Superintendent's Spotlight

Hello West Seneca Central School District,

The end of the school year always brings such exciting things for our students and staff alike. We hope you are enjoying this monthly publication and feeling more informed through these.

For those of you receiving this for the first time, this newsletter will be a synopsis of district updates brought to you on a monthly basis. I will share information, updates and celebrate the great things happening in our schools. Through this, the hope is that you feel more informed through these district publications.

With West Seneca Pride,

Dr. Lisa Krueger

Through this column, I have highlighted our efforts to secure grant funds to continue to expand and enhance the opportunities for our students. This year, for example, we secured a grant for new equipment for our high schools’ technology and business departments, and we secured a 3-year $300,000 grant to enhance our use and integration of technology. We are continually looking for ways to improve the experience for our students while maintaining financial responsibility to our residents.

Long-range and strategic planning work helps to ensure we are wisely improving our school facilities. To that end, we are pleased to share plans for much needed improvements to our auditorium facilities across the district. Our students have long enjoyed performing on these stages, whether for musicals, concerts, or community events. However, our auditorium equipment is outdated, and repairs are becoming more frequent and costly.

This upcoming Capital Improvement Project will address necessary repairs to the rigging systems, lighting, and sound equipment in all four of our secondary school auditoriums: East and West Middle Schools and East and West High Schools. Our current systems, some of which date back over 50 years, no longer meet the needs of our vibrant arts programs. For example, we currently spend thousands of dollars annually on renting supplemental lighting and sound equipment for our school musicals due to the limitations of our existing equipment. Additionally, finding replacement parts for our older equipment has become increasingly difficult.

Through this project, we aim to ensure that our students and community have access to safe, reliable, and functional stage equipment. The total cost of the project is $8.5 million, with approximately 75% of the funds covered by state aid. The remaining 25% will be drawn from our capital reserve funds, which were set aside for this specific purpose and will allow us to complete this project with no additional tax impact.

On May 20, eligible community members will vote for 4 items:

• The school district’s budget for the 2025-26 school year;

• A proposal to purchase replacement buses, which is aligned with our bus replacement schedule;

• This Capital Improvement Project to support the needed auditorium infrastructure improvements;

• The election of two Board of Education Trustees.

In closing, it is important to stress that while our Redistricting Committee is analyzing student enrollment trends and the capacity of our elementary and middle schools, every plan being considered uses our existing buildings. This project is a wise long-term investment as we will continue to use East and West middle and high schools and there are no plans to close a school. Our auditoriums are used daily by students for band, orchestra, and chorus classes and rehearsals, and these improvements will benefit students for years to come.

The West Seneca school community has been supportive of the arts and our music program. We appreciate your support to ensure our students can continue to be shining stars on our stages.

Please vote on May 20 at East Senior’s gymnasium from 7 AM to 9 PM. Thank you.

I invite you to watch the video below to learn more about our upcoming capital improvement project vote on May 20th for needed auditorium renovations to replace our failing lighting, sound and rigging equipment in our four secondary auditoriums (East & West Middle School and East & West High School).

Many thanks to Jeff Pacer for all of his recording and editing magic, and to Trevor Jelowski, Keith Ersing and our amazing students (Sydney and Ryan) who are featured in the video.

We appreciate your support to ensure our students may continue to be shining stars on our stages!

Recently 3 teachers from West Seneca East Senior High School guided 20 students to France as part of the West Seneca East Foreign Exchange Program that was established in 2009.

The trip started with a homestay visit to our sister school, le Lycee Simone Veil which is located in Liffre, France. They visited the city of Rennes, Le Mont St Michel, Saint Malo, Normandy as well as several small communities located in the region of Brittany.

What an exciting adventure for our high school students! Thank you to the incredible teachers for their care abroad and always, the unwavering support of our students.

Visit the West Seneca Community Center to view over 250 pieces of art through May 15th!

A special thank you to the Town of West Seneca, Mrs. Greenway and our entire Art Department for this wonderful community experience to appreciate our Visual Arts programming.

Congratulations to our student artists who were selected to have their work on display!

On March 20, 2025 thousands of students across New York State, including some of our own, participated in the online First In Math tournament.

We were recently informed by the New York State Department of Education that three of our district's students(a qualifying team) have secured a chance to compete in-person at the NY State Mathematics Tournament. The tournament will be held in Albany on May 31, 2025.

The three amazing mathematicians who will be representing not only Winchester-Potters Elementary School but also the West Seneca Central School District and... our ENTIRE REGION are:

Sophia A.

Alexander H.

Zoey L.

Congratulations to these amazing students. We are all so proud of you and good luck in Albany!

🏫Board of Education - Regular Board Meeting & Public Information Budget Hearing

Date: May 6, 2025

Time: 6pm

Location: West Elementary School Boardroom

Livestreamed?: Yes

👕Community Resource Closet

Date: May 8, 2025

Time: 9am - 11am

Location: Ebenezer Building, 900 Mill Rd. - Door #1

Questions?: Contact Melissa Brind'Amour - [email protected]

🤝Supporting Emotional Regulation in Neurodiverse Children: Considerations and Strategies for Setting Children Up for Success - Parent Workshop (Childcare will be included!)

Date: May 12, 2025

Time: 6:30pm - 8pm

Location: West Elementary School

Info & RSVP: Click here for more information

👚Community Resource Closet

Date: May 14, 2025

Time: 8am - 11am

Location: Ebenezer Building, 900 Mill Rd. - Door #1

Questions?: Contact Melissa Brind'Amour - [email protected]

🎒HALF DAY(All Students)

Date: May 14, 2025

Please see the district calendar for dismissal times.

🗳️Annual School Budget Vote & School Board Trustee (2) Election

Date: May 20, 2025

Time: 7am - 9pm

Location: East Senior High School

💛Curriculum Showcase Event

Date: May 20, 2025

Time: 6pm - 8pm

Location: East Senior High School

Details: https://www.wscschools.org/showcase

🗓️For full event calendar & more information click the district website button below:

Whenever possible, the Board of Education & Dr. Krueger like to spotlight one of our schools. Students take the podium and speak about all the fabulous things their school has going on along with some accomplishments and sometimes, we even get live performances!

All of these awesome presentations are recorded and linked on our website to view at any time by visiting the BOE Livestream page on our district website: www.wscschools.org/BOElivestream

This month, Allendale Elementary's Lighthouse Club alongside their advisor, Ms. Kirst, spoke about their club and all of the great things they are involved in - not only in their school - but in the community as well! And, they really like making posters.😊

Pictured below(in no particular order):

Ed Bedient - School Board President, Dr. Holly Quinn - Allendale Principal, Dr. Lisa Krueger - Superintendent, Laura Sokol-Scott - School Board Vice-President along with Lighthouse Club members(some absent tonight) - Payton A., Kerenza R., Aubrey K., Amelia L., Julia L., Skylar K., Keegan K., Sofia F., Aaliyah M., Finn D. Gabe D., Harper R., Cameron P., and Bailey H.

On Monday, April 28, we welcomed our newly appointed Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum & Instruction to a meet and greet around the district before she officially starts in this role on May 12.

Nora & I visited all 9 schools and enjoyed a "Cookies & Conversations" with Union leaders, Administrators & Board Members. If you see her around, be sure to say hello! Welcome to the team, Nora!

We are excited to welcome Jaimie Knight as our new Winchester-Potters Elementary Principal! She may not officially be starting in this role until Tuesday, May 28 but she will be visiting the school and be a part of their Winchester-Potters Family Kindness Night event on May 16th. She is so excited to meet students and families at this event! Be sure to also say hello to Jamie when you see her! Welcome to the team, Jamie!

It is an incredible honor to receive tenure in a teacher's career. Mrs. Twitchell has been a role model for all - not just at West Seneca West High School but within the district as well.

Her principal, Mr. Brinker, praised her commitment to students, highlighting her active involvement in school events, from basketball games to proms. "She loves kids," he stated, emphasizing her positive attitude and unwavering support for her students.

While you are congratulating her on receiving tenure, please help me congratulate her as one of the FINALISTS in the TEACHER Astronaut Competition! The winner (who will be chosen by mid May) will fly with Emily Calandrelli on a parabolic airplane (ZeroG) that simulates weightlessness! This is in partnership with Space For Humanity whose goal is to make space exploration (and the FEELING of space) more accessible.

If chosen, she will also fly with other incredible astros like Amanda Nguyen, Katya Echazarreta, and Sian Proctor!

We have included her submission video below! Congratulations Alex!

We are an educational community that encourages kindness, inspires confidence, and instills the belief that together we can achieve anything.