Welcome Back

Greetings all!

Hope summer has been going well for everyone. As we turn the page to August, we are excited to be starting another new school year! The building is ready to come alive again with our students and staff engaging in another year of academic experiences that will challenge students to master new skills as we continue to prepare them for their futures after high school.

Please be sure to continue reading below for important information about our new bell schedule, staffing updates, Open House and more.

Looking forward to seeing everyone back in a few more weeks!

Dr. Whipple

We have adopted a new 60-minute bell schedule for this school year. This new schedule was the culmination of work done by a committee made up of staff, students, and parents that met regularly throughout last school year. The committee's charge was to find the optimal schedule to give our students the maximum amount of educational opportunities available to them. After reviewing a variety of different models from around the region and beyond, and analyzing feedback from surveys taken by students, staff and parents/guardians, the committee felt a 60-minute bell schedule provided the best opportunities for students.

To maximize the amount of course opportunities for students, our new schedule has an 8-day rotation, in which most classes meet 6 out of 8 days. As a result, 2 different classes are "dropped" throughout each day of the rotation. This causes some classes to shift a period depending on the day. While this may seem confusing at first, I am confident students and staff will adjust to this new pattern.

Another big change with the new schedule is that there is no Advisement period anymore. This will be replaced by an Announcement/Breakfast period. Students will stay in their Period 1 class to listen to announcements and then be dismissed to get breakfast and report to their Period 2 class. Academic intervention and support that may have used to be scheduled during Advisement for students will still be scheduled throughout the day when students have Study Halls.

While change can be difficult in the beginning, I am confident the new schedule will bring to fruition more opportunities and reduced scheduling conflicts that happened with the 83-minute block schedule. The new schedule also maximizes instructional time with shorter periods that meet more frequently.

Please see below for a copy of the class period times, a color coded schedule for how class rotations work, and a mock student schedule.

Student schedules will be accessible in SchoolTool 8/11. Please take the time to review your student’s schedule. In order to set up your account, please follow the instructions located on this webpage: Gananda.org/Parents/SchoolTool Login.

If you believe there is a missing course or mistake, please submit an Add Drop Form. The Add Drop Process is described in this document. Please be aware that there still might be some minor shifting over these next few weeks as we await Summer School results and complete our final review to balance rosters as much as possible. Here is a link to current elective options.

Please note that we will be utilizing Schoology as our learning management system where teachers will have class resources, assignments and grades for students.

If your student has an Intervention or Reading period listed, that means they will work with one of our teachers in that subject area for extra support during a portion of their study hall time.

If you have concerns about your student's schedule, please submit an Add Drop Form. The Add Drop Process is described in this document. Here is a link to current elective options.

Please note that only schedule changes with a valid rationale will be reviewed. Change requests for a different lunch or a different section of the same class will not be considered. Please understand that a great deal of work goes into trying to balance class sizes as much as possible, which makes it impractical to accommodate lunch period and class section change requests.

Also, please keep in mind that any schedule change requests that reduce a student's schedule below 6.5 credits for grades 9-11 or 5.5 credits for grade 12, will only be approved under special circumstances (CSE/504 recommendation, medically documented needs, work-based learning opportunities, etc.)

If you have further questions, please contact your student’s counselor:

• Mr. Comstock (ncomstock@gananda.org)

• Mrs. Narum (jnarum@gananda.org)

Ms. Lepkowski will serve as the shared MS/HS Librarian. Mr. Maddock will be the librarian at the Elementary School.

Mr. Yochum finished last school year with us as a substitute teacher and has now been hired as one of our science teachers. He will be shared between us and the Middle School, and will be teaching Physics with us in the afternoon in Room 106 at the HS. His previous teaching experience was in the Southern Tier region and he is certified in both Physics and Math.

Ms. Hollick and Mr. Whitney will be moving from the Middle School into Room 143 which will serve as the district-wide Tutoring Center and ISS room.

We are finishing the interview process for Math, Special Education and Health and will have a few more new hires joining us in the Fall.

Our Cafeteria is getting an update with all new furniture. Student Congress also worked on planning and purchasing some new items, activities and games for the space including the outdoor patio. We are excited to be utilizing the Cafe and Patio as a Student Lounge that students can access throughout the day during Study Hall times provided they meet the following qualifications every 5 weeks:

• At least 90% on-time attendance (includes excused and unexcused absences).

• Passing all classes (passing is considered 65 or above).

• Less than 4 behavior referrals.

• No major disciplinary infractions that have resulted in ISS/OSS.

Mrs. Arena will be the staff member monitoring the space throughout the day.

You can also click on the buttons below that will take you directly to the Instructional Calendar and Daily Schedules.

Dismissal time is 2:27 pm - half day dismissal time is 10:57 am.

Based on the Gananda Transportation Request Form submitted by each student's family, route information will be sent out via ParentSquare by August 21. Once received, if you have questions about bus routes, bus numbers or pick up and drop off times, you can contact the Transportation Department at 315-986-4278.

Please note, August 14th – September 18th: No transportation changes or new requests will be processed during this time. See the Transportation page for more details.

Freshmen Orientation is Wednesday, August 26 at 1:00. Invites were sent on ParentSquare - families and students are asked to RSVP by August 17th.

In addition, there is a District Wide Open House on Wednesday, September 2 from 5 pm - 7 pm. Students and families will be able to visit all schools and meet teachers and staff. Pizza will be provided at the new Transportation Center behind the HS!

Emergency Contact Forms will be sent via ParentSquare. Please review the emergency contact form and respond with changes as soon as possible.

Other forms will also be posted through ParentSquare. These include:

• Parent/Student Handbook Sign-Off
• Publishing Rights Release and Electronic Access Form

Student parking spots will be assigned this year - students must submit their forms prior to school. The form is linked here and can also be picked up in the Main Office. Once it is filled out, you can take a picture and email it to us or drop it off.

Students entering 12th grade need to have their meningococcal vaccine or a scheduled appointment with their physician by September 21 to prevent exclusion from school.

9th and 11th graders need a NYS mandated physical.

Medications (over the counter or prescription) cannot be given out without a note from the doctor. Please use the OTC Medication Form or Permission to Administer Medication Form found on our website.

Any student registering for sports needs to have a physical dated within 1 year from the start of practices to participate. Outdated, unsigned or missing forms will prevent your student from trying out.

All medical forms can be found under the Health Services & Information part of the HS website, or you can click the button at the bottom of this section.

If you have any questions, please email the school nurse at lhall@gananda.org.

Our building therapy dogs, Sadie and Piper, will be returning. Students and staff are excited to have them visiting throughout each school week.

Per our BOE policies, any therapy dog must be current on all vaccinations, be healthy and be accredited by Roc Dog, having passed strict testing.

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact the main office.

We have partnered with Inter-State Studio/SLR Photo for school pictures again this year. They will be at our school on Wednesday, September 16 to photograph our students and staff.

You may go online to view package options and pre-order your packages by going to the link below and using the code provided. You can pre-order or send cash or check with your student on picture day. Paper fliers will be available in the main office when school starts.

Website: www.inter-state.com/order

Order Code: 0660GSB

Please call the Inter-State Studio Office at 585-310-7781 with any questions.

Please be sure to take the time to review the Student Handbook and Code of Conduct prior to the start of school. These documents have important information regarding academic requirements, offerings, behavior expectations and other procedures.

Practice begins on August 24 (August 17 for Varsity Football).

Any student registering for sports needs to have a physical dated within 1 year from the start of practices to participate. Outdated, unsigned or missing forms will prevent your student from being approved to play.

For more information and to register, please go to Family ID by clicking on the button below, or going to Departments-Athletics from the Gananda Central School District website.

If you have not received an invitation to join ParentSquare from your students school, please contact the main office of their building.

Our student scanning system on buses utilizes RFID cards. Student scanning on the buses is crucial to ensuring all students are on the correct bus and accounted for in the event of an emergency. New student ID cards will be handed out the first week of school and will be the only ID cards distributed during the school year. Due to the increased cost of obtaining them, replacement cards may incur a fee.

Please note - if you have not had your photo taken yet as a student who enrolled after October of 2025, we invite you to come to our Open House to have your photo taken for your id. Photos will be at the Transportation Building behind the HS, September 2, 5:00-7:00.

For more information about the transportation app, please resource the transportation webpage at this link.

Respectfully,

Dr. Christopher J. Whipple, Principal

cwhipple@gananda.org

(315) 986-3521, 8, 3154