Hudson Highlights March 2016

Hudson CSD eNewsletter: March 2016

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Hudson CSD eNewsletter: March 2016

District Insights: Out of Focus and Focusing on the Future

We are extremely proud to announce that as of January 2016, the NYS Education Department has removed HCSD from the “Focus District” list. This means that HCSD, and each of its schools, has been given a designation of “Good Standing” from NYSED. For the first time in over a decade—13 years, to be exact—not one single building in the district was identified as needing improvement or corrective action.

This is an extremely meaningful achievement. The hard work of our faculty, staff, students, parents and community partners cannot be overstated. We could not have accomplished this alone, and we are grateful for the help from our faculty and community partners. Big strides have been made toward academic improvement at HCSD, and the district coming “Out of Focus” is evidence that what we have been doing is beginning to work. Of course, school and district improvement is a process and this process is far from complete.

Continue reading Superintendent Suttmeier's monthly column in the Register-Star >>

The financing for the Capital Project was approved by voters on February 9th... what's next?

Sign up for the Capital Project eNewsletter to receive email updates about the status of the project!

Program Profile: Phonemic Awareness at JLE

Allison Cusumano, Stacey Infantino and Mary White-Schlenker--Speech-Language Pathologists (SLP) at John L. Edwards Primary School--designed a reading readiness program for all HCSD Kindergarten students last summer. The “Phonemic Awareness Program” was implemented and monitored on a monthly basis for the first half of the 2015-16 school year.

The data and information that has been collected is being used to develop small group instruction in targeted areas, specifically Common Core standards for reading readiness (or phonological awareness skills). Phonological awareness refers to one’s awareness of the sound structure of words. Read more >>

HHS student wins award for artwork

Liz Albino, art teacher at Hudson High School, submitted the artwork of two HHS students to the 20th Annual Juried Art Show at Columbia-Greene Community College.

The Foundation Gallery Director Yura Adams selected Michaela Gomula’s acrylic painting “Cross Roads” (pictured) for the Director’s Choice Award. This prestigious award recognizes Michaela’s artistic talents with a monetary prize of $150.00.

Omer Mufti’s colored pencil drawing “A Rivalry Beyond the Realm of Gods” was also on exhibit, and can be seen on HHS' webpage.

Virtual field trips on the rise at HCSD

The Internet and video conferencing technologies provide students with vivid learning opportunities that used to be bound by geographical location and funding restrictions. More and more HCSD teachers are taking advantage of these resources to enrich curricula and engage their students.

First grade teachers Mrs. Cordato and Mrs. Barnes took their students on a virtual field trip to the Ann Arbor Hands-On Museum in Michigan. They made two different types of slime to help discover the different states of matter.

Mrs. Skoda, librarian at JLE, also took students to "Michigan" to speak with author Robbyn Smith. Read more >>

High school Science teachers Mrs. Flint and Mrs. Nowak and Health teacher Mrs. Zincio took their classes on a virtual field trip where they had the unique opportunity to witness a general autopsy and a forensic autopsy, all while meeting national science education content standards for Grades 9-12 as well as standards for health and physical education. Read more >>

Spring concerts ahead

Music concerts at M.C. Smith

Grades 3 & 4:
Thurs, March 17th at 9:30 a.m.

Grades 5 & 6:
Thurs, March 17th at 6:30 p.m.

Bluehawk Basketball teams earn perfect records in 2015-16

HCSD boys and girls varsity basketball teams both won Patroon Conference titles and finished the season with perfect 20-0 records. Even the boys' modified team went undefeated!

The boys’ varsity squad played in the Section II Class B championship game, and for the first time in 42 years Hudson boys’ basketball earned the title of Section II champs. After a big win in the Regional round of the state tournament, the team earned a spot in the "Final Four" and a chance to play in the state championship game. Despite a loss in the semifinal game, the team should be proud to be the only ones in HCSD's history to make it to the state tournament. Bluehawk Pride is still alive in Hudson!

We are overwhelmed with the amazing support from the community! We can’t thank you enough for your generosity of spirit and the many ways you have rallied around our teams.

3rd annual Read-a-thon at M.C. Smith

For the third year in a row, administrators, faculty and students at M.C. Smith Intermediate School devoted an entire day to one activity: reading. This year's theme was the Academy Awards.

The morning began with performances by student clubs such as Tap Club and Jazz Band, followed by individual assemblies for each grade level. Students voted for a variety of awards and each grade had a different category: adaptation from book to movie (6th grade), realistic fiction (5th grade), graphic novels (4th grade), and picture books (3rd grade). Students even prepared acceptance speeches!

See more photos of Read-a-thon on our Facebook page.

"Read to Succeed" at JLE

Students at John L. Edwards Primary School were very motivated to read this month! JLE teachers Lori Below and Beckie Martin spearheaded Read to Succeed, in which students who read a total of six hours by March 1st earned free tickets to Six Flags Great Escape in Lake George, NY.

A total of 39 students met the goal!

"I divided up the six hours into 24 15-minute blocks to help them see how it added up," said Martin. "That made for way more successes than the past two years."

All County Music Festival

Nearly 300 students from across Columbia County convened at Hudson High School for this year's All County Music Festival on March 2nd and 4th. There were performances from All County High School Band, All County Junior High Choir and All County Elementary School Band.

The All County Festival Ensembles for Senior High School Choir, Junior High School Band and Elementary School Choir will take place at Ichabod Crane on April 7th & 8th.

PBIS at Hudson CSD

Positive behavior intervention support, or PBIS, is a nationally recognized program that has been implemented in all of HCSD's schools. Individual webpages for each school's PBIS program are being created to showcase and acknowledge the students who are recognized for exemplary actions. Examples of some rewards are special pizza parties for PBIS winners and "currency" to be used at school stores.

Click here to see a list and photos of recent PBIS Students of the Month at the Jr. High School.

"Turning 15 on the Road to Freedom"

Ally Sheedy, perhaps best known for her roles in "The Breakfast Club" and "Psych," came to M.C. Smith Intermediate School to direct a one-woman performance based on the 2015 memoir, “Turning 15 on the Road to Freedom: My Story of the 1965 Selma Voting Rights March” by Lynda Blackmon Lowery.

The Hudson High School Choir opened the event by performing songs from the civil rights era (visit our Facebook page for a glimpse of their performance).

Read more about how M.C. Smith teachers tied the book into lesson plans in this Albany Times Union blog.

Thanks to Lance Wheeler for providing this short video about the performance.

HS volleyball tournament raises $$ for Animalkind

The Hudson Senior High School Varsity Club hosted its 3rd annual volleyball tournament on March 4th. A total of seven teams participated, representing teachers, students and community members. Club adviser Jessica Flint said this year's tournament had a better turnout and more participating teams.

In order to take part in the event, participants had to pay an entry fee of $1 or a can of cat food. Mrs. Flint said they raised $150, which will be donated to Animalkind on Warren Street in Hudson.

Inaugural JLE Princess Ball is a hit!

The JLE PTA's first annual Princess Ball was a huge success! Over 100 Princesses, escorted by their Princes (aka Daddies, Uncles, Grandpas), made arts and crafts, got their pictures taken and danced the night away. There was even a silly photo booth!

The Princes capped the night with a raised toast (of juice!) to all the princesses to the delight of all. The PTA would like to thank all the parents and teachers who supported the event and all the gentlemen who escorted their Princesses.

Visit the district Facebook page for more photos of the Princess Ball.

Little boys at JLE are preparing for their night of fancy fun on Friday, March 18th when the JLE PTA will host the very first Prince Ball.

Hudson Jr./Sr. High Students to visit Europe

The excitement is growing for some students at Hudson Junior/Senior High School as they are getting closer to what some might call "the trip of a lifetime." Students will be traveling with Anna Barletta, a foreign language teacher at HCSD, to one of the most history-rich countries in the world: Italy.

Students will see the Historical Center of Rome, Assisi, Florence, and Venice. They will also see art museums and experience the cities in which people walked thousands of years ago.

"HHS and JHS students have enjoyed going on the Italy trip for years now," said Signora Barletta.

The trip is planned for April break.

Health and critical thinking

Students in Ms. Zucker's 7th grade Health class used their critical thinking skills and learned valuable health information while studying sexually transmitted infections (STIs).

They researched an STI and then, with a partner, designed a brochure. Students then participated in a circuit where they rotated through every station that had a different brochure while listening to classical music. When the music paused the students rotated. At each station students critically analyzed their peers' brochures and compiled notes. At the completion of the activity, students used a rubric to evaluate both themselves and their partner on the brochure.

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Our contact info:
Hudson City School District
215 Harry Howard Avenue
Hudson, NY 12534
518-828-4360
www.hudsoncityschooldistrict.com

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