School prepares for next year's reconfigur­ation

PINE PLAINS — A presentation  given to the Board of Education (BOE) at its Dec. 2 meeting outlined how the school will prepare for its elementary school reconfiguration plans, currently set to take place at the start of the 2010-2011 school year.

The plan would move kindergarten to grade two to Cold Spring Elementary School in Stanfordville while all students in grades three to five would attend Seymour Smith Elementary School in the center of Pine Plains. The BOE was ready last year to move forward with reconfiguration plans in time for this September, but after a large number of concerned parents and citizens started attending meetings criticizing the decision, the board decided to postpone the changes for a year.

The administrative team in charge of planning for the reconfiguration is headed by assistant superintendents Catherine Parsons and Michael Goldbeck, Special Education Director Maryann Stoorvogel and elementary school principals Richard Azoff  (Seymour Smith) and James Glynn (Cold Spring), all of whom contributed to the presentation given during the Dec. 2 school board meeting.

There are several objectives the district said it will keep in mind while preparing for the move: the planning process itself, how academic programs will be effected, keeping parents and students involved and informed and the physical and time parameters involved with the move.

Parents will be kept up to date through the student/parent handbook, the school’s Web site (ppcsd.org) and open houses and parent orientation events that will be scheduled in the months to come. An upcoming district newsletter, sent home to parents, will devote a significant amount of space to the move.

One of the ideas in preparing the students for the move includes a pen pal program where students can write to other students their own age between the two elementary schools. Those letters, as well as open house events, visits to both Cold Spring and Seymour Smith, joint field trips, assemblies and joint music concerts, will help ease students into their new learning environment next year.

The transportation department has continued work in projecting bus route schedules and timelines. All dry runs have been completed, Goldbeck reported.

Board of Education President Helene McQuade thanked the team for its presentation.

“It was very well thought out, and I was especially interested in the communication piece,†she said.

“It’s been very easy to work together,†replied Azoff. “We get together and talk so things get resolved quickly.â€

Parsons reported there would be two more similar reports given to the board before the end of the year. No dates have been publicized for open house events for public information sessions, but Parsons said they would be coming.

“The events will start in January,†she said. “We’re not pushing parent events off until the end of the spring. It will start as soon as we get back from holidays.â€

Several parents attended the meeting and gave comments before the board adjourned.

“If the goal is to make people feel more comfortable, I hope you provide detail and background as to the ‘whys’ of moving,†said Nathaniel Hieter.

“At the end of last year’s process the board promised more information to make us feel good about [the change],†said Kim Schaye, who has two children currently enrolled in Seymour Smith. “Let’s get some concrete sense of what this is going to be like for us and why we should support it. Some people are still waiting to feel good about this.â€

The next BOE meeting will be held on Wednesday, Dec. 16, at 7 p.m.

Latest News

Housatonic softball beats Webutuck 16-3

Haley Leonard and Khyra McClennon looked on as HVRHS pulled ahead of Webutuck, May 2.

Riley Klein

FALLS VILLAGE — The battle for the border between Housatonic Valley Regional High School and Webutuck High School Thursday, May 2, was won by HVRHS with a score of 16-3.

The New Yorkers played their Connecticut counterparts close early on and commanded the lead in the second inning. Errors plagued the Webutuck Warriors as the game went on, while the HVRHS Mountaineers stayed disciplined and finished strong.

Keep ReadingShow less
Mountaineers fall 3-0 to Wamogo

Anthony Foley caught Chase Ciccarelli in a rundown when HVRHS played Wamogo Wednesday, May 1.

Riley Klein

LITCHFIELD — Housatonic Valley Regional High School varsity baseball dropped a 3-0 decision to Wamogo Regional High School Wednesday, May 1.

The Warriors kept errors to a minimum and held the Mountaineers scoreless through seven innings. HVRHS freshman pitcher Chris Race started the game strong with no hits through the first three innings, but hiccups in the fourth gave Wamogo a lead that could not be caught.

Keep ReadingShow less
The artist called ransome

‘Migration Collage' by ransome

Alexander Wilburn

If you claim a single sobriquet as your artistic moniker, you’re already in a club with some big names, from Zendaya to Beyoncé to the mysterious Banksy. At Geary, the contemporary art gallery in Millerton founded by New Yorkers Jack Geary and Dolly Bross Geary, a new installation and painting exhibition titled “The Bitter and the Sweet” showcases the work of the artist known only as ransome — all lowercase, like the nom de plume of the late Black American social critic bell hooks.

Currently based in Rhinebeck, N.Y., ransome’s work looks farther South and farther back — to The Great Migration, when Jim Crow laws, racial segregation, and the public violence of lynching paved the way for over six million Black Americans to seek haven in northern cities, particularly New York urban areas, like Brooklyn and Baltimore. The Great Migration took place from the turn of the 20th century up through the 1970s, and ransome’s own life is a reflection of the final wave — born in North Carolina, he found a new home in his youth in New Jersey.

Keep ReadingShow less
Four Brothers ready for summer season

Hospitality, ease of living and just plain fun are rolled into one for those who are intrigued by the leisure-time Caravana experience at the family-owned Four Brothers Drive-in in Amenia. John Stefanopoulos, pictured above, highlights fun possibilities offered by Hotel Caravana.

Leila Hawken

The month-long process of unwrapping and preparing the various features at the Four Brothers Drive-In is nearing completion, and the imaginative recreational destination will be ready to open for the season on Friday, May 10.

The drive-in theater is already open, as is the Snack Shack, and the rest of the recreational features are activating one by one, soon to be offering maximum fun for the whole family.

Keep ReadingShow less