RCSD Community Update: 11/10/22

Dear RCSD Community,

My community update is one day early this week as tomorrow is the official Veteran’s Day holiday and schools and offices are closed in observance. I am proud to report that our schools have been marking the day. Midland School students welcomed veterans who came to speak to them this afternoon and the front entryway has a display of souvenirs of family and friends who served in the armed forces. Milton School held a breakfast where fifth graders got to meet veterans from the American Legion this morning and a schoolwide assembly to honor the veterans in families and the community took place this afternoon. Seventh graders at RMS are writing letters to veterans to thank them for their service.  We are fortunate to have a number of veterans who are part of our faculty and staff. On behalf of the entire school community, I thank them for their service. We are also grateful for all of the veterans in the greater Rye community and thank them for their service to our country. 

Challenge Success Resources

We had a great turnout for Dr. Denise Pope from Challenge Success on Monday night. The focus of her presentation was around college admissions and why a good “fit” between a student and college/university is more important to long-term success than a school’s ranking. While we weren’t able to record her presentation, we have a couple of resources to share. First, the white paper she referenced called, A “Fit” Over Rankings: Why College Engagement Matters More Than Selectivity is linked here. The Challenge Success college admissions resource page is here. It has a terrific list of recommended resources for parents and students.

Superintendent’s Conference Day

While parents were (hopefully) out hitting the polls on Election Day Tuesday, RCSD faculty, staff, and administrators convened for the third Superintendent’s Conference Day of the year. Dr. Denise Pope from Challenge Success (she is also a Senior Lecturer at Stanford University’s Graduate School of Education) delivered a great keynote address to our secondary faculty and staff about supporting student engagement and held individual workshops for teachers. The overall focus of the day was on instilling critical thinking in the classroom. For more on critical thinking, see my article in the October Superintendent's Bulletin. In addition, our elementary faculty spent time developing a greater understanding of the Science of Reading and how our literacy program has incorporated this important research into daily instruction.

RHS Varsity Football in Section 1 Championships

The Rye High School varsity football team beat the John Jay-Cross River Wolves 31-21 at Nugent Stadium last Friday night in the semi-finals. The Garnets now head to Mahopac this Friday at 12 p.m. to face the Somers High School Tuskers for the Section 1 Class A Championships. If heading north to watch the action isn’t for you, the LocalLive link is here. Go Garnets!!!

Open Topics Forum at BOE Meeting

On Tuesday, November 15, we will host one of two Open Topics forums at the Board of Education meeting. These are opportunities for members of the public to meet with small groups of Board members in an informal setting. If you have questions about the school district or want to make a comment or give feedback, this is a great way to go about it. At the conclusion of the small group sessions, we recap the discussions for the benefit of the public. Our second Open Topics forum is in February this year.

I hope you and yours have a memorable Veteran’s Day. A heartfelt “thank you” to those in the community who have served.

Sincerely, 

Eric Byrne, Ed.D.

Superintendent of Schools