Welcome to the new school year!

The following message is from Delaware Community School Principal Stacy Dobbs, Ph.D.  You also can read the message in this letter being mailed home to families.

Dear Families:

We would like to take this opportunity to welcome you to the 2021-2022 school year! We are looking forward to a wonderful school year focused on high expectations for academic learning, goal-setting for achievement, and recognizing positive behavior choices using our 3 B’s – Be Safe, Be Responsible and Be Respectful.

The official first day of school is on Wednesday, Sept. 8, but we will hold orientation on Thursday, Sept. 2 and Friday, Sept. 3. There is no school on Monday, Sept. 6 and Tuesday, Sept. 7. The following information will be helpful as you prepare for the start of school.

COVID-19 protocols and masks

• Please be sure that your child wears a mask to school each day. Masks will be mandatory in all schools for everyone, regardless of vaccination status. Masks will be optional outside on school grounds. More information related to COVID-19 protocols can be found on the district website at www.albanyschools.org.
• Students will have their temperature checked prior to entrance daily. As long as the temperature is below 100 degrees, they will be permitted to stay in school. Students with temperatures above 100 will be evaluated by the nurse. It will then be determined if the student can return to class or if the child is to go to the isolation room for parent pick-up.
•  At this time, parents and volunteers are not permitted inside the building. All on-site meetings must be scheduled. It is best to schedule a meeting time or a conference call. Please email your classroom teacher to schedule a meeting. The Main Office can also be contacted.
•  Student desks are socially distanced three feet apart as regulated by the State Education Department and Albany County Health Department. We will also use polycarbonate dividers (plastic shields) that will be mounted on each student’s desk as an extra safety measure.
• Daily cleaning, sanitization protocols will still take place as it did at the start of the pandemic. Students are expected to stay in their designated area during instruction. Hand sanitizer dispensers will continue to be used in all classrooms.
• All students will be eating in their classroom. They will already be seated three feet apart, and again, will have the polycarbonate dividers (plastic shields) on their desks in support of the COVID-19 guidelines. 

Attendance

•  Every day in school counts! Good attendance is essential to students reaching their potential!  We highly encourage regular daily attendance in order to support our students’ success.
• Please bring your child to school on time and pick them up on time. Schedule appointments prior to or after school so that your child misses as little school as possible. If your child is tardy, they will miss an essential part of their education.
• Please call the school by 8 a.m. if your child is going to be absent from school or tardy. The telephone number is (518) 475-6750. This phone call does not take the place of a legal, written note upon your child’s return to school. A written note must be received within five days or it will be counted as an illegal absence.
• Please contact our Home School Coordinator, Mr. Ken Griffin at (518) 337-7898 or our Assistant Principal, Ms. Amelia Gallagher at (518) 475-6762 if you need additional support regarding attendance.
• Doors will open for students at 9 a.m. Staff members are not available for student supervision prior to breakfast; therefore, parents/guardians should not drop their child off prior to our official start time.

Our school day and contact information

• The instructional school day begins at 9 a.m. and ends at 3:30 p.m. Students who arrive after 9:10 a.m. will be counted as tardy.
• In the first week of school you will receive many notices. Please check your child’s backpack daily and make sure that you have provided updated contact information for your child. Whenever your phone number or address changes, please contact the Main Office at (518) 475-6750 and immediately complete the necessary paperwork to ensure that all your information is current and accurate. List the people who are permitted to pick up your child on the contact sheet. For your child’s safety, we will not dismiss a child to someone who is not on the contact sheet. No exceptions will be made. This contact sheet is included in this mailing and we ask that your child return it on the first day of school.

Busing

• Masks are required on the bus.
• Bus transportation is provided to kindergarten through Grade 5 students who live more than 1.5 miles from the school through our district provider, First Student. Special Education students are also eligible for bus transportation with the same provider. Please call the district’s Transportation Department at (518) 475-6170 or First Student at (518) 445-6372 regarding any busing concerns. They will address any questions and the specifics of getting children to and from school (i.e. routes, times, etc.). Please understand that it takes a couple of weeks at the start of every new year for the busses to run on a regular schedule. Students who ride the bus may arrive home 15-20 minutes later than their scheduled time so please be patient with this process.

Open House

• Open House will be held in late September. Information will be forthcoming.

School supplies

• All school supply lists are located on our district website under Delaware Community School at www.albanyschools.org/Delaware.

PTA

• Please consider joining our PTA! They do a lot to support our school and our families. Membership forms will be sent home with your child during the first month of school.

We look forward to seeing each of you and working together as a team to make this a fantastic school year! If you have any questions in the meantime, please feel free to contact the school office at (518) 475-6750.