Note to parents: your child/children attending Glens Falls Middle School may be eligible to receive free tutoring after regular school hours. Please CLICK HERE for more information on the tutoring, and to see if your family might qualify.

If you didn't attend the district's first community budget forum on January 24, you can still provide feedback to the Board of Education as the 2012-13 budget development process begins. The small group "Choicework" exercise on values and priorities is now available online in survey format, to allow for greater community input. 

COMPLETE THE VALUES AND PRIORITIES CHOICEWORK EXERCISE
FROM THE SMALL GROUP BREAKOUTS: ONLINE FEEDBACK FORM HERE

The forum featured a presentation on revenue streams and reserve funds, followed by facilitated small group work sessions to discuss the concerns and values of members of our school community. Additional materials from the forum are available by clicking the 2012-13 BUDGET DEVELOPMENT tab on the left side of the district home page, or at the following links:

• POWERPOINT PRESENTATION
• SMALL GROUP HANDOUTS
• "UNDERSTANDING NEW YORK'S PROPERTY TAX CAP LEVY CAP"
• Please check back for small group facilitation notes and Q&A under development

Be sure to bookmark the 2012-13 BUDGET DEVELOPMENT page on the district web site for updates and further information as it is presented.

Welcome, families of four-and five-year olds! The Glens Falls City School District has a vibrant academic program for our youngest students, designed to foster a love of learning that carries them all the way to graduation in 2025, 2026 and beyond. We welcome new families into this educational journey, and look forward to partnering with parents to help our children succeed.

Universal Pre-Kindergarten lottery: If your son or daughter is a resident in the Glens Falls City School district and will be four years old by December 1, 2012, he or she is eligible to enter the Universal Pre-Kindergarten (UPK) class. This free, half-day, full-year program is focused on teaching the fundamentals of literacy and beginning math—all in a creative and stimulating environment, and taught by highly qualified and caring educators. Entry into the UPK class is determined by lottery each spring. Completed application forms, along with proof of residency, an immunization record and the child’s birth certificate, should be submitted to the District Office (15 Quade Street) by April 13, 2012. READ MORE ABOUT THE UPK LOTTERY APPLICATION HERE.

Kindergarten registration: Registration for new kindergarten students is held at Kindergarten Round-Up events at each elementary school during the last week of March. Kindergarten students must be five years old by December 1, 2012 in order to start school in September. Certain immunizations, proof of residence and an original birth certificate are required for admission. Go to THIS LINK for more details about the paperwork you need to register, and to download registration forms in advance of your appointment. In order for your child to enter school in September, the district must have a signed immunization certificate from your doctor or a public health clinic. READ MORE ABOUT KINDERGARTEN REGISTRATION HERE.

Questions can be directed to Trent Clay, Director of Curriculum and Instruction at 792-0107.

At left, Mr. Xiao Yi, physical education teacher from China, writes the Chinese characters for his first and last name on a Kensington classroom whiteboard. One version is printed; the other is script. 

Each of Glens Falls’ elementary schools got a visit on January 10 from an educator who traveled halfway around the world to learn about the American public school system. Mr. Xiao Yi, a physical education teacher at Southwest University (an elementary school in in Chongqing, China), toured schools and gave Glens Falls students a glimpse of what school is like in his home country.

Students in Cathy LeRoy’s and Rebecca Ring’s classes at Kensington Road were very interested to hear that Mr. Xiao’s gym classes have 50 students in them. Mr. Xiao explained, through his interpreter from WHSWE BOCES, Carol Yang, that students in his PE classes enjoy relay races, similar to students here in America.

At right, Mr. Xiao gives a presentation on his home school to the attentive third-graders at Kensington Road School.

In the photo at left, New York State Senators Betty Little and John Flanagan meet with Superintendent Paul Jenkins, BOCES District Superintendent Jim Dexter and other local education leaders to discuss the impact of laws like the property tax levy cap.

New York State Senators Betty Little and John Flanagan, who chairs the Senate’s Education Committee, heard from nearly a dozen superintendents Thursday on issues ranging from state aid policy to testing to academic mandates. The group’s discussion highlighted the financial constraints tied to many of New York State’s laws and policies.

The Senators were interested in hearing how the new property tax levy cap would affect each district in the region. At October’s regional forum at GFHS, Statewide School Finance Consortium head Dr. Rick Timbs explained that the tax levy cap, when combined with current school funding formulas, will likely make many Upstate districts insolvent within a few years. MORE INFORMATION [HERE], AND [HERE].

After hearing the superintendents' feedback, Senators Little and Flanagan told the group they will work together to find ways for education policies to improve.

Take advantage of any opportunities to study abroad. Have an open mind about people who are different from you. And as long as you don’t go overboard, you probably won’t gain the “Freshman 15.” These perspectives were just some of the advice and wisdom Glens Falls alumni gave to current students at the High School’s first-ever Alumni Day, held on Thursday, December 22, 2011.

Thanks to the efforts of Music Department Chair Scott Severance and other staff members, more than 50 alumni came back to share their post-graduation experiences with students.

“If you’re concerned about how you’ll know which school you should choose, go there,” said 2010 Glens Falls graduate Allison Burhoe, as she encouraged sophomores in Nicole Matino’s class to make as many college visits as possible. “You’ll know within ten minutes of stepping on campus.” READ MORE

Handout materials and the "live-Tweets" from November 29's informative discussion “Understanding the Property Tax Levy Cap,” are now available by clicking the graphic to the right, and by visiting the GlensFallsCSD Twitter feed. 
  
Michele Levings, Director of the State Aid and Financial Planning Service at Questar III BOCES, and Dr. Richard Timbs, Executive Director of the Statewide School Finance Consortium, gave participants a frank, data-driven, and eye-opening view of how the new property tax levy cap will bump up to the state's current -- and inequitable, argues Dr. Timbs --education funding formulas. Read more on the Glens Falls City Schools Twitter feed and in the Post Star article HERE.

“The cap is really not a cap,” said Ms. Levings. “It sets a higher threshold for voter approval of school budgets.” Earlier in the forum, Superintendent Paul Jenkins addressed a common misconception that the law limits a tax levy increase to 2% … or that it limits an individual’s tax bill increase to 2%. Neither of these statements is true under the tax levy cap law. The law does, however, set the threshold for school budget passage with a new figure called the tax levy limit.

“The tax levy limit calculation contains eight steps, with 12 different numbers needed to complete the formula,” said Ms. Levings as she explained the calculation for a district’s tax levy limit. That limit determines whether a district’s budget passes with 50% voter approval or requires 60% voter approval.

Using NYS Education Department data from the Property Tax Report Cards (providing figures for every school district across the state online HERE), Dr. Timbs said, "High-needs district must raise taxes more to make up aid cuts, while wealthy districts keep levy increases low. So, headlines show the wealthier districts as reasonable spenders, and high-needs districts as unreasonable spenders."

“If you must cut, you usually cut people. If you cut people, you cut programs, and thus kids' ability to compete,” continued Dr. Timbs, as he argued that today’s kindergarteners through eleventh-graders will not get the same quality of education as students who have recently graduated.

Additional information and views can be found online at the Statewide School Finance Consortium website, the Education Speaks website, and at the Questar III State Aid and Financial Planning website.

For all district residents, parents and community members, the Glens Falls School News Notifier (SNN) is an opt-in e-mail news system that delivers e-newsletters (CLICK HERE to read the latest edition of E-News for 2011-12), information on building-specific activities and events, Board of Education meetings, the school budget, school closings and delays, sex offender notifications, and other news that affects the whole district. Sign up for SNN today by clicking here: Glens Falls SNN