Every Day is a Chance...

After welcoming back more students to the buildings last week, we are all reminded of the age old phrase,  most often used in athletics, "every day is a chance to be better." Many schools have been doing the hybrid model for several weeks and are still working out the issues and/or in some cases, completely changing course. Every new adventure,  no matter what facet of life, will always bring a level of anxiety and some bruises as people work to adjust to new ways of doing things. Every day will have it's successes, it's failures, it's meh's and it's hooray's! Every day for the past several months has been a learning experience in some way shape or form, and the learning experiences are likely to continue to for the next several months. Regardless of what happens, as long as we can all remember that every day is a chance to be better than the day before. Everyone at this point knows that there are going to be challenges and new hurdles to be faced on a weekly and/or daily basis. Requirements can change at a moments notice and can change frequently. Mistakes are going to occur as all people (students, staff, and families) work to understand anything that may change. It is also important to remember that the physical process of teaching is completely different than ever before and each and every day is a growing experience for the entire educational system. Regardless of the challenges, the bruises, the bumps, and the stresses; if we can all simply make sure that every day is improved over the day before, the outcome will be positive. Each day we wake up, we have the chance to be better than the day before.      

Great American Rivalry - VOTE

Rome Free Academy football standout Tommy Dunn is one of 144 high school athletes in the United States who has an opportunity to be recognized by the Great American Rivalry Series and the Pro Football Hall of Fame. The 2020 Great American Rivalry Series Scholar Athlete Hall of Fame Team is now in our hands! NOW is the time for our community to support RFA and Tommy to help him secure a spot on the GARS Scholar Athlete Hall of Fame roster. In the end, 25 students nationally will be recognized. Please vote and vote often in support of our hometown athlete, Tommy Dunn. For more information, including casting a vote, please visit their webpage at: https://greatamericanrivalry.com/2020-scholar-athlete-hall-of-fame-voting/. 

NYSED Parent Dashboard

The New York State Education Department (NYSED) has developed a Parent Dashboard to increase transparency and make information about school performance and other school-level data easier for parents and the public to access. The Parent Dashboard is part of New York's Every Student Success Act (ESSA) plan, which emphasizes equity in education for all students and expands measures of school accountability and student success. This new dashboard will provide parents with information about their child's school. The Parent Dashboard is now available in addition to the New York State School Report Card on NYSED's public data site. The Parent Dashboard offers information on all public schools, including charter schools, and can be found at this link: https://data.nysed.gov/parents/. 

NYS Travel Rules Change

This weekend, Governor Cuomo announced changes to the NYS travel restrictions. This will have an effect on students and staff in the coming weeks. Basics of the announcement are below and for more information, please visit his website at: https://www.governor.ny.gov/.

The new guidelines for travelers to test-out of the mandatory 14-day quarantine are below:

• For travelers who were in another state for more than 24 hours:
• Travelers must obtain a test within 3 days of departure from the state.
• Traveler must,  upon arrival in NY,  quarantine for 3 days.
• On day 4 of their quarantine, the traveler must obtain another COVID test. If both tests come back negative, the traveler may exit quarantine early upon receipt of the second negative diagnostic test.
• For travelers who were in another state for less than 24 hours:
• The traveler does not need a test prior to their departure from the other state, and does not need to quarantine upon arrival in NYS.  
• However,  the traveler. must fill out the traveler information form upon entry into NYS, and take a COVID diagnostic test 4 days after their arrival in NY.

CARES3 Child Care Scholarship

The Early Care & Learning Council (ECLC) and their network of 35 Child Care Resource and Referral (CCR&R) agencies applaud the action of the Office of Children and Family Services and the Cuomo Administration in developing a plan to provide child care to essential workers at no or. reduced costs to the worker.  This allocation of funding comes to the state from the federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (the "CARES Act"), which has provided our state with $163.6 million in emergency relief to the child care system. School staff now have access to possible support with child care costs. For more information, including how to apply for the scholarship funds, please visit their application page at: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSesvZbqvAM2t1P7HR-bvKXXBnrwlaGKGGWwycdFdmoRsfluJw/viewform.