Community Update: 10/27/23

Dear RCSD Community,

At the risk of jinxing us, this looks to be the first dry Saturday in ages. I am going to get out there with a vengeance, and I suggest you do the same as rain returns on Sunday and Monday, hopefully departing in time for Halloween. No one likes a soggy bag of candy.

Playoff Action

I am happy to report there is lots of playoff action for those of you who enjoy getting out there and cheering on a sunny fall day.  Break out those corduroys and flannels, because a number of our high school varsity teams have moved into the postseason: boys varsity soccer won in the quarterfinals on Monday and the semis on Wednesday. The girls varsity soccer team is league champions and won in the quarterfinals on Tuesday and in the semis Thursday. Finals for the boys team are Saturday at 5:30 p.m. at Lakeland High School and the girls finals are on Sunday at 12:30 p.m. at Nyack High School.  Varsity football has its first playoff game versus Nyack tonight at 7:00 p.m. and the undefeated JV team plays Harrison tomorrow at 11:00 a.m.. -- both football games are at home. 

Tickets for the soccer games are available here:

https://gofan.co/app/school/NYSPHSAA1

Watch the soccer and football action on LocalLive here:

https://events.locallive.tv/school/rye-hs

If you enjoy your sports indoors, we’ve got you covered (literally). Cross Country is competing in the county championships on Saturday at 1:00 p.m. at the Hudson Valley Sports Dome in Milton, NY. The girls varsity diving team competes on Monday at 3:30 p.m. at SUNY Purchase, and the girls varsity swim team participates in sectional trials Wednesday and finals on Thursday, both at 4:00 p.m. at Felix Festa Middle School in West Nyack. Go Garnets!

College Admissions Climate Presentation

It was nice to see so many of you at the College Climate presentation on Monday night. For those who weren’t able to attend, the link to watch is here and the link to the slide deck is here. For several years, we’ve been hearing a fair amount of community “buzz” that RHS students are no longer being admitted to “top tier” colleges and universities. Wanting to be fully transparent with the community, I asked the RHS counseling team to prepare a presentation that speaks to the topic of college acceptances at highly selective colleges.  

While we work with students and families to support college applications to schools that are the right ‘fit’ for an individual, we felt that providing some data around this specific topic would be helpful. Hopefully, the presentation made it clear that our graduates are getting admitted to top schools, and at a rate far above the national average. It’s also clear that for many of our families, those top tier schools are not the be-all, end-all goal. Many students are choosing schools that are a good fit for them, rather than choosing based on a ranking in US News and World Report. 

There are so many wonderful college choices available to our students, including SUNY schools along with many other public and private options, and our school counselors will help every family navigate the process in a reasoned and thoughtful manner. A great follow-up to the presentation is coming up on November 29 when Jeff Selingo, author of Who Gets In and Why, is presenting at Rye Country Day School in an event co-hosted by the Rye City School District. Pre-registration is not required.

Osborn Scare Fair

The Osborn Scare Fair is this Saturday, October 28, from 10:00 a.m.-3:00 p.m. The Scare Fair is Osborn School’s biggest annual fundraiser. For those who haven’t been, the Scare Fair takes place at Osborn School and includes an array of Halloween-themed delights, including inflatable bouncy houses, games, rides, a raffle, teacher activity and fun-in-a-basket lotteries (new this year!), and the ever-popular Cake Walk wherein kids can win a sugar-bomb confection. And if that fails, there’s always the bake sale.

Halloween at the Schools

Halloween is once again on a school night this year which will no doubt result in some bleary-eyed students (and parents) come next Wednesday morning.

The three elementary schools will celebrate on Tuesday, October 31, with students invited to wear costumes for parades and celebrations. All the elementary schools will host afternoon school parades of students, faculty, and staff in costumes - rain or shine. Parents and other family members are cordially invited to watch the fun. Look for parade times and event details in the PTO newsletters.

Students at RHS and RMS are also invited to wear costumes to school on Tuesday, so don’t be surprised if you see some wacky looking kids wending their way to and from Parsons Street.

Sincerely,
Eric Byrne, Ed.D.
Superintendent of Schools