Community Update September 29, 2023
Good afternoon,
Without question, it has been a busy September here in Naples, both within our schools and our community. As always, it was wonderful to see our students, staff, and families engage in our annual homecoming festivities and we were grateful for the wonderful fall weather that weekend. This past weekend was of course the Grape Festival; it was well attended and as a school, we are always happy to collaborate with festival organizers to ensure the success of this unique experience in the Finger Lakes Region.
In recent weeks, construction work as it relates to our capital project has steadily increased. Renovations have begun in a number of NES classrooms, abatement work is taking place in the HS Auditorium, and the canopy on the south side of the HS has been removed. As previously shared, the expected arrival of our new playground equipment for the elementary school is sometime in November and the current plan is to go forth with installation prior to the winter. We continue to appreciate the collaboration that is taking place between our administrators, staff, LeChase Construction, and SEI Architecture to ensure that learning & building function continues as smoothly as can be expected during this type of project.
From an athletics perspective, NCS has much to be proud of this fall. Across the board our teams are performing at high levels both collectively and individually which has led to some impressive records. While victories and personal bests are important, sportsmanship and work ethic are equally if not more important for our students and I am pleased to share that these qualities are being regularly demonstrated by our athletes. We look forward to an exciting sectional season which will begin in just a few weeks. For students interested in participating in our winter sports season, Family ID is now open for registration; similar to the fall season, we hope to see high participation numbers during our winter athletic season.
As a reminder to our NCS families, Friday, October 6th 2023 will be a half day for all NCS students. Buses will leave the district at 11:00 AM from NES on that day and 11:10 from the JH/HS. Parent pick-ups should arrive prior to 10:50 AM at NES and 11:00 AM for the JH/HS. We appreciate your cooperation which affords our staff a half day of professional learning.
On Thursday, November 2nd, 2023 NCS will conduct its annual early dismissal drill required by NYS. For your planning purposes, all NCS student will be dismissed approximately 15-20 minutes earlier than usual on this day.
I also wanted to take this opportunity to invite NCS parents & community members to a special presentation next week. On October 5th, from 6:45-8:00 PM, Charlie Applestein, a respected social worker and child advocate, will be facilitating a presentation in the HS Cafeteria. Charlie is highly regarded for his work as a youth care specialist who provides expert strength-based training to anyone that works with children who may be experiencing emotional or behavioral challenges. The flyer for this presentation can be found on the NCS website, and we hope you consider joining us should you have an interest in learning more about support your child’s behavioral or emotional health.
Have a wonderful weekend, and as always, please do not hesitate to contact me with any questions or concerns.
Sincerely,
Kevin Swartz
NCS Superintendent
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