SARATOGA SPRINGS — Anxiety and nerves have been placed on hold across families in the Saratoga Springs Central School District as their students stepped into their second week of classes. 

The school began the year with two days of online orientation, where parents, students and teachers were introduced to each other in addition to the technology that will be used for the school year. The two-day orientation allowed students to connect both socially and emotionally.

Last week students in grades Kindergarten through third grade attended in-person learning for five days of instruction. In addition, students who were transitioning to a new building, such as sixth graders who are elementary going into middle school, attended five days of in-class instruction as well. The ninth and tenth graders were allowed to attend in-person as well, but were divided into
two sections. 

The school selected an education plan that combines in-person and online learning. They divided older students into two different sections according to their last name; to ensure proper social distance protocols can remain in place. 

Board of Education President Anjeanette Emeka believes that the school year will become smoother as it progresses. 

“I think as the kids get used more to things and as the teachers and parents get more comfortable with technology and the new normal, I think it’s going to become more smooth,” Emeka said. 

She added: “From what I’m hearing the school year has been going really well so far. We are having the normal bumps and adjustments that you have doing something so drastically new, but everyday it sounds like they mange and adjust and continue.”

With so many nerves entering the school year, Emeka has noticed her neighbors and friends have been pleasantly surprised and have kept a positive attitude as they entered the school year.

“The teachers rightful so had a lot of concerns going in, and nerves. I can’t imagine… there were so many unknowns,” Emeka said. “The unknown about teaching online and teaching in person as well. Once the unknowns start to get whittled down, the anxiety goes down.”

The district had four advisory committees that met every week this past summer to develop the school year plan. Emeka participated in one of the committees, and noticed how meticulous the district was in considering what would be best for their students. 

“I’d like to emphasize the phenomenal work of the district over the summer…its just been this huge undertaking,” Emeka said. “The things that I have seen, I could not be prouder of a district.”

An entirely different school-learning model is not the only change at the district. The school also offers free breakfast and lunch to any interested student. Normally, families would have to fill out a form to apply for free meals, but the district has since done away with any forms. 

“If [a student] wants food they can simply go and get it,” Emeka said. “It takes food to feed the brain and allow you to learn.”

SARATOGA SPRINGS — Skidmore Encore, a survey of liberal studies presentations by Skidmore College faculty for adult learners, will be offered online this year to community members age 55 and over.

The lecture series, which is traditionally held on the Skidmore campus each fall, will feature 10 Skidmore College faculty speakers from a variety of disciplines, ranging from computer science to psychology. The professors will discuss contemporary topics and themes, such as the impacts of the pandemic, political polarization and even conceptions of humanness. A detailed schedule of presenters and topics is available on the Skidmore Encore website. 

Online registration begins at 9 a.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 29. Those interested should visit the Skidmore Encore website at that time for a registration link. The registration fee is $95. 

Scholarships are available to participants whose annual income is below $22,000. All scholarship requests must be made to Coleen Stephenson at cstephen@skidmore.edu or 518-580-5447 and are subject to verification. The 2020 lectures are available at no charge to current Skidmore faculty, staff and students as well as College retirees.

“Skidmore Encore has been a staple of the fall season in the Capital Region for 40 years. Encore brings the exceptional teaching that is a hallmark of Skidmore to the local community,” said Auden Thomas, managing director of academic programs, residencies, institutes and community programs at Skidmore College.  “We are thrilled to make the lecture series available during a time when people need connections more than ever.”

Because the series will be delivered online this year, participants must have a computer, laptop, tablet or cellphone and internet service to see and hear the presenters. Participants may call into the webinar by telephone but will not be able to see any visuals that may be presented. 

“Tech-check” practice sessions are scheduled for 11 a.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 22, and 11 a.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 6, for those who wish to confirm that their technology is suitable. For a link to the session, submit your email here.

Questions regarding the 2020 Skidmore Encore program may be directed to Coleen Stephenson at cstephen@skidmore.edu or 518-580-5447.

CLIFTON PARK — In this mobile age, technology has become increasingly valuable in supporting new generations of lifelong learners and readers. Now, Shenendehowa Central School District and Southern Adirondack Library System (SALS) have formed an innovative new partnership to increase access to more ebooks and e-audiobooks for students. 

This collaboration strives to promote literacy and digital learning by combining the schools’ and the library’s digital reading resources in one app. As a result, students can learn anytime, anywhere because of the convenience, ease of reading on-the-go and the inherent popularity of technology.

The school-library partnership provides safe access to thousands of age-appropriate titles for students’ use inside the classroom, at home and anywhere 24/7. Students of Shenendehowa Central School District, which is a member of Capital Region BOCES, can now borrow from the school’s digital collection of classroom and pleasure reading through the “Sora” app, and also access SALS’s juvenile and young adult digital collection. In addition, “Sora” supports teachers by offering education-specific tools like achievements, exportable notes, and reading progress that encourage individualized learning.

“It is beneficial for our students to be able to search both the school library and public library’s online holdings through Sora with one simple login,” said Susan Kirby-LeMon, school librarian. “By offering this feature, we’ve magically increased our collection to support all our learners. It will certainly help us foster their curiosity and love of reading. Additionally, information is power and it is demonstrating the importance of public libraries. I am hopeful our students will become lifelong users of these precious resources.”

Jack Scott, SALS Technology & Youth Services librarian, added, “we at SALS are excited to provide students more access to reading opportunities. So read, think big and Imagine Your Story”

The “Sora” app was named one of TIME’s Best Inventions 2019 and is available for Shenendehowa Central School District students to download through the Apple App Store and Google Play Store, and on Chromebooks that support the Google Play Store. It is also available for use in web browsers at soraapp.com on any computer.

Members of Saratoga, Warren, Washington and Hamilton counties can also borrow and read SALS’s complete ebook and e-audiobook collection with a valid library card through the award-winning Libby app. The library’s tailored collection offers ebooks and e-audiobooks including bestsellers and new releases. Readers of all ages can select from virtually every subject ranging from mystery, romance, children’s, business and more. Libby can be used on any major device or computer, including Apple, Android, Chromebook and Kindle.

Both reading apps are built by OverDrive and OverDrive Education. To learn more, visit meet.soraapp.com and meet.libbyapp.com.

SARATOGA SPRINGS — The New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) helped students at Saratoga Springs High School and Maple Avenue Middle School maintain proper social distancing while eating outdoors this school year.

NYRA loaned 175 picnic tables to the Saratoga Springs City School District. The picnic tables, which are a fixture of the popular backyard area at Saratoga Race Course, were loaded onto trucks at Saratoga Race Course throughout the morning to be delivered to the two local schools.

“The first time my family ate out we ate in Congress Park at one of the picnic tables that NYRA donated to the city,” Saratoga Springs High School assistant principal, Devin Wolpert, said last week to the Daily Gazette. “It just felt so good to be outside and to be eating.

“It just kind of popped into my head that this would be great for kids to be able to socialize outdoors, eat lunch, something that not only solves a logistical program, weather permitting, but also gives kids a better cafeteria experience. Instead of eating socially distanced indoors, it’s outdoors across a nice table.”

 “I saw the hundreds of picnic tables sadly lined up against the fence which kind of pieced it together,” Wolpert said. “I feel bad that there aren’t people at the track to use them, but at the same time we could really use some durable outdoor furniture to provide an eating area for our kids.”

One hundred of the picnic tables are expected to be arranged at the high school with the remainder placed at Maple Avenue Middle School.

ALBANY — The state is launching a new website that will provide COVID-19 infection rates for every school district across New York, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced this week. 

Every school district must report every day to the Department of Health how many tests were taken and the results of those tests. The data will be posted to a state website and count both students and staff, regardless of whether the school is in-person, remote, or a hybrid of both. 

“We’re going to have a COVID report card for every school in the state,” Cuomo said. “I think this will give parents confidence and teachers confidence. They will know on a day-to-day basis exactly what is happening. They won’t be reliant (just) on the school district or the principal.” 

Any parent who wants to know how their school is doing may check on the status by punching in their zip code.  When that site goes live, it may be found at: www.SchoolCOVIDReportCard.health.ny.gov. 

Colleges across the country are seeing outbreaks. 108 colleges have reported more than 100 cases each. Today, the NYS DOH will issue regulations to require colleges to notify the state when they have less than 100 COVID-19 cases and may have to transition to remote learning. 

A COVID-19 Case Tracker for SUNY schools may be viewed at: www.suny.edu/covid19-tracker. 

A dashboard that shows aggregate data related to testing, infection rates and alert levels at Skidmore College may be viewed from the college website, via skidmore.edu/fall-
planning/dashboard. 

SARATOGA SPRINGS — Schools around the county open their doors starting this week. Below is a list of Saratoga County School Districts along with their school opening plan type, summary and official first day of school. All information is from News10.

BALLSTON SPA CENTRAL SCHOOL DISTRICT 
Plan Type: Hybrid 
Plan Summary: All students will attend remotely Sept. 14-Oct. 2. Remote/in-person education will begin Oct. 5.  www.bscsd.org/cms/lib/NY02211965/Centricity/Domain/967/Reopening%20Planning%20FAQ%20-%20August.pdf 
First Day of School: Sept. 14

BURNT HILLS- BALLSTON LAKE CENTRAL SCHOOL DISTRICT 
Plan Type: Hybrid 
Plan Summary: All students will have a blended in-person and remote learning education model. 
First Day of School: Sept. 14

CORINTH CENTRAL SCHOOL DISTRICT 
Plan Type: Hybrid 
Plan Summary: Students in grades kindergarten through 5th will attend in-person daily. Students in grades 6-12 will have a blended in-person and remote learning education model. www.corinthcsd.org/vendor/unisharp/laravel-ckeditor/ckfinder/userfiles/files/Reopening%20Summary%20CSD.pdf 
First Day of School: Virtual instruction begins Sept. 11. In-person instruction begins Sept. 14.

EDINBURG COMMON SCHOOL 
Plan Type: Hybrid 
Plan Summary: All students will have a blended in-person and remote learning education model. 
www.edinburgcs.org/uploads/8/6/3/2/8632029/distance_learning_plan.pdf
First Day of School: Sept. 10 

GALWAY CENTRAL SCHOOL DISTRICT 
Plan Type: Hybrid 
Plan Summary: Students in grades kindergarten through 5 will attend in-person daily. Students in grades 6-12 will have a blended in-person and remote learning education model. www.galwaycsd.org/covid_info/reopening_plan_appendix
First Day of School: Sept. 8 

HADLEY-LUZERNE CENTRAL SCHOOL DISTRICT 
Plan Type: Hybrid 
Plan Summary: Pre-K through 6th grade will attend in-person daily. Grades 7-12 will attend in-person daily with the option to implement an in-person/remote learning model. www.hlcs.org/?DivisionID=24323&ToggleSideNav=ShowAll
First day of school: Sept. 14 

MECHANICVILLE CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT
Plan Type: Hybrid 
Plan Summary: Students in kindergarten through 6th grade will attend in-person daily. Students in grades 7-12 will have a blended in-person and remote learning education model. 
www.mechanicville.org/site/handlers/filedownload.ashx?moduleinstanceid=2640&dataid=5141&FileName=MCSD%20School%20District%20COVID-19%20Reopening%20Plan.pdf
First Day of School: Sept. 14 

SARATOGA SPRINGS CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT 
Plan Type: Hybrid 
Plan Summary: Students in kindergarten through 3rd grade will attend school in-person daily. Students in grades 4-12 will attend using a combination of in-person and virtual education. www.saratogaschools.org/files/filesystem/8-23updatedseccondversionOutline-Reopening-Schools.pdf
First Day of School: Sept. 10-11 

SCHUYLERVILLE CENTRAL SCHOOL DISTRICT 
Plan Type: Hybrid 
Plan Summary: Students in kindergarten through 5th grade will attend school in-person daily. Students in grades 6-12 will attend using a combination of in-person and virtual education. 
First Day of School: Sept. 10 

SHENENDEHOWA CENTRAL SCHOOL DISTRICT 
Plan Type: Hybrid 
Plan Summary: All students will attend using a combination of in-person and virtual education. 
www.shenet.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Public-Copy-of-Reopening-Framework-Summer-2020-1.pdf
First Day of School: Sept. 14 

SOUTH GLENS FALLS CENTRAL SCHOOL DISTRICT 
Plan Type: Hybrid 
Plan Summary: All students will attend using a combination of in-person and virtual education. 
First Day of School: Sept. 8 begins in-person. Sept. 14 begins virtual learning. 

STILLWATER CENTRAL SCHOOL DISTRICT 
Plan Type: Hybrid 
Plan Summary: Pre-K and First graders will attend daily in-person. Students in grades 2-12 will attend using a combination of in-person and virtual education. 
First Day of School: Sept. 14 

WATERFORD-HALFMOON CENTRAL SCHOOL DISTRICT 
Plan Type: Hybrid 
Plan Summary: Students in kindergarten through 6th grade will attend in-person daily. Students in grades 7-12 will attend using a combination of in-person and virtual education. 
First Day of School: Sept. 10 

SARATOGA SPRINGS — Congregation Shaara Tfille and The Jewish Community Center of Saratoga Springs has hired Rabbi Boaz Marmon as their new Spiritual Leader.  Rabbi Marmon has an extensive background that make him a formidable force who has had experiences that bode well for his congregants and the community at large.

Rabbi Marmon was raised in a family of “wandering Jews,” with stops in West Germany, North Carolina, Chicago, Phoenix, San Antonio, southeast England and Nebraska.  The volume of travel was due to his father’s service as a Jewish Chaplain in the United States Army and Air Force, and as a Rabbi in civilian synagogues.  Growing up partly in places that were distant from major Jewish populations and synagogues, Rabbi Marmon (junior) learned both how important synagogue participation is – even when it takes some effort – and how vital the home is in Jewish education and practice. 

In 2015, Rabbi Marmon was ordained Rabbi at the Academy for Jewish Religion in Yonkers, NY.  Prior to joining Congregation Shaara Tfille and The Jewish Community Center of Saratoga Springs, he was the Rabbi at Temple Sinai in Cinnaminson for five years.  At that synagogue, he officiated at the full range of every Jewish holiday service, life cycle events and special events; provided all pastoral care including home and hospital visitation and emergency response; represented the community publicly including fighting to keep Jewish holidays on the Cinnaminson public school calendar; expanded ritual programming; wrote or edited synagogue publications including a Passover Haggadah, Purim Megillah translation and Bar/Bat Mitzvah booklets; wrote quarterly bulletin articles and periodic newspaper articles; represented the community on the Tri-County Board of Rabbis and local interfaith clergy councils; hosted and led public rallies or vigils responding to major events affecting the Jewish community; and taught classes in communal colloquia as well as adult education courses.

Previously, Rabbi Marmon served as the Student Rabbi and a past Sunday School Teacher at Congregation Shaaray Tefila, Glens Falls, from 2008–2015.  He has taught Sunday School at synagogues in Virginia, led High Holiday Services in Glens Falls, Burlington, VT, Virginia and California and was a Camp Counselor at Camp Ramah in New England in Palmer, MA. 

From 1992-1997, Rabbi Marmon was in the United States Army based in Bad Aibling, Germany, Augsburg, Germany, Goodfellow Air Force Base in Texas and Fort Jackson, SC.  As a Signals Intelligence Analyst, Rabbi Marmon received many commendations including Honor Graduate in Electronic Warfare/Signals Intelligence Analysis Course -“DCSINT’s Own” Deputy Chief of Staff for Intelligence’s Coin for Outstanding Achievement (Informal Personal Award), Military Intelligence Corps’ Commanding General’s Coin for Outstanding Achievement (Informal Personal Award), Army Commendations Medal, twice the Army Achievement Medals, Good Conduct Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Overseas Service Ribbon, Army Service Ribbon and Joint Meritorious Unit Citation.  In 1994, Rabbi Marmon received an Advanced Linguistic Certification in Arabic at the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center in Presidio of Monterey, CA.  He was an Outstanding Graduate and was the recipient of the Commandant’s Award. 

Rabbi Marmon attended Old Dominion University in Norfolk, VA where he received a Bachelor of Science in Computer Engineering.  Graduating Cum Laude, he was on the National Deans’ List and in the Golden Key International Honor Society.  Rabbi Marmon has varied interests in history, guitar and the Talmud.

SARATOGA SPRINGS — With the return of students for the fall semester, Skidmore College announced it has developed contingency plans should the transmission of COVID-19 spike among the college community. 

As of this week, Skidmore reports 2 total positive tests to date – counting students and employees – and 6 people in quarantine. The dashboard may be viewed at: www.skidmore.edu/fall-planning/dashboard.php. 

The college contingency plan is framed by five “alert levels” of increasing severity. They are: 

Alert Level 1 – At this lowest level of alert, very few positive test results exist, and contact tracing shows a very limited number of employees and students on campus may have been exposed. Epidemiological analysis and contact tracing suggest that the situation can be contained, isolated and controlled. Affected students and employees are quarantined pursuant to DOH guidelines and this Plan. Affected areas are contained, isolated and decontaminated. Other campus operations or residential life activities are not affected.

Alert Level 2 – The number of positive test results and numbers of exposed individuals in quarantine are slightly higher than at the lowest level of alert, but Saratoga County Public Health is able to conduct effective and timely contact tracing and the college has been able to act swiftly to identify, isolate and contain transmission. There is no evidence of community transmission at this level. This level may require limiting operations in specific operations, areas or programs for a period of time to prevent ongoing exposure. A larger number of students, employees and/or facilities could be impacted but that impact is likely to remain time limited and is directly related to specific and already identified infections.

Alert Level 3 – A small outbreak has occurred on campus in a defined population, such as a building, department or residence hall. Confidence in the ability to accurately complete contact tracing in a timely way is moderate. It is also the case that it may be difficult to identify a specific area for containment, isolation and remediation. This level may require shutting down the areas impacted by the outbreak but does not require a campus-wide shutdown. Select programs may move back into an online-only environment with non-resident students staying off campus, resident students staying in their rooms and non-essential affected employees working from home. Individuals who test positive and who have been exposed are isolated and quarantined, potentially in bulk (e.g., entire building or more). The College may order shelter-in-place for students (stay and study in their rooms). Careful consideration will be given to whether on-campus services for employees, such those provided by the Greenberg Childcare Center, can be maintained.

Alert Level 4 – The College is experiencing a sizeable outbreak, as evidenced by numbers of current cases, increases in positive test rates or by multiple positive tests without clear sources of infection, and the College has clear evidence that contact tracing, containment, isolation and remediation efforts are not effective The College will “pause” and move to remote learning alternatives and remote work arrangements where possible. Non-resident students and employees whose presence on campus is not essential to the College’s daily operations will be restricted from coming on campus. Resident students will be required to shelter in place or return home for the pause. The “pause” is intended to be temporary (one to four weeks) and to control further transmission.

Alert Level 5 – The situation has escalated to the point where ongoing campus or community transmission is occurring at a significant rate. There is no realistic strategy to contain or control the situation. Given the timing in the academic calendar, the College has no other option than to shut down on-campus operations completely. All campus operations come to a halt, non-essential employees shift to remote work arrangements when possible, and students move to remote learning for the remainder of the semester. Campus will close for the rest of the semester and students will be moved out following the College’s protocol. Those unable to leave will appeal to remain on campus. Skidmore College will support any student who, for financial or other hardship reasons, cannot depart campus in response to a shutdown scenario.

If the College’s RO infection rate is < or = 1, meaning individuals who are infected infect no more than one other person, Skidmore says it will generally be able to continue in-person learning. Scenarios necessitating decreasing on-campus activities and operations or closing the campus will be communicated to all faculty, staff, students and parents by email and the College’s Fall Planning website.

SARATOGA SPRINGS — New grants totaling nearly $2 million will support interdisciplinary and collaborative programs at Skidmore College and reinforce its position as an innovative, leading liberal arts institution, and a professor’s collaboration with other leading research programs is being recognized as an outstanding effort in promoting firefighter health and safety.

Skidmore College’s John B. Moore Documentary Studies Collaborative (MDOCS) has received a $798,000 grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to foster enduring community partnerships and documentary projects. 

The four-year grant is the latest in a series of awards from the foundation to the College since 1970 that have together exceeded $9 million. 

“At the heart of this initiative, generously funded by the Andrew Mellon Foundation, is the concept of co-creation — that professional documentarians and members of the Skidmore community partner with community organizations to use documentary as a means of addressing important issues that affect our region,” said Adam Tinkle, director of MDOCS and assistant professor of media and film studies. “We are grateful for the opportunities for community partnerships, innovative learning and new approaches to documentary that this funding supports.”

The program builds on MDOCS’ record of sustainable, impactful documentary initiatives with the community. Recent partnerships have included work with the Saratoga County Economic Opportunity Council’s (SCEOC) Latino Community Advocacy Program and a separate project with a coalition of community groups (SHARE/Sheridan Hollow Alliance for Renewable Energy) that advocated for environmental justice for a predominantly Black community in Albany.

The latest Mellon Foundation grant, which continues through 2024, will support MDOCS faculty and staff positions and provide support for grants to community organizations. The scale of MDOCS’ resources and opportunities for documentary production are unique among liberal arts colleges. 

The grant will also help to infuse documentary production experiences into Skidmore’s new General Education curriculum, which received previous support from the Mellon Foundation and goes into effect this fall. 

GRANTS WILL FUND NEW SCIENTIFIC EQUIPMENT

An award of approximately $500,000 through the Sherman Fairchild Foundation’s Scientific Equipment Program and two grants totaling nearly $600,000 from the National Science Foundation come at a pivotal moment for sciences at Skidmore. As the number of science majors at Skidmore has doubled over the past decade, the College’s new Center for Integrated Sciences (CIS) will support the conviction that scientific literacy is essential in today’s society and will drive the careers of the future. The North Wing of the CIS was completed this summer and construction of the East Wing is now underway. Completion of the full facility is expected in 2024.

Over the four-year grant period, 2020 to 2023, the Sherman Fairchild Foundation funding will allow Skidmore to purchase $494,240 worth of new scientific equipment — from a Raman microscope to an electron spin resonance spectrometer — to support inquiry-driven research and collaboration in Skidmore’s chemistry, environmental studies and sciences, health and human physiological sciences, biology, neuroscience and geosciences programs and beyond. The CIS will house all of Skidmore’s science departments and programs and foster interdisciplinary connections between and among the sciences, arts, humanities and social sciences.

“The grant brings to CIS cutting-edge equipment that will allow students to integrate and connect ideas from classrooms and laboratories across departments,” said Juan Navea, associate professor of chemistry. “It will provide them with hands-on experience on techniques to untangle challenges, be creative and find their way around our increasingly integrated world.”

Two new awards from the National Science Foundation — nearly $327,000 for the Skidmore Chemistry Department’s purchase of a nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometer and nearly $267,000 for the Neuroscience and Biology departments’ purchase of an analyzer that measures glycolysis and mitochondrial respiration — will also enhance research and instruction in the CIS.

In addition to coinciding with the phased completion of Skidmore’s new state-of-the-art science facilities, the grants are timed with the rollout of its new General Education curriculum this fall and will help students and faculty fully realize their innovative and multidisciplinary educational goals.

PROFESSOR EARNS PRESTIGIOUS AWARD FOR IMPROVING FIREFIGHTER HEALTH AND SAFETY

Denise Smith, Tisch Family Distinguished Professor of Health and Human Physiological Sciences and director of the First Responder Health and Safety Laboratory at Skidmore, is one of the leading scientists on a series of studies that have earned a prestigious 2020 Bullard-Sherwood Research to Practice (r2p) Award from the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) for improving firefighter health and safety across the United States and abroad.

Smith, who has researched the physiological effects of firefighting for decades, worked alongside partner researchers from the Illinois Fire Service Institute, Underwriters Laboratory and NIOSH for five years to study cardiovascular and carcinogenic risks under realistic firefighting conditions and translate that work to firefighters across the country. The NIOSH-IFSI-UL-Skidmore research team’s findings and actionable recommendations to firefighting agencies have led to policy and procedural changes and improvements, including in training videos created by the New York State Office of Fire Prevention and Control and distributed throughout New York state.

“The award was personally very gratifying because it validates our research agenda, which is to provide sound scientific research to the fire service so the policies and procedures they use to protect themselves and the community can be grounded in science,” said Smith.

The Bullard-Sherwood Research to Practice Award recognizes outstanding efforts by NIOSH scientists and their partners in applying occupational safety and health research to prevent work-related injury, illness and death.

The mission of the First Responder Health and Safety Laboratory at Skidmore College is to conduct research that enhances the health, safety and performance of first responders. The lab receives major funding from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

SARATOGA SPRINGS — Saratoga Independent School (S.I.S.) has worked diligently since the spring preparing for the 2020/2021 school year. The school’s top priority is the health and safety of every member of the school community. Equally important is maintaining the quality of education and sense of community that S.I.S. provides, whether in-person or remotely. 

The school’s administration, faculty, staff, and board members have developed a school-wide in-person learning plan and remote/hybrid learning plan. The in-person plan includes new health and safety measures, policies, and procedures, including new outdoor classroom spaces, reconfigured indoor classrooms to allow for proper social distancing, plexiglass table dividers, daily temperature checks and health screenings for all staff and students, and much more. The remote learning plan includes daily learning schedules, student engagement goals, and plans to address the emotional health of each student. 

To help communicate the new plan to the school’s families, S.I.S. has hosted several tours for families and students to visit the school to learn about the new measures that are in place, and have questions answered. 

Head of School, Lisa Brown, stated, “it has been wonderful to see so many families come through for our tours. Our goal has been to provide as much information and reassurance to our families as possible during this unsettled time. We are lucky to have such a strong school community and are excited to welcome our students back in the fall, and we will continue to involve students in our curriculum in person or remotely, and will carry on S.I.S.’s values of leadership, respect, creativity, active engagement, and meaningful learning.” 

Jayne Kirber and Geoffrey Hill, MD, parents of S.I.S. intermediate and fifth  grade students, said “after visiting SIS today and talking with Brown, we are feeling safe and ready to send our kids back to school. The small class sizes, large class spaces, ample outdoor space, and general creativity and flexibility of the faculty and staff make S.I.S. particularly suited to keeping kids both safe and engaged this fall. We can tell that the administration is prepared to adapt quickly, as state and local guidelines will undoubtedly change throughout the year. S.I.S. is staying well-informed, adaptable, and positive, and we know that this will help our kids stay adaptable and positive throughout the school year.” 

After work by faculty, administration and the Board over the past year, SIS has a new mission statement. Brown said, “the new mission statement incorporates much of the language of our original mission, while reflecting a stronger sense of the spirit of the school and its commitment to the values of diversity and inclusion.” 

The new mission of Saratoga Independent School is to empower students to be curious and confident learners, capable of critical thinking, problem solving, teamwork, and articulate expression. As an inclusive, nurturing community that values diversity and mutual respect, we strive to cultivate in our students the knowledge, skills, work ethic, and character to lead purposeful, healthy lives. 

The full reopening plans for in-person and remote learning for S.I.S. can be found on their website at www.siskids.org/about/covid.cfm.