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2008/09 Tax Levy Drops $50,000 from April Projections
At its August 14, 2008 business meeting, the Board of
Education adopted a tax levy of $6,990,887 for the
2008/09 school year, down $50,000 from the April
projections. Per Superintendent Katherine Sullivan, "The
$50,000 decrease in the approved levy reflects a grant
secured in May through Senator Farley, funds from which
District officials announced would be used to reduce the
tax levy." To read more about how this impacts 2008/09
school tax rates in the Greater Johnstown School
District,
click here.
School
Meals Program Price Increases
Due to rising costs in operating
the Food Service Program, the Greater Johnstown School
District finds it necessary to raise the price of the
food service program meals and milk.
The new costs for school meals
effective September 2008 are as follows:
Elementary:
Breakfast $1.00
Lunch $1.75
Knox/JHS: Breakfast $1.50 Lunch $2.00
Milk will be $ .50 in all
school buildings
All
families are encouraged to fill out a free/reduced
school meal/milk application and submit it to the food
service office as soon as possible. Children of
qualified families can begin receiving the benefit on
the first day of school if a form has been submitted and
processed. Families already receiving free or reduced
price meals have until September 30, 2008 to submit a
new application for the 2008/09 school year.
Free/Reduced School Meal Application
Download a free/reduced school meal/milk
Application for the
08-09 school year, and/or a
Free and Reduced Price Meal Application
Fact Sheet.
Please fill out one form per family, listing all
children on one form, as well as what school they attend
and their grade level. Completed
applications should be returned to the attention of
School Food Service, 2 Wright Drive, Johnstown, NY
12095, or your child's school building. Please call
762-1875 if you have any questions.
2008-09
School Year One Page Calendar
View
or download the one page
2008-09 School Calendar
Get the Most Up-To-Date Johnstown Sports Schedules
For
the most up-to-date Johnstown sports schedules, visit
HighSchoolSports.net
and then simply select your sport, grade level and
gender. You can also view
Johnstown's current sports schedule.
Should you have any problems or need further information
in accessing the particular Johnstown sports schedule
you're looking for, please contact Patti St. Peter in
the Athletics Department at 762-7636.
New York
State Report Cards
Each spring, the New York State Department of Education
releases various statistics and information about NYS
school districts (e.g., enrollment figures;
annual results
on Regents examinations, Regents Competency Tests and ELA,
math and science state test results, etc.) from the
previous school year, to help to keep the public
informed about the performance of public schools. To
view current and past NYS school report cards for
Johnstown (or any other school district), please visit
www.nystart.gov/publicweb/
2008-09 Budget Approved by Voters
Residents of the Greater Johnstown School District
approved the $29,061,903 budget for the 2008-09 school
year on May 20, 2008 by vote of 268 in favor and 225
opposed. Re-elected to serve three year terms on the
Board of Education were incumbents Leslie
Buggeln-Bosworth (378), Scott Miller (375) and Robert
Curtis (369).
Learn more about the budget
here.
Universal
Pre-Kindergarten
The Greater Johnstown School District Universal Pre-kindergarten
program is accepting applications for the 2008-09 school year for
children who will be four years old on or before December 1, 2008 and
who reside in the district (when all sessions are full, we
maintain a waiting list for placement in the event of a
vacancy). The Universal Pre-kindergarten program
addresses instructional components, cognitive skills,
social and emotional development, and physical skills of
youngsters. The program does not require income
eligibility. For more information on the Johnstown
Universal Pre-kindergarten program or to receive an
application, contact Warren Street School’s main office
at 762-3715. You may also download a
2008-09 Pre-K
Application Packet. Applications, together with
appropriate documents, must be returned to the GJSD Pre-kindergarten Office at Warren Street School.
Johnstown's Jansen
Avenue Elementary Selected as One of the Top 19 Schools
in New York State to Make Significant Academic Progress
What does this mean?
The U.S. Department of Education has established the “No
Child Left Behind Blue Ribbon Schools Program” to honor
schools that are academically superior or make dramatic
gains in student achievement. “Dramatically improving
schools improved the performance of all students to high
levels in reading (language arts or English) and
mathematics on state assessments.” The Department of
Education decides how many schools each state may
nominate. For 2008, only 19 NYS schools have been
selected to apply for this honor – and the Greater
Johnstown School District’s Jansen Avenue Elementary is
one of them!
Read More
Dan Jones is Wal-Mart State Teacher of the Year!
Congratulations to GJSD music teacher Dan Jones,
selected as Wal-Mart’s State Teacher of the Year! Mr.
Jones was honored with this prestigious award at a surprise
celebration in the
Warren
Street School gymnasium on October 18, 2007. Wal-Mart presents
this award annually to one educator in each of the 50
states. As part of its acknowledgement of Mr. Jones’
dedication to children and teaching, Wal-Mart will
present a $10,000 educational grant to the school
district. Winners of the state teacher award are
selected through a partnership between Wal-Mart and the
Phi Delta Kappa international professional education
association. Jones became eligible for consideration for
the state award after being presented with the local
Wal-Mart Teacher of the Year award in a ceremony at
Warren Street on May 8, 2007.
More Photos.
Johnstown’s
Winter Guards are Number One
The Mid-York Color Guard Circuit’s 2008 Championship
Color Guard Competition took place on April 5 and 6 at
Shenendehowa High School. Johnstown’s winter guards
(Gold Dust Elementary Guard, Amethyst Junior Guard and
Amethyst Gold Senior Guard) competed in their respective
classes before a packed gym of supportive spectators.
On Saturday, April 5, Gold Dust placed first in the
Novice class, earning the gold medal and a chance to
perform in exhibition that evening as the new champion.
On that same day, Amethyst placed first in the
Scholastic regional A class, also earning the gold medal
and an exhibition performance on April 6. Returning to
Shenendehowa on Sunday, Amethyst Gold placed first in
the Scholastic Open class, earning the gold medal and
stretching its championship title to encompass a fourth
straight year.
Currently ranked first in New York State and
twenty-first in the country, the Amethyst Gold Senior
Guard will be competing in the Winter Guard
International (WGI) World Championships in Dayton, Ohio
April 10 –12.
View performances
of "Lights
in a Box"
by Amethyst Gold; "He
Lives in You"
by Amethyst; and "I’ll
Be"
by Gold Dust. To learn more about the Johnstown Winter
Guard season,
click here.
Taking
Precautions Against Antibiotic Resistant MSRA
Please take a
moment to read the attached
Letter from the Superintendent regarding precautions
everyone can take to reduce their possibility of contact
with Methicillin resistant Staphyloccoccus aureus (MRSA).
Safety First
We
should always remember to keep our children’s safety in
mind and to immediately report to the police department
any incident of a stranger approaching a child. Please
take a few moments to review these safety tips with your
children. (Read
more)
Practice Tests
Online at Local Libraries
The
Johnstown Public Library now has access to online databases
that help students practice for a variety of tests, such as
Firefighter and Real Estate exams, GED, SAT, ACT and GRE
exams, grammar and math skills, and much more. The database
is called Practice Tests from Learning Express Library,
which can be found by visiting Johnstown Public Library’s
public access catalog at
www.mvls.info. The practice tests can be found in
the “Databases” link under the “Education” section, off of
the homepage. The process is so simple — the sample tests
can be accessed by using your library card. If you only have
a short amount of time to take an online test, you can save
your work and revisit it later, what a great resource!
Greater Johnstown School District Helping Parents
Realize the Dangers of Blogging and Unsupervised Internet Use
In the past, children used to keep their deepest
thoughts and secrets in diaries under lock and key — times
have changed. Blogging has become extremely popular among
junior high and high school students — and even among
elementary children. Students may be posting pictures of
themselves and their friends, as well as their full names,
their cell phone numbers and even their addresses.
(Find out
more)
Annual
Notification of the availability of the district asbestos
management plan
The Greater Johnstown School District submitted in 1989, to
the New York State Education Department, the Greater Johnstown
School District’s Asbestos Management Plan. In accordance with
the EPA Asbestos Hazard Emergency Response Act of 1987 (40 CFR
Part 763), this memo is intended to fulfill annual
notification stating that the Asbestos Management plan for
this school building is available and kept on file at:
Director of Facilities & Operations Office. These records are
available for review during these times: 8:00 a.m. to 3:00
p.m., Monday through Friday. For more information, please
contact the following persons: E.J. Maye, LEA Designee,
518-762-3212
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