April 7, 2020
Dear APHS Students, Parents and Guardians,
As always, I hope that these updates find you, and your family, healthy and doing well. If you’ve been following the news over the past few days, you know that everything seems to be changing; and quickly. Our closure has been extended. Regents exams have been cancelled. Today, our 3rd marking period officially ended, as well. In light of all these recent changes, as well as those I am sure will continue in the days and weeks to come, please know that we will continue to be sending out updates as we get more information.
We have a number of important topics we are currently working to resolve; grading for the 4th quarter, final averages and assessments, and plans for school events which have been, or may continue to be, missed. Of course, we are working on these topics with no knowledge of when, and if, we will return to school for the 19-20 year. That can be a challenge!
All of this said, please know that we are committed to doing everything we can to address these complicated issues in ways which are equitable, support student success and well-being, and preserve as many of our year-end traditions as possible.
Next week, I plan to run a number of open Zoom sessions for students and parents who would like to connect with me, share ideas, and/or ask any questions that you might have. I will be emailing links to these sessions before the week is done! Of course, in the meantime, if you have thoughts or ideas, please don’t hesitate to reach out at any time. I value the perspective and input, especially during these difficult times. My email is: quilesh@apcsd.org
Please know that we are in this together, as a school, regional, and global community. If there is anything we can do on the school end, please feel free to let me know.
Sincerely yours,
Heath C. Quiles
Principal
Class Cancellation Update
Averill Park Central School District buildings will remain closed through April 28 per Governor Cuomo’s new Executive Order to stop the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. Under this order, our school district must continue to provide online learning, meals for students and childcare for essential workers every weekday through April 28. The state will reassess whether to extend the statewide school closures past this date. We encourage families to continue to check their email and our website for additional information.
Grading in the 3rd Quarter
Just a reminder that today, April 7th, is the end of this marking period. For the 3rd Quarter, students will not receive a number grade. Students will receive a P or F, along with a comment indicating the grade range which they had in each course at the time of closure (March 16th). As we learn more about the extent of our closure, and get more guidance from NYSED, we will be able to better assess what may happen in the 4th Quarter, and beyond.
Because we will not have a Spring Break this year, we will aim to process grades and release report cards in SchoolTool on the morning of April 15th. If you have questions about any grades, please contact your student’s teacher directly via email.
Regents Exams Canceled for June 2020
Yesterday, NYSED announced that all Regents exams have been cancelled for June of 2020. At this time, we are awaiting guidance from the Board of Regents on what this means, how students will receive credit for required exams, etc. This week, since we also now know that our closure extends more deeply into the 4th quarter, we will be looking at how we will continue with grading in the weeks to come. We will send out more information about this in the days to come.
Congratulations to APHS Art Department
Congratulations, the following work was accepted for the 2020 21st High School Juried Regional which will be held at the Opalka Gallery. A Virtual Opening & Awards Ceremony will be held on TUE 4/7 @ 7:30pm 9 (see the forwarded message below for details). There were 518 works submitted from 22 school districts and 108 were selected. Congratulations to all of these students! The four Averill Park High School students that were selected are:
● Spencer Johnson for “Industry Standard” (see single image on the far right right) digital print. Teacher-Logan Kline
● Logan Feathers for “Ours & Theirs” (see series of images in the middle) digital print. Teacher-Logan Kline
● Noah Bonesteel for “Should We Be Concerned?” (see second image) acrylic. Teacher-Marsha Gregory
● Alex Heap for “A Throne of Grandeur” chalk pastel (see first image on the left). Teacher-Marsha Gregory
“For the High School Regional exhibition, we are excited to announce a Virtual Opening & Awards Ceremony on TUE 4/7 @ 7:30pm. At this time, we will be launching the online gallery of the exhibition and will be announcing this year’s awardees (8 total).
*This will be done via a Zoom Webinar. Attendees will not be asked to join with video or audio, but will be able to see our presenters, the work in the show, and our award winning pieces. Thank you! We hope you will join us next week!
Judie Gilmore, Sage Colleges”
Judie shares: You are invited to a Zoom webinar.
When: Apr 7, 2020 07:30 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)
Topic: Virtual Opening & Awards Ceremony – 21st Annual High School Regional Exhibition
Please click the link below to join the webinar:
https://us04web.zoom.us/j/528317020
Or iPhone one-tap : US: +16465588656,,528317020# or +13126266799,,528317020#
Or Telephone: Dial (for higher quality, dial a number based on your current location):
US: +1 646 558 8656 or +1 312 626 6799 or +1 253 215 8782 or +1 301 715 8592 or +1 346 248 7799 or +1 720 707 2699
Webinar ID: 528 317 020 International numbers available: https://us04web.zoom.us/u/fdTEcJYRJj
Coronavirus: A resource from the APHS Science Department: Covid – 19: An Illustrated Scientific Summary from Yale University
Here is a summary of the molecular and cellular biology, medical treatment, and epidemiology of this virus published by Yale University. Community members might find it helpful in understanding this virus. Covid-19: An Illustrated Scientific Summary.
Coronavirus Resources from the District Office
For the latest information on the Coronavirus, resources available and District-related news, be sure to visit our COVID-19 webpage here. Per Governor Cuomo’s Executive Order to stop the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, under this order, our school district must continue to provide remote learning, meals for students and childcare for essential workers every weekday through April 28th even though the district was originally scheduled to be on spring recess during that time. The state will reassess whether to extend the statewide school closures past this date. We encourage families to continue to check their email and our website for additional information.
News for Students
We encourage you to continue to remain connected. There are several ways that you can accomplish this:
Students, please check your APCSD email daily. Your teachers, counselors and administrators will be using this as the primary means for communicating with you! Teachers will be sharing with you their daily “office hours” that they will be available to you. These hours are located within their folders on the Online Resources page: https://sites.google.com/apcsd.org/onlinelearning/home. Take advantage of this time with your teachers to stay connected.
● A Message from the Faculty and Staff. Click on the link below to see messages from APHS faculty and staff. The video can also be seen on our “Averill Park High School Administration Connections” Google Classroom. If you are not a member see below on how to join. A Message from the Faculty and Staff
● Speaking of staying connected, students, to stay connected with us, the APHS Leadership Team, by joining our Google Classroom ”Averill Park High School Administration Connections”. All you need to join is the following code: whh5oj2 Many of you have already joined, our goal is to have ALL of you join to stay connected with us. We have received some questions from parents about being able to join as well. Please note due to privacy regulations, this Google Classroom is only open to students. Parents, we encourage you to review the Google Classroom with your student(s) to see what Mr. Quiles, Mrs. Mein and Mrs. Leach have posted.
● One way to not feel overwhelmed and to keep on a routine is to follow your regular schedule. To help you with this, here’s the A/B day line up for the rest of this week: Monday, 4/6=A-day; Tuesday, 4/7=B-day (LAST DAY of 3rd Quarter); Wednesday 4/8=A-day; Thursday, 4/9=B-day; Friday, 4/10=A-day
● For students looking to get some SAT, ACT & AP Prep in, Kaplan is offering free SAT, ACT and AP Prep online resources. Just click Free Kaplan resources to find out more.
● For those students that like to write and/or are interested in civics, Mrs. Yost has found an essay contest that is being sponsored by Scholastic and is titled, “What will you run for?” This civics and persuasive writing essay contest is for students in grades 7-12. For more information click here.
News for Parents & Guardians
● From our counseling team, they have a free resource from Samaritan Counseling Center. Click on the link for this resource on parenting your way through the quarantine.
● Please help support your child(ren) with their virtual learning by monitoring if they have connected with each of their teachers. By now all students should have logged onto their device and should have connected with their teachers. The Student Support Team (SST) is working collaboratively to monitor student connectivity and will be in touch this week with those folks that have net connected.
● You can also work with your child(ren) to set up a daily schedule, following the A/B day schedule. This week’s schedule is as follows:
Monday, 4/6=A-day; Tuesday, 4/7=B-day (LAST DAY of 3rd Quarter); Wednesday 4/8=A-day; Thursday, 4/9=B-day; Friday, 4/10=A-day
Please don’t hesitate to reach out to us if there is anything you need. This can be done via email, or by calling the high school at 674-7002. This line will be monitored daily, and you will receive a call back within one business day.
Our emails are as follows:
Mr. Quiles (High School Principal)- quilesh@apcsd.org
Mrs. Mein (Assistant Principal, Grades 9 and 11)- meinc@apcsd.org
Mrs. Leach (Assistant Principal Grades 10 and 12)- leachr@apcsd.org
Stay safe and stay well!
Mr. Quiles, Mrs. Mein & Mrs. Leach