Greetings Holley School Community. 

 

As you may have heard, the Governor of NYS ordered schools to close for an additional two weeks.  This means that the earliest we could return to school would be April 15.   Based on this news, here is some important information for students, families and staff members.

 

Our instructional staff will continue to provide at-home learning activities and resources for students.  We will be sending home a notice next week regarding third quarter grades and new instructional plans for the future.  Please note that we’re keeping to our original school calendar; we will be recognizing the week of April 6-10 as our Spring Recess.  Therefore, there will not be school work expectations during that week, so students and staff have a break.  Again, there has been no decision made about Regents exams at this time, even though the grade 3-8 State Assessments have all been cancelled.

 

We recognize that at-home learning is not ideal.  We appreciate everything that students, parents and staff members are doing to maintain a routine of daily physical activities, reading and learning skills.  As we move ahead in our academic year, we’ll continue to work on providing students and families resources to assist you during this time. We appreciate your efforts at home and your patience as we navigate operating our school district remotely.  If you need any additional assistance with academic support or other help, please reach out to us.

 

Food distribution for next week (3/30-4/3) will be exactly the same as it’s been to date.  Our plan for the week of Spring Recess will be modified slightly.  During break week, we distribute food Monday, April 6, through Thursday, April 9.  We will not distribute food on April 10, in honor of Good Friday.   On average, we are providing about 875 meals a day to our students.  I can’t thank Personal Touch Food Service, our Transportation Department, Buildings and Grounds staff, and the many volunteers we’ve had make our food distribution plan work so well! 

 

If you haven’t yet, please check out our updated district website.  We have worked this week to put all our school and community resources in one place for easier access to information.  There are instructional resources and links to other supports, such as mental health services.  Soon we will also be listing information regarding childcare availability in our area.  If you are in need of childcare, especially if you are a first responder or work in the medical profession, please contact a school principal. We can put you in touch with agencies that can support your childcare needs at this time. Here is the link to the district COVID-19 webpage:  http://www.holleycsd.org/COVID-19Information.aspx. It is also accessible from the top banner of any page on the website.

 

Lastly, it goes without saying that during this difficult time, we miss our students greatly.  We want all our students, families and staff members to remain safe so when the time comes to re-open school, we’re all together again as a healthy, happy family.

 

Take care and be well, Holley.  We will get through this because we are together.

 

Proud to be your Superintendent,

 

Brian Bartalo