Dear Putnam Valley Community:
We are resending this information as a reminder that the High School start time, beginning in September, will be 7:50 am.
The first day of school for students is Wednesday, September 5.
Students attending BOCES or JFK will be provided transportation to the High School for transportation scheduled to leave our campus at approximately 7:15 am.
For the past year and a half, the District has been discussing the benefits of a later start time at the High School. Our focus has been on the mental and physical health and well-being of our students. We have shared abundant research on this matter with our community, staff and students in a variety of forums, including a robust representative committee, public meetings, on-line resources and district-wide messages. The Board of Education determined at the end of last year that we would move ahead with the process and the High School start time will move to the current Middle School start time (7:50 am) beginning at the start of school in September 2018. The Elementary School start time will remain unchanged. We have attached the preliminary schedules (for High School/Middle School only) and also links to the resources on our website. As you will see, many of the bus trips will be considerably shorter. Please take a close look as many of the routes have changed and Middle and High School route numbers could be different than previous years and might not match up to Elementary School route numbers.
We understand that there may be inconveniences in some cases but hope that you will agree that the benefits to our students are substantial. We hope that high school students will take advantage of the opportunity to sleep as much as a full hour later. The later start time will also help during winter months when decisions need to be made about delayed openings by giving additional time for daylight to work to our advantage and limit the need for three-hour delays.
As always, we are available to respond to questions and concerns.
Sincerely,
Dr. Frances Wills
Superintendent of Schools
Later Start – Resources
Preliminary Bus Schedules for September 2018
Submit questions here – please be sure to leave your email address if you would like a response