Para leer este mensaje en español, haga clic derecho en cualquier lugar de este mensaje y elija "traducir" en el mensaje emergente. Luego, seleccione los tres puntos para seleccionar su idioma preferido.
September 10, 2021 Educational Update
Good Afternoon WCSD Learning Community:
We hope that you can take a moment to review this week's Educational Update.
It has been wonderful to see all of our students back in our classrooms to start the school year this week. Their joy and excitement in attending school with their peers has been rejuvenating for our school communities, and we are all thrilled to have them back in school. As I visited all of our 15 school buildings over the past two days, it was obvious that our students were ready to learn and were being provided with a safe environment that fosters care, concern, understanding, and a continued commitment to in-person learning!
Today, we welcomed back our Kindergarten students, and that may add some additional delays to the afternoon dismissal process. We will continue to send out updates and communications via email and text messages in the afternoon to keep you informed as to the status of our dismissal process at each school, when it is relevant for us to do so.
(Please note the option for a later start time)
The Wappingers Central School District, through participation in the NYS Universal Pre-Kindergarten Program Grant, is providing a 5-hour per day Pre-K program to a select number of children who are or will be four (4) years of age on or before December 1, 2021.
The District is accepting applications as spots may become available at the St. Peter's (Holy Trinity Annex) located at 12 Father Cody Drive, Poughkeepsie, New York, 12601.
In order to accommodate families, the St. Peter’s site is now providing two times for student drop-off and pick-up.
Transportation is not available for this program. Transportation must be provided by the child's family.
Breakfast and lunch service is also not available. Meals must be provided by the child's family.
If you are interested in applying for your child's participation in this program at the St. Peter's location, please complete the application using the link below.
UPK Application for St. Peter's Waiting List
This is a reminder from our August 11th Educational Update. The National School Lunch Program (NSLP) has authorized the use of a waiver from verifying the eligibility of students to receive free breakfast or lunch on a daily basis to all states and districts who wish to apply. As a result, we will be able to offer free breakfast and/or lunch to all students for the 2021-2022 school year. If you do not typically qualify for free or reduced lunch services, there is nothing further you will need to do. However, we strongly encourage all families who are new to the District to review the annual free and reduced application.
There are, however, certain rules and limitations on what would qualify as free under this program. Any ala carte items (i.e.: snacks like ice cream or chips, certain beverages, other grab and go items) do not qualify, resulting in students being charged for those items.
Lunch and breakfast components that do apply must be taken together (i.e.: milk, fruit, vegetable, and a grain or meat / meat alternate) in order to be considered a free meal. Students can ask the cafeteria staff if they are unsure what will qualify, but so long as they put the featured lunch or breakfast menu item on their tray along with at least one fruit or vegetable they should qualify for the free meal. If any of the required components are missing from the tray (regardless of the fact that the student does not want that item), the student may be charged for.
Thank you again, as always, for all of your patience, understanding, and support, as we continue to work together as a team to provide our students with a safe learning environment.
Sincerely,
Dr. Dwight Bonk
Superintendent of Schools
Wappingers Central School District
*Please note that during this pandemic, which began impacting schools in March 2020 and the subsequent Governor’s Orders, the communications provided in the District’s Educational Updates may be subject to change, pending any future modifications made by the Governor’s office, the Department of Health, the CDC, and the New York State Education Department. In this ever changing environment, many things are not guaranteed.