At their recent regular meeting on Wednesday, August 1, the New Paltz Central School District introduced the new assistant principal hired for New Paltz Middle School. Daniel Glenn was most recently with the Newburgh district, said Superintendent of Schools Maria Rice. Glenn was signed to a four-year probationary appointment effective August 6 of this year through August 5, 2022. A meet-and-greet event for the community to meet the new assistant principal will be scheduled in the upcoming weeks.
Now the search begins to find a replacement for retiring Duzine Elementary School principal Debra Hogencamp, whose resignation for retirement after 26 years of employment was accepted by the board of trustees during Wednesday’s meeting.
Superintendent Rice said that Hogencamp’s achievements as leader of the school were perhaps most apparent in the fact that when the state Department of Education’s early childhood education committee visited the school last year, they made videos of the teachers at Duzine giving lessons, “which will be used to train other teachers in how it should be done,” said Rice. “I congratulate a wonderful staff at Duzine Elementary School and the leadership that allowed them the freedom to be able to do these kinds of creative ways of teaching young children.”
Rice pledged to include parents in the committees evaluating the candidates for the open Duzine principal position, noting that the district would solicit involvement in the process from all parents of students attending the school, not just organized factions such as the PTA. Rice said they would like to have parents on the committee representative of racial diversity and the various groups the students fall into, whether “general population” or, for example, students with disabilities.
Ribbon-cutting planned for new addition at middle school
A ribbon-cutting followed by a tour of the new addition at New Paltz Middle School will be held on Monday, August 27 at 5:30 p.m. All members of the community are invited. While there is still work to be done at the school for the ongoing capital project, the new section represents a milestone in the project and the ribbon-cutting will give parents and community members the opportunity to preview the eventual finished product.
Meet new middle school principal
Superintendent Rice and the New Paltz Central School District Board of Education will introduce Ann Sheldon as the new principal of the New Paltz Middle School at a “Meet and Greet” event, co-sponsored by the District and the Middle School PTA, on Tuesday, August 14 at 5 p.m. at the Middle School Traffic Circle. Parents, students, and community members are invited to meet and welcome Sheldon as the new middle school principal.
Board of Education committee assignments made
When the New Paltz Central School District held its annual reorganizational meeting July 11, BOE president Michael O’Donnell noted that assignments of trustees to committees would be made after consideration of requests by board members as to which groups they wished to be involved with. Each board member serves on two specialized committees throughout the year that meet once a month.
At the regular meeting held Wednesday, August 1, O’Donnell noted the assignments of trustees to committees. The liaison to the racial equity committee is Sophia Skiles, who will also serve as representative to the healthcare advisory committee. The policy committee is chaired by Kathy Preston with Teresa Thompson and Diana Armstead members. The audit committee is chaired by Matthew Williams and includes Michael O’Donnell and Diana Armstead. The facilities committee is chaired by Teresa Thompson with Matthew Williams and Glenn LaPolt members. The legislative action committee will be chaired by Michael O’Donnell and includes Kathy Preston and Glenn LaPolt.
New Paltz BOE backs the town in their grant application to the state DOT
The New Paltz Central School District Board of Education trustees voted unanimously last week to approve the signing of a letter in support of a grant application the Town of New Paltz has applied for from the state Department of Transportation. The grant would pay for improvements to the roads near the high school, including the creation of new bike lanes and enhancing existing accommodations, creating improved safety for pedestrians, motorists and cyclists.
Board of Education member Sophia Skiles noted that the public should be aware that in the board supporting the town’s grant application, it does not mean the district is contributing any taxpayer money; only supporting the town spending grant money that helps the safety of students and other community residents.
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