Schools get ready for opening day

TRI-COUNTY AREA--With September approaching, many area school districts are preparing for the first day of school. This includes finishing up construction projects on school grounds and making sure faculty and staff are prepared to implement new educational resources.


In Penn Yan, The first day of school is Wednesday, Sept. 3. The elementary school day begins at 8:45 a.m. and ends at 3:20 p.m. The middle school runs from 7:30 a.m. to 3p.m. and the academy day runs from 7:35 a.m. to 2:18 p.m.


Following the departure of Superintendent David Hamilton, Howard Dennis is currently serving as the interim superintendent. He said there are approximately 1,581 students in the district this year. 


"The staff is excited to have the students back and will continue to work hard to meet their needs," Dennis said. "We are working to dig deeper into data to provide quality education programming for all of our students."


Dennis said the goals for this year include "graduating students who are college and career ready," adding the board of education adopted focus areas to contribute to student success, student opportunity and character. Dennis said the addition of more than 500 mobile computing devices across the campus will allow students to quickly access information and encourage engagement with the content.
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Penn Yan has been able to maintain programming over the last few years," Dennis said. "We added new lab classes at [the middle school] last year and those will be continuing. We are also adding an activity period at [the elementary] in order to meet student needs."


Dennis said the final touches of the emergency project due to flash flooding will be wrapping up as students begin school. He said the middle school gym floor will not be finished but most other parts of the campus will be back in working order, adding the bridge work, stadium fixes and most of the grounds work will be complete.


"The traffic pattern coming into campus is back to normal," Dennis said.

In Watkins Glen, the first day of school for pre-kindergarten through ninth grade is Wednesday, Sept. 3, while grades pre-kindergarten through grade 12 will have school Thursday, Sept. 4. The school day begins at 7:55 a.m. Superintendent Tom Phillips said there will be a total of 1,220 students in the district this year, with 620 students in the elementary school and 600 in the high school.


"I look forward to a year filled with opportunity and the beginning of a new era for the Watkins Glen School District," Phillips said. "We will open a single campus [pre-kindergarten through grade 12] and be able to provide all students a 21st century learning environment."


Phillips said the district's goals for the year include focusing on instructional leadership, changing instructional practice in an effort to ensure our students are "college and career ready," working toward a smooth transition to a single campus and implementation of full-day universal pre-kindergarten. He said the major changes from last year include the closing of the middle school, implementing a grade seven through 12 high school, opening a single campus and implementing full-day universal pre-kindergarten.


Phillips said the new building addition onto the high school will still be ongoing as students begin the year, including the library, television studio, STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) complex, converted gymnasium and any renovations being done. He said the district has added advanced placement world history, full-day universal pre-kindergarten, revised educational technology curriculum and a new visions BOCES program.


"We have instituted a new traffic pattern and student pick-up and drop-off procedure district-wide," Phillips said. "As we implement many changes we ask for understanding and if you have an issue or need additional information please call the district."

In Dundee, the first day of school will be Thursday, Sept. 4. School hours for the elementary are 7:50 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. with a daily activity period from 2:30 to 3:15 p.m. For the high school the day runs from 7:50 a.m. to 2:35 p.m. with a daily activity period from 2:35 to 3:15 p.m.


Superintendent Kelly Houck will begin her first school year as a member of the Dundee Central School District. She said this year, there will be 788 total students in the district.


"I am thrilled to be one of the newest members of the Dundee Central School faculty," Houck said. "We are a team at DCS and it takes everyone to create a school that fosters success for all students. There has been a lot of change in the New York State Education program and we can expect more changes to come, it is our responsibility to find the opportunity that lies within that change and turn that into opportunity and success for all of our students."


Houck said the goals for this school year include continuing progress in ensuring each student is "college and career ready." Houck said the changes at DCS for the 14-15 school year will be the addition of full day pre-kindergarten along with finishing upgrades and renovations to the school cafeteria. She said there will also be advances in technology and infrastructure, heating and cooling installations, lighting and electrical upgrades and other room renovations. Houck said she will be informing parents of what construction will still be going on before school begins.
"[Our goal is] providing students with the best experiences and opportunities that will lead to success post high school," Houck said. "Regardless of what zip code our children graduate from, they need the necessary skill set and knowledge to be competitive in today's world and to meet the challenges of the 21st century."

At Odessa-Montour, the first day of school is Wednesday, Sept. 3. School runs from 7:55 a.m. to 2:55 p.m for the Hanlon elementary school along with the junior/senior high school, while the B.C. Cate elementary school runs from 8:20 a.m. to 2:35 p.m.
Superintendent Jim Frame said there will be a total of 787 students in the district, with 198 in B.C. Cate, 226 in Hanlon and 363 in Odessa-Montour junior/senior high school.
"We're very excited about the implementation of STEM instruction," Frame said. "[...] We have increased the capacity of our distance learning and online course offerings. Enrollment is up and we are welcoming new faculty members."
Frame said a goal for this year includes increasing the rigor and relevance of instruction to real world applications. He added grades three through six have added a STEM science course while the high school added a STEM earth science course.

The construction at Hammondsport Central School District will push back the first day of school this September by one day. Superintendent Kyle Bower said the first day of school will be delayed until Thursday, Sept. 4 "to give us an extra day to get ready. There will be a few areas that will be getting finished up in September but we expect all building work to be complete by Oct. 1."
The district is welcoming all eligible pre-kindergarten students to the full day pre-k program for the first time ever on Sept. 4. Bower said an additional pre-kindergarten classroom has been added to allow all 38 incoming pre-kindergarten students to enroll. Bower said this new classroom was very important to the district.
The new year at Hammondsport also means expanding the iPad initiative to all students in grades three to eight. Bower explained each student in those grades will be assigned an iPad that is for their use during the school day and at home as well. All students in grades kindergarten to second will have iPad carts in their classrooms with enough tablets for each student.
Bower added beginning this school year the district will be implementing a Bring Your Own Device policy that will also allow students to use their smart phones, tablets and laptops during the school day on the secure district network. The high school has worked to developed a usage policy to explain how the devices can be used.