Dear Pine Bush parents and staff,

 

Our food distribution set a new record yesterday – we handed out over 10,000 meals from our three sites!  The demand was so great that the kitchen at our high school location had a hard time keeping up with the demand.  We appreciate the patience when traffic got a little backed up.  We will switch our food distribution next week to the center lane in order to expedite the process.  Remember we give out two meals for each child on Tuesdays and three meals for each child on Thursdays.  I want to commend our Food Service staff for their incredible effort and I also want to acknowledge and thank the many volunteers plus the support we get from both the Town of Crawford and the Town of Wallkill Police Departments that help us manage our two drive-through locations.

 

Today, April 3, marks the end of the third quarter for our secondary schools. Teachers have until next Thursday, April 9, to input or change their grades. These grades should be visible in the parent portal of School Tool starting on the following Monday, April 13.  Because of the shutdown, we will not be mailing report cards home for the third quarter, so the portal will be your only option for viewing those grades.

 

Once we get underway with full-blown virtual learning next Monday, we’ll be able to develop a better sense of what is and isn’t working, so we can continue to fine tune this effort. If you haven’t yet checked out the array of resources for both parents and staff on our website, I hope you’ll take time to do that.

 

I know that the instructional staff has all been working hard to get this off the ground. As we all take a giant step into the unknown world of all-digital instruction, it may feel a little scary and a little exciting all at the same time. Given our staff’s commitment to their students, I feel confident that we will be able to work out any kinks pretty quickly.

 

I’ll send another message on Sunday. So for now, hang in there and take time this weekend to do something for yourself.  You can do a better job of taking care of others if you have first taken the time and effort to care for yourself! Be safe.

 

Tim O. Mains, Pine Bush Superintendent