Ripley hears Eagle U, summer meal updates
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Ripley Central School Board of Education members held their regular meeting last month during which they received a wrap-up summary of the district’s summer programs and accomplishments.
School Principal Sara Centanni reported the summer meals program provided breakfasts and lunches to 80 to 110 students throughout the summer. “The program served both students enrolled in Eagle U and children from our local community, helping ensure that children had access to healthy meals while school was out,” she said.
Centanni explained children from the community could pick up their breakfast and lunch meals Tuesday through Thursday. On Thursdays, she added, families also received bulk weekend meal packages, providing breakfast and lunch for Friday through Monday. “Each child received both 1% white milk and 1% chocolate milk to accompany each meal,” she added.
Centanni said that the weekend bulk meals program was piloted this year to provide children through 18 with breakfast and lunch. “More than 70 children signed up to participate in this program, making it a wonderful addition to our summer meal offerings,” she said. “Kudos to Laurie Kozlowski for organizing this again this year, Erika Meredith for assisting with Eagle U, and Trent Johnson, who assisted with ensuring the students at the summer youth program received meals.”
Centanni reported the final Eagle U session was in August and she gave special thanks to the teachers and substitutes who took part in it. “We truly could not run this program without their time and dedication,” she said. “Thanks to our office staff for keeping operations running smoothly all summer.”
Centanni also expressed gratitude for the buildings and grounds crew for their work throughout the summer. “Behind the scenes, their nonstop effort, repairs and deep cleaning have completely transformed our facilities,” she said.
Ripley Superintendent William Caldwell also noted the extra efforts made by the cleaning staff. “The cleaning has gone so well this summer, they are actually doing extra detail work,” he said.
Also, in his report, Caldwell told board members that the district will have the services of psychology intern Lucia Sun on Mondays and Wednesdays throughout the year. He reported the district only pays $12,000 for each day for the entire year. “So, we are going to have her for the whole year for $24,000,” he said. “It’s a great program and I hope it works out as well as we expect.”
Caldwell also told board members that the district will be installing a drop box for tax payments. “We got a lot of feedback that it would be easier because people come at times when no one is here,” he said.
In other business, board members approved the appointment of Dan Kondrick to the position of Special Education teacher. “You do a great job here with the kids,” said Board President Paul McCutcheon.
Director of Curriculum and Pupil Services, Michelle Waters, reported that Ripley teachers are stepping up to provide training for their peers in two programs: Writing Revolution 2.0 and Capturing Kids’ Hearts. “By using a teacher-led model, we are building internal leadership and making sure our professional learning fits our staff’s exact needs,” she said.