Dear Herricks School District Community,

Happy Wednesday! I hope this email finds you all doing well and everyone is having a wonderful week and enjoying the beautiful weather. It has been great to see many of you at the various PTA Meetings this week. Your presence and participation are instrumental to our success as a school community because research shows that a strong home/school partnership only impacts our students in positive ways - both in their academic and personal development. 

I am excited to share that our first couple of weeks of school have been both successful and productive. Our students did an incredible job transitioning back to school, and our faculty and staff were prepared to welcome them back and immediately engage them in a number of meaningful learning experiences. From the reimagined orientation experience for our secondary students to the first day of kindergarten, overall the 2024 - 2025 school year is off to a great start. As we work our way through the second week of school, I wanted to share the following updates with you:

Communications Update

I am excited to share that the district has established procedures to respond to questions from parents and community members and provide detailed guidelines on how to deal with specific issues or inquiries. If you click here, you can access the Communications Protocol that was developed this summer to help facilitate and strengthen community engagement. This protocol will help guide you when you have a question, feedback or inquiry by highlighting the best person for initial contact regarding your outreach. We are excited to introduce this resource to our families, and the broader community, so we can streamline communications and better serve our students and families in Herricks as we aim to best meet the needs of our community. 

Additionally, we continue to successfully roll out our newest communication platform, ParentSquare. Over the last few months, families have received invitations to activate accounts in ParentSquare, which will become our main district-wide platform for various communications. Activating your account will enable you to verify your contact information and allow you to customize how you would like to receive information from the school, including emails, texts and app notifications. Please click here for more information.  

Curriculum Update

I am excited to formally (re)introduce the Herricks Compact to our families and students. The Herricks Compact is our collective commitment and pledge to provide a robust educational experience for every learner in our schools. The Compact underscores our dedication to supporting the development of the whole child, while fostering the skills necessary to successfully navigate an ever-changing global landscape.

The Herricks Compact embodies the district's core values, the district learning goals, the insights gleaned from our strategic plan, and the comprehensive framework of the Portrait of a Graduate. It represents the district's steadfast commitment to providing students with a transformative educational experience preparing them for success within our community and beyond. At the heart of our institution lie the principles of trust, integrity, respect, making a difference, creativity, and teamwork. The Herricks Compact is our pledge to our students, staff, and community as we strive to ensure that all students thrive academically, socially, and emotionally.


 Other Important Updates

  • FLYERS: As you know, community information can be found under the FLYERS tab on the homepage of the district website. For example, you can learn more about the Community Fund Dinner Dance or the local Youth Soccer Clinic by clicking here where you can see the latest community updates!

  • VIDEO UPDATES: If you missed any of the Herricks’ Happenings Video Updates, click here to find the video.

  • BOARD NOTES: Click here to view the Board Notes for all of our Board of Education Meetings.

  • IMPORTANT DATES:

    • Our next Board of Education Meeting will take place on Thursday, September 12, 2024 (tomorrow) at the Community Center at 7:30pm - please join us! 

Thank you so much for taking the time to review this information - I value and appreciate your partnership and engagement.  

 

Have a wonderful rest of the week! 


Sincerely,

Dr. Tony Sinanis
Superintendent of Schools
Herricks School District 
#WeAreHerricks
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