The administrative team continues to monitor announcements from the state education department, the health department and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention regarding the opening of school in September. We meet regularly with local Department of Health personnel to stay informed. Our building administrators are creating regular full-time/full-day class schedules for the Fall and the custodial staff are busy with summer cleaning of our buildings and setting up classrooms. We understand the importance of this information to our students, parents, guardians, employees, and community and will continue to share updates as we receive them.

Parents, guardians, staff, and community members of the Red Hook Central School District are invited to an informal Meet & Greet with Superintendent Janet Warden on Wednesday, July 28, 2021. Two sessions are scheduled: 9 to 10 am at Taste Budd's Cafe, 40 West Market Street, Red Hook, and 6 to 7 pm at Mill Road Elementary School Pavilion (located on the south side of the building, between the 3-5 and K-2 playgrounds).

Superintendent Warden and members of the Board of Education will be available for informal introductions and conversation in a small group setting. You do not need to RSVP and attendees are welcome to come and go during the scheduled hour. In the event of rain, the sessions will move inside. Attendees will have an opportunity to ask questions, offer input, learn more about the district, and welcome our Superintendent to the community in person.

The district has offered summer programming for students in grades K - 8 during the month of July. Approximately 120 students have participated in programs being taught by 16 teachers with a focus on English Language Arts and math curriculum. Offered five mornings a week at Mill Road and four mornings a week at Linden Avenue Middle School, participation in the summer programming was by parent choice. In addition to enjoying time with their peers, students are led through academic lessons focused on core learning concepts.

The district's Summer Academy program is in its fourth year of operation and provides numerous opportunities for students in grades 9 through Class of 2021 graduates to take a wide variety of courses. This year, 231 students have participated in courses including Automotive Tech, Topics in Chemistry, Video Production, Farm to Table, SAT prep, Theatre Production, Writing a College Essay, Acoustic Guitar, Expressive Mindful Art, German Language Camp, Shakespeare, and Foundations of Painting. During its three-week run from July 12 to July 30, more than 30 courses are available with sessions during the day and evening. The Summer Academy is free-of-charge to Red Hook students thanks to the generous support of the Red Hook Education Foundation and the Ascienzo Family Foundation. Interested in learning more? Please check out the Summer Academy 2021 calendar and course descriptions here: https://www.redhookcentralschools.org/domain/573. Registration for this year's Summer Academy is closed but there's no time like the present to make plans for Summer 2022!

To support remote learning, the district issued over 500 devices for students to use at home during the 2020-21 school year. Thank you to everyone who has already returned those devices to us! We are still waiting for more than 150 devices to be returned. If you have a school iPad or MacBook at home, please contact mlowney@rhcsd.org to schedule its return. We need devices returned ASAP so that we can have them available for student use in school in September. Thank you for your cooperation.

Best wishes to the students in the Class of 2021 who graduated under cloudy (but not rainy!) skies on the front lawn of Linden Avenue Middle School on Saturday, June 26. Of the 168 students who received a Red Hook High School diploma, the majority will be attending a two or four-year college this fall. Several of our graduates will be entering the workforce and two will be entering the military. The graduation was live-streamed to YouTube and friends and family from locations near and far away enjoyed the opportunity to watch the ceremony. A recording of the graduation ceremony is available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-NkB0C2oEYI

At the June 9, 2021, Board of Education meeting the following Red Hook faculty were awarded tenure: Mill Road Elementary Physical Education Teacher Ryan Sherwood, Mill Road Elementary Kindergarten Teacher Amanda Whyte, Linden Avenue Middle School Student Services Counselor Tiffany Schrepf, and Red Hook High School English Teacher Nancy Keeney. In New York State, a teacher has four years to earn tenure in the district they are employed by. During those years, the teacher's performance in the classroom is evaluated by school and district administrators. In Red Hook, teachers up for tenure must also submit a comprehensive portfolio of their work to be reviewed by Board of Education members. Congratulations to our newly-tenured faculty and thank you for all that you do for our students!!

On June 23, the district celebrated the completion of the auditorium project at Red Hook High School with a ribbon cutting ceremony. Superintendent of Schools Janet Warden welcomed the following guests to the podium to share their reflections on the several year journey the district and our community traveled to achieve this milestone: New York State Assemblyman Kevin Cahill, Dutchess County Executive Marc Molinaro, RHCSD School Board President Kate Kortbus, Red Hook Education Foundation member Maura Sullivan, former Superintendent of Schools Paul Finch, and Director of Facilities and Operations Perry Sheldon. The national anthem was performed by Red Hook High School senior Max Barnes, and the Red Hook High School Jazz Musicians - Max Barnes (tenor sax); Zachary Sarantitis (piano); Ben Halle (bass) and Laszlo Sasvary (drums) - entertained attendees before the formal presentations. Thank you to EVERYONE who made this project a reality. We are so excited for our students, staff and community to enjoy this amazing space for decades to come!

At the annual budget vote in May 2021, Red Hook district voters approved a proposition to increase the membership on the Board of Education from five to seven individuals. A vote to elect candidates to those two new additional seats was held on July 13. Candidates Mark Maroney and Erin Misasi received the most votes out of the slate of four candidates. At the Board of Education's Annual Reorganization Meeting on July 14, Mark and Erin were officially appointed to the board for three-year terms. The Board of Education also selected Kate Kortbus at its President and Russ Crafton as Vice President for the 2021-22 school year. For more information about the Board of Education and its meetings, please visit: https://www.redhookcentralschools.org/domain/38.