Dear North Colonie Families,
I hope you were able to get outside and enjoy the sunshine and incredible temperatures this week. Don’t forget to set your clocks forward an hour Saturday night. Spring is getting closer and I cannot wait. As we head into the weekend, I have a few updates:
PAC meeting recap
On Thursday, March 11, the district PAC held a meeting to update families on a number of upcoming topics including the end of the school year events — how we are planning to safely provide opportunities to come together to celebrate the talents and achievements of our community. If you were unable to watch the meeting, you can read the slide presentation, or watch it on YouTube.
BOE Budget Committee meeting
On the agenda at this week’s budget committee meeting was an overview of the departments. We listened to presentations about transportation, custodial and maintenance equipment and projects. Here’s the link to watch.
We welcome your budget questions, ideas and feedback. Please email your questions to communications@ncolonie.org and we will do our best to provide you the answers live in our next meeting which is Monday, March 15 at 7p.m.
Living on the Moon
The theme for this year’s Future City Competition was Living on the Moon and the challenge was to design a lunar city with examples of how their city uses two Moon resources to keep citizens safe and healthy. Latham Ridge 6th grade students, Abby Scrivens and Ella Fraley won fifth place and brought their project to the district office to share it with us. It’s out of this world! Watch them explain their idea and process in this video.
I also had the opportunity to have a Zoom chat with 7th graders who placed second in the Future City competition: Surabhi Krishnan, Lucas Zhang, and Surya Bommasani. I’ll share a video from that discussion next week.
Weekly Boost
- SJHS students move on to MATHCOUNTS state competition: Two SJHS students, Kevin Lu (3rd place) and Isabella Hu (4th place), will move on to the next level! Congratulations and good luck!
- Student artwork featured in virtual NYSATA art exhibit: I hope you take some time to review the student artwork in the NYS Art Teachers Association Legislative Art Exhibit. The work is incredible. Congratulations to all!
- SHS student artwork selected for Juried Regional HS Exhibit: The Art Department at Shaker High School is excited to share that 12 of our advanced art students have had their work selected for this year’s Juried Regional HS Exhibit. Learn more.
Remembering Coach Peter Mravlja
This week the Southgate community and the wider North Colonie community were saddened by the sudden and unexpected passing of Peter Mravlja. Peter was a bigger than life figure who had an even bigger heart that he generously shared with his students, their families, and his colleagues. Again and again when remembering him, people spoke the truth that he was a rock and a foundation with boundless love and dedication for all the Southgate community. We will miss him, and our thoughts are extended to his family, colleagues, and students. Coach, you will always be in our hearts.
As always, thank you for doing your part to keep our community safe. Please continue to wear a mask, avoid social gatherings with those outside of your household, and social distance.
Sincerely,
D. Joseph Corr
Superintendent of Schools