NEWSLETTER:  BUDGET RE-VOTE 6/17

Congratulations Haldane Class of 2008

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Dear students, families and community members,

The 2007 – 2008 school year has come to a close. It has been an eventful and positive year for Haldane with the transition of new leadership. In September we were faced with the untimely need to replace a business manager and high school principal. Nine months later Anne Dinio is providing excellent direction to the business operations. She is ever mindful to advocate for every penny of state aid that we are entitled to receive. Brian Alm is an administrator with a vision for the future. He has a plan that will include an  emphasis on interdisciplinary instruction and rigor in the curriculum. Mr. Alm intends to heighten our students’ awareness of the importance of community “give back” through service.

At the elementary and middle school we will pursue a new administrative structure. Mrs. Maggie Davis will become the elementary and middle school principal while Mrs. Julia Sniffen will become the assistant principal. This new structure will increase the operational efficiency of the building. I have great confidence in Mrs. Davis and Mrs. Sniffen and know that they will make an extraordinary team working together this upcoming year! I believe this change will greatly benefit the district, but from a parental perspective you may not fully see the differences in the daily operation of the two programs. The elementary school will pilot a supplemental reading program, Fundations, and the middle school will continue to implement the middle school model that was developed several years ago. In addition, Haldane will along with several districts in our area implement a curriculum for sustainability that begins with the seventh grade.

Susan Reid will continue in her role as Athletic Director and Dean, but her office will be moved to the main campus closer to the athletic program and our high school athletes. It will be extremely difficult to duplicate last year’s historic accomplishments of two state championships and several sectional titles. The athletic program should be proud of achieving the distinction of 8 scholar athlete team awards (90% team average) out of 12 varsity teams! The creation of a new umbrella athletic booster club with its own officers will benefit Haldane athletics for years to come.

I am grateful for the leadership of the Board of Education and President Merandy. They are a diverse group who value education, represent the community and require that the superintendent is accountable for the success of the district. I plan to work hard in the coming year to repay your confidence in me. I will be announcing in August a series of six community meetings (three in the fall and three in the spring) of a topical nature to engage the community in  our school program.

We face many challenges – a tough economy, implementing an ambitious strategic plan and a desire to become a leader among small school districts. Enjoy the summer as a family. Remember that family vacations can be educational and surround your children with books.

Sincerely,

Mark Villanti, Ed.D.
Superintendent of Schools

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Dear community members, families, staff and students:

This past Tuesday night the Board of Education held a Special Meeting for the Public on a Capital Project proposal that has been under discussion for over two years.   Read entire letter from Superintendent Villanti

Haldane makes it to the top
By KATE FAGAN,
kfagan@poststar.com
Published: Monday, November 19, 2007

GLENS FALLS -- In the seconds following Haldane's victory over Randolph, fans of the Blue Devils could be heard, their voices raspy, yelling, "You're the best!"

On Sunday, Haldane lived up to this billing, defeating Randolph, the defending champion, in the Class D finals of the State Girls Volleyball Tournament 3-1. Game scores were 22-25, 25-18, 25-21, 25-18.

If you asked the Haldane girls after the match, they'd tell you with a sigh of relief: It's about time.

In 2005 and 2006, Haldane lost to Randolph in the finals.
"We told everyone, 'you gotta come up here', " said Haldane senior Caitlin McConville of the trip to Glens Falls. " 'Pile into a car, we don't care, this year is different.' "

The Devils made sure it turned out differently, starting during Saturday night's round-robin semifinals. Haldane blustered through, finishing 6-0, including two dominating victories over Randolph.

"We couldn't take too much from that," McConville said. "It was the end of the day. We couldn't come into this match with expectations about them."

Randolph proved to be more formidable a day later, scrapping its way to an unlikely Game 1 win.

"We talked in between games that we had to get back into our rhythm," Haldane coach Joel Stanford said.

Haldane, with its blue-clad faithful screaming encouragement, made the trip north worthwhile with dominating hitting from McConville and all-out effort from the rest of the Blue Devils.
Even after the euphoria, 30 minutes from that final kill, the Blue Devils lingered on the Civic Center floor. They basked so long in the glory of the state title that volleyball officials, ripping the sport court from above the ice, kindly requested the Haldane party take its celebration elsewhere.

Thank you to everyone who had a role in our budget vote yesterday. We are very appreciative of the support that we were given at the polls. The results will allow us to advance our educational program at a pace that recognizes the impact taxation has on our community. Special thanks are in order to our PTA and the people involved in reminding residents of the budget vote. We are also grateful to the Board of Education for their willingness to put our budget up for a second vote.  The results are as follows:

The Haldane Girls Basketball Team, Class C State Champions, were honored at a dinner held at Dutchess Manor on May 29th.  Congratulations!     Haldane Wins Destination Imagination World Championship First Place World Championship Team (4th, 5th & 6th graders) 7 DIers In Search of A Challenge:   Kieran Austin, Weronika Bajsicki, Claire Carroll, Grace Carroll, Wylie McDonald, Michelle McEwen, Julia Olsen and team managers,  Seamus Carroll and Terese Olsen The Haldane Middle School Team won first place at the DI Global Finals last night.  They beat 70 teams from 12 countries at the competition in Tennessee to take the First Place trophy.   In addition, the Haldane Elementary School Team finished 21st out of 70 teams in their division of the competition. Worldwide, nearly 3,000 teams with over 20,000 students competed in their challenge at the middle school level, with the top 70 teams making it to TN.  Over 20,000 people attended the awards ceremony, which was also broadcast worldwide live via the internet.               Elementary School Team The Tie-Die Devils who finished 21st:  Aurora Straus, Josh Jesek, Nick Chiera, Eric Rizzi.  Team managers are Cindy Chiera and Mindy Needleman.

Haldane Wins Destination Imagination World Championship

A team of Haldane 4th, 5th and 6th graders won the gold medal at the Destination Imagination World Championships, called “Global Finals”, in Knoxville, TN on May 24th.  The team, calling themselves “Seven DIers in Search of a Challenge” was made up of Kieran Austin, Weronika Bajsicki, Claire Carroll, Grace Carroll, Wylie McDonald, Michelle McEwen and Julia Olsen and were managed by Seamus Carroll and Terese Olsen. 

Seventy middle school teams competed at Global Finals in the technical challenge called “Obstacles, of Course” with Haldane.  These were the best of nearly 3,000 middle school teams with over 20,000 students from 15 countries that started this challenge last year.  Through regional, state and national level competitions, the field was whittled down to the top 70 teams which then advanced to the Global Finals in Knoxville, including Korea, China, Poland, Canada, UK, and Singapore.

In the “Obstacles, Of Course” challenge, the students had to build a vehicle that could overcome an obstacle course and build specific obstacles for the vehicle to overcome.  Points were awarded for how well the vehicle and obstacles were designed and built as well as how many obstacles were overcome in the 8 minute time allotted to the challenge.  The Haldane team’s vehicle was able to climb stairs, cross a tightrope, climb a vertical wall and climb a rope among the ten obstacles the team chose.  Their tank-like vehicle used parts from an old movie camera, a wire coat hanger and even a piece of a woman’s bra to help overcome the obstacles.  In addition, the team had to perform a skit, complete with costumes, props and music during the 8 minutes the vehicle was overcoming its obstacles.  As an added wrinkle, the skit had to be done without any spoken words.

The second part of the competition, called Instant Challenge, pitted the competitors against a problem they had never seen before.  The Haldane team had to construct a complicated structure using household items such as newspaper, paperclips, pipe cleaners and string within 5 minutes and create and perform a skit about the structure.  The Haldane team wowed the judges by completing the structure in less than 60 seconds and then developing and performing a story about spiders creating a new type of web to explain their structure.

The winners were announced at the Global Final Closing Ceremony on Saturday evening in an arena filled with over 20,000 participants, supporters and officials.  The event was broadcast live worldwide via the internet.  Since winners were not announced prior to the Closing Ceremony, excitement was high as the top six teams in each level of the five challenges were announced.  When the “Obstacles, Of Course” winners were counted down, Haldane’s hopes had dwindled as the sixth through second place teams were announced.  When the announcer began to announce the first place winner by saying that “They’d have to put up some more lights in Times Square,” the Haldane team knew they had won.  Screams erupted that could probably be heard in Cold Spring as the team made its way to the podium to receive their gold medals.

The Haldane Elementary Team, the Tie-Di Devils, comprised of Nick Chiera, Josh Jesek,  Eric Rizzi, Aurora Straus, finished 21st out of 70 teams in their division of the competition.  In their challenge, called “Chorific” the team was given a common household chore and had 30 minutes to prepare an improvisational performance incorporating that chore.  In addition, one minute before their performance began, the team selected the name of a famous historical figure and had to incorporate this figure into their presentation.  In the midst of the performance, the team was given another problem that had to be resolved by the end of the performance.  The audience laughed as they watched Galileo help a student find missing homework papers in their room with his telescope.  Team managers Cindy Chiera and Mindy Needleman were ecstatic with their team’s first performance in international competition.

Destination Imagination is the world’s largest non-profit, volunteer-driven organization devoted to helping kids gain practical life skills through interesting, entertaining and mind-boggling challenges. The community and school-based program begins in August/September when the year’s Challenges are issued. Teams of five to seven students organize; choose their challenge and work for months honing their solution. Volunteer team managers (parents, teachers or community volunteers) facilitate the group, but cannot give technical or other assistance. Teams compete locally in regional competitions, with winners advancing to the State Championships.  Winners at the state and country levels advance to the Global Finals in Knoxville, TN.   This year over 200,000 students participated in the program.

Haldane National Honor Society Induction

Twenty-one new members were inducted into the Haldane National Honor Society (NHS).  Mr. Brian Alm, the new Haldane High School Principal, presented opening remarks and served as master of ceremonies. Mrs. Betty Monroe, the advisor of the Haldane chapter of the NHS, was recognized for her hard work and dedication to the program. Haldane NHS President, Emily Marsh spoke about the NHS ideal of Scholarship and Vice-President Faye Rice discussed Service. Secretary Cassie Barcavage presented Character and Secretary Catie McConville talked about Leadership.

 The new inductees include: Victoria Agudo, Jay Barrett, Danielle Bassignani, Greg Casement, Rina Colamarino, Justin Cornelius, Tommy DesMarais, Max Garfinkle, Samantha Gunn, Briana Harrold, Kimberly Hyatt, Stefan Jimenez, Conor McCann, Chris Ryan, Peter Scherer, Olivia Seymour, Alessandra Scanga, Emily Truss, Jessica Valenti, Holly Whiston, and Avery Zuvic.

Dr. Mark Villanti, Haldane Superintendent, presented concluding remarks. Congratulations to all of the fine scholars and their families.