Dear Batavia Families and Community,
And so it begins—the 2022-2023 school year is off and running, and we are excited to have all our students back. I am personally thrilled to begin my first full school year as our Superintendent of Schools, and I look forward to experiencing all the fun and joys associated with being a Batavia Blue Devil! Welcome back!
Our leadership team was out and about this week visiting our schools, and it was wonderful to interact with our families and students once again.
Fall sports are fully underway, and we look forward to our first home football game tonight—which always draws a large crowd. I hope by now you have seen our enhanced security measures we have put in place for our home games, but if not, you can review them here.
Last week, I provided some impromptu comments to the Class of 2026—our current freshmen class. The advice I gave them really speaks to all of our students as we begin a new year together: become involved in an activity, club, or sport—even our youngest students—work hard, and be kind. It truly is that simple.
Please join me in thanking our clerical staff, custodians, buildings & grounds, administration, and technology teams for all the incredible behind-the-scenes work done this summer to prepare for the opening of school. We are especially appreciative of the total team effort it took to re-open beautiful Robert Morris, as we enthusiastically welcomed 3 and 4-year-olds back to this campus. Our staff was especially touched by a lovely phone call we received from a neighbor of Robert Morris sharing how thrilled she was to have children back in the neighborhood once again!
With the onset of the new school year, many community activities are also resuming. We often receive requests to distribute flyers to our students on behalf of these wonderful groups in Batavia. You may recall that last year we modified this procedure, and here’s a reminder of the process:
We encourage families to refer to our Community Schools webpage where Community Schools Coordinator Julia Rogers will maintain a calendar of events for all of our partners.
The Events Calendar will contain links to the activities on each date.
In the Expanded Learning Opportunities section of the Community Schools page she will post each flyer and link to each partner’s website/email for further information.
Paper flyers will be available in each school’s main office for family/student pick-up, and information will be shared over building announcements.
If you know of other organizations who may want to “send flyers home," please let Julia Rogers know so she can reach out to them personally. Julia may be reached at Jrogers@bataviacsd.org
Speaking of Community Schools, we have also created a schedule for community members who may want to visit our Community Closet—located at Robert Morris.
The times for September are as follows by appointment only by also contacting Julia Rogers.
Monday: 9:00 am-10:30 am
Wednesday: 9:00 am-10:30 am
Thursday: 9:00 am-10:30 am
Donations: Tuesdays from 3:00 pm-5:00 pm
While John Kennedy already had their Open House this week, we have several more coming up at the rest of our schools. This is a great opportunity for our families to see our schools, meet teachers, and engage with our educational programs at BCSD. Here are the additional dates:
Robert Morris (Jackson satellite) Thursday, September 15, at 5:00 pm
Jackson Primary Thursday, September 29, at 5:00 pm
Batavia Middle School Thursday, September 22 at 5:00 pm
Batavia High School Thursday, October 6, at 5:00 pm
Our principals and faculty are focused this year on three key (and simple) teaching principles:
Effective teaching
Literacy across content areas (reading and writing)
Engaging and consistent curriculum
Like the same advice I gave to the Class of 2026, it really is that simple. As we progress through the year, I respectfully invite you to hold us accountable to these three key teaching principles.
At our Opening Day event for staff on Tuesday, I told a story about hedgehogs (of all things) and what we can learn from them as it relates to the teaching principles above—I look forward to sharing that story with you in my next update.
In the meantime, welcome back, and I look forward to seeing our students, families, and community members at our schools and events!
Thank you.
Jason A. Smith
Superintendent of Schools
585-343-2480, ext 1000
Twitter: @JasonJasmith