"You're off to Great Places! Today is your day! Your mountain is waiting, So... get on your way!"
-Dr. Seuss
Tuesday, September 2nd marked Opening Day and our first Superintendent's Conference Day across the district. Teachers, faculty and staff gathered in the high school auditorium for a morning filled with celebration and collaboration - highlighting new goals, while shining a light on recent successes, from staff recognitions, to academic achievements.
Superintendent of Schools Jason Van Fossen started the day with a moment of silence for the late Briana Burghardt, a beloved teacher, coach, mentor, and mother.
High school student Bella Kogut delivered an incredible performance of the "The Star Spangled Banner," to kick off the morning.
Melinda Spooner, Board of Education President was up next, introducing herself and fellow board members to those in attendance. Spooner returns for another year as President, along with six members, and a student board member.
"We often say that schools are the heart of a community, and that is true, but you are all the heart of the schools. You create the environment where students feel safe, where they feel valued, and capable of being more than they ever thought possible," said Melinda Spooner, Board President.
Superintendent Van Fossen then welcomed new district leadership, including recently elected board members Gregg Armezzani and Megan Gorski (both won re-election), Director of Instructional Programs Michele Osterhout, Maine Memorial Principal Dana Calandra, Middle School Principal Tony Ballard, High School Dean of Students Ben Amorese, and Maine Memorial Associate Principal Oliver Kammerman.
Principals of the High School, Middle School, Homer Brink, Maine Memorial and our Director of Transportation then took the stage to welcome new instructional and non instructional staff members to the district, from new principals, to new Special Education teachers, custodial staff, bus drivers and more.
For our third-straight year, Maine-Endwell leadership continues its Professional Learning Community Guiding Coalition, lead by Bridget Wilson, Kortnee Matzura, and Mark Wilson from the High School, Sietta Pilat, John Freiser, and Tony Ballard from the Middle School, Camille Norkaitis, Alison Casterline, Susan Buckley and Kara Mallery from Homer Brink, Sarah Kupiec, Rene' Contrera, and Dana Calandra from Maine Memorial, and district-wide members Vanessa DuBrava, Michele Osterhout and Julie Gallagher.
Next up, Mr. Van Fossen celebrated our Years of Service awards.
A huge congratulations to Rita McGuire and Beth Zunic from the Middle School, each of whom are celebrating 30 years with the district.
In addition, Michelle Barrows, Tracey Buckley, Mary Castaldo, Alison Casterline, Julie Catalano, Kristin Foran, Barbara Golden, Mary Beth Haley, Sheri Hohn, Andrew Krise, Carolyn Martin, John Pufky and Lynn Randis all received recognition for hitting the 25 year mark of service.
Along with celebrating our milestone employees, Mr. Van Fossen took time to recognize our 2025 Distinguished Teachers, voted on by the students.
Congratulations to Dianne Gibson-Smith, Andrew Krise, Maggie McCoy and Kelly Thorner from Homer Brink, Tracey Buckley, Barbara Durkot, John Pufky and James Tokos from Maine Memorial, Carrie Chesna, Niki Escott-Duval, Jon Gerlach, Mike Lurenz and Bill Underwood from the high school, and David Buchak, John Frieser, Stacey Hanna and Matthew Simek from the middle school. (all teachers were voted on by students at the time they worked at each particular building)
Our Faithful Service Awards were up next, highlighting individuals with exceptional attendance over the 2024-2025 school year. More than 50 employees spanning food service, transportation, custodial, and support staff achieved either perfect attendance, or missed just three days or less of work.
35 Bus drivers earned Safe Service Awards (no accidents) for the 2024-2025 school year.
Shanna Hughes was next to take the podium, honoring this year's recipient of the Maine-Endwell Teachers Association Golden Apple Award which is presented to an individual, chosen by teachers, who "exemplifies excellence in teaching and who significantly influences the lives of their students and contributes to the success of the school."
Congratulations to this year's winner, Homer Brink Teacher Taylor Norton.
As we enter a new school year, our Opening Day Conference Day is a good time to highlight our updated Mission, Vision, Core Beliefs and Goals for the future. The question we often ask is "How do we measure if success exists?
Starting with our Vision, we promise to inspire, engage, empower and graduate all students as:
Well-rounded
Community-minded
Global thinkers
Leaders
Innovators
Our Core Beliefs are as follows:
Students are our first priority, and we always make decisions in their best interest.
Every students can learn and achieve success.
We act with integrity, value diversity and preserve the dignity of each person.
We promote and support innovation
A positive, risk-free and safe environment is essential for learning.
We are a community of leaders who exemplify strong character.
We value collaboration, community partnerships shared decision-making.
We always pursue excellence.
Our Goals by the conclusion of the 2027-2028 school year:
Achieve a 4-year Graduation Rate of 93%, a 5-year Graduation Rate of 95% and Dropout Rate of <4%.
Achieve student performance on state assessment and regents exams to rank #1 in BT BOCES for proficiency and #1 for mastery.
Achieve a rate of at least 85% of students meeting or exceeding end of year literacy and numeracy benchmark exceptions.
Achieve a Student Climate Perception average score of 75% or greater as measured by the annual school climate survey.
Achieve a 'graduation rigor' or College, Career and Civic Readiness score of 85% of students in four-year graduation rate total cohort scoring a 1.0 or higher.
Our Focus for 2025-2026 will include:
Introduction of NEW District Goals
Capital Project - Phase 2, 3 and 4
Utilization of our Maine-Endwell Health Clinic
NEW Policies ('cell phone', excessive hear, and Artificial Intelligence)
PLC questions 2, 3 and 4
We concluded our Opening Day presentations with a favorite among our staff - a slideshow of celebrations, including the birth of children, Grandchildren, engagements, weddings, trips, and a catch up with some of our retirees.
The 2025-2026 school year is upon us, and our mission remains stronger than ever: Delivering a Premier Educational Experience to Each Student.