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Board of Education
meeting, Thursday, July 24, 7 p.m. in the RJK Middle School library
Agenda |
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Due to rising fuel
costs,
Monticello Schools must examine its transportation plan
and make some
adjustments aimed at cutting expenses.
There will be an open public forum and discussion on this issue,
Wednesday, August 13, 7 p.m. in the RJK Middle School cafeteria.
All are encouraged
and welcome to attend.
Click here
for the complete explanation in a letter from the Superintendent. |
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Chase Elementary School
was the FIRST School
in the tri state area to accept and accomplish the challenge of
collecting ONE MILLION pull-tabs in conjunction with the Ronald
McDonald Family Room at the Maria Fareri Children’s Hospital.
Click here for the full story and
more at Chase.
Click here
to view the Cable 6 News coverage of this event. |
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IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT about a change in our sports physical
procedure for the 2008-09 school year:
All students planning to participate in fall, winter or
spring sports, must get a physical during the summer.
Click
here for the full details. |
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Monticello's
Music Department honored again
 Monticello's Music Department
has been selected as one of the nation's best school
districts for music education for the second year in a row.
This top honor is given by the NAMM Foundation to districts
with a "superb school-based music education program for
young people."
MORE |
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RJK Middle
School students, under the direction of their art teachers
Elizabeth Bassett and Tricia Cahalan, created a mural on the
wall of the school's courtyard.
The project
was funded by a grant from Sullivan Renaissance.
MORE |
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In the spirit of
environmental awareness, Sullivan
Renaissance, in partnership with Sullivan BOCES Natural
Resources Department, presented a Red Maple tree to the
students at Chase Elementary School.
MORE |
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Monticello's School Budget passes
On May 20,
residents went to the polls to vote on the 2008-09 school
budget. With 806 yes votes to 562 no votes, residents
approved the $73,806,760 figure.
“I want to thank our community, PTA and PTO, the Parent
Advocacy Group, our CABC members, administration and the
school board, whose support throughout this process has been
invaluable,” said Superintendent of Schools Dr. Patrick
Michel. “This was truly a community effort and a community
victory. “It shows that our community supports our efforts
and the direction we are leading our school district, even
through these tough economic times.”
For the complete story and full results
click here. |
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In a Times Herald-Record
article, reporter Paul Brooks discusses the NYSED list of
"high
performing/gap closing schools."
These are schools where students
met the math and English standards for 2006-07 and where
students made "adequate yearly progress" in English and math
for two consecutive years.
Monticello's Chase and Duggan Elementary Schools are named
on that list.
Click here for the full story, courtesy the THR.
Click here to view the complete State list. |
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School plan
includes Monticello football
Story by Adam Bosch, courtesy the Times Herald-Record
MONTICELLO —
Monticello is trying to revive its scholastic football program,
which hasn't fielded a team since 1935. The district
can renew football without adding money to the budget.
Full story |
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Cooke students win
prestigious award in Toshiba’s National ExploraVision Science
Competition
Second-graders Truth Muller and
John-Paul Mauer
 won
2nd place in Toshiba’s National ExploraVision Science Competition
(grades K-3) for their ingenious idea for an invention - the Pet
Dream Automatic Pet Door and Tattoo Pen.
The boys’ invention would allow a pet owner to use a special pen
that would tattoo a metallic pigment inside their pet's ear. The
tattoo would activate a magnet in the door making it open
automatically when the pet approached. This way, the family cat or
dog could get in and out of the house without disturbing its owners.
Click here for the full story. |
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Monticello Schools
got "Cheered" on April 7 by the Times Herald-Record for its plan to
enact the new College Pathways program!
Click here to read. |
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Click here
to read an important letter from the Superintendent quelling
rumors about the YMCA.
The letter also
includes an invitation for parents to voice their opinions at
the next Parent Advisory Group meeting, Monday, April 21, 7 p.m.
in the middle school cafeteria. |
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Monticello passes
FOIL request inquiry with a perfect score!
Click here for the full story by Matt King, Courtesy of the
Times Herald-Record, March 16, 2008
In the past few weeks, 26 reporters, and journalism students
from Mount Saint Mary College, visited 63 village, town and city
halls, school districts and police stations. We asked for the
same information at each stop — either a roster of public
employees and their salaries, a copy of the district
superintendent's contract, or violence reports at the high
school and a log of recent arrests.
In all, 73 percent earned an A-minus or better. Star
performers include the Monticello School District, Greenwood
Lake Village Hall and Tuxedo Town Hall, where Clerk Elaine
Laurent said she takes pride in being prepared and following the
law. |
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School district going greener
Story by Adam Bosch, Courtesy the Times Herald-Record
With an energy-producing wind turbine as its centerpiece, the
Monticello School District will upgrade its energy
infrastructure and create a new curriculum aimed at preparing
students for "green-collar" jobs.
By fall of this year, the district hopes to install a wind
turbine on property between the high school and Rutherford
Elementary. Monticello expects the state to approve the project
by April. It would be the first wind-power turbine at a public
school in our region...Click here for the full story. |
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Dozens of Monticello
School students were chosen to perform at the All-County Music Festival
this year.
Click here for the complete listing. |
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Monticello
Schools creating a plan for
greater recycling
With landfills inching rapidly towards their maximum capacities,
recycling has become an essential component to the health of our
future, both locally and globally. Individuals and businesses
everywhere need to increase their awareness and efforts to
create and comply with recycling plans as part of their
responsibility towards sustaining our planet.
Click here for the
full story, for the link to the Times Herald-Record's
coverage and for a link to the Sullivan County Recycling
Newsletter. |
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The Middle Wrinkle
and RJK Word are
now linked from the middle school homepage
The Middle Wrinkle is an award-winning literary art
magazine and the RJK Word is the middle school newspaper that
reports news and events. Click
here for more info or to check them out! |
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Bringing fine arts to a
new level at Rutherford
While December brought many celebrations of the diverse holidays,
Jennifer Jessup’s third graders decided to celebrate something
different - dance!
They
took a trip to the new high school dance studio and got to perform
the Irish jig and square dance moves for the Academy of Fine Art
students. To read the full story or for more
great stories about Rutherford Elementary School,
click here. |
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Click here for a
listing of the additional
Superintendent's
Conference Days
that have been added to our calendar. |
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Monticello High School
band and chorus give live performance for U.S. Troops in Iraq
For the students in the band and chorus at Monticello High School,
 the
day was filled with nervous excitement, as they awaited their turn
to perform. One ninth-grade saxophonist Kyle Ruperd, summed it up
when he explained that though they were prepared to play, many of
the students were filled with nervous excitement, as they wanted to
perform their best for the troops. Kyle personally hoped that their
performance would help ease the homesick feeling many of our
soldiers might be feeling during the holiday season.
Click here for the full
story and for a link to the video of the performance taken by the
Times Herald-Record and for a link to Richard Ross' coverage of the
event
(courtesy The River Reporter). |
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Monticello schools
receive $2,500 ExxonMobil Educational Alliance grant
The money is allocated in
 $500
denominations for Chase, Rutherford, Duggan and Cooke Elementary
Schools and RJK Middle School to use for various science and math
programs.
At Chase Elementary School, Principal Susan Gottlieb is using her
grant money to purchase materials and supplies for her students’
science lab experiments. For the full story,
click here. |
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Click here
to read an important
letter from the
Superintendent about the
new oil tanks that are due to be installed at some of the district
schools. |
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Monticello Schools Board
of Education has adopted its new goals for the 2007-08 school year.
Click here to read them. |
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Rutherford students
connect with their community
 As
part of a recent assignment, Jennifer Jessup and Debi Levine had
their third graders interview people from their community. Students
had to interview a community member, write a report, and create a
model of their business, agency, or organization. Students then had
to present their finished projects to their classmates.
To read the full story or for more
great stories about Rutherford Elementary School,
click here. |
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Banner season
for Monticello Cross Country
teams
The Monticello Boys and Girls 2007 Cross Country teams completed one
of the finest seasons in school history.
The boys' team placed first at the Tri-Valley and Unatego
Invitationals and 7th at the OCIAA Championships.
Full story |
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Community businesses are helping prepare our
high
school students for the real working world
To read about the recent Academy of Finance Networking Breakfast and
Advisory Board meeting and how the AOF program is benefiting
students, click here |
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Monticello emerges from
two-year fiscal audit with little to fix
On October 29, the Monticello Central
School District received the results of the Office of the New York
State Comptroller audit for the period of July 1, 2005 through April
27, 2007. The report titled, Physical Controls for Information
Technology, is a way for the State to “help school district
officials manage their districts efficiently and effectively and, by
so doing, provide accountability for tax dollars spent to support
district operations.” In most areas of the detailed, meticulous
audit, the Monticello School District was found to meet or exceed
the State expectations of fiscal responsibility.
Full story |
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RJK Middle School students
frolic with fun in Wonderland
In early November, Monticello Schools’
Music
 Department
and Robert J. Kaiser Middle School presented Lewis Carroll’s
light-hearted play Alice in Wonderland Jr.
RJK students gave a funny and engaging performance of the musical
comedy that follows the adventures of Alice after she falls down a
rabbit hole. The night was bursting with young, talented voices as
Alice was forced to use magic potions, cakes, and mushrooms to
change from small to large and back again, while dealing with new
acquaintances such as Mock Turtle, March Hare, Dormouse, and the
King and Queen of Hearts.
Full
story |
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Firehouse Chats bring
community and school together for important discussions In an effort
to continue community involvement in the school budget formation process
and to discuss new plans for the upcoming year, Monticello Superintendent of Schools Dr.
Patrick Michel has begun a new series of informational meetings at
local firehouses throughout the district. At the first two meetings, held
in Monticello and Rock Hill, discussions included: adding a football
team at the high school, creating a K-5 structure at both Cooke and
Rutherford Elementary Schools, and a preliminary look at some budget
projections for the next five years.
Full story |
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Cooke Elementary School
fall festival fun
To read this story and more Cooke news,
click here. |
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RETURN OF MONTICELLO
PANTHERS?
School football revival proposed
Story by Adam Bosch, courtesy the Times-Herald Record
Monticello — The pomp and
excitement of high school football is rising as many local teams
battle for a shot at the state title. But here in Sullivan County,
pigskin fever exists in a place you might not expect — a school
district that has not fielded a football team since 1935.
Full story |
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Young scientists
blooming at Monti High School
To read about the adventures of Jeanine Nielsen's and Chris
Zottola's Living Environment class,
click here. |
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Monticello High School
opens its doors and classrooms to parents
To read about the new high school “Education Week,” designed to get
parents more involved in their child's education,
click here.
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Important
Letter from the Superintendent
addressing the
erroneous rumors about the
Upper Level Programs
within the district schools
click
here |
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Outstanding Monticello High
School music students secure a place in regional and state
performances
Congratulations to Rachel
Zager, Rebecca Perlman and Christian Giunta, who were chosen from
more than 1,000 applicants.
Full story |
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Chase makes a million
commitment to Pull Tab program To
help support the Ronald McDonald Family Room (RMFR) at Maria Fareri
Children’s Hospital in Westchester and in honor of former
Chase student 9-year old Andrew Pekal, who lost his battle with
cancer in the spring of 2007, the Chase Elementary School has signed
on to collect one million pull tabs.
Full story |
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E-mail
notification system keeping parents in the loop
District officials are pleased to announce
School News Notifier (SNN), a system designed to help
keep parents and the community more in touch with what's
happening in the Monticello Schools.
SNN is an opt-in e-mail alert system
where parents and residents can sign-up to receive e-mail from
different schools or the superintendent. Users can choose to
receive any or all of the alerts, and they can unsubscribe at
any time.
To create a profile,
click here.
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Important
School Tax information:
the Monticello School tax office is now located on
the first floor of the St. John Street Education Center in
Monticello (enter from the street entrance on Bedford Ave). Please
feel free to stop by with any questions, or give them a call at
794-1515.
For tax payments:
payment of school taxes
are accepted at Key Bank on Broadway in Monticello during regular
banking hours.
For
more
tax bill information, visit
www.taxlookup.net |
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1979 Monticello High
School graduate
dedicating her life to fighting cancer
After losing her husband and father
to cancer, Monticello High School graduate Carolyn Halbert is on
a "personal mission to help others with the prevention and
control of this set of diseases."
Carolyn currently works as the Statistical Analysis
Coordinator for the Virginia Cancer Registry. Some of her work
consists of analyzing and presenting data and creating reports
for researchers, legislators and community members.
For this full story and information
about other alumni, click here.
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Redesigning
Structure and Learning:
Opening Day Ceremony
inspires and invigorates
On Sept. 4, at MCSD’s Opening Day Ceremony, Superintendent of
Schools Dr. Patrick Michel unveiled a comprehensive plan of action
to make student learning more “relevant and rigorous.”
“Our children are facing a very different kind of workforce and a
very different world than we did,” explained Dr. Michel. “If we
don’t plan for them now, they won’t be able to compete in the global
marketplace.” Click
here for the full story and more photos |
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Important
Tax Rebate Information for homeowners:
Middle Class STAR Notifications Being Mailed
As you may remember, enacted within the 2007-08 Legislative Budget,
was a new Middle Class STAR Rebate Program. This program is
available to homeowners who receive the basic STAR exemption on
their property tax bills and to homeowners who are senior citizens
65+ years or older and receive an enhanced STAR exemption on their
property tax bills. In both cases, rebate amounts are based on a
combination of factors, including tax rates for school districts,
and the city, village, or town in which the property is located.
The following link
www.tax.state.ny.us/star/2007 is to the Middle Class STAR
program’s information page, and provides a plethora of information
on this program and is beneficial to all who wish to take advantage
of this rebate. For additional information and help, you can contact
the New York State Department of Tax and Finance at 1-877-6-STAR-NY
(1-877-678-2769).
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School
tax relief info
All area residents who own their own homes can reduce their school
property taxes through the New York State School Tax Relief
(STAR) program - regardless of age or income. But, the savings is
not automatic; you need to apply for it through your local tax
assessor's office to be eligible for the tax break. Taxpayers receiving the Basic STAR
exemption do not need to apply every year, but seniors receiving
Enhanced STAR must reapply. More |
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Healing Hearts Children's
Bereavement Group
Wednesdays 6-7:30
p.m. at Catskill Regional Medical Center in Harris. Open to Sullivan
County children ages 4-18, and their caregivers, who have had a
loved one die. Sponsored by Hospice. For more info or to
register, call Eva Ottesen at 1-800-924-0157. |
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Need info on state
testing?
For information on grade 3 to 8 testing, visit
http://www.emsc.nysed.gov/3-8/home.html
For information about state testing, visit
http://www.emsc.nysed.gov/parents/
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Check out Sullivan's
Chamber of Commerce site
Explore the Sullivan County Chamber
of Commerce at
http://www.catskills.com.
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Start preparing for the Regents Exam now!http://www.studyzone.org
offers helpful resources for the Regents exams. Check it out!
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Check out more district news by
clicking here.
This web site is maintained
according to Monticello Central School District web publishing
guidelines by Communication Specialist
Renata Gittler on
behalf of the Monticello Central School District. The district
is not responsible for the facts or opinions contained on any linked
web sites. © 2008 All rights reserved.
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