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

Next week is another busy week in the District. We will again have COVID testing for asymptomatic students and staff at several of our schools. To learn more about the test sites, visit our COVID updates site by clicking here.

On Tuesday, May 4, we will hold our annual Budget Public Hearing. The meeting will take place in-person at 6 PM at the Jerome F. Melvin Administrative Office Building (5355 West Taft Rd., N. Syracuse) and will also be broadcast on the District's YouTube Channel at the same time.

This year’s budget proposal carefully targets funding toward the academic and social-emotional impacts of COVID. For the past year, schools have been working through the many challenges associated with the pandemic. I recently had time to sit down with CNY Central's Mary Kielar to talk about the issue. You can see Mary's story online by clicking here.

Please take time to learn about this year's budget proposal on the District website. Our budget District Dispatch is also available online and will be arriving in mailboxes this weekend and into next week. I hope to see you at our Public Hearing next week.

Thank you and stay well!

Sincerely,

Daniel D. Bowles, Superintendent of Schools

The North Syracuse Central School District celebrating National Mental Health Awareness Month! The pandemic has taught us many things - chief among them is that our mental well being really matters. We are proud to observe the importance of mental health as well as to acknowledge the tremendous work in mental health done by the district mental health staff as well as our community mental health providers. The NSCSD is providing calendars of activities for families to use to make meaningful connections with their children. The calendars can be viewed online using the calendar links below.

Click here to learn more.

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.

NSCSD schools are preparing for the administration of the Regents examinations. Acknowledging the challenges associated with COVID-19, the New York State Education Department (NYSED) submitted a waiver to the U.S. Department of Education requesting all Regents exams be cancelled for the 2020-2021 school year. This waiver was denied. Consequently, NYSED is only administering the following federally-required exams: English Language Arts, Living Environment, Algebra 1, and Earth Science. Click here to read more online.

The following message from the North Syracuse Central School District Athletic Department is being shared with NSCSD Families and Staff:

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) issued updated guidance on April 27, specific to mask wearing recommendations for fully vaccinated individuals. While the guidance allows for some lessened requirements, the CDC still recommends that fully vaccinated people wear a mask when attending sporting events or in crowded spaces. The North Syracuse Central School District continues to require spectators at NSCSD events to wear masks. Spectators refusing to wear masks will not be given access to athletic events.

Our goal as an athletic department has not changed. We must remain diligent in our efforts to lower the county-wide transmission rate. To do this, our mask requirement at ALL athletic events for spectators remains in effect and applies to all indoor and outdoor contests. We want to reiterate this expectation and avoid any disruption for spectators who wish to attend in-person. As the Spring season progresses, it is our hope to be able to increase the attendance numbers at these events as long as the mask and social spacing requirements are being met regularly.

Thank you in advance for your cooperation and compliance, and for keeping our student-athletes, coaches, and community safe and active!

-The NSCSD Athletic Department

In case you missed it or wanted to watch it again, the C-NS High School original musical, ‘This Will Be Our Year’ can still be viewed for FREE on YouTube. Click here to view the recording of the Friday show.

The Star Shop is running a pre-sale on spring t-shirts. If you are interested in purchasing one, please click here to complete the online form. To process order, please call Linda Dwyer in the Star Shop to pay by card 315 218-4150.

Due to Covid, No Visitors are Allowed in the Building. Parents, your son or daughter can pick up their t-shirts in the C-NS Star Shop during lunchtime. For staff outside of the high school, your orders will be sent through interoffice mail. Payment must be received to process order.

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.

Many thanks to all the students, staff and families who shared their (second) first day of school pictures. Please continue to share your welcome back photos with us so we can include more images in next week's newsletter and on the District website. Click here to submit your photos.

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