NorthStar Lights

Hello North Syracuse Central School District Parents, Guardians, Teachers and Staff!

Next week is an important one for the North Syracuse Central School District. Not only are we excited to welcome our K-4 students back into school full-time, we are scheduled to present our 2021-2022 school budget to the Board of Education (for review only) on Monday, April 12. The meeting will be held in person but due to social distancing guidelines, pre-registration is necessary. Click here to find out more.

With the passage of the New York State Budget this past week, school districts across the state are in much better shape than recent years. The budget includes a significant increase in the foundation aid that has been promised, but not received, for many years. I am incredibly thankful to our community members and legislators for advocating on behalf of our students. I recently spoke with LocalSyr/NewsChannel 9's Andrew Donovan about the funding - click here to view that story online.

The next few weeks will move quickly and will be filled with information about the budget proposal and how we will be using the money to meet the needs of our students. Please mark your calendars for the May 4 Public Hearing and the May 18 Budget Vote and Board of Education Member Election. We will use this newsletter to update you each week and will be sending a print edition of the District Dispatch to community members.

"Welcome Back" Photos

With our new K-4 full-time schedule beginning next Monday, we invite you to share your "welcome back" photos with us. Our school information officer will also be out in buildings throughout the week to capture some images. Click here to submit your photos.

As always, thank you for your continued support. Please take a moment Enjoy your weekend and the forecasted sunshine and warmth!

Sincerely,

Daniel D. Bowles, Superintendent of Schools

This week’s Shining Star is Amanda Menikheim-Morey, a preschool special education teacher with the North Syracuse Early Education Program (NSEEP) at Main Street.

Amanda, who is herself a graduate of the North Syracuse Central School District, says she knew from an early age that she wanted to be an early education teacher. She gives credit for that to her first grade teacher at Smith Road Elementary School, Ellen Galgano.

Amanda has always loved working with children and says that their energy and enthusiasm is what makes her job so meaningful. “My favorite thing about my job is the KIDS. When children are young and starting to learn, they are such willing participants in the education process! I learn something new every single day,” she said.

Click here to read more about Amanda Menikheim-Morey.

Be sure to save the date for this year's high school musical. Cicero-North Syracuse High School will present their original musical “This Will Be Our Year” on April 23 and 24. The production, based on the song by The Zombies, focuses on a typical senior year, in an effort to give back to the students the year that they lost, in a creative way. Click here to learn more.

Cicero-North Syracuse High School junior, Mady Alcock, was recognized by CNY Central for her life-saving efforts with a child she was babysitting. Click here to read the story online on CNY Central.

Cicero Elementary School students and staff celebrated PARP (Pick a Reading Partner) during the month of March and were highlighted on the LocalSyr Cool Schools segment for their efforts. Click here to view the segment from April 2.

Cicero-North Syracuse High School senior, Jessica Cook, has been named girls basketball Player of the Year for the Salt City Athletic Conference (SCAC) and was recognized as a First Team player. Additionally, girls basketball coach, Rob Siechen, received Coach of the Year recognition and three girls varsity basketball players, Alita Carey Santangelo, Alexa Kulakowski and Julia Rowe, earned SCAC All League Honors. Click here to read the story on Syracuse.com.

Four Cicero-North Syracuse High School boys basketball players, Luke Paragon, Brian Bonin, Noah Wieczorek and Kevin Felasco were named in the Salt City Athletic Conference (SCAC) All League Honors. Click here to read the story on Syracuse.com.

Cicero-North Syracuse High School senior, Kevin Felasco, was featured on LocalSyr as the April 7 Athlete of the Week. Click here to view the segment online.

Because the NSCSD has many exciting changes happening, this week's Wellness Wednesday topic is about change and possibility. Visit our website by clicking here.

When NSCSD school buildings had to close their doors to students and staff in the Spring of 2020, the District started "Wellness Wednesdays" as a way of pulling families together in spite of COVID-19. As the 2020-2021 school year progresses, we need to connect now, more than ever, so we've gotten the "Wellness Wednesdays" band back together. The Wellness Wednesdays website will be our way of sharing resources, information and importantly YOUR thoughts, photos and artwork.

Because this school year has been so different, it has been challenging to get new photos for our District website at www.nscsd.org and other publications. So...we need your help! We would love to share your photos of at home school environments. If you're willing to share, please send your high quality images using the link below. We'll be using your photos in this newsletter and other publications throughout the school year. Additionally, high resolution, horizontal photos will be considered for the District website. If you'd like to share pictures, please email them to our Communications Officer, Laurie Cook at lcook@nscsd.org or click here to upload them.

Alexandra (Alex) Kadick, a student in the North Syracuse Early Education Program (NSEEP), celebrated her 4th birthday in school this week. Alex's parents, Allison and Nick Kadick, shared some photos and expressed their gratitude for the NSEEP and Alex's teacher, Joanne Marino, teaching assistant Diane Chermak, and all the staff of the NSEEP. Allison said, "Alex is thriving at [NSEEP] this year! We are so fortunate that this program exists and that our little girl has benefitted from it. She takes part in 5 different services that might otherwise be unavailable and because of those specialized services, she has advanced tremendously. We can't thank everyone enough!"

Click here for more information about NSEEP programs.

The North Syracuse Central School District is currently accepting registrations for its North Syracuse Early Education Program (at Main Street) for the summer of 2021 and 2021-2022 school year. Registration for the state-funded Universal Pre-Kindergarten (UPK) program will begin in May.

Did you know that the North Syracuse Central School District's Athletics Department has a weekly email newsletter? If you'd like to subscribe to the newsletter, click here to fill out the necessary form. To view this week's athletic newsletter, click the download link below.

Email: webmaster@nscsd.org
Website: www.nscsd.org
Location: 5355 West Taft Road, Syracuse, NY, USA
Phone: (315) 218-2100
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NSyracuseCSD/
Twitter: @NSyracuseCSD