CAPITAL PROJECT 2024: If district residents vote to approve our proposed capital project next week, one of the aspects of the project we’re most excited about is the redesign of our Elementary School parking lot.
Each year on budget vote day, we survey our residents on a variety of topics and last year, one of the most frequently mentioned items was traffic flow in the parking lot at student drop-off in the morning and dismissal in the afternoon.
Taking this feedback from our residents to heart, we worked with our professional architecture and engineering partners to come up with a new design that would alleviate traffic congestion, streamline routes of ingress and egress to Attica Elementary and minimize risks to pedestrians during particularly busy times of day.
As you can see in the ‘Current circulation’ and ‘Proposed circulation’ diagrams below, our plan would create a dedicated bus drop-off area, a marked pedestrian crossing that would be manned by a staff member and implement one-way vehicle circulation in the parking lot.
Residents will vote on our capital project proposal as well as our budget proposal for the 2024-25 school year on Tuesday, May 21. Polls will be open in our Performing Arts Center, 3338 East Main Street Rd., Attica, from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m.
For more information about our capital project proposal, visit our website at the link below!
Link: https://www.atticacsd.org/page/capital
Our sixth grade students have been studying the Middle Ages in social studies over the past few weeks and this morning, they shared their newfound knowledge about this fascinating period of time with their fellow students as well as visiting parents and guests!
Thank you to everyone who came out to learn from our students and, as they’d say in the Middle Ages, God ye good den!
Look who made the paper - it’s Attica’s own Middle School Library Media Specialist Stacey Donahue!
Many thanks to Kori Sciandra and The Daily News of Batavia for the fantastic article!
PLEASE SHARE: Attica Central School District has begun the hiring process for a new Director of its Committee on Special Education.
Application materials are due by May 22.
The district expects to appoint a candidate in late June or early July.
Click on the link below to learn more.
Link: https://wnyric.atenterprise.powerschool.com/ats/job_board_form?op=view&JOB_ID=3300047016&REPRESENTATIVE_COMPANY_ID=JA002418&COMPANY_ID=00005387
Dear Attica Central School Community, Please see the attached message from Superintendent Dr. Kiel Illg on the passing of a former Attica student.
We’d like to congratulate our teachers who were granted tenure at last night’s Board of Education meeting!
• Gina Stefani, Elementary School Special Education Teacher
• Courtney Staerr, High School Teaching Assistant
• Jennifer Wiatrowski, 3rd Grade Teacher (not pictured)
• Austin Matson, Districtwide Music Teacher (not pictured)
(Photo courtesy of Jamie Niziol)
19 members of our Future Farmers of America chapter traveled to Buffalo last week for New York FFA’s 99th Annual State Convention. While they were there, our members got to enjoy Niagara Falls, the NY Power Vista, competitions, sessions, the expo, vendor bingo and workshops. We had many members compete, including two senior quiz bowl teams, one junior quiz bowl team, a maple team and a tool ID team.
Congratulations to Tanner Day for placing 10th in the Maple Career Development Event and a special shout out to our senior quiz bowl team of Olivia Bernacki, Ruby Baratta, Ellie Gominiak and Brooke Luck for making it to the fourth round!
During Friday's session our FFA Advisor, Mrs. Michelle Barber, received her Honorary Empire Degree for her years of service in Attica’s Ag program.
While our FFA members only stayed in Buffalo one night, a few had the opportunity to ride back on Saturday to be recognized as an FFA Chapter of Distinction and watch Chapter Vice President Madelyn King receive her Empire Degree. Congratulations, Maddie!
We are so proud of everyone's accomplishments over the past three days and we can’t wait to see what the 100th convention has in store for our chapter!
(Photos courtesy of Ellie Gominiak and Attica FFA)
Have questions about our capital project proposal?
Well our Superintendent, Dr. Kiel Illg and Assistant Superintendent of Business and Operations Meaghan Matuszak have answers!
They led a public presentation on our proposed capital project earlier this week. You can watch it at the link below!
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9b5E8pWwJfQ
Did you miss our public budget hearing last night?
Not to worry! You can watch the hearing over on our YouTube channel at the link below.
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o16dek0pRlY
Our varsity tennis team put up a good fight against visiting Wheatland-Chili yesterday, but it was not to be.
The Wildcats came out swinging, with Ethan Hallock topping Attica’s Joaren Anetrini 6-0, 6-0 at 1st singles and Eli Orloff getting the win over Jace Anetrini 6-1, 6-1 at 2nd singles.
Our 1st and 2nd doubles teams of Elli Gominiak and Ruby Baratta and Zachary Richardson and Joseph Tarapacki fought hard, but similarly fell by scores of 6-1, 6-3 and 6-2, 6-1.
Then there was Pedro Atensia at 3rd singles, the last Blue Devil standing and Attica’s only hope of avoiding a 5-0 sweep.
Pedro dropped the first set, 3-6, to Wheatland-Chili’s Kyle Otto, before storming back to take the second, 7-5.
The third set came down to a tiebreaker, which Pedro won 7-5 for the 3-set win.
PLEASE SHARE: Our public budget hearing is tomorrow - Tuesday, May 7 - at 6:30 p.m. in our Middle/High School Cafeteria, 3338 East Main Street Rd., Attica. In addition to providing information about the budget proposal, district representatives will give a presentation about the capital project and take questions.
You can learn more about our 2024-25 budget proposal and capital project proposal at the links below.
We hope to see you tomorrow night!
Budget proposal link: https://core-docs.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/documents/asset/uploaded_file/2319/ACSD/4270549/attica_budget_newsletter_FINAL_DRAFT.pdf
Capital project proposal link: https://www.atticacsd.org/page/capital
Our elementary school kiddos let members of our food service staff know how much they’re appreciated today for National School Lunch Hero Day!
Mrs. Susie Baker’s class made a pizza banner to thank our food service staff for making their favorite foods while Mrs. Gina Stefani’s class delivered School Lunch Hero Survival Kits to help our heroes out when the going gets tough!
(Photos courtesy of Sherry Bennett)
We’ve got new Total Body Workout dates for the month of May.
These classes are FREE and open to ALL staff and community members. Please see the attached form for available sessions.
Use the link below to sign up or send an email to Laura O’Donnell at lodonnell@atticacsd.org.
Link: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScuoCZ8g24DJyZ_Y092c7HCL6x2yvl2nfOdaLJZBcleCkTI2A/viewform
BREAKING NEWS out of Attica today - read all about it in the special edition of the totally real, not at all made up Blue Devils Bulletin below!
All kidding aside, today, on National School Lunch Hero Day, we want to recognize the people who make sure our students have the delicious, nutritious food they need to learn day in and day out.
A huge thank you to members of our Food Service Department - Kris Wicks, Amanda Brown, Amber Blaszak, Donna Sell, Jane Bartz, Jesse Fiegl, Kayla George, Laura Brueckman, Shawn Drysdale, Stacey Smith, Todd Ford and Kim Godwin - for all you do!
And a shout out to our substitute food service staff - Brittany Sidell, Nicole Houseknecht, Jennifer Meyer and Rick Pestlin - who step in and keep our operations running smoothly whenever we need them.
We appreciate you!
PLEASE SHARE: Our budget newsletter will be delivered in this weekend’s edition of the Attica Penny Saver.
It contains important information about our district’s 2024-25 budget proposal and Capital Project 2024, both of which district residents will vote on May 21.
You can also access the newsletter on our website at the link below.
Link: https://core-docs.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/documents/asset/uploaded_file/2319/ACSD/4270549/attica_budget_newsletter_FINAL_DRAFT.pdf
SAVE THE DATE: Our Scholastic Buy One-Get One FREE Book Fair is THIS MONTH in the Attica Middle School Library!
Our fair begins Wednesday, May 15 and will run through Tuesday, May 21.
You can check out the fair’s homepage, set up an eWallet for your student and review a digital flyer for featured fair titles at the links below!
Fair homepage: https://bookfairs.scholastic.com/bf/atticamiddleschool?fbclid=IwAR2O8dUYsddO_OygwtX71QqdzEJ2BlBdJTwXk9T88_AJr7q_lmaI7DWIxsM_aem_AbTjEK01tWMFJF92Ih3lgmTYQdC6LKfkExFSfdqPhi45bjN_9audo9SqaLopEHRu_827Kc8q1PaXNiqkJsppJWGJ
eWallet setup: https://bookfairs.scholastic.com/content/fairs/hub/ewallet.html?fbclid=IwAR2evAnrRfZy99MJZJEp3FarCZ2k7Y_QYnT_gJNVgG03d2VXHvuFFByEDIc_aem_AbQoe7g_vPDly7aWZS29v9TF-Y6QZtNWqzb67mBBH7KZlkJCXfH_owfzW6L730GxndhHTJv5YRMnUayp6rOBQFgc
Digital book flyer: https://bookfairsfiles.scholastic.com/homepages/flyer_bogo_middle/flyer_bogo_middle.html?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTAAAR1J7VIFdPA1Hp0vlPSYvYPl-X1uwUROla9x1oa2TgIczsoGtu78-sJDuO4_aem_ATap-8JJ2ijUYb-HP1cUA4wmo9bpTGw7O_CCi2GdGhl-yoAaWsMou2oF_qHFBOwDJN5LSMoixtpISo9kHdTEAxjx#p=1
Good morning,
Recently, we have had a change in leadership in our Special Education office. If you have any questions related to your child's special education program or questions related to our Special Education Program, please contact Sara Cropp at 585-591-0400 x 3009 or scropp@atticacsd.org. Thank you.
April’s almost over - can you believe it?
That means our first New York Thursday of May is nearly upon us!
Check out our May menu below to see what local grub we’ve got coming up this month!
Stacey Donahue, our Middle School Library Media Specialist, is an Attica All-Star!
Donahue was nominated for this recognition by Erin Holt, a middle school teacher.
“I nominated her because of the way she is with students,” explained Holt. “ For example, a young lady in the 6th grade came into the library during 8th period the day before a science project was due. She was sheepish when she admitted to Stacey that she hadn't even started it yet. Without missing a beat, Stacey quickly said, ‘Alright, I've got some ideas. Let's see what we've got.’”
Instead of wasting time chastising the student who was asking for help, recalled Holt, Donahue immediately jumped in to help.
“Though I'm sure once the project was all set, she probably counseled her on time management,” added Holt.
A fun fact about Donahue - she is, among many other things, the coach of our New York State champion Odyssey of the Mind team that will travel to Iowa State University next month to compete in Worlds!
Congratulations, Stacey, on this well-deserved recognition and good luck next month in Iowa!
Earlier this month, our Future Farmers of America chapter hosted a luncheon for Attica FFA alumni that graduated in the 1950s, ‘60s and ‘70s.
The hope for the luncheon, said FFA Advisor Michelle Barber, was to fill in some of the missing information about the chapter's history and the types of events and projects that its members participated in decades ago.
“We had 7 alumni attend the event in person: Walter "Bud" Youngers, Archie Snyder, Ike Boss, Nick Kirsch, Larry LaWall, Wayne George and Denny Kibler,” said Barber. “They answered a lot of questions from our FFA members and shared many interesting stories. One of the comments that was made the most often was the high regard they had for their Ag teacher, Mr. Floyd Macomber. Mr. Ike Boss also made sure to let us know that he is the oldest surviving Attica FFA alumnus at the very young age of 90!”
Gaining a more robust understanding of the chapter’s history has been a recent point of focus for current FFA members.
To that end, Chapter President Larissa Hyman and Vice President Madelyn King recently traveled to the Skilled Nursing Facility in Warsaw to interview Robert Calkins about his memories of Attica’s FFA when he was a member in the 1950s and to look through some old newspaper clippings Calkins had saved from that time.
Another FFA alumni, Mike Raynor, recently reached out to our current chapter members from his home in Missouri. Raynor was the Attica FFA President in 1971 and sent us photos of his FFA jacket from the time.
“It was such a fun event,” said Barber of the alumni luncheon. “The stories these gentlemen told were wonderful - it was such a pleasure to have them share with our current members what it was like to be part of such a great organization so many years ago.”
(Photos courtesy of Michelle Barber)
