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Inside this Issue:

Superintendent’s Letter Guidance Notes 7/8 Grade Home and Careers Exploration Yearbook Blood Drive Events Calendar Menu

Minerva Central School

1466 County Route 29 P.O. Box 39

Olmstedville, NY 12857

www.minervasd.org

Phone: (518) 251-2000 Fax: (518) 251-2395

Timothy Farrell, Superintendent

School Board Meeting Thursday, October 8 at 7pm Early Release Grades K-6 at 1:00 pm Thursday, October 8 Thursday, October 22

October 2020 Irish Times

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Dear Members of the MCS Community:

Now, more than ever, I am incredibly thankful to the faculty, staff, students, and parents for such a great beginning to a new school year. I am genuinely impressed with, and grateful for, the amount of hard work and cooperation that has gone into the first month of this school year. Whether you’re a parent, student or school employee, reopening school during the COVID-19 pandemic is a challenge most of us will not forget anytime in the near future!

We are all doing our best to support our students who have chosen to return to school and those who have chosen to continue with remote learning. Unlike last spring, when everyone was learning remotely, this new school year involves supporting both in-person and remote learners. This involves teaching students, full days, in the classroom and with remote learners - at the same time. In some cases, when different groups of students need to use a classroom af-ter a different group, the teachers are rolling up their sleeves and disinfecting student desks be-tween periods. The overall teaching-learning process looks quite a bit different than any time in the past. Now, more than ever, it really has been an all hands on deck approach this year. Hats off to our teachers and teacher assistants for all of their extra efforts.

We are also providing our breakfast and lunch program to both our in-person and remote learners, so our cafeteria staff, under the leadership of first-year cook/cafeteria manager Cheri Smith, has had to reinvent how our program operates - not only to address the needs of our re-mote learners, but to prepare and serve meals to our in-person learners differently than in the past. Because of COVID-19 restrictions, our students eat breakfast in their classrooms and lunch in either the gymnasium or cafeteria – but we’re not allowed to use a traditional serving line. Our K-12 homeroom teachers pitch in to help by working with the students to determine who wants the daily meals and our teaching assistants are helping deliver meals to the class-rooms. So, hats off to our food service team, along with everyone else who now pitches in to make this new system work and to get meals to our students.

Parents of in-person learners are again reminded to have a back-up plan in place in the event that any of their children are required to quarantine at home and switch to remote learning. While we all continue to take all of our safety precautions seriously and hope that we do not have any of our students or staff become infected with the COVID-19 virus, we must also be ready in the event a member of our school community does become infected. We are learning from other schools in the region who have experienced positive cases that quarantining of stu-dents and/or staff becomes necessary and that the local department of health is extremely help-ful throughout the process of determining who needs to be tested, who needs to be quarantined, and for how long. Again, I hope that it doesn’t become an issue here, but want to be sure eve-ryone is well-prepared just the same.

Sadly, we are not able to host our traditional Open House and Spaghetti Dinner in October but let’s all hope for a resolution to the COVID-19 pandemic soon enough so we can host the event later in the school year.

Sincerely,

Mr. Timothy Farrell

Register for a Virtual SUNY College Fair! Meet with representatives from SUNY campuses to discuss academic offerings, stu-dent life, financial aid, and more. During the fair, you will be able to communicate

with campus representatives using text and video chat. To register for one of the be-low fairs go to: https://www.suny.edu/attend/events/virtual-college-fair/

Tuesday, September 29, 5:00 PM - 8:00 PM

Thursday, October 1, 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM

Friday, October 2, 4:00 PM - 6:00 PM

Saturday, October 3, 1:00 PM – 3:00 PM

Saturday, October 3, 3:00 PM – 5:00 PM

PSAT/NMSQT On Wednesday, October 14 the juniors will have the opportunity to take the

PSAT.

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Getting ready for college can be easier than you think. It's never too early—or too late—to explore your options for college or ca-

reer school. This site discusses key steps in preparing for college and provides re-sources that can help you along the way. https://studentaid.gov/ Other Resources: https://www.collegeboard.org/ https://www.hesc.ny.gov/ https://www.suny.edu/

Is your child…….

-Spending too much time alone and away from family?

-More easily irritated or crying more than usual?

-Having problems focusing on school or sitting still?

If you answered yes to any of these questions or have similar concerns:

school-based behavior health may be the answer!

(www.northernrivers.org)

Minerva Central School offers a variety of social and emotional supports for your child. New to our district last year was the addition of a social worker through Northern Rivers. If you would like more information or would like to refer your child for counseling services, please

contact Mr. Dorsey at (518) 251-2000 ext. 112 or dorseyj@minervasd.org.

All conversations are confidential!

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7th and 8th Grade Career Exploration

Recently Deputy Matthew Braunius spoke to the Minerva Central School home and careers

class about his role in law enforcement.

He shared with the class about how his kidney donation to his brother when he was younger

and the costs related to that medical procedure. He also touched on points concerning the

importance of a job with benefits, like health insurance and retirement.

Stay tuned for more guest speakers and career exploration.

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2020 Yearbooks are still available!

Price $25.00

Name_______________________________________________

Phone______________________________________________

# of yearbooks @ __________________= total_____________

Paid by: (circle one) CASH OR CHECK#______

Please support the MCS Yearbook!!

Consider purchasing a personal ad congratulating a senior!

Advertise your business or organization!

Join our list of sponsors!

For more information please email Kate Smith (smithk@minervasd.org)

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Blood Drive

Minerva Community Center 1652 State Rte 28N Minerva, NY 12851

Friday, October 16, 2020

11:30 am to 4:30 pm

Contact - Lynn Green at 518-251-2766

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October 2020

Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat

1 2 Spirit Day

3

4 5 6 7 8 Early

Release Grades K-6 at 1:00 pm

9 10

11 12 No School Columbus

Day

13 14 PSAT

11th Grade

15 16 Progress Reports

Blood Drive

at the Minerva

Community Center

11:30-4:30

17

18 19 20 21 22 Early

Release Grades K-6 at 1:00 pm

23 24

25 26 27 28 29 30 31 Happy

Halloween!

Events Calendar

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October 2020

Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat

Juice, milk and fruit served daily Alternative meal is PBJ or PB and fluff

Menu subject to change

1 Cereal and

toast

Chicken nuggets, tater tots and corn

2 Bagels and

cream cheese

Tomato soup, grilled cheese

and baby carrots

3

4 5 Pancakes and

sausage

Hot ham “n” cheese

and corn

6 Blueberry

muffins

Hotdog, carrots and

brown sugar and

French fries

7 Cereal and

toast

Cheddar broccoli soup,

breadsticks and

carrot sticks

8 Yogurt, cheese

stick and cereal bar

Pizza and

garden salad

9 Egg and cheese

breakfast sandwich

Pulled pork sandwich, tater tots and peas

10

11 12 No School

Columbus Day

13 Cereal and

toast

Chicken patty, French fries and veggies

14 Chocolate chip

muffin

Egg salad sandwich, chips and

veggies

15 Donuts and

yogurt

Hotdog, tater tots

and veggies

16 Cereal and

toast

Pizza and garden salad

17

18 19 Pancakes and

bacon

Chicken patty, rice

and carrots

20 Cinnamon

apple muffins

Tuna sandwich and chips

21 Cereal and

toast

Tomato soup and grilled

cheese

22 Bagels and

cream cheese

Turkey sandwich and

chips

23 Egg and cheese

breakfast sandwich

Pizza and

garden salad

24

25 26 French toast

sticks and sausage

Mac ‘n’ cheese

and hotdogs

27 Cereal and

toast

Ham and cheese

sandwich and chips

28 Bagels and

cream cheese

Tacos and refried beans with cheese

29 Donuts and

yogurt

Turkey sandwich and

chips

30 Pancakes and

bacon

Chicken patty and tater tots

31

Breakfast / Lunch Menu

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Minerva Central School P.O. Box 39 Olmstedville, New York 12857

Box Holder

or Rural Route

Non-Profit Organization PERMIT #2

Olmstedville, N.Y. 12857