ACS Community Update
July 14, 2023
As a school district, we hope you all had a happy and safe 4th of July. Each year, it always amazes me just how quickly the month of June seems to pass. Days and evenings seem full of end of year celebrations and events. Graduation hits. Then the 4th makes it feel like summer is in full swing.
With the pace of events, it might be easy to lose track of a couple of items, so we wanted to reach out and share important news.
Class Advisors K. Henderson and C. Heimburger both take it in as the 2023 graduates hit the ES playground.
Graduation 2023
The weather did not cooperate. The forecast necessitated that graduation be moved from the athletic stadium to the gym. We traded the outdoor aesthetics for the indoor protections from potential rain, lightning, and heat. Kudos to the High School and facilities staff for making this happen. We also appreciate the flexibility of the graduates and families. Thanks to all for a wonderful ceremony.
Summer Opportunities
There is a tendency to think that the school becomes a ghost town during the summer, but this is not the case. We are once again happy to be hosting Avon Recreation, a mostly annual occurrence. ACS is also offering a number of learning opportunities including traditional credit recovery opportunities as well as numerous enrichment programs. The campus remains active.
Name and Image
The Avon Board of Education acted upon a resolution related to its name and imagery at the Board of Education meeting on June 26, 2023. This was in response to NYSED’s updated requirements about names, images, logos, and mascots. In short, the BOE resolution commits the district to addressing its name and image. The district will no longer introduce new versions or uses of Indigenous imagery. The District’s nickname will remain the Braves until a new name is recommended to and approved by the BOE. A community stakeholder group is charged with developing the process to identify and recommend a new name. In the meantime, the District is working with a vendor to create appropriate “bridge” or “transition” imagery to be used over the next couple of years. The deadline for transitioning away from existing Native American imagery is June 1, 2025. Additional updates will be shared as progress is made.
Capital Improvements
Since receiving community approval to move forward, a number of planning meetings continue to occur with our architects and construction managers. Given the anticipated scope of the project, and the current demands on the building trades, a decision was made to submit our items for state approval in two phases. In general, the items involving less specific designs will be submitted in August 2023 as Phase I. The more design-intensive items will be submitted by December 1, 2023 as Phase II. Phase I is nearly ready for submission after three rounds of stakeholder design meetings. The process will soon shift focus to Phase II items. At least one design meeting has occurred for all aspects of Phase II already with great insights being shared. Additional design meetings will be scheduled after the official submission of Phase I.
District Communications: Calendar & State of the Schools
State of the Schools Publication: Some interested community members have asked for additional information about the school operations, information not typically covered in the newsletter, budget information, or social media posts. To help address these requests, we prepared a “State of the Schools Report.” The information is intended to provide some additional context to the District as a whole. Some time after the publication is routed, we will collect feedback in order to improve its effectiveness going forward. It is important to collect feedback so we can continue our efforts to do our best to provide the information the community desires.
District Calendar: We are trying to speed up the delivery of the printed Avon District Calendar. Please look for the print version the first week of August. Each year, there is a need to move events as conflicts or other circumstances necessitate. To help address the changes that sometimes may occur after the calendar is printed, we will be sharing information about how to subscribe to various district calendars allowing events to be displayed on phone or email based calendar systems. More communications will be shared by the technology department at a later time.