Msg. from Dr. Luft – Have a wonderful summer!
Dear Putnam Valley Community:
As we put another year in the rearview mirror, I am reminded of both the struggles and triumphs over the past year. While we entered this year with high hopes of a return to typical schooling, COVID had other plans. However, I am thankful that we were able to again welcome fans back into our stands, audiences into our performances, and welcome parents ...
Msg. from Dr. Luft – NYS Dept. of Health updated guidance
Dear Putnam Valley Community:
The Putnam Valley School District was excited to welcome back students and staff after our mid-winter recess. Wednesday marked the first day of optional mask use and It was evident that regardless of an individual’s choice to wear a mask or not, there was a general acceptance of that personal decision. Earlier this week, the New York State Department of Health released an ...
Msg. from Dr. Luft – Mask Mandate Update / Wednesday 3/2/22
Dear Putnam Valley Community:
As many are aware, Governor Hochul announced today that the indoor mask mandate in schools will be lifted effective Wednesday, March 2. Masks must continue to be worn tomorrow and Tuesday. Social distancing and other mitigation factors will remain in place. Beginning Wednesday, all students, staff, and families should feel free to continue wearing a mask if desired.
As a school community, we ...
Weekly Word – February 27, 2022
Dear PVES Families,
Welcome back after a mid-winter break! I hope that you all enjoyed some wonderful time with your families, and that everyone is looking forward to getting back to our full-time school schedule tomorrow! We will wrap up the busy month of February tomorrow with a cold day, but then we hope to welcome the month of March in like a “lamb” and not a ...
Msg. from Dr. Luft – Mask mandate
Dear Putnam Valley Community:
As many are aware, New York State’s mask mandate is back in our news cycle following Governor Hochul’s announcement today regarding mask use in businesses. Based on the information provided by Governor Hochul, New York State has indicated that the school mask mandate will be revisited following the upcoming February break. New York State has shared a variety of data points that will ...
Msg. from Dr. Luft – COVID home tests available for pick up 2/9
Dear Putnam Valley CSD Families:
The Putnam Valley School District will be offering our families an opportunity to pick up two COVID test kits per student on Wednesday, February 9, between 3:45 and 6:00 pm. A drive-thru system will be in place at the high school. Please use the first driveway along the sidewalk. There is no charge for the test kits.
Additionally, we are continuing to ...
February 2022
Dear PVMS Families,
We have made it to the midpoint of the school year and February is upon us. The cold weather has settled in and as a result we spend much more time inside. Take advantage of opportunities to get outside and/or be active with indoor sports. At this time it is vital to speak with your children about the impact people can have on one ...
Msg. from Dr. Luft – Remote Access Update
Good afternoon,
After discussion during last evening’s Board of Education meeting, consideration of the participation numbers, and review of current COVID case data, the decision was made to phase out remote access over the next week. The last day students will be able to participate in remote access will be Friday, February 4.
For those students who are under mandatory isolation or quarantine, remote instruction will still ...
Msg. from Dr. Luft Regarding Mask Mandate
Good morning,
As many may be aware, it was an interesting evening regarding the enforcement of the mask mandate that has been in place for schools.
First, a New York State Supreme Court judge ruled that masks may no longer be required in school settings pursuant to 10 NYCRR 2.60.
A short time after that decision was delivered, the New York State Education Department issued a letter ...
Weekly Word – January 9, 2022
Dear PVES Families,
I hope that you are all enjoying the snowy weather, and that your children had a chance to play outside on our beautiful snow day. It was wonderful to welcome our students back to school this week. They are so joyful and ready to learn!
As you know from Dr. Luft’s email this week, we are not able to complete full contact tracing at ...
Msg. from Dr. Luft – Tracing/Testing/Remote Access/Test to Stay
Dear Putnam Valley Community:
I would like to express my gratitude for the hard work and dedication of the Putnam Valley Schools’ staff and administration for doing what was necessary to welcome students back into our buildings this week. Despite our ability to reopen schools, we remain on the tipping point of being unable to effectively staff our buildings. We are asking everyone to remain flexible as ...
Weekly Word – January 2, 2022
Dear PVES Families,
Happy New Year! I hope that this message finds you happy and healthy, and that you have enjoyed a wonderful holiday break with your loved ones! We are looking forward to seeing our students in school tomorrow, and we can’t wait to watch them thrive as learners over the next few months. We have missed the students’ smiling faces over this past week, and ...
Msg. from Dr. Luft – January 3, 2022
Dear Putnam Valley Community:
I’m wishing you a Happy and Healthy New Year!
I am hopeful that everyone has enjoyed their break and is optimistic the New Year will bring better days ahead. Today, as we approach the anticipated reopening of schools on Monday, January 3, COVID remains prevalent in our nation, and I write to you today to keep you as informed as I can about ...
Msg. from Dr. Luft – Holiday Break
Dear Putnam Valley Community:
I hope this message finds you and your loved ones well and looking forward to the holiday celebrations to come. As evidenced by our recent newsletter, there is much to celebrate as a school community, and we are looking forward to the time with our families, as well as the promise of a bright new year ahead in 2022.
As we look ahead ...
Inside Putnam Valley – Episode 55
In this exciting edition of Inside Putnam Valley, hosts Eric Gross and Superintendent of Schools Jeremy Luft visit Putnam Valley Elementary School to learn about all the great work happening there, meet the new assistant principal, Jennifer Picco, and discuss PV’s inaugural “First Responders Appreciation Day.”
...PVCSD to implement voluntary COVID testing for students
Dear Putnam Valley Families:
In accordance with the guidance issued by the New York State Department of Health, the Putnam Valley School District will be implementing COVID surveillance testing for interested students. Interested families will need to “opt-in” to participate in the surveillance testing program, testing is voluntary.
The District is exploring a variety of in-school and at-home testing solutions. First, we must identify how many students ...
Weekly Word – November 21, 2021
Dear PVES Families,
As you may have seen in our recent district newsletter, Putnam Valley Elementary School was recently ranked #103 out of 2,831 New York State Elementary Schools in performance by U.S. News and World Report. This puts our dear PVES in the 96th Percentile of the elementary schools in NY state. This amazing achievement is certainly due to the district and community support, the talented ...
Msg. from Dr. Luft – Vaccine Clinics in Putnam County
Dear Putnam Valley Community:
As I am sure you are aware, the FDA has approved the Pfizer vaccine for children aged 5-11. The vaccine is a smaller dose of the Pfizer vaccine that has already been fully authorized by the FDA for adults. We are aware that this announcement was welcome news to many parents who have been eagerly awaiting the opportunity to vaccinate their children and ...
PVHS Quarantine Questions and Answers!
Dear Parents and Families,
We are starting to see a rise in the number of positive COVID cases leading to more students quarantined. Consequently, we developed some basic questions and answers to help guide parents through the quarantine process.
Who quarantines?
Technically any child within 6 feet for more than 10 minutes is considered a prolonged exposure and should be quarantined. However, the Department of Health has ...
Weekly Word – October 2, 2021
Dear PVES Families,
I hope that you are all enjoying a happy and healthy weekend. The fall weather has certainly arrived, and it is a great time for outdoor activities. Our students have been participating in outdoor physical education classes on a regular basis, along with outside recess and other learning activities. We hope that the snowy days take a while to get here.
Please be reminded ...
Msg. from Dr. Luft – Invite to Listening Hour – Thursday 10/7/21
Dear Putnam Valley Community:
I will be hosting a Superintendent’s Listening Hour next Thursday, October 7, at 5:45 pm in the High School Library, just prior to our scheduled Board of Education meeting. Please consider joining me to meet our new Director of Curriculum and Instruction, Ms. Jackie Levine, who joined our PVCSD team in July. This will be an opportunity to discuss curriculum initiatives for this ...
Inside Putnam Valley – Episode 54
In this exciting back-to-school edition of Inside Putnam Valley, hosts Eric Gross and Superintendent of Schools Jeremy Luft discuss the opening of the school, the mask mandate, and the middle school bathroom renovation. We also meet the Athletic Director David Kantrowitz and learn more about him and his plans for athletics in Putnam Valley.
...Remote and Quarantined instruction
Dear Putnam Valley Community:
As everyone begins to settle back into school during these first two interrupted weeks of instruction, I would like to take this opportunity to restate and clarify some information:
Remote vs Quarantined Instruction: These two terms have been used within a variety of communications and warrant clarification.
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Remote instruction is typically used to describe what was offered last school year, when ...
Welcome Back! Thank you for your partnership!
Dear Putnam Valley Community:
With open arms and smiling faces, we welcomed students back into our buildings. The energy has been restored to our buildings and our classrooms are again filled with students eager to learn alongside their peers. Our staff members rejoice in the fact that their classrooms once again resemble the student-centered learning environments of years past and not rows of desks, reminiscent of the ...
Update from Dr. Luft – Excitement is building!
Dear Putnam Valley Community:
Excitement is building as we are only days away from welcoming our students back into our classrooms. Over the past several weeks we have had the opportunity to see many current students participate in our summer enrichment programs and welcomed our incoming Kindergarten students with our traditional bus run and classroom visit.
While the excitement we were feeling in June that COVID would ...
August 18, 2021
Dear PVES Families,
I hope that this message finds you safe, relaxed, and enjoying the summer. We are busy here at the elementary school preparing for a wonderful year ahead. Please know that our Kindergarten families will be receiving class placement information in the mail by early next week. Families with students in grades 1 through 4 will be receiving placement information via email by Tuesday, August 24th. ...
Summer programs masks
Dear Putnam Valley Community:
In light of rising COVID cases in our community and throughout the region, coupled with the higher transmission rate of the Delta variant, we are strongly encouraging all students who are scheduled to attend any of our summer programs to wear a mask while indoors. We want to do everything we can to keep our students and staff healthy and safe.
Thank you.
Mid-Summer Update from Dr. Luft IB Diplomas! Summer Programs & Opening Days
Dear Putnam Valley Community:
I hope this message finds you well and you are enjoying your summer. Our buildings are busy with summer school programs, facilities projects, and we are preparing for the return of students in September. Here are some mid-summer updates:
Congratulations to our first-ever IB Diploma recipients! Our High School was authorized as an International Baccalaureate School in 2019, and this year we proudly ...
End of Year Message from Dr. Luft
Dear Putnam Valley Community:
Goodbyes & Hellos: I would like to extend my gratitude and appreciation for the many years of dedicated service Jenette Mistretta and Brian Burrow have provided the Putnam Valley School District. We are also saying goodbye to several teachers, support staff, and members of our Transportation Department. We wish them only the best in retirement or as they pursue their future endeavors. This ...
Invite to Listening Hour – Tuesday 6/22/21
Dear Putnam Valley Community:
I will be hosting a Superintendent’s Listening Hour next Tuesday, June 22, at 7:00 pm in the High School Library. As this school year comes to a close, I look forward to the opportunity to connect in person. Guests will be asked to complete a visitor health screening upon arrival and abide by NY State Department of Health guidance, unvaccinated individuals will be ...
Mask Update – Optional while outdoors
Dear Putnam Valley Community:
In light of recently updated guidance provided by the New York State Department of Health and after consultation with members of the Putnam Valley Reopening Task Force, mask use while outdoors will now be optional. Masks are still required inside of the buildings and on the school buses.
Thank you,
Dr. Jeremy Luft
Superintendent of Schools
EARLIER MESSAGES
6/6/21 – Additional Mask ...
Weekly Update from Dr. Luft – 6/4/21 – Welcome our Director of Curriculum and Instruction
Dear Putnam Valley Community:
Here are the weekly updates and important reminders:
Director of Curriculum & Instruction: I am pleased to announce that the Board of Education appointed Jacqueline Levine as Putnam Valley’s next Director of Curriculum and Instruction. Ms. Levine joins us from Putnam Northern Westchester BOCES where she currently serves as the Coordinator of School Leadership. Ms. Levine has also worked as the Coordinator of ...
