As many of you may already know, the New York State Council of School Superintendents sent out an appeal to districts outside the New York/ Long Island area to adopt a school that was devastated during Hurricane Sandy. An e-mail went out a couple of weeks ago to gauge interest, and the staff at HCS felt this would be a great way to celebrate the holidays and spread holiday cheer!
Last Friday, we were notified that we have been paired with the East Rockaway School District. The students at this school, along with their High School are still unable to attend classes in their facilities and are doubled up in other schools until the repairs can be made. We would also like to invite Colgate and Hamilton Rotary to join us if they have an interest in supporting our friends in East Rockaway.
As soon as I hear what their needs are, I will be writing a letter to the Hamilton Community asking for their help in this endeavor. Please start discussing this with your families and community groups and see if they have any suggestions as well. It would be great to enlist the help of the entire Hamilton Community.
Below you will find a link to a video made by the students at East Rockaway, to show the damage that their district endured along with an e-mail from their principal. These types of situations bring out the best in our wonderful little community. I'm sure East Rockaway will agree as they come to know us and see the outpouring of support that will come their way.
Thanks for your interest!
Diana Bowers
http://youtu.be/x1qaUEjMMzo
Good afternoon Diana.
We too are a small school district with < 600 students 7-12 and approximately 650 elementary K-6 students. Within the next two weeks we should be able to open one of the elementary schools, Rhame Avenue. At the present time all 650 students are attending the other elementary school, Centre Avenue, with class sizes ranging from 42-49 students. Our secondary school houses students in grades 7-12, however, it is not operational and will not be for a couple of months. Instead, we are now busing students to two unused elementary schools in a nearby district. Our students are not normally bused, we are a walking community, and that alone has presented its share of headaches!
The good news is we are a small school district with a big heart and incredible strength and everyone has pitched in to make this work. We will rebuild and we will be back better than ever. I am so grateful to all the schools and organizations who have expressed an interest in helping the school district as well as the students of our community. There is more information on our website www.eastrockawayschools.org Our students put together a video to show some of the damage.
Thank you.
Roseanne
Last Friday, we were notified that we have been paired with the East Rockaway School District. The students at this school, along with their High School are still unable to attend classes in their facilities and are doubled up in other schools until the repairs can be made. We would also like to invite Colgate and Hamilton Rotary to join us if they have an interest in supporting our friends in East Rockaway.
As soon as I hear what their needs are, I will be writing a letter to the Hamilton Community asking for their help in this endeavor. Please start discussing this with your families and community groups and see if they have any suggestions as well. It would be great to enlist the help of the entire Hamilton Community.
Below you will find a link to a video made by the students at East Rockaway, to show the damage that their district endured along with an e-mail from their principal. These types of situations bring out the best in our wonderful little community. I'm sure East Rockaway will agree as they come to know us and see the outpouring of support that will come their way.
Thanks for your interest!
Diana Bowers
http://youtu.be/x1qaUEjMMzo
Good afternoon Diana.
We too are a small school district with < 600 students 7-12 and approximately 650 elementary K-6 students. Within the next two weeks we should be able to open one of the elementary schools, Rhame Avenue. At the present time all 650 students are attending the other elementary school, Centre Avenue, with class sizes ranging from 42-49 students. Our secondary school houses students in grades 7-12, however, it is not operational and will not be for a couple of months. Instead, we are now busing students to two unused elementary schools in a nearby district. Our students are not normally bused, we are a walking community, and that alone has presented its share of headaches!
The good news is we are a small school district with a big heart and incredible strength and everyone has pitched in to make this work. We will rebuild and we will be back better than ever. I am so grateful to all the schools and organizations who have expressed an interest in helping the school district as well as the students of our community. There is more information on our website www.eastrockawayschools.org Our students put together a video to show some of the damage.
Thank you.
Roseanne