Mr. Giarrizzo reported: Our High School Robotics Team, Team 5050, achieved an overall ranking of third place and were finalists for the Connect Award; PMHS science teacher, Mr. Steven Beltecas, was named LOHUD’s Educator of the Week for his outstanding work on behalf of the science research program, athletic program, and total school program; our Varsity Hockey Team has been invited by the NHL to hold the national flag on the ice on Wednesday, January 29th at the outdoor stadium series at Yankee Stadium; three PMHS students, Shante Grossett, Sarah Hickernell, and Michael Manfredi, will have their artwork displayed at Concordia College for the Regional High School Art Exhibition; I was recognized by the New York City Church of Christ in Yonkers for my service to the students and community of Pelham; we are still waiting for information to confirm the cause of the lockdown notification at Pelham Middle School; the budget process is still underway, and we are working hard to bridge a gap of $800K- $1M in revenue and expenditures; we still have three remaining snow days in our allocation of five; the facilities staff did a remarkable job of clearing the recent snow fall; we held kindergarten registration last week; Assemblywoman Amy Paulin will come to Pelham on January 28th at 7 p.m. in Alumni Hall to discuss what she is doing on our behalf to advocate for reasonable and common sense changes at the state level regarding the implementation of the Common Core, state testing and student data privacy; and our strategic planning consultant, Debbie Raizes, is here to give an update on that work.
Ms. Raizes reported to the Board that she and fellow consultant, Ms. Judith Wilson, have met with approximately 90 staff, students, teachers and parents so far. She said that the studets were the highlight of these initial gatherings and noted that themes from all participants were starting to reveal themslves. Ms. Raizes said that the next forum will be hed on Saturday, February 8th from 9 am to 12 Noon and that anyone is welcome to share what they would like Pelham to focus on for the next 3-5 years. The consultants hope to present the final plan to the Board this June.
