they hear my voice.”
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English As A New Language (ENL) teacher Katherine Ellingsen, who arranged for the visit and accompanied the students, said that this was a unique opportunity for multilingual students to make compassionate and empathetic connections, regardless of their English proficiency levels.
“The Briarcliff SPCA puts so much heart into their programs and the care of these animals. Love is a language we all understand, animals included, and that was very obvious throughout our experience today,” said Ms. Ellingsen. “One of our students is actually planning to volunteer there over the summer now. We are all very excited to visit again soon!”
Lisa, who served as the district’s host at the SPCA, said that she is thrilled to have students come in and experience the facility and animals. “This is a great way to impact the next generation of animal lovers,” she said. “I can see that it is beneficial for the students, which is wonderful, and it also enriches the lives of our animals.”
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From Antarctica to Australia .
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Students in Ms. Matzkin’s Extended School Year class “traveled” to each of the seven continents this summer! During a recent visit to her classroom, students were painting Aboriginal Clapping Sticks, a musical instrument native to Australia. The class also invited Ms. Oliver’s students to join in on the fun. Traditional colors of Aboriginal art were used to paint the Clapping Sticks: brown to represent the soil, red for Australian sand, and white to represent clouds. The students learned about the different sounds the sticks can make, from hard to soft, depending on how they are played. |
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During their lesson on Antarctica, Ms. Matzkin treated the class to photos and postcards from her father’s trip there in 1990. After some initial questioning regarding the existence of color photography in the 1900s (way to make us feel old!), students jumped into the albums. Ms. Matzkin said the students loved looking through photos of the different animals native to Antarctica; after all, “It’s not every day you get to see a penguin in its natural habitat.”
Asia is the last continent the students learned about before beginning their “Continent Books” project, a recap of fun facts from each continent. In the final week of the program, Ms. Matzkin welcomed a new student who was welcomed by the others.
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Thanks to the overwhelming support from the community, the initial stages of the Future Facilities Capital Project are well underway. Construction on the roofs at the District Office, CET, and the Transportation Facility was completed this summer, along with stormwater drainage upgrades at CET and CHHS. This includes paving around the CHHS Baseball Field and the adjacent parking lot.
Future Facilities
A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words….
but these images have us speechless!
We are thrilled to share renderings for some of the many projects that will transform learning spaces throughout the district. Stay tuned for regular updates on the Future Facilities Capital Project, including a projected timeline for completion of the various aspects of the Project over the next two years!
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CHHS Innovative Learning Center |
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Have you joined ParentSquare? |
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As of July 1, Croton-Harmon officially moved from K12 Alerts to ParentSquare. ParentSquare replaced all functions of K12 Alerts and offers exciting new features, including the ability to download an app, a more modern interface, personalized notification settings, and language translation capabilities, including the option to receive updates in your preferred language.
If you haven’t signed up yet, we ask that each parent/guardian register an account in ParentSquare. Check your inbox for an email with an invite link. Before you set up your profile, please review the following information:
- For security purposes, your account can only be activated through the invite link in your email.
- Family information (address, phone number, etc.) cannot be changed in ParentSquare, but can be done via self-service in the Infinite Campus Parent Portal.
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If you have any questions or do not receive an invite email, please don't hesitate to reach out at parentsquare@chufsd.org
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Want to learn more? Scan the QR code or visit chufsd.org/parentsquare for directions and additional information.
PLEASE NOTE that community members who do not currently have a child enrolled in the district will use an alternate method to sign up for updates.
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New School Year, New Website!
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Getting the information you need from our website is about to get a lot easier, and faster! We are currently working on a website reenvisioning that will make it easier to navigate the site and access important information more efficiently. Whether you’re looking up the letter day, lunch menu, or submitting an absence – our goal is to make each visit as simple and seamless as possible, whether you’re on your phone or desktop. Oh, and it’s going to look quite stunning, if we do say so ourselves!
Here’s a sneak peek of what the mobile experience will look like (gorgeous, right?). Keep an eye out for additional information when the updated site launches at the end of August.
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As you may know, the district is making real its commitment to energy efficiency through our second Energy Performance Contract, which includes roof-mounted solar panels at each of the schools. Since installation, approximately 20% of the district's energy consumption has been realized through the use of solar energy.
Our bus fleet is also on the road to reducing emissions with the arrival of our second 66-passenger electric school bus which will join EVie. We need your help naming our newest electric bus! Click here to share your name suggestion. We'll announce the name of the new bus in the fall!
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CONNECT WITH CROTON-HARMON |
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