Good afternoon,

Fall is officially underway and I hope this brief finds you doing well.

I'll start today by thanking Mrs. Melissa Lauterwasser for inviting me to read to her 5th grade class at Pleasant Valley this morning for Hispanic Heritage Month. I had a fun morning with this awesome group of students. As a former art teacher, I'll also share how moved and impressed I am with a picture that fifth grader Yavera drew of me while I was there. I can't wait to frame it and hang it on my office wall.

I wrote about this last week but I want to follow-up to let you know that daily automatic attendance calls did start this week. A morning call means that a student was not in school in the morning when attendance was taken. If you received a call at around 5 p.m., it means your child was absent from school. I realize the calls that went out this week did not include the child's name or school so it was confusing to parents who have more than one child in the district and attending different schools. We appreciate your feedback and promise that we are working to improve this process so that the call includes the child's name. I expect this change will be in place by next week.

These calls are important for two reasons. You may expect that your child is in school but in the event that they don't show up, we want to make sure you know and are able to locate them. They are also important because coming to school every day is vital to your child's success.

When your child is absent a day here and a day here, it may not seem like much, but, absences add up. Keep in mind, missing just two days a month means a child misses 10 percent of the school year. If you get a phone call that your child is not in school, please call the school. If you are having difficulties getting your child to come to school, please let us know. Your school has resources and supports to help you and your family.

We will be using our mobile app and text message system to provide alerts to both staff and parents. This includes safety actions taken during the school day such as lockout or lockdown. Please download the mobile app to receive push notifications and be sure that your contact information is up to date.

If you are a parent and receive any type of safety alert, it's very important that you do not go to the school unless you are asked to. Alerts will be sent to keep you informed. Measures, such as a lockout, are often implemented when there is police activity or something going on in the community. As such, doors are locked and no one can enter or leave the school. If you show up at school, staff is not permitted to unlock the doors to allow you inside.

We are committed to partnering with all parents in the education of your children. Studies show that children whose parents are actively engaged in their child's education tend to do better in school than those whose parents are less involved. In addition to making sure kids attend school every day, there are things parents can do at home to be engaged, support and help children be successful learners. These include:

• Reading to your child for at least ten minutes each night

• Building homework and study time into the daily routine

• Asking about and discussing the school day and what they've learned

• Making sure they are organized and ready to go to school on time

• Communicating regularly with your child's teacher

• Encouraging kids to self-advocate

• Recognizing and celebrating effort (not outcome but the process and hard work)

• Checking the Parent Portal

It's also important to talk with children about conflict. In a previous brief I mentioned student behavior, positive behavior and social emotional learning programs and how we all play a role in shaping a young person. This includes how they respond to conflict.

Dealing with conflict is stressful for everyone but it's part of life, even our kids' lives. It's important to talk with children and to teach them strategies to calm down, work out how they feel, and how to respond to conflicts by using self-control. It's important to help them build a toolbox by thinking of different ways to solve a problem, talking about compromise, possible solutions and consequences.

Restorative circles are an example of an effective way to resolve conflict between kids. Circles bring everyone involved together to meet, talk about what happened, and settle on a plan to repair any harm. We encourage you to talk about and practice this strategy.

On September 23, I had the honor of attending and speaking on behalf of our district at the community celebration of the 100th anniversary of Liberty Church on Albany St. Thank you to Pastor Dennis Graham-Parker for inviting us to be part of this special occasion and for being such a great community partner. The church has opened their doors and allowed us to use their beautiful facility many times. We are grateful and proud to be friends and partners.

As we enter October, I want to point to a few upcoming calendar reminders:

October 6: Emergency Early Release Day, All students will be dismissed 15 minutes earlier than usual.

October 7: Superintendent's Conference Day, No school for students.

October 10: Indigenous Peoples' Day, No school for students.

Additionally, interim reports for secondary students will be mailed out on October 12. These reports provide parents and students with an overview of how they are doing in each class. I strongly encourage parents and teachers to be discussing student progress and attendance regularly and that nothing in a school report is a surprise for a parent to hear.

October is a month full of fall festivities, recognition and awareness, including "Breast Cancer Awareness Month." Mont Pleasant Middle School and our Central Office are raising awareness by lighting the clocktower, that sits above the school, in pink. When you are in the area, take a look up. Thank you to Steve Balogh, social studies teacher at Mont Pleasant for initiating this effort and Greg Baumgras and John LaPoint, two of our electricians, who worked on installing the pink lights.

Homecoming celebrations are being held today. Juniors and seniors are holding a pep rally on the field after school. The football game vs. Saratoga will kick-off at 5:30 p.m. followed by a student dance.

I hope to see you tonight at the football game supporting our team. Go Patriots!!!

Happy October. Have a restful and fantastic weekend,

Anibal Soler, Jr.
Superintendent of Schools

October 6: Emergency Early Release Day. All students will be dismissed 15 minutes earlier than usual.

October 7: Superintendent's Conference Day. No school for students.

October 10: Indigenous Peoples' Day. No school for students.

Yavera, 5th grader at Pleasant Valley, holds a picture she drew of Superintendent Soler

Positive Behavioral Interventions and Support (PBIS) in schools is an approach schools use to promote school safety and good behavior.

With PBIS, schools teach kids about behavior expectations and strategies. The focus of PBIS is prevention, not punishment. You'll see PBIS at work in all of our schools, but Deputy Superintendent Rutnik caught this positive reinforcement happening at Van Corlaer earlier this week.

Dr. Carlos Cotto, Assistant Superintendent of Innovation, Equity and Engagement, had a fun time reading to students at Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary School this week.

In celebration of homecoming, it was spirit week at Schenectady High School and students were asked to dress like their favorite teacher. Check out these spot-on replications of Mr. Green (below) and Mr. Casano (above).

Dave Dutcher and Eric Szady, district HVAC workers, running a diagnostic test on a high efficiency condensing boiler at Keane Elementary School.

Don't miss the Schenectady High School Homecoming Football Game vs. Saratoga Springs tonight. The time has been changed to 5:30 p.m.