College and Career Readiness...
Our College and Career Readiness Committee, consisting of over 100 members, met throughout the 2017-2018 school year
and has already met twice over the fall diligently focusing on our 2018-2019 goal, which is to increase and strengthen our
mentoring/job shadowing/internship opportunities for our students in the Central Square Central School
District. With a focus on the students at PVM High School, this committee, consisting of staff members, local
business owners/workers, and workers from companies and colleges/universities from the greater Upstate
New York area, did a wonderful job accomplishing last year’s initial goal of establishing the “Attributes/Competencies of a Central Square Learner,” seen here: https://tinyurl.com/Attributes-Competencies-CS
The committee has already begun the process for recruiting quality mentors and job shadowing and
internship opportunities, which will provide our students with firsthand knowledge and on the job exposure to the career
field that is currently of interest to them. Our hope is to either validate their potential career plan, or equally important,
realize that it is not for them once they see what working in a particular field is actually like. We have already been able to
place PVM students in different job shadowing locations and the feedback we are getting from the students
and their parents has been extremely positive. If you or someone you work with would be interested in
presenting to our students, hosting a student for a job shadow, supervising a student for an internship, or
being a mentor, please complete the survey at this link: http://tinyurl.com/C-C-Readiness-Survey
Capital Project...
After the voters passed the Capital Project Referendum on May 16, 2017, that highlighted much needed improvements on
all of our schools and facilities, we have made significant progress regarding the overall scope of work highlighted in phase
one of the project. Several parents and community members have shared positive feedback regarding the noticeable
upgrades that have been made to our buildings and grounds. The Central Square Central School District has not had a
district-wide capital project in over a decade, resulting in a very large scope of work that has taken place during the summer
months when school was not in session. We would like to thank the staff, parents, students, and community members
for being so understanding and patient throughout the first half of this massive capital project, that when completed will
provide our community with schools that are not only safe, but will also provide our students with a sense of pride.
Our Director of Facilities, Mr. Paul Brissette, and his amazing maintenance and custodial crews worked tirelessly to allow
for school to start on time in September, and that was a herculean task, but one that they achieved by working as a team,
and we are all so grateful for their efforts. To view the original capital project flyer (seen above) click on the following link:
https://tinyurl.com/Capital-Project-2017-Flyer
To view the progress we have achieved through phase one of the project, view the following link: https://tinyurl.com/Capital-Project-Slides-2018, and to view all information pertaining to the Capital Project, click on the following link housed
on our District website: https://tinyurl.com/Capital-Project-2018
Daniel Baldwin Presents at the December Redhawk University...Daniel Baldwin is “sharing his experiences, strength and hope” at the next exciting installment of Central Square School
District’s Redhawk University on Friday, December 7. Daniel Baldwin is an actor, director and a member of the Central
Square community, and would like to share his story regarding his battle with addiction. His goal is to give hope, strength
and resources to help our community at large.
The Redhawk University program is designed to inform the public about topics and issues that directly impact students
and the community at large. Redhawk University is a monthly series of workshop presentations throughout the school year.
Each is free to the community and includes guest speakers, along with other professionals to discuss relevant topics.
The target audience for these informational sessions are our students’ parents/guardians and any interested community
members, with the goal of keeping them informed on many important topics that impact our student population. These
sessions are designed and facilitated by our Dean of Students and veteran staff member at Paul V. Moore High School,
Mr. Damon Villnave, and our Director of Student Supports and Interventions, with over twenty years of experience and
expertise in the area of school social work, Ms. Jennifer DiBianco. The primary objective is to provide important information
and valuable resources on a variety of topics so we can strengthen the homeschool
partnership with the common goal of “empowering all students to excel
as citizens in a changing world.” There is no doubt that our students are faced
with difficult issues and decisions that we simply did not face when many of us
were students. It is only through strong lines of communication between the
schools and our students’ parents/guardians that we can truly be successful in
providing the safest experiences for our student body.
Redhawk University runs for approximately one hour, each slated from 7
p.m. until 8 p.m. Paul V. Moore High School hosts these events, with light
refreshments being provided.
“The Central Square School District is proud to have Mr. Daniel Baldwin speak
about how experience, strength and hope helped him overcome addiction and
how those attributes can provide a foundation of support for you or someone
you care about,” said Villnave.
Additional installments of the series include topics such as mental health, suicide
prevention, internet safety, distracted driving, alcohol and drug prevention. For
a full listing of Redhawk University workshops, please visit the District website at
www.cssd.org.
Two snow days and it's only November...I wake up every morning at 3:45 am from late October to April 1st (give or take depending on the year and the weather patterns) and check on a number of factors that go into the final decision regarding whether or not I will have to delay two hours or close. Since our District is so large, geographically speaking, a one hour delay is pointless in the majority of cases. We contact the highway crews who are in contact with the town supervisors, all the superintendents in Oswego County as well as some in Onondaga County, our Director of Facilities and our Director of Transportation. I also am watching numerous weather reports on television and on my computer at home. It is never a perfect science, but student and staff safety is always my top priority and I will never put them in jeopardy to save the five allotted emergency days that we have to draw from each year. Both of the snow days I called this year were a result of the highway crews informing us that a two hour delay was not enough to keep up with the constant snow fall. On the last snow day, it was reported by the Town of Hastings and Constantia that there were numerous trees down blocking many roads that were not passible. The heavy snow was weighing down trees on power lines causing thousands to go without power in the towns of Hastings and West Monroe.
The Citizenship Incentive Awards..The following members of the Greater Fort Brewerton and Oneida Lake Chamber of Commerce donate in the form of gift certificates each month so two students from Central Square Middle School and two students from Paul V. Moore High School are randomly selected that have no behavioral referrals, and are presented these amazing gift certificates from Rosie's Corner (https://www.facebook.com/rosiescorner/), the Brewerton Diner (https://www.facebook.com/BrewertonDiner/), Joa's Pizza (https://www.facebook.com/Joas-Pizza-149499535079715/), and Brewerton Special Tees (https://www.facebook.com/BrewertonTees/). We are blessed to have so many local businesses that believe in our mission "to empower all students to excel in a changing world." We want to thank these amazing businesses for their continued generosity and support for the students of the Central Square School District, which truly exemplify our District's slogan, "As one we rise, together we soar."
