Dear PVES Families,
Happy summer break! I
hope that the month of July has started off in a happy and healthy way for all
of you, and that you enjoyed celebrating our nation’s Independence Day with
family and friends. We certainly wrapped
up a wonderful school year with many celebrations and special moments. I want to thank all of you for your support
and participation throughout the year.
Our students have made us so very proud.
I am very pleased to welcome Mr. Thomas Chickery as our new
PVES Assistant Principal! After a
thorough interview process involving the screening of over 20 candidates, an
interview committee process consisting of teachers, administrators, and
parents, and a full performance task presentation, Mr. Chickery was chosen as
our top candidate over approximately 200 applicants. Mr. Chickery comes to us from the Community
Action School, where he has served as an Administrative Intern, an Athletic
Director, and as a Physical Education and Health Teacher. Mr. Chickery
has a Masters in Educational Leadership from the College of Saint Rose.
He has also been part of the Center for Integrated Teacher Education Program,
in the Educational Leadership Program. Mr. Chickery is
a New York State certified Building Leader and a New York
State certified District Leader K-12. Throughout his administrative
internship, Mr. Chickery worked as a Grade Level Team Leader, designed and
implemented an advisory curriculum, and designed online portfolios to be viewed
by parents. He has developed and led professional learning around
instructional focus points and data analysis. He has worked with the
Danielson Rubric when observing classroom teachers, which led to focused
feedback and teacher coaching conversations. Mr. Chickery has also developed
and led professional learning for staff around community involvement and school
engagement. I am confident that Mr.
Chickery will be welcomed warmly by students, parents, and staff. He will help to add to our warm and
collaborative PVES culture, while continuing to bring new ideas to our high
standards of instruction. Welcome, Mr.
Chickery!
Parents, please make sure that your children are participating in our PVES Summer Reading Challenge! Information about the Reading Challenge was included in your child’s mailed Report Card envelope. Our first Reading Challenge Check-in will be held on Tuesday, July 9th, between 8:15 and 2:30 at the elementary school. We look forward to seeing you and distributing the reading prizes each Tuesday! This daily reading and the practicing of math facts will help to provide your children with a very strong start to the school year!
Our Fourth Grade Moving Up Ceremony, which was held on June
25th, served as a beautiful celebration of our students’ PVES
years. Thank you to the PTA for all you
did to make this day so special. The
ceremony was live streamed, and DVD’s will also be available at the end of the
summer. The DVD will also include the
Fourth Grade Walk of Applause to the buses which was filmed on the last day of
school. This is always such a
sentimental event.
As I begin my seventh year as Principal of PVES, I want to
thank you all for helping to make our elementary school such a magical place to
learn and grow. Together, we are
providing our students with a warm and engaging culture where the excitement of
learning exists each and every day. Our
PVES students continue to amaze us with their progress and achievement. And I get to learn from them every day. I am so fortunate.
Enjoy these special weeks with your children. Even the small moments lead to such
meaningful memories. Please reach out to
me if you have any questions or concerns.
My email is mpodesta@pvcsd.org. I will be at school for much of the summer,
and I am truly looking forward to the year ahead!
Warmly,
Ms. Podesta
Principal
