A view of Kingston High during a recent dusk. (Photo by Phyllis McCabe)
As was said in an old movie once, it’s a dream for some and a nightmare for others — the 2019-20 school year is just around the corner, with students in the Kingston Central School District starting classes on Wednesday, Sept. 4.
Perhaps more than any other local school district’s digital hub, the KCSD website (kingstoncityschools.org) is a font of information, including up-to-date news from each of the district’s seven elementary schools, two middle schools, and Kingston High School, which has a new principal (Vince DeCicco), new vice principal (Tina Montano), and a few new twists and turns on the sprawling Broadway campus thanks to ongoing work in the Second Century renovation plan.
There are other new school administrators in the district as well, with Wanda LoBianco taking over from longtime principal Valerie Hannum at George Washington Elementary School, and Tamara Smith the new assistant principal at M. Clifford Miller Middle School, with a primary focus on the fifth and sixth grades.
The district has also published extensive information about its complex bus routes on its website, with a few changes in store from last year: Buses will no longer stop on Route 222 and will instead stop on Route 224, adding pickups at Kings Pizza at Wall Street and Greenkill Avenue. An after school drop-off for the same route was added at the intersection of Fair and Henry streets. Another bus route originally stopping at Route 228 has added Route 220, with a pickup at Wall and Franklin streets.
Perhaps the biggest change in the district heading into the new school year is the introduction of a pre-kindergarten hub, which is set to open its doors at the former Frank L. Meagher Elementary School next week. School officials have long since advocated for a pre-K program as studies have shown that the earlier a child becomes a student, the better equipped they’ll be for their education down the line. Also moving into the newly refurbished Meagher will be the district’s headquarters, which is leaving the Cioni Building on Crown Street after selling the property to developer Neil Bender, who plans to turn the building into a boutique hotel and spa.
New student registration will be open in the district through Thursday, Sept. 5. Interested parents or guardians are asked to come to the administrative offices at Meagher on Mondays through Thursdays from 9 a.m. until noon, or from 12:30 p.m. until 3 p.m.
Each of the district’s schools have their own pages on the KCSD website, with he Kingston High corner including informative grade-specific pages for freshmen through seniors. In addition to its website, the KCSD also has a smartphone app.