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Welcome to the weekly update!

I want to remind our entire community that the first Community Forum will take place tomorrow, Saturday, October 1^st at the Williamsville North High School Auditorium from 9:00 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.  This is a great opportunity, in an informal setting, to come and ask questions and engage in meaningful conversations with the Board of Education and myself.  There is no set agenda or set topic. I, along with the Board of Education, look forward to seeing and speaking with you on Saturday.

Speaking of questions, our first Superintendent Q&A segment of the year is about the start times for the high schools.  This comes from Brad:  “I'd like to pursue learning about why the District chooses the start times currently in effect for the high schools. Is there any information the District can share about that?" 

School day start times were originally set to correspond with the industrial workday.  Although it is terrible to say, but "we've always done it that way".

-          The release time of 2:45 p.m. is similar to other high schools in the surrounding area.

-          Throughout the years, the high school start times have gotten earlier to allow the majority of our Junior Varsity and Varsity practices to start at 3:15 p.m. and be complete by 5:30 p.m.

-          This allows us to play more games on the turf at 5:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. – including modified athletic events.

-          If we were to consider changing the start times of the high schools, it would create a need for a substantial increase to the transportation budget. Because of the later start times already in place, adjusting the high school times would impact middle and elementary school families in regards to busing transportation, work schedules, child care, and athletics to name a few.

Thank you for your question, Brad!  As always, for the Superintendent Q&A, send your e-mails by Wednesday of each week to contact@williamsvillek12.org.

 

Don’t forget!  Next Thursday, on October 6^th, the District is hosting a Job Fair at the District Office from 2:30 p.m. – 6:30 p.m.  We are looking to hire in numerous job areas and encourage individuals looking for an opportunity to make a difference in Williamsville, to join our incredible team.  We’ll have applications available along with District staff to answer any questions you have.

As you know, the District is in the first year of implementing the Strategic Plan.  We are proud of the work we are doing and know it will allow the District to continue on a positive trajectory.  With this, we have established a sub-committee of members from the Strategic Planning Committee to begin revising the mission and belief statements of the District.  In our Communications Committee, we have also established a logo subcommittee that will work to design a new logo for the District.  These are important next steps as we move forward and rebrand our District.  Our goal is to present these to the school community prior to the start of the next school year.

We are also in the process of reviewing websites locally and nationally as we look to improve presentation and functionality of our website.  Our hope is to a have an improved website for our school community by the next school year, as well.  The new website, logo, and mission and belief statements will lead to a soft re-branding of the District for next school year.

Speaking of the website, this week, we are highlighting the work and accomplishments of Lin-Manuel Miranda in recognition of Hispanic Heritage Month.  Miranda is widely known for his writing, composing, and acting in In the Heights and Hamilton. Hamilton, a hip-hop musical about Alexander Hamilton, was nominated for 16 Tony Awards and won 11, including Best Musical, Best Book of a Musical, and Best Original Score.   Be sure to check out the full video to learn more about Miranda’s incredible accomplishments and contributions on Broadway and on the silver screen.

 

It’s been an exciting week at Williamsville East and Williamsville North as they get set for their homecoming games tonight!  The Flames battle Kenmore West!  The Spartans take on Lockport!  Best of luck to both teams!

 

As always, enjoy the weekend and we’ll see you next week!