Dear Onteora Families, 

     We have enjoyed a mild winter so far! We had an unheard-of clear weather month in January without a single snow day, and we hope to move into Spring without having exhausted our snow days!
I’m hopeful that the Onteora community has been following all of the good things happening in the District this year. We have had a wonderful start to our Social Emotional Learning initiative this year, and we plan
to continue and expand this program in the 2020-2021 school year. We have heard from teachers and parents that they are already seeing the impact of this important work. We have also seen an increase in community
engagement in the District throughout the year. We had a record attendance at our Homecoming in the Fall and then again at our Winter Pep Rally and Community Night.
     The Board has also  received the completed Building Utilization and Grade Configuration report from Dr. Baughman, and his presentation
can be seen on the video from the Board meeting of January 21. Dr. Baughman’s full report, his PowerPoint presentation, and the
video can be found here: https://www.onteora.k12.ny.us/ about/building-utilization-andgrade-configuration-study.
     The Board has begun to hold public forums on topics such as Start Times and Building Utilization and Grade Configuration as a means
to gather input from the community. The forums provide an opportunity for dialogue that does not exist within the structure of a regular Board meeting. The public forum on Building Utilization and Grade Configuration will be held during the Board meeting on March 31.
     We have begun the annual budget process and will be sharing information in as many ways as possible. All of our presentations can
be found on the School Board page of our website. We will be providing links to our budget presentations on Facebook following each Board
meeting as well. 
     We are excited to finish the work on our Chemistry Lab this summer in addition to the projects approved in the budget last year. We will be repairing the drainage on the field hockey and baseball  fields and replacing a section of the roof at Bennett Elementary School. We will also be doing work at the Middle School/High School to make the gymnasium entrance, locker rooms, and some of the bathrooms
handicap accessible. We know that these projects will enhance the District, and we appreciate the community support that allows us to
maintain and improve our facilities for our students and our community.

Sincerely,
Victoria McLaren
vmclaren@onteora.k12.ny.us
845-657-6383 ext. 1010