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Charles Sandoval was the winner from Mineola Middle School of the 2012 Senator Jack M. Martins Thanksgiving Essay Contest. The Essay asked, “What are you most thankful for?” Charles was honored at a recent reception at the Hillside Library. Well done!
Shame on me for taking 2 weeks to blog about this incredible play! Mr. Deluca changes the Fall production each year to be either a drama or a comedy. This year’s drama was particularly poignant. The cast did an outstanding job in transforming us back to Nazi Germany and the genocide of World War II. Unlike many television shows this play doesn’t have a happy ending. Tommy Mullane’s soliloquy at the end was riveting. Who knew he had it in him! Katie Barnwell portrayal of the protagonist was excellent. Michelle Serna actually had me laughing playing the self-centered Mrs. Van Daan. While Andres Zaldivar was the perfect match playing Mr. Van Dann. Rebecca Bastos and Gabby Ward shined in the mother and daughter relationship often at odds with Anne. Eric Timlin stole our attention with his role of Peter Van Daan. The caretaker roles of Mr. Kraler and Miep Gies were executed flawlessly by Alex Eisen and Alexandra DiStasi. Finally newcomer Quinn Ginsberg did a great job playing the wonderfully cantankerous Mr. Dussel. Kudos to Mr. DeLuca and Ms. Sloane for director yet another wonderful production. PS- I am ready for a comedy next year!
Yesterday I was invited to the HS life skill’s annual Winter Tea Party. Mrs. Palladino and Ms. Haberman out did themselves yet again. This year guests were treated to a student video of “Call me maybe”. Although I did participate in the filming I didn’t make the final cut! Mr. Escobar and Mr. Amitrano proved to be better dancers. The students once again organized a food drive in conjunction with the festivities for the food bank at Corpus Christi. These two classes are very involved in service learning and contributing positively to a global society. Thank You- Ann Mary, Austin, Andy, Ben, Brianna, Courtney, Danny, Daniel, Deanna, Dylan, Jack, Rayshawn, Rhea, Sean and Brian
At Thursday night’s Board Meeting I will discuss building security and student safety. Parents will have the opportunity to voice concerns and/or comments. Please join us at Willis Avenue second floor at 7:00pm.
As a dad of a 6 and 8 year old my heart goes out to the parents of the victims in Connecticut. Schools are supposed to be safe havens; shielded from the horrors of an adult world. As Superintendent of Schools I agonize over making sure our schools are safe- knowing full well a tragedy like this can happen anywhere. For your information I would like to notify you that all of our schools have safety plans and practice lockdown and lockout drills. Hampton and the High School just completed their drills in collaboration with Nassau County police. The front doors of the schools are locked and visitors must sign in. The High School has security guards that monitor the front door. We take a proactive approach to educating parents and students about proper safety precautions if something happens. I pray that we will never have to use any of these procedures.
On Monday, in all of our schools, we will have staff ready to assist your children if need be. If you believe your child is having any anxiety about going to school please call or email your child’s principal.
In July we applied for a State wide grant entitled “School District Management Efficiency Competitive Grant program. On Tuesday I was notified that Mineola is one of 16 school districts across the State that won this grant. We are due to receive 213,129 for the next three years if we can continue to demonstrate our savings. Our application was a narrative of the Mineola School District’s configuration. It documented our journey, our savings to date and the ability to maintain (and add) academic programs. The Board and I are happy to bring this additional revenue to our school district. I will present additional information and some ideas for spending the money at the next Board Meeting on Thursday December 6.
At last night’s Board of Education meeting the Board approved my recommendations to modify the school calendar to make up for the 6 days (7 in the HS) lost due to Hurricane Sandy. Unfortunately it means that we must shorten the February break. I am truly sorry for any inconvenience and hardship that you might incur due to this decision. Obviously this was a difficult decision and there are not a lot of options. While the Commissioner of Education can waive this rule districts MUST exhaust any and all ‘vacation’ days before any waiver is granted. https://stateaid.nysed.gov/attendance/180_day_reminder_013111.htm
The reasoning is as follows:
On Thursday at the Board of Education meeting I will be reviewing some of my observations of how the storm impacted the district. I also will ask the Board to consider some recommendations. Here is my list; please add to my items of add any I may have missed.
Communications- Obviously the most critical item during any crisis.
Issues: Power loss and Internet loss.
Difficulties- School messenger calling system requires an internet connection as well as a phone line. If you do not have both you cannot use the system. Since the Network Operation Center (NOC) and my home lost power it was very difficult to send calls out. On Tuesday I went to the local Starbucks (which was closed) and accessed their internet from outside the store. It worked fine. The next day when the store opened hundreds of people were using the Wireless access point and I was unable to send the message. After repeated cell phone calls to Catherine I finally got through and she was able to send the message for me.
Recommendations:
Power- I do not think it is feasible or cost effective to install generators in all of our buildings. I do think critical areas do need generators. The NOC is a good example. Since our phones, internet and data all reside in one spot it makes sense to have a generator in case of emergencies. Coupled with the communication recommendations this would make the NOC the “command center” for the district. In theory all of the items that failed during the storm would have back-ups thereby keeping critical communication aspects up and running.
Gas- We do not have a dedicated place to fuel district vehicles. Some districts have their own pumps, we do not. We contract with a company called “fuel man” that issues credit cards for our drivers to refuel. It is a cooperative bid that several district use. In the case of buses, very few stations are big enough to accommodate 40 foot buses and will accept the Fuel man card. We currently refuel on Jericho Turnpike and Brush Hollow Road in Westbury (6 miles one way). I would like to begin conversations with the village to explore the possibility of using their pumps (if the buses could fit). If that cannot work I would then explore joining other districts to enter a contract with a more centrally located station.
In addition to changes made last week; please note the following:
Please remind your children to stay away from down or low hanging wires. Bus Drivers will find the children they should NOT wait at any stop with a down or low hanging wire.
A lot of snow on roads making transportation difficult and unsafe. We also experienced some power loss. We are hopeful everything will be clear fro Friday.