Thank You Principals...

The month of October marks National Principal's Month throughout our country. There is no doubt that there is no shortage of folks, events, initiatives, etc. to be recognized, however, the Rome City School District is extremely fortunate to have an amazing team of Principals and Assistant Principals working with our students and staff every day. With each passing year, the responsibility and workload of a school leader has increased as more and more mandates (state and federal) are being dumped onto the laps of school officials. Making the job more challenging than mandates that require hours and hours of desk work, research, and reporting is the fact that the options we once had at our disposal to assist students and families continue to diminish on a yearly basis while the passing of the pandemic and increase in social media access has seemingly increased student management challenges in schools everywhere. Despite everything that could go wrong and will be a challenge, our school leaders come to work every day (24/7/365) in an attempt to make the day better than the one before. Knowing for a fact that our school leaders are available for families during the evening, weekends, and vacations, often offering personal cell phone availability to assist families and students when needed, our leaders no doubt go above and beyond what most principals would do for their school. When visiting schools, seeing the interaction between our students and staff is always a wonderful moment. Each time, no matter the school, there are always students smiling and wanting to share their experiences with our leaders. As the month moves along, please take a moment to say "thank you" to our school leaders, as not a day goes by where I can promise you that their minds are not consumed with improving our students' future opportunities and improving our school community as a whole. On behalf of our entire school staff and community, I say "THANK YOU" to our Principals and Assistant Principals for everything that they have done, continue to do, and will do to help Rome be a place where people enjoy working and learning!!

Social Media Trends

Over the last two weeks, school principals have reported a significant increase in reported fake social media accounts from students whose likeness is being used to create an account with controversial posts being made. We ask that you please speak with your kids regarding keeping an eye out for people attempting to create accounts with their name/picture and/or to report a new account that appears to be posting controversial material that is out of character for a student. Oftentimes, these fake accounts are easy to spot because the posts being made are not consistent with a student's normal account and the accounts are recently created with minimal followers. If you feel your child's likeness is being used for a fake account, please report the account to the social media host immediately and to your child's principal. Most social media companies are quick to remove fake accounts, but sometimes the school making a report can help expedite the process.

Congratulations PR!!

This week, Rome City School District Public Relations team members Jill Pekarski and Carl Manganaro were once again awarded by the New York State Public Relations Association for their outstanding work in photography (Jill Pekarski) and for the redevelopment of our district website (Carl Manganaro and Jill Pekarski). This year marks the fifth consecutive year that our team has been honored for outstanding efforts in the area of public relations and marketing. Congratulations!!

First Source Teachers Grant

Originally founded as a teachers' Federal Credit Union, we give back to our community in a multitude of ways with an emphasis on education. Traditional scholarships are most often given to the student. This program is designed to aid the educator. This new scholarship grant will allow for 3 classrooms to receive $1,000 each to fund a project or program that teaches personal finance and money management. For more information, please visit their website at https://www.fsource.org/scholarship-grant-program. 

ThougthExchange Event

Last weekend, the district has launched a ThoughtExchange for families and staff to learn more about what school experiences you had as a student that made learning fun and/or exciting for you. To participate in our ThoughtExchange, please visit the link: https://tejoin.com/scroll/862126095. We ask that you please share your thoughts on the questions, as well as rate the responses of others. This exchange will be open until the end of the day on Wednesday, October 12.

Oneida County Clean-Up Day

During the weekend of October 22 and 23, the Oneida County Youth Bureau will be holding its annual Intergenerational Fall Clean-Up event. They are looking for children of all ages to come together and assist community members in need of help with basic Fall clean-up tasks, such as raking, sweeping, and collecting debris. If you have an interested student, student group, or community youth group, please contact your child's school or the Oneida County Youth Bureau for more details.