Dear Families,
We have officially completed our first month of school here at RCS and we could not be more pleased that we have been able to stay open and provide our students with in-person instruction. To help our students succeed in whatever path they choose to take after they leave the RCS School district, our students need to be prepared for employment, enrollment, or enlistment. We will continue to make improvements within the district, but together we can help our students meet all of their goals in life.
This letter contains important information from our district about: Mask Procedures, District-wide Emergency Early Release Drill next week, Important Dates in October, and Open House.
Mask Procedures: The wearing of masks in schools is required by the New York State Department of Health. The main office in each building has appropriate masks available for students, staff members, or visitors who do not have a mask upon arrival to school, break/dirty their mask, or have a mask that is not appropriate for school. Here is an excellent article from Johns Hopkins Medicine on the proper procedure for wearing a mask.
District-wide Emergency Early Release Drill, Friday, October 8: Each year the entire RCS school district must complete an emergency early release drill that requires us to evacuate our students and staff 15-minutes before their dismissal time. This drill helps prepare us in the case of an emergency that would require us to transport our entire district home or to another location prior to the end of the school day. Our drill is set for next Friday, October 8, 2021. In working with transportation to get the students home as soon as possible, here are the plans for each building:
Middle & High School: Students will be released at 1:42 PM. Albany CTE students will be released from CTE 15 minutes earlier on this day in order to be back at RCS for dismissal.
AWB & PBC Elementary Schools: Students who get picked up will be released at 2:20 PM and students who take the bus will be dismissed starting at 2:35 PM. Due to the nature of the drill, please remember that students will be getting home early and for students in Pre-Kindergarten and Kindergarten, someone does need to be home to get them off the bus. The after-school program will be held.
Important Dates in October: As we begin October, we wanted to share some important dates with you to keep in mind. Here is a link to our 21-22 Wall Calendar which contains a lot of information about special events, recess/holidays, contact information, required notifications, free and reduced lunch forms, and more. Our RCS printed wall calendars were delivered to the post office early Friday of last week and have started hitting homes. The actual home delivery date will be dependent on our residents’ local post offices.
October 8: Emergency Early Release Drill (see above)
October 8: End of the five-week interim period (MS/HS); interim reports will be mailed and available in Schooltool the following week.
October 11: Federal Holiday - No School
October 12: Staff Development Day, Early Dismissal PK-12.
Elementary Schools: On October 12, the day ends at 12:30 PM. Parent pick up will begin at 12:05 PM and bus dismissal will start to be called at 12:15 PM. It is important to note that PM Pre-k students will not be coming to school that day and AM Pre-k students will be dismissed with the rest of the grades. The after-school childcare program will be held in both PBC and AWB.
Middle and High Schools: Students will dismiss at 11:07 AM, there will be no PM CTE this day.
Open Houses: All RCS buildings have hosted a virtual open house event this year. The events are still active, you can access them via the links below. If you have any questions, please reach out to your child’s teacher or the main office:
Pieter B. Coeymans: This open house was Wednesday, September 29, 2021. It is still available, you can access information from the open house and your student’s teacher here.
Middle School: This open house was Thursday, September 30, 2021. It is still available, you can access the videos from our students’ teachers here.
High School: This open house was Tuesday, September 21. It is still available, you can access the videos from your students' teacher here.
A.W. Becker: The open house was Thursday, September 23. It is still available, you can access information from the open house and your student’s teacher here.
Thank you for your hard work, time, and understanding as we continue to adapt to best meet the needs of our students and community. If you have any questions about anything covered in the letter, please reach out to your student’s building for clarification. Thank you and have a great weekend,
Brian Bailey, Ed.D.
Superintendent of Schools