1. Art and Diseño

Minerva Central School
1466 County Route 29
P.O. Box 39
Olmstedville, NY 12857
www.minervasd.org
Timothy Farrell, Superintendent
Phone (518) 251-2000
Fax: (518)251-2395
Heidi Kelly, Principal
February 2015 Irish Times
Inside this Issue:
Parent Teacher Conference Day
No School for Students
Monday, February 2 from 12-7 pm
School Board Meeting
Thursday, February 12 at 7 pm
Mid Winter Recess—No School
February 16-20
Superintendent Coffee Hour
Tuesday, February 24 at 9:30 am
Superintendent’s Letter
2
Stand Up for Upstate Schools Event
3
CASDA—Focus Group Event
4
Special Board Meeting /Meal Pricing
5
Pre K/Kindergarten News
6
Third Grade News
7
Fifth and Sixth Grade News
8
Fight the Flu
9
Wood Technology Classes
10
Dinner and a Movie/ Blood Drive
11
Talent Show
12
Pizza and Wings—Delivered
13
Carnation Sale
14
Basketball Schedule
15
Events Calendar
16
Menu
17
From the Superintendent
School Advocacy
Minerva Central School sent a strong contingent of local school advocates to the regional advocacy event, Stand Up For
Upstate Schools (SU4US) held in Saratoga on January 22nd. The regional advocacy event brought representatives from
the 31 school districts in the Washington-Saratoga-Warren-Hamilton-Essex (WSWHE) BOCES area together to “Stand
Up for Upstate Schools.”
Minerva Central School was represented with thirteen faculty, support staff, board of education members, and concerned parents. Among other advocacy efforts, the event focused on ending the Gap Elimination Adjustment (GEA), a
measure instituted in 2010 to spread a portion of the state’s budget shortfall among school districts through cuts in
state aid. Since 2010, Minerva Central has lost nearly $1 million in promised state aid to the GEA. For more information about the SU4US regional advocacy event see the article on page 3 of this edition of the Irish Times.
Minerva Central School has a well-established local advocacy group, Minerva CARES, which was formed last year.
Please keep your eye out for more information from Minerva CARES in the weeks to come and visit
www.minervacares.org regularly to check for local and regional advocacy updates.
CASDA Focus Groups
CASDA requested that we postpone the Focus Group sessions scheduled for January 26th due to a snowstorm forecast
involving the Albany area. The event is rescheduled for Monday, February 9th and will follow the same time format
that was originally planned. Please refer to the focus group flyer on page 4.
State Aid and School Budget Development
Normally New York State schools receive the first (executive/governor’s) run of the upcoming year’s state aid proposal
in January. This year, however, while Governor Cuomo has indicated an interest in increasing state aid to schools, he is
withholding just how this new state aid will be dispersed until the State Legislature agrees to his policy reform agenda.
Among other items, the major education policy reforms that the governor is attempting to change using his power over
the state budget are changes to the statewide system used to evaluate teachers and principals or annual professional
performance review (APPR), and changes to the process used to determine teacher tenure. Clearly both of these education policies have long been the topic of much debate. That being said, the practice of holding our legislature, our
schools, and our student’s hostage by not releasing much-needed state aid is unacceptable. We have a Board of Regents that is in place to establish and maintain the state’s education policy – not a governor.
International Student Program
We expect to begin receiving applications from interested international students for next school year, and Minerva is
always looking for new host families. The Board of Education approved the annual enrollment of up to six students
but we do not currently have enough host families to accommodate more than four. Please give me a call soon if you
would like more information on becoming a host family.
February’s coffee hour is scheduled for Tuesday, February 24th at 9:30 in the cafeteria.
Happy Valentine’s Day!
Page 2
SUPPORTERS OF EDUCATION FROM 31 SCHOOL COMMUNITIES
“STAND UP FOR UPSTATE SCHOOLS” AT REGIONAL EVENT
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – More than a thousand teachers, administrators, parents and other supporters of education
gathered at Saratoga Springs High School the evening of January 22 nd to advocate for more equitable funding for schools in
upstate New York.
The regional advocacy event brought representatives from the 31 school districts in the Washington-Saratoga-WarrenHamilton-Essex (WSWHE) BOCES area together to “Stand Up for Upstate Schools.”
Minerva Central School was represented with 13 faculty, support staff, board of education members, concerned parents, students, and administrators in attendance.
Among other advocacy efforts, the event focused on ending the Gap Elimination Adjustment (GEA), a measure instituted in
2010 to spread a portion of the state’s budget shortfall among school districts through cuts in state aid. Since 2010, schools in
the WSWHE BOCES region have lost $198.5 million in promised state aid to the GEA.
“The state is projecting budget surpluses now. How can we continue to justify the GEA when those budget gaps are gone?”
asked Robert N. Lowry, the deputy director of the New York State Council of School Superintendents.
Lowry was part of a panel of speakers that included representatives from business and higher education, as well as a teacher,
a parent and a student.
Allison Lanfear, a member of the panel and a senior from Warrensburg Junior/Senior High School, talked about the impact the
GEA and other budget cuts have had on her school.
“Having to make these budget cuts and to cut teaching positions is unacceptable,” Lanfear said. “It’s frustrating for all of us,
and it’s frustrating for me not to get a complete education.”
That frustration was shared by each member of the panel in turn. Kristine Duffy, president of SUNY Adirondack, said schools
need to do a better job of preparing students for their post-high-school lives, but budget constraints — such as those created
by the GEA — are undercutting that need.
“What concerns me is seeing schools have to make choices to cut early-college exposure,” she said, adding that half of the
students who enter community college in New York state need some remedial classes.
The panel, moderated by award-winning broadcast journalist Susan Arbetter, also included Cindy Bartlett-Murray, social studies teacher at Queensbury Middle School; Nicole Clarke, a parent from Galway Central School District; and Peggy Murphy,
director of human resources, facility security officer and corporate secretary for Espey Mfg. & Electronics Corp. in Saratoga
Springs.
“Just about every school district in our region has reduced programming, or will need to” as a result of the GEA, WSWHE BOCES District Superintendent James Dexter told the packed auditorium. Yet, he was also encouraging. “If everyone can just do
one piece of advocacy and get someone else to do one more, we can make a difference."
He urged supporters to tweet messages to the governor, advocating changes using the hashtag #StandUp4Upstate.
To do your part, tweet the message “I #StandUp4Upstate children! Let’s work together to end the GEA, @NYGovCuomo” or
some other message urging lawmakers to fix the state’s educational funding.
For more information:
Visit www.minervacares.org
Please also check out this short video: “Stand Up for Upstate Children” https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=dcLarSPYdPQ&app=desktop
Page 3
RESCHEDULED FOCUS GROUP EVENT
ATTENTION:
Minerva Central School
Community Members and Parents
Minerva Central School is using the Capital Area School Development Association (CASDA) to
assist the District with a Needs Assessment, which will be used to support the development
of a strategic plan. When complete, this strategic plan will be used to help the school board
chart a course for our future. As part of this Needs Assessment, CASDA is conducting focus
groups to gather information from various school constituents to identify strengths and weaknesses of the school district.
The focus group meetings are scheduled for Monday, February 9, 2015 in the school library,
and will follow the schedule below:
1:30
Students
2:45
Faculty and Staff
4:00
Community Members
5:00
Parents
6:00
School Board
In order for this needs assessment to be most useful, we need good participation from
community members and parents. Please mark your calendar for Monday, February 9th
and plan to participate in the applicable focus group session.
Page 4
NOTICE
SPECIAL MEETING OF THE
MINERVA CENTRAL SCHOOL
BOARD OF EDUCATION
Purpose : to meet with the Minerva Town Board and discuss collaboration
Date: Wednesday, February 4, 2015
Time: 6:00 pm
Location: School Library
Meal and Ala-carte Pricing
Full Meal Pricing
Breakfast
Lunch
PK-6
$0.75
$1.50
7-12
$0.75
$1.75
Ala-carte Menu
Pricing
Milk
$0.50
Cheese Stick
$0.50
Water
$0.75
Baked potato chips
$1.00
Juice
$0.50
Granola Bar
$0.50
Breakfast Entrée
$0.50
Rice crispy treats
$0.75
Breakfast side
$0.25
Crackers—cheese and PB
$0.50
Yogurt
$0.50
Cereal
$0.50
Lunch Entrée
$1.00
Please note:
Lunch side
$0.50
All ala-carte and seconds are cash only purchases
Salad
$1.00
PBJ sandwich
$1.00
Fruit
$0.50
Page 5
Ready, Set, Go!…. Racing Towards Reading Goals!
The Pre-K/Kindergarten classroom has been full of laughter, letters and
learning. We have covered 17 letters of the alphabet so far this year. The
Pre-K’s have been working hard on naming each letter and its sound, as well
as beginning to write both the capital and lower case forms. The Kindergarteners work on the same letter that the Pre-K’s do each week, but use it to
spell and read words. Both groups have been working in their journals to
draw and write about things that begin with those sounds. Their favorite
part of the day is show & tell time when they get to share things from home
that begin or end with our special sound.
Having books read aloud is so important to us at this stage of our reading
development, so families are joining in to read a minimum of 10 books to
their child each month. Those books add up fast! The K’s are racking up
book totals as well. Most children have reached 40-50 books already in our
classroom independent reading program. They love when they get a
chance to read a book to Mr. Farrell. Our goal is to read 100 books by the
end of the year!
Page 6
Third Grade
Our third graders continue to impress me! Whether they are learning a new math concept,
writing strategy or technological skill, they are quick and eager to master it. Even when things
get difficult, they are working on putting frustration aside and attacking the problem.
Math Madness: More multiplication and division! We have worked our way to the
nines fact family and are continuing to improve fluency. We also continue with multistep word problems that use all four math operations!
Reading Superpowers: Currently, it’s all about frogs – where they live, how they survive and what makes them some of the most interesting creatures on earth! Students are
also participating in reading groups. In their groups, they decide how much they are going to read before discussion. Then they read, respond and discuss what was read. We
are working on more independence as they learn to talk about literature with their
classmates with little teacher direction.
Sensational Science: What fun we had learning about ecosystems and improving our
technology skills to create a slideshow! The third graders were very proud to show their
knowledge to family and teachers. We are now experts on wetlands, rainforests, taigas,
deciduous forests, deserts, grasslands and tundras.
Second and third grade students enjoyed a trip to the Adirondack Museum for “Balsam
Traditions” on December 19, 2015. They identified trees, got cozy on a balsam bed and
made wonderful aromatic pillows.
Page 7
News From The Fifth and Sixth Grade Classroom
A lot has been happening in Room 115 in the last few months. In math, the 5th graders have been
working with adding and subtracting fractions and have just begun a unit on multiplying and
dividing fractions. The 6th graders have spent a lot of time working with positive and negative
numbers and are now just starting to learn about the coordinate plane.
We have been working in two different reading groups this marking period. The 5 th graders
have been reading The City of Orphans with the help of Mrs. McNally and the 6th graders have
been reading A Wrinkle in Time with Ms. Gereau. Both groups are working hard reflecting on
what they are reading and participating in literature circles as well.
We just wrapped up units in both social studies and science. In social studies we were studying
ancient China and will now move on to ancient Greece. In science we did a unit of study on the
human body systems and will now dive in to the world of plants!
Our work in the ELA modules has been really exciting. We are working through the 6 th grade
modules. These are challenging at times, but the students have really been rising to the occasion. We are finishing up a unit were we read the novel Bud, Not Buddy. We focused on character development and the author’s use of language. We also read speeches by Steve Jobs and
President Obama. We then formed claims about “rules to live by” that we found in the different
pieces of writing and wrote evidence-based essays. This was very successful, and the students
did a fantastic job analyzing the texts and coming up with their own evidence-based claims.
When we returned from the winter holiday, we started the new year writing our dreams for the
world based on Martin Luther King Jr.’s I Have a Dream speech. You can find these dreams and
wishes on our bulletin board this month. I continue to be impressed with the hard work, stamina, and positive attitudes from the 5th and 6th grade students!
Page 8
Signs and Symptoms in People
Symptoms of influenza illness include: fever or feeling feverish/chills (not everyone with influenza will have a fever), sore throat, runny or stuffy nose, muscle or body aches, headaches, fatigue
(very tired), and some people may experience vomiting and diarrhea, though this is more common in children than adults. Severe illness, such as pneumonia and respiratory failure, which can
be fatal, and worsening of an existing chronic health conditions have been reported with influenza as well.
Essex County Public Heath Office
Regular Office Hours
Monday-Friday 8:00 AM—5:00 PM
P: (518) 873-3500
F: (518) 873-3507
132 Water Street Elizabethtown, NY 12932
Page 9
Drafting and Design class visit
O’Brien Construction work sites
Toboggan building by Wood Tech
Fun for many years to come.
Lazy Susans soon to be on the table
By the 8th Grade Wood Tech Class
Page 10
Tonight's dinner will be—Grilled cheese
Cost: $5.00 (signed up and paid before 2:45 pm on Thursday before movie night)
$6.00 at the door
Friday, February 27, 2015
5-8 pm
Students will be supervised by
The class of 2017
Dolphin Tale
While swimming free in the ocean, a young dolphin gets caught in a trap and severely damages her tail. Although she is rescued and transported to Clearwater Marine
Hospital, her tail cannot be saved, and the prognosis is dire. What the dolphin, now
named Winter, needs is a miracle.
Save this date
Thursday, March 5
Blood Drive
At
Minerva Central School
1-6 pm
Page 11
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$5 ADULTS, $3 STUDENTS/SENIORS,
$15 FAMILY
Page 12
Super Bowl Sunday
February 1, 2015
To PRE-ORDER: send in the order form below with your child to Mrs. West by January 30th.
Pick up at school will be between 2-6 pm.
Phone orders can be called into the school on February 1st from 1-6 pm.
Name: _________________________________________Phone: ________________________
Pick Up Time: ___________________________________
Delivery Time: __________________________________
Pizza
Wings
(List quantity on line provided)
_____ Cheese - $10.00
____Mild - $8.00/doz.
_____Pepperoni - $11.00
____Hot - $8.00/doz.
_____Sausage - $11.00
____BBQ - $8.00/doz.
_____Supreme - $13.00
____ Ranch
____Bleu cheese
Let us do the driving
while you enjoy the game!
Minerva / Olmstedville area only
Delivery times available from 2:00 – 6:00pm
Sponsored by the class of 2017
Please call 251-2000
Thank you for your support!
Page 13
Carnation Sale
Dear Parents and Guardians,
If you would like to surprise your student for Valentine’s Day, then consider purchasing some carnations to
send them during school. Flowers are being pre-sold through Wednesday, February 11th and will be delivered
on Friday, February 13th. The cost is $1.00 per flower or 6 for $5.00. You can write a note or even make it
anonymous, but send a carnation to show you care!
Fill out the attached form completely. Enclose both the form and payment in an envelope and return to Mrs.
Beaulieu. Please be sure to fully complete forms and include payment, otherwise the form cannot be processed and flowers will not be delivered.
Thank you!
- Class of 2016
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February 2015
Basketball Schedule
Sun
1
Mon
2
Tue
Wed
3
4
BM and BV
VS IL/LL
At Long Lake
8
9
10
11
BM and BV VS
Schroon Lake
at Newcomb
Flower Night
15
16
17
GM and GV
VS IL/LL
at Newcomb
GM and GV at
Schroon Lake
18
Thu
Fri
Sat
5
6
7
BM and BV
at Johnsburg
12
BM and BV
VS Wells
at Minerva
19
GM and GV
VS Johnsburg
at Minerva
Flower Night
13
14
GM and GV
at Wells
20
21
27
28
No School—Mid Winter Recess
22
23
24
25
26
Page 15
February 2015
Events Calendar
Sun
1
Mon
2
Tue
Wed
3
4
Thu
Fri
Sat
5
6
7
Parent Teacher
Conference Day
12-7 pm
No school for
students
8
9
Girls
Flower Night
10
11
PTSO Meeting
7pm
12
13
14
20
21
27
28
School Board
Meeting 7pm
Boys
Flower Night
15
16
17
18
19
No School—Mid Winter Recess
22
Page 16
23
24
25
26
February 2015
Breakfast/Lunch Menu
Sun
1
Mon
2
Conference Day
Tue
Wed
3
Muffins and
yogurt
Garlic pasta
and chicken
w/broccoli
8
9
Scrambled eggs
w/sausage and
toast
Ham subs and
cucumber sticks
15
16
10
Muffins and
yogurt
Mac ‘n’ cheese
and peas
17
Thu
Fri
Sat
4
5
6
7
Cereal and toast
Bagels
w/cream cheese
French toast
w/syrup
Hamburg stew
w/biscuits
and corn
Chicken patties
and tater tots
Tomato soup
w/tuna boats
Carrots/celery
11
12
13
14
Cereal and toast
Bagels
w/cream cheese
French toast
w/syrup
Chicken noodle
soup
w/egg salad and
PBJ sandwiches
Meatloaf
w/mashed
potato and corn
Hotdogs
w/beans
18
19
20
21
27
28
No School—Mid Winter Recess
22
23
Scrambled eggs
w/sausage and
toast
Turkey wraps
lettuce, tomato
carrots sticks
and chips
24
Muffins and
yogurt
Ziti
w/green beans
25
26
Cereal and toast
Bagels
w/cream cheese
French toast
w/syrup
Chicken ala king
over rice or
bread
w/broccoli
Hamburg
w/fries
Vegetable soup
w/egg salad and
PBJ sandwiches
Page 17