• September 6, 2025

     

    Hello Everyone,

     

    School is off to a great start.  We had a busy board meeting on Wednesday night.  Our fall community continuing education program starts soon.  It seems like an appropriate time for a community update.

     

    Fall 2025 Community Continuing Education Program

     

    The brochure is now available.  Please click on this link to see what we have to offer.  We want as many of our students, faculty, staff, and community members to participate as possible.  Please share this link with anyone who might be interested.   We look forward to seeing you there.

     

     

    We Need Student Representatives for the School Board

     

    The NPCSD is currently seeking juniors and seniors to serve as school board representatives.  These are important jobs as the school board relies on their representatives to keep them updated on what is going on in the district and to give them a student perspective on various topics.  Here is the link which will let you access the Application to be a student board member.  If you have questions about what the role entails, please contact me.  Applications are due by September 12, 2025.  This is a great opportunity for juniors and seniors and I encourage you to consider it.

     

    Consolidation Presentation at Wednesdays Board Meeting

     

    As you probably know, the district has been considering the consolidation of our four school buildings down to three school buildings.  A move such as this has many pros and cons, so the district hired educational consultant Dr. Chuck Khoury to do a feasibility study.  Dr. Khoury has been researching our school and the situation since last spring and at the meeting on Wednesday night he presented his findings and recommendations.  His presentation can be found by clicking on this link and going to the 4:35 mark of the video.  You can see the slides from his presentation by clicking on this link.  You can see Dr. Khoury’s full  41 page report by clicking on this link.

     

    The school board continues to be thoughtful and pragmatic in their approach to this topic.  They will continue to discuss the topic at the next school board meeting on September 17 and it is possible that, if they have all of the information they feel they need, that they will make a decision about consolidation at that meeting.  The public portion of the meeting will be held in the high school audion with a likely start time of 6:30 pm.

     

    Open Houses

     

    September is full of activities including our annual open houses.  The schedule for open houses is the following:

     

    September 16       Middle School Open House      6 pm - 8 pm

    September 18       Lenape Open House                6 pm - 8 pm

    September 25       Duzine Open House                 6 pm - 8 pm

    September 30       High School Open House         6 pm - 8 pm

     

    Everyone is invited to attend.  This is a great opportunity for teachers to let parents know what their children can expect to learn/experience in the year ahead.  Please realize that Open House is not generally an appropriate venue for specific discussions about individual children.  Parents are encouraged to contact their children’s teachers directly to discuss their child’s progress.

     

    The New Paltz United Teachers will be doing a food drive at each of the open houses.  We encourage you all to participate if possible.

     

     

    No School on September 23 and October 2

     

    School will not be in session on these days in observance of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. 

     

    The district calendar can be found by clicking on this link.

     

    Where can you find upcoming events?

     

    All upcoming events can be found by clicking on this link.

     

    Athletic contests can be found by clicking on this link.

     

     

    Japanese Exchange Coming Soon

     

    On September 27 we will be visited by eleven middle school students from our sister city of Niimi, Japan.  These students will be hosted for four days by some of our 8th grade students.  The Niimi students will be going to school with their hosts in the middle school on Monday September 29 and Tuesday September 30.  More information will be forthcoming on how you can be part of the exchange experience.

     

    Welcome Back from Commissioner of Education Betty Rosa

     

    I will leave you with a welcome back greeting from our commissioner of education.

     

    Thank you for reading.  I look forward to seeing you at some of our many upcoming events.

     

    Best Wishes,

     

    Stephen Gratto - Superintendent