Board of Education

SuperintendentJeremy P. Palotti

HighlightsHornell City School District October 2017

Kerry Davis, PresidentJessica Hess, Vice Pres.Joshua DeLanyJames MarinoJohn McNelisUzma MehrJudith Rose

The 2017-18 school year is off and running in the Hornell City School District. I am thrilled to be a part of this school community! I am grateful for the welcome I have received coming into this

district and am excited for what we are doing and what’s ahead for us.

By now, you likely have heard that the district is engaging in a district-wide comprehensive needs assessment. What is a needs assessment? It is a process we will follow to actively listen to all mem-bers of the school community. We are working with an outside consultant who will coordinate a process to gather data from all aspects of the school. Board of Education members and administrators will be interviewed, teachers and sup-port staff will complete an online survey tool, students in grades 4-12 will respond to survey questions as will parents. We also will host a focus group for com-munity members that do not have students in school. Once we collect all of this data, the Board of Education and I will review it through the lens of the nine characteristics of high performing schools, which are:

· Clear and shared focus· High standards and expectations for all students· High levels of collaboration and communication· Curriculum, instruction and assessment aligned with standards· Frequent monitoring of learning and teaching· Focused professional development· Effective school leadership· Supportive learning environment· High levels of family and community involvement With data placed into these nine areas, the Board of Education, in collaboration with admin-

istration and the school community, will establish long-range goals within a strategic plan to set the course of the district for the next several years. I look forward to reporting back to you on the progress we make in the creation of this plan. I know that with a focused effort and feedback gath-ered from all involved, we will be able to set a course to help the students of the Hornell City School District excel in all aspects of their academic lives.

I look forward to working together with the entire school community to build on the successes we have had. If you should have constructive feedback to offer, please do not hesitate to reach out to any members of our administration and/or me directly.

From Superintendent Jeremy Palotti

Pictured are members of Hornell High School’s 2017 Homecoming court from left to right: Tim McMichael, Megan Cheresnowsky, William McNelis, Claire Weyand, Ja’Meir Scott-Mazza and Kate Colucci.

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Right - New instructional staff members at North Hornell include (from left) Sarah Valentine, grade 1 teacher; Samantha Kennedy, teacher aide; Cassi Sharrett, special edu-cation teacher; and Stefanie Mayr, reading teacher.

Right - New instructional staff at the Intermediate School include (from left)Ashley Dunning, grade 4 teacher; Sandy Hillman, grade 4 teacher; Aryn Smith, school coun-selor; Stephanie Coddington, teacher aide and Ashley Van Husen, teacher aide.

Left - New faculty members at Bryant include (from left) Cassandra Metzinger, grade 2 teacher; Jill Viano, grade 2 teacher; Kate Herrera, grade 2 teacher and Cassandra Tyler, school counselor.

Left - New faculty members at the Jr./Sr. High School include (from left) Mark Lombardo, French/ESL teacher; Bryan Schram, Social Studies teacher; Krista Gemmel, Special Education teacher; Erin Shinebarger, Special Education teacher; Tim Crowe, English teacher and Andrew Newman, English teacher.Not pictured: Christopher Bowman, teacher aide.

Above - Jennifer Griffith and Sophie Powell are teacher aides at Bryant.

Welcome to our new instructional staff members!

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Hornell High School awarded silver medal byU.S. News & World Report Hornell Senior High School recently earned

a silver medal in U.S. News & World Report magazine’s annual “Best High Schools” ranking. Hornell Senior High was 191 of the 1,270 ranked schools within New York and 2,409 of 20,487 ranked schools in the U.S.

To produce the 2017 Best High Schools rankings, U.S. News & World Report teamed with RTI International, a global nonprofit social science research firm. The firm reviewed data from the 2014-15 school year to determine how well eligible schools serve all of their students. This was based on student performance on state math and reading proficiency exams, as well as the school’s graduation rate. In addition, schools were rated on the degree to which they prepare students for college-level work.

On its website, U.S. News & World Report reported that Hornell Senior High School serves

536 students in grades 9-12 and has a 15:1 student-teacher ratio. The school of-fers Advanced Placement® course work and exams, with 36 percent of students participating in AP® courses.

“As the superintendent, I am proud of our students and teachers for the honor of earning this award and this distinction,” said Superin-tendent Jeremy Palotti. “We will continue to push ourselves and our students to succeed in and out of the classroom to expand upon this achievement.”

Newark selected for All-State Music Festival

Senior Kuryn Newark will represent Hornell High School at the 2017 New York State School Music Association (NYSSMA) Festival

in Rochester from November 30-December 3. Newark will perform as an alto II in the mixed chorus. She was selected from thousands of students who auditioned for this honor last spring at solo and ensemble festivals throughout the state.

Newark has been singing since she was in fourth grade and has attended both All-County and Area All-State music festivals numer-ous times.

“I’m very, very excited,” she said. “ It’s a big privilege to represent our school.”

Newark plans to attend Alfred University next year to study vocal performance and theater with a minor in psychology. Kuryn Newark

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September was a busy month here at North Hornell School. We have several new staff members who

have joined our team, including Cassi Sharrett, consul-tant special education teacher; Sarah Valentine, first grade teacher; Stefanie Mayr, reading specialist and Samantha Kennedy, paraprofessional. Welcome to all!

In reading, we are working to develop great readers with lasting literacy skills. We continue to adjust our curriculum and assessments to meet the needs of our students.

In math, students are learning using the New York State Math Modules. These modules were developed to meet the state and national standards that are set for math. We appreciate the efforts from home, as we know much of this is new to parents.

We have completed our fall assessments using the IREADY Math and ELA screening. We used information from these assessments, along with information from individual reading assessments from Fountas and Pin-nell, to determine reading abilities and to focus interven-tion/enrichment based on individual needs.

Our mission this year is to develop students who are Respectful, Responsible and Safe. Our “Red Raider Strong” shirts have our favorite Red Raider holding a sign with these words. Our school had our kickoff assembly in which the Hornell High School cheerleaders and Officer Day joined us as special guests.

We are off to a fast start and are looking forward to a great 2017-18 school year!

From Barb Kramer, North Hornell Principal

HS cheerleaders entertain North Hornell Elementary students during a Red Raider Strong assembly.

From Jennifer Sorochin, Bryant Principal

We’re off to a great start this year. We have many new staff members who are a welcome addi-tion to our team. Kate Herrera, Cassie Metzinger and Jill Vianco are all teaching second grade.

Cassie Brown-Tyler is our new counselor and Jennifer Griffith and Sophie Powell are newly-hired paraprofessionals in our building. Open house was well attended. It was great to meet our new parents and catch up with those from last year.

Our PBIS team met this summer and on opening day with students we began teaching the behaviors we encourage this year, all focused around respect, responsibility and safety. Our daily motto is: “Bryant Students are Red Raider Strong. We are Respectful, Responsible and Safe.” The PTO generously donated T-shirts with our motto on them.

Our teachers worked hard during the summer and we’re on our way to a greater focus on core instruction and guided reading groups. We’re also embarking on a new path for intervention and a hands-on focus in math.

We’ll be kicking off our reading challenge with “Reading for Paws”. We’ve set some very lofty goals for our students and they’ll be rewarded with some exciting opportunities as they meet them. They get very excited to reap the rewards of reading and it shows the students how important we believe it is to read every day.

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From Sean Gaffney, Intermediate School Principal We are off to a great start to the year! We

started our new PBIS program with an as-sembly on the first day of school with the help of our TV station, WRRS. On the second day, we did rotations in each specific area. There were some great videos made by the PBIS team that really engaged the students.

Our PBIS and BLT teams have teamed up and this year we are going to have three different themes. Our first trimester will be “Dive Into Learning!” The students are very excited about earning tickets where they have the chance to win some cool prizes or even a chance to partici-pate in our next challenge. Weekly updates will be aired on our news channel WRRS every Friday and on our new Instagram page.

We have a few new staff on board this year at the Intermediate School. We have two new grade

4 teachers, Sandy Hillman and Ashley Dunning, and a new guidance counselor, Aryn Smith. We also have two new aides, Stephanie Coddington and Ashley VanHusen. We are very excited to have them.

Our Open House was a little different this year. Normally we would have it a few weeks into September, but this year we decided to do it prior to the beginning of school and it went very well. Students were able to see their classrooms, meet their teachers and bring in supplies. They also were able to earn their first Red Raider Tickets.

We look forward to a great year focusing on respect, responsibility and being safe. We are Red Raider Strong!

#RedRaiderStrong #RRS

From Scott Carroll, Senior High Principal

Welcome back! This fall has been littered with leaves, fun and excitement, especially as we prep for our Senior Halloween parade! The school year has already hit a high note with our HS being

recognized by U.S. News and World Report as a ‘Best High School’ in New York, earning a silver medal. Our seniors will head to Virginia Beach and Williamsburg before they walk across the stage in June, and our choirs will head to the ‘city of brotherly love’ for their annual competition trip. The Marching Red Raiders are fine-tuning their production and prepping for the state competition at the carrier dome in late October.

Please welcome two new additions to the 10-12 staff:Kristi Gemmell – Kristi is an Arkport native, where she currently resides with her husband and

four sons. Kristi attended St. John Fisher studying Childhood/Special Education and finished her master’s at Alfred University in Literacy. Kristi worked as a Special Education Consultant Teacher at Alfred-Almond for 11 years prior to her being hired at Hornell. Kristi is very excited to join the Hornell team!

Bryan Schram – Bryan is a native of Rochester, New York. He attended SUNY Fredonia graduating in 2013 with a Bachelor’s in Social Studies Education and History. Currently, Bryan is completing his Master’s degree at SUNY Brockport and is looking forward to graduating in the spring of 2019. This is his first year as a full-time teacher and he is excited and proud to be a part of the Hornell City School District.

I would like to thank our parents for working together in collaboration with our teachers, staff and administration to ensure our students invest in their education, see its value, and we both push to have students improve daily and reach their truest potentials.

Looking forward to another great year at HHS! #Red Raider Strong#

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From Ted Illi, Junior High Principal

School Closings and Delays

In the event of inclement weather or other emergencies, families will be notified by

telephone through our Blackboard Con-nect emergency notification system. It is important that the schools always have updated telephone information for families. Delays and closings will be announced on local radio stations and will be posted on our Education Access Channel (Channel 9 on Spectrum Cable), the district’s Facebook page and on our website – www.hornellcityschools.com.

• Two-Hour Delay: If a two-hour delay is announced, your child’s school will begin its program two hours later than its regular schedule. School will dismiss at its usual time unless other weather or emergency issues occur. There will not be a breakfast program. Buses will run on a two-hour delay.

• The Hornell City School District is closed: If this is announced, all school buildings will be closed for the entire day. After-school and evening activities are normally cancelled, too. If after-school and evening activities will occur as scheduled, it will be specifically announced.

As principal of students in Grades 7-9, it is my pleasure to welcome everyone back for another great year. It is our mission to nurture, encourage and cultivate lifelong learners so that every child feels

welcomed. Additionally, we strive to challenge each student to grow in his or her academic abilities, as well as mature socially. With a focus not only on academics, but also on teaching positive behavior strategies in various locations throughout the building. We hope to reinforce positive behaviors, while consistently addressing the negative behaviors. This will be observed through developing expecta-tions focused on three areas: Respect, Responsibility and Safety (RRS, or RED RAIDER STRONG!).

This year, we were able to add four teachers (Tim Crowe, Mark Lombardo, Andrew Newman and Erin Shinebarger) to an already dynamic teaching staff. Our teachers continue to work hard to create classroom activities that engage our students in meaningful learning by implementing research-based, best practices based on academic data. On September 5, we hosted ‘7th grader orientation’ which allowed students and parents to meet their child’s teachers and become more familiar with the building. It was a great experience, with 85 percent of the 7th grade cohort and their families attending. Overall, we are very excited to have students back in the classrooms with an energy and enthusiasm for learning.

Thank you for the continued support and dedication to your child’s academic success. Together, let’s make this another great year of preparing these young adults for their future.

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Capital project update

Paving at the High School was finished before the start of the school year. Landscaping and

seeding near both the west and south lots was completed prior to the start of school as well. Parking lot signage, site furnishings and final in-stallation of fencing around the softball field and along State Street were completed in September.

Major work was completed on the second floor classroom renovations during the summer. In August, casework, wood doors, window sills, shelving, counter tops, ceilings, lights, marker boards, phones, wireless access points, clocks, fire alarm devices, flooring, paint and a number of mechanical, electrical and plumbing items that are not visible were completed. A few finishing items were completed in September.

The new faculty room and classroom at the South end of the building have been turned over for use. Work in the A Gym coaches’ office recently was completed as well.

Work in the B Gym and locker rooms contin-ues to progress at a fast pace. New steel has been installed in the gym to provide additional support required for the new roof top units that will heat and cool the space. These units were installed in early October. In addition, the floors in both the girls and boys locker rooms have been removed and the plumbing contractor installed new sinks and toilets in the locker rooms. In the coming weeks the new concrete floors will be installed allowing for the new concrete masonry unit wall work to begin. The HVAC contractor, along with the electrician also are installing needed compo-nents and services in both the gym and locker rooms. This work is on schedule for a January 2018 completion.

Columbian, North Hornell, Bus Garage and Bryant Elementary

Welliver completed the final construction document estimate for the phase III work. The estimate shows that the project is still well under budget. Additional meetings will occur in the coming months to finalize the documents before bidding is held this winter. This is the final phase of the $20 million project. During all three phases, the project has been well under the established budget.

Several classrooms on the second floor of the High School were renovated during the summer.

Parking lots at the High School were repaved during the summer.

A view of the new student drop off loop at the High School.

2017-18 Capital Outlay ProjectBids were opened in late September and

the winning bidder was awarded at the October Board of Education meeting. Planned work includes renovation of the boys bathroom adjacent to the choir room at the Jr./Sr. High School. Construction is scheduled to begin in early November. In addition to the bathroom renovation, second floor classrooms will receive new card reader access. This work, along with the bathroom renovation, will be completed by late winter 2018.

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Intermediate after-school program continues

A popular after-school program in the district will continue this year even though federal

grant funding for the program was not renewed. The Board of Education opted to continue the FOCUS program at the Intermediate School from its general fund budget using Community Schools aid from New York State.

The FOCUS program, which serves students in grades 4-6, will run from Monday through Thursday for 32 weeks. FOCUS provides 1.5 hours of academic improvement, tutoring, enrichment and recreational programming.

As in the past, the program will operate in partnership with the Hornell Area YMCA. The YMCA will serve as the hiring entity for FOCUS and plans are being made for the YMCA to provide portions of the program as well, said Rich Everly, coordinator.

“Knowing that several students and families would be without this support this school year forced us to look at options for continuing this program,” said Jeremy Palotti, superintendent. “As we develop the budget for the next school year, we will evaluate our resources and look for other mechanisms to make this program sustainable for future years.”

The district also offers several after-school opportunities for Junior/Senior High students, including:

Extended library hours – the High School library is open after school so students can access various resources, including technology and research materials. In addition, enrichment activities are offered, including demonstrations and discussions from Alfred University, Cornell Cooperative Extension and ProAction. Students are invited to drop in to the program; however, if they attend regularly, they will be asked to complete a brief registration form.

Robotics – Junior High students can par-ticipate in First Lego League, while Senior High students participate in VEX robotics. Both allow students design, build and program robots and participate in regional robotics competitions.

Science lab help – Science teachers can offer lab help to students outside of the regular school day with administrator approval. Students who need extra help should work directly with their science teacher to determine if they are eligible.

For more information on the district’s after school offerings, please contact Rich Everly at 324-1303, ext. 1536.

The Hornell Area Family Resource Center recently reopened in its new location at the Intermediate School. The center now has more space and an expanded focus, serving children from birth to age 18 and their parents or caregivers.

Family Resource Center reopens