Local Fundraisers Going On Now - Help In The Time Of The COVID-19 Pandemic

At the request of one of our reader supporters, A Little Beacon Blog complied this easy list of fundraisers to contribute to whenever you want to. Some of these are date driven. Those will be posted to the top. This is a live guide, so refresh the page, and give when you can!

GOING ON NOW - LIMITED TIME

• We don’t know of any super fast, limited time fundraisers going on at the moment, but if we missed yours, let us know about it here!

FIRST RESPONDERS

First Responders Fund

The fund will assist COVID-19 healthcare workers and first responders with expenses and costs, including child care. Donations can be made electronically at www.healthresearch.org/donation-form/ or by check, mailed to "Health Research, Inc., 150 Broadway, Suite 560, Menands, NY 12204." (For checks, the donor should specify the donation is for "COVID-19 NYS Emergency Response.")

Rombout Middle School PTO - Food For Local Front Line Workers

The Beacon High School Softball Program and the Rombout Middle School PTO organizations are organizing this. They are raising money to provide food to local medical workers. As a community, we want to thank them and make them smile! Additionally, 100% of the money raised goes directly to local families while supporting Beacon restaurants.
Donate Here >

LIFE IN GENERAL

Beacon Mutual Aid

A group started by Beaconites, for Beaconites, to help with any need anyone has. If people are in quarantine and cannot get food or to the pharmacy, this group can help. People can email, text or call with their requests, and the problem or request gets figured out. Beacon Mutual Aid is also involved with getting people in need free groceries. Donations go towards these causes.
There is no ask that is too big, and no one will ever be shamed for asking for what they need.
Ways To Donate: Email beaconmutualaid@gmail.com, call 845-288-2559 or venmo: mutualaidbeacon
Learn More (English) > or Learn More (Spanish) >

FOOD SECURITY

Beacon Farmer’s Market via Common Ground Farms

Beacon’s Farmer’s Market is managed by Common Ground Farms, and reaches a lot of people who want fresh food, and who live in economic hardship. They have accepted forms of payment from economic benefits programs including SNAP, and WIC and FMNP checks. During this time of COVID-19, two main setbacks have happened: 1. the open-air market closed and moved to an online ordering system, with delivery and pickup, and 2. the market is unable to take SNAP payments but is using a workaround to make that happen which you can read about here if you need to use SNAP. Donations made to the Beacon Farmer’s Market will help them continue making these leaps in technological advancements (they have already built 2 websites to take online orders), deliver to people in need, and give SNAP users money to use. You can also buy a load of produce for a family in need with allocation of your donation.
Donate Here >

Tiny Food Pantries in Beacon via Fareground

A Tiny Food Pantry is a 24/7 open air food pantry with a “give what you can, take what you need model.” Donate food to it by placing the food directly onto the shelves. Donate money to Fareground, who has these locations in their rotation of food security caretaking.
Locations: Binnacle Books 321 Main Street; Beacon Recreation Center 23 West Center Street
Donate Here >

Fareground

Fareground, Inc., a charitable 501(c)(3), is a women-run food justice, anti-hunger organization, dedicated to nourishing the community by increasing access to healthy and affordable food by supporting and creating opportunities for delicious meals, education, and volunteer opportunities. They currently are part of the coordination and financial effort in making Free To Go Dinner Bags available for pickup on Mondays mornings at Beacon High School and South Avenue. These are bags of groceries designed to feed a family of 4. Fareground also delivers these To Go Dinner Bags to people who live in housing communities in Beacon. This is key, because families in housing communities sometimes cannot get out to food distribution sites if both parents are at work, or a single parent is raising the family, for examples.
Donate Here >

Hudson Valley Eats

Hudson Valley Eats was started by restaurateur Janet Irizarry, who is committed to making sure everybody eats. She is an expert in food waste and tries to connect people with food. She lists many donation ideas as they come.

PETS

Safe Haven Thrift Shop & Pet Food Pantry

A nonprofit organization that has been running a pet food pantry for 8.5 years helping Dutchess County residents feed their pets. They are also involved with the Beacon Barks Parade. Normally, the residents they assist have to meet an income requirement. However, many people right now are out of work due to the virus, and they want to temporarily help them. Pet food is available for pickup on Saturdays.
Location: New address is: 1545 Route 52, Suite 8, Fishkill
Day: Saturdays only from 10AM – 1PM
How To Donate:
1. Drop off bags of cat or dog food during the pick-up hours listed above.
2. Write a check to Safe Haven Animal Shelter, P.O. Box 596, Hopewell Junction, NY 12533

SCHOOLS

Beacon High School Seniors

You can show your support for Beacon’s senior class with a yard sign. The proceeds go directly to the Senior class. Buy a sign for $20 and show it in your yard.
Donate Now >

FARMING

Common Ground Farms

LOCAL BUSINESS

A Little Beacon Blog keeps track of fundraisers launched by businesses in our Restaurant Guide, Shopping Guide, and Business Directory. Please browse there, and the link for the fundraiser will be listed with the corresponding business.

VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES

Dutchess Responds
Mutual Aid Plan For Dutchess

FOOD: Free & Reduced Lunch Plan For Next (or This) School Year Open To More Families Who Lost Jobs

The Beacon City School District has been supplying free breakfasts and lunches to any student in the district by way of grab-and-go breakfasts and lunches, picked up on Mondays and Wednesdays at South Avenue Elementary or Beacon High School. Lunches are prepared and bagged on Mondays and Wednesdays to be made at home over the course of the week. Meals have included pizza, chicken nuggets, baked chicken, broccoli and chicken, pancakes and chicken - lots of options.

As of today (4/27/2020), the Beacon City School District is preparing 9,500 grab-and-go meals per week, and has completed just under 50,000 meals so far, according to Karen Pagano, Director of Food and Nutrition for the Beacon City School District.

When and if school resumes, families who have lost jobs can apply now for the Free & Reduced-Cost Lunch School Meals/Milk program, Karen says. Families who have already applied to the Free Meal program and have been accepted do not need to re-apply.

“Once school resumes, the meal eligibility will be what it was before we closed schools,” Karen told A Little Beacon Blog by email. “But, if they apply now for Free Meals, their new application may then assist with their children’s meals at school for the remainder of this school year and 30 days into the next (2020-2021) school year.”

Karen points out that people who have recently lost income and had not applied before because their income did not qualify them for meal assistance might now qualify. “If they apply now while waiting for supplemental assistance - their income levels may qualify them for the Free Meal program. Therefore, now is the best time to submit an application.”

People out of work are still encouraged to apply if they had a large reduction in income but have started receiving benefits.

How To Apply To The Free Meals Program For Beacon City School District

Download the application at the Beacon City School District’s website here.

Email the complete application to: moustakas.d@beaconk12.org.

Applications will also be available at the two current meal distribution sites - Beacon High School and South Avenue Elementary and can be returned to these sites as well.

Do not download the application if you have already applied and are already in the Free Meals program. Your work is done!

As of now (April 27, 2020) kids meals from the Beacon City School District continue to be free for all kids in the district while school is part of the New York PAUSE status, and no application is required to pick up a free meal. Details about pickup are here, and include delivery options.

NYC Mayor de Blasio Announces School Closure For Year - Gov. Cuomo Says Not Mayor's Authority At This Time - Wants Multi-State Agreement

During a press briefing early on Saturday morning, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announced that he had decided to keep schools closed through the year. The New York Post reported on the announcement, saying that the mayor characterized the decision as “‘painful’ but said keeping the schools closed is the way to keep the coronavirus from spreading.”

When asked about this decision hours later during New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s daily briefing on 4/11/2020, the governor answered that no decision on school closures had been made, and that at this time, the final decision resided with the governor. Watch the briefing here on Twitter, and the response is at minute 28.

Reporter Jesse (we didn’t catch a last name) asked: “Are you saying it’s your legal authority to close New York City schools, not Bill de Blasio’s?”

Gov. Cuomo answered: “It is my legal authority in this situation, yes. That's why when we closed them, we closed them statewide. We closed at the same time the island, then the suburbs, and we coordinated all upstate.”

Important to Gov. Cuomo is connecting businesses opening with school opening. During today’s briefing, Gov. Cuomo said: “I think you have to coordinate the business with the schools. Schools do education. Schools also do daycare, effectively, for a large percentage of the New York City population. How can you say to people: I think you can go back to work in May, but schools are going to continue to be closed, so figure out what to do with your children during the day, but you're going to have to go to work.”

With regard to officials in New York City and the White House saying they want businesses to open in May, Gov. Cuomo’s response was in part: “I accept it. I hear it. I'm not prepared to act on it. I have talked to all the County Executives. Some people believe the businesses will open in May. [Cuomo added that it was the mayor of NYC who thinks this.] Some people think we open in two weeks. Some people until June. I hear it all. We'll discuss it; we'll coordinate it.”

The governor has given no indication that businesses will open in May, and in fact, chastised Broadway’s announcement that it would open in June. During a press briefing this week, Gov. Cuomo responded to a question from a reporter about Broadway: “I wouldn’t use what Broadway thinks as a barometer of anything.”

Whose Authority Is It, Anyway?

Reporters were quick to focus on the whose-authority-is-it angle, with several followup questions and subsequent articles, but the fact remains, New York schools are closed until Wednesday, April 29, at least.

Gov. Cuomo presented his regional school closure strategy: “At the end of the day, the decision must be at minimum for the metropolitan area, hopefully statewide, ideally regional, with Connecticut and New Jersey. That's my goal. Coordinate school and business.”

Melissa DeRosa, the secretary to Gov. Cuomo, explained to Reporter Jesse how statewide school closures work in the executive order: “When we did the executive order with the 180-day waiver,” she explained, “school districts need a waiver if they are going to have less than 180 days of school. We said we are setting them all at the same time. Everyone is on the same schedule. NY PAUSE is extended through April 29. Everyone is on the exact same schedule, and when we extend that, that’s when we extend the 180-day waiver.”

Other States Have Closed Schools For The Year

New York would not be the first to close schools for the year, if this were to happen. California announced a school closure for the year on April 1. Kansas, in fact, was the first state to announce in-person school closures for the year back near March 18. Washington state announced school closures for the year on April 6. So far, Ohio has not announced a school closure for the year, and has extended it to May so far.

The governor went on to explain his rationale, that he is connecting school closure or opening with when businesses open, about which no decision has been made, now that we are in the apex that has plateaued, depending upon human behavior of maintaining social distancing.

If you want to make a prediction, like if a predicted snowfall is going to result in a snow day, you could follow A Little Beacon Blog’s snow day methodology, which includes keeping an eye on Ohio for weather patterns. Will COVID school closures follow?

In Case You Needed A Good Cry Today... Watch This "We Miss You" Video From South Avenue Elementary's Filmmaking Librarian, Mr. Burke

Today (Monday) was a good day for those in Healthy Quarantine Life. The sun was shining in clear blue skies. Distance Learning has started for families, and the closure for school and non-essential businesses was extended to April 29, 2020 (CA announced its closure for the year, so is anyone really counting anymore?).

Parents faced Monday with a renewed sense of: “We can do this. I am going to try. I am going to get into the groove with that Google Classroom, and my kid is going to play less Fortnite today. I am going to tell my boss to have less Zoom meetings, because I have to balance this Distance Learning Life.”

This may have proved successful for some parents. Those whose kids go to South Avenue Elementary have Mr. Burke, the filmmaking librarian who produces his news show, The Morning News, every morning for the kids. Usually it is him with puppets and multiple versions of himself acting in different characters. Now that he is producing these from home, sometimes his dog is in the picture.

Mr. Burke did something big. He got all of the teachers to write signs to the kids, and put them in a montage set to music. Give it a watch. It’s OK if you tear up.

If you want more of Mr. Burke, you can watch the entire Morning News Episode for April 3, 2020, below. You can subscribe to his YouTube channel for more episodes here.

Gov. Cuomo Extends NYS PAUSE To April 15; Schools Stay Closed Until April 15. Beacon's Superintendent Responds.

Photo Credit: Screenshot from the New York Times.

UPDATE 3/30/2020: The president issued a directive to extend social distancing to April 30.

Last week, Gov. Andrew Cuomo extended New York State’s PAUSE status to April 15, 2020. During his morning briefing, he stated that he is evaluating in two-week increments. This means many things, including that, “All non-essential gatherings of individuals of any size for any reason are temporarily banned,” according to the state website.

Family Dinners (Outside Your “Sphere Lock”)

On Sunday, Gov. Cuomo emphasized that this includes dinners and gatherings related to the upcoming religious holidays, like Easter and Passover. The Governor took Sunday’s briefing, 3/29/2020, to tell people how he does his normally large Italian Sunday Dinners at 2 pm - with “Mom on Skype,” he noted.

In this blogger’s house, we take the PAUSE to mean we go on “Sphere Lock,” a term we made up in our house. It means you only are within six feet of people in your house. If your family member lives in a different house, and you aren’t on the same social distance patterns, seeing the exact same isolated people, then it’s best to not get together for a big dinner or driveway house party, or to be close with people who don’t share your Sphere Lock rotation. We can be together, but we bring walkie talkies or phones in case our six-foot distancing becomes too far to hear each other.

The reminder of Sphere Lock is illustrated by this tragic story of the family who lost family members after a big dinner, reported on 3/20/2020 by CNN: “Coronavirus kills 4 family members and sickens others after a dinner in New Jersey.” Just because you are close friends or are in the same family, doesn’t mean the coronavirus will recognize that as immunity.

New York State Schools Extended Closure Until April 15, 2020

While New York City schools are closed until Monday, April 20, the rest of the state does not have that mandate. However, Mayor Bill de Blasio thinks that even April 20 is too early. As reported in Politico: “Our first attempt to reopen public schools will be Monday, April 20,” de Blasio said. “We may not have the opportunity to reopen them in this full school year.”

Reported last week by The New York Times was the “first known death” of a New York City public school staff member: Dez-Ann Romain. She was the principal of the Brooklyn Democracy Academy, and was 36. According to the article: “‘She was one of the most innovative school leaders I’ve ever worked with — her students just adored her,’ said Courtney Winkfield, a New York City schools official who mentored Ms. Romain.”

Beacon Superintendent Matthew Landahl also anticipates a later school reopening, and issued that expectation in a letter to parents issued March 18, 2020. In the letter, he gave two scenarios. The second scenario is the one he is leaning toward:

“Scenario 2- The Governor issues another executive order closing schools in New York State for an additional period of time farther into April. Based on the current state in New York and our country, this seems like the more likely scenario. We need to be prepared for a longer school closing than April 1. This is just my opinion.”

The Technical Usage Of PAUSE Pandemic Days

According to the superintendent’s letter: “The Governor ordered schools to use their remaining snow days, snow makeup days, and spring break during this closing. We have 4 unused snow days and 6 makeup days which includes 4 days of spring break,” he said. Beacon’s Spring Break would have begun on April 6, 2020.

Distance Learning To Be Developed By Beacon City School Teachers

This is the daunting, yet exciting part. A distance learning program does not yet exist. Parents are grappling with the feeling of needing to educate our kids, yet knowing that there is no curriculum at home to do this, while the teachers desperately miss our kids, and both teachers and parents are trying to figure this out. Coupled with the fact that parents are working the hardest they ever have at jobs they may still need to do, and doing this with all family members in the house at once. It’s the blind leading the blind, but right now, it is all OK. We’re in this together.

Dr. Landahl told parents in his letter that the teachers will begin to hunker down to develop a plan. Most likely this will be done with parent input, because the teachers don’t know yet what the assignments look like on the other side. For instance, one of our teachers was trying to connect with students to get signed up for a class. I didn’t even know what getting signed up for a class meant. I asked if she could call me, and she happily did. We fumbled our way through, came up with some ideas, and carried on.

In the letter, Dr. Landahl said that he is working with teachers to find “a common understanding of distance learning, develop professional development, and develop a plan.” Throughout this process, Dr. Landahl has quickly navigated to changes that happen at the state level day by day, such as the Meal Plan that is currently being distributed to all kids in Beacon.

As for the future of distance learning, he said: “We have about 100 more questions we need to answer about how we will pull this off, but we are committed as a district to making this happen. I will provide updates on this work on a regular basis throughout this time. A huge thanks to our teachers for dealing with all of the curveballs the last few days.”

Personally, I am excited to be part of the experiment in developing this new distance learning plan, which can hopefully be used by parents when they have kids who are the least bit sick, or when one kid is sick in a multikid house, and you don’t want to send the rest of your kids to school knowing that they might be carriers.

All year this year, my kids’ noses have been dripping with mucus. We had been nebulizing day and night. Now that we are on PAUSE, and are in our Sphere Lock, those noses are clean. We aren’t using as many tissues as I bought (so far). It’s good to look at upsides, wherever they can be found.

FOOD: Free Groceries Available At High School + South Avenue Today (3/25/2020)

Free groceries have been made available for anyone who needs them. This is available to all people, not just people registered in the City of Beacon School District, confirms Helanna Bratman. "Yes! For all people! No age or location restrictions," she said. This is a collaborative effort between Cornell Cooperative Extension, Fareground, Mutual Aid Beacon, Food Bank of the Hudson Valley, Beacon City School District, and Common Ground.

DETAILS:

WHEN: Wednesday, March 25, 2020
LOCATION #1: Beacon High School 10 to 10:30 am
LOCATION #2: South Avenue from 10:30 to 11:30 am
Please only use one location.

Groceries will be pre-bagged and ready for pick up together with BCSD meals. However, for these groceries, you do not need to be registered with the school district.

DELIVERY OPTIONS

Need the groceries delivered? This can be coordinated with you.

Email: mutualaidbeacon@gmail.com or

Call/Text: (845) 288-2559

FOOD: Easy Breakfast/Lunch For All Kids (Toddlers to Teens) From Beacon Schools: New Pickup + Delivery Details

Photo Credit: Top Left and Bottom Right Photos are from Sargent Elementary PTO.

PUBLISHED: 3/23/2020
UPDATED: 4/27/2020

School children registered in the City of Beacon School District are eligible to pick up food packages from two locations: The Beacon High School and South Avenue Elementary. All are welcome to come pick up this food. Social distancing is being practiced. Safe systems are in place to get the food to your hands. Drive your car or walk to pickup. Delivery options are also available and being further developed.

All Kids and Families Are Encouraged To Use The Food - Even You (Yes, You!)

All are encouraged to use the food. Even you if you have a stocked pantry. The food has been rationed for you, and there is plenty of it. In fact, not everyone has been using it. Possibly with the mentality of: “I don’t want to take from someone else - let someone else in need have it.” If that is your mentality, that is a beautiful thought, but go forward with participating in the plan.

If it means you have a little extra, then you’re able to give that to someone in need that you come across directly in your hyper-hyper local neighborhood. Your kids also may be excited to see their old snacks. Even the “alternate lunch” bread of the PB+J. Seems to be that the brown bread of the peanut butter and jelly sandwich is a particular favorite with my little ones. As are the sugar cereal boxes and apple bags. They are next looking for the pizza. Not sure if that will happen, but so far, the cafeteria staff and the superintendent have been pretty surprising about what food options they are slinging out of there. My cat even likes the turkey and cheese cubes.

New Times and Food Package Pickup

The cafeteria staff is modifying this food distribution plan based on usage and feedback. As of today, it is moving to a two-day pickup schedule. The idea is that you pick up enough meal slots to last between the pickup times. Delivery options exist, and those details are blow.

Pickup Times

MONDAY: 2 breakfasts, 2 lunches

WEDNESDAY: 3 breakfasts, 3 lunches

Pickup Locations

10-10:45 am: Beacon High School or South Avenue Elementary

Please pick up from one location only.

Drive or Walk: Says Superintendent Matt Landahl: “A convenient drive-up option is available at both locations, and walk-ups are welcome too. The meals will require some heating up as some items are frozen.”

Frozen meals! Maybe the pizza is coming!

Delivery Options and Sign Up

If you need meal delivery to start on Wednesday (or any day after reading this), you can email the superintendent himself: landahl.m@beaconk12.org or text at 845-372-2286. Please give your address and kids' names. But keep it to this delivery request only. Please do not call. Use his email for other types of correspondence as you normally would.

Says Matt (because honestly, he insists you call him Matt… he has kids in the district too): “You don't need to give a reason, just ask and we will do our best to help. We will confirm before delivery. We are working to increase our delivery and neighborhood drop-offs as well and will notify everyone as we expand.”

NYC Schools Close Until April 20 - Possibly Longer - And NYC Isn't Alone

Published Date: Monday, March 16, 2020

Photo Credit: Beacon Moms Facebook Group (amazing group!)

On Sunday evening, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio declared that New York City would shut down schools until April 20, 2020, possibly longer. The mayor and Governor Cuomo have both been resistant to closing schools because so many depend on the structure of school as childcare. “I am distraught at having to take this action, but I became convinced over the course of the day there was no other choice,” DeBlasio said.

In Ohio, where only a few cases have been reported, their governor, Mike DeWine, is listening to experts who are telling him that 100,000 cases probably exist. “We can’t stop it, but we can slow it down,” he told a local FOX station. New York’s Governor Cuomo has consistently said during press conferences that as testing increases, confirmed cases will be found and numbers will continue to go up. Kansas also has a handful of confirmed cases at the moment, and has shut down districts for two weeks. DC, Michigan and Oregon have also closed schools to slow the spread.

Schools in NYC will be open for grab-and-go meals for breakfasts and lunches, which is also happening for Beacon kids. However, Beacon kids are picking up meals in the parking lots of South Avenue Elementary and Beacon High School. NYC will try to keep on bus drivers and cafeteria workers to try to distribute food.

New York City will have remote learning in a way that has never been done before. According to the Gothamist article where this has been reported, they highlighted a message on the website for the new materials: “These materials do not replace what your child has been learning at school, but during this unusual time it is important that students continue to read, write, do social studies and science activities, and work on math problems."

Beacon City School kids have received robocalls from their principals this evening (Sunday) with instructions on how to pick up learning materials. Those instructions did include to be mindful of keeping a social distance of 6 feet between each other, which is hard for adults to do, and really hard for little ones to do. But it will be a welcome opportunity to see each other.

Depending on the teacher, parents may already communicate with their teacher via app, and some may use Google Classroom in a way to connect remotely to the plan and get guidance from the teacher. Perhaps we will eventually meet in a field with enough social distance, for teaching by megaphone so that we can see our teachers? Or YouTube or Vimeo?

The prediction of this blogger is that new ideas will develop (if not already in the works) on how to connect with and teach our kids. The first note we’ve received from our teacher said that she misses the students.

As for how long this two-week break for Beacon will turn out to be, if NYC just went to April 20? Ohio has already projected till the end of the school year. Said Governor DeWine: “Look, the projections - and I’m just going by what medical experts are telling us - is that this may not peak until the latter part of April or May. We’ve just informed superintendents, while we’ve closed schools for three weeks, that the odds are that this is going to go on a lot longer. and it would not surprise me if all the schools did not open again this year.”

As for Mayor de Blasio: He also said that there is a real possibility that the schools may remain closed for the rest of the year.

Meanwhile, Governor Cuomo today shared in a press conference that he wrote an open letter to President Trump, asking him to assign the Army Corps of Engineers to retrofit buildings to be hospitals, as he anticipates more ICU beds are needed for ventilators for the critically ill patients with coronavirus. Listening to the governor ask for this during the press conference is actually a lot more reassuring than reading about it here in words. He is doing prep work, but is convinced they will be needed. That the wave of care will hit the healthcare system in New York. People - off the record in texts - who work in hospitals outside of New York have indicated that their lives caring for patients have become already quite busy.

Time to get that schedule together.

Beacon City Schools Will Continue Free Breakfast/Lunch Program For All Children During 2-Week Closure

Published Date: Friday, March 13, 2020

Superintendent Matthew Landahl announced that the Beacon City School District will be offering one meal each morning at two different locations for all kids in the City of Beacon starting Monday, March 16, 2020, the same day that the two-week school closure starts, in the name of reducing density and spread of coronavirus/COVID-19. Schools in Ohio are also extending to their school children the free breakfast and lunch programs, as they too find themselves in sudden protection mode.

LOCATIONS:

10 to 10:30 am: Beacon High School
10:30 to 11 am: South Avenue Elementary

Superintendent Landahl stated: “This will be ‘grab and go’ and is available for all children in Beacon, please spread the word!” Children will be given two meals at the grab-and-go location so that kids can take home a meal to eat the next day at breakfast. The Beacon City School District Food Services Director put together this program in a matter of days.

Superintendent Landahl told A Little Beacon Blog: “Food services staff will work on putting the grab and go bags together. They will include both breakfast items and lunch items so kids can eat lunch and then eat the breakfast the next day. Karen Pagano, our food services director, put this together in about three days. Kids just will have to sign their names, but it is open to all children in Beacon, not just our students.”

South Avenue Elementary has the highest amount of low-income families in its district, and is in close proximity to housing developments for a lot of families in need. The Beacon Recreation Center, located a few blocks away, was the former location for the summer lunch program (that was discontinued last year due to eligibility shifts within the district for that program).

There is a food pantry located at the Recreation Center that is open on Saturday mornings. This food pantry is organized by the New Vision Church of Deliverance. This is in addition to the Tiny Food Pantry mini-house that is located on the grounds of the Recreation Center that anyone can leave food in at any time.

Beacon's Teachers Spent Professional Learning Day Creating At-Home Learning Tools For 2-Week School Closure

Students in the Beacon City School District were off for a scheduled Professional Learning Day for teachers. Consider it a practice day for the anticipated two-week school closure due to the Dutchess County State Of Emergency declared on March 13, 2020, in an effort to reduce the coronavirus/COVID-19 spread. For a district that had virtually no snow days (fact-checking this… can’t recall if there was one snow day, or just a delay), parents aren’t getting off that easy. Kids, however, are ecstatic. At least in this closure, there is no snow to shovel, which is what usually happens with snow days. Unless we get a blizzard too. And if that happens, well, we’ll deal with it.

Beacon’s Superintendent Matt Landahl announced that teachers had been preparing for a two-week closure, and took the Professional Learning Day to create the materials that kids can use to log into classes from home. According to the announcement, elementary school students will be given access to Chromebook laptops at home.

School principals will reach out to parents on Monday, using the school messenger by Monday afternoon. Parents and students also have access to online and app-based communication tools with teachers that they have already been using.

Superintendent Matt Landahl ended his update with a cheer: “We will keep updating you with information next week and hang in there!”

Beacon City School District Closes Schools For 2 Weeks - Why This Is Good (Words From A Doctor In Italy)

Parents and community members have been waiting for the declaration about Beacon City Schools to follow several other districts in New York State. Gov. Andrew Cuomo was reluctant to close schools, with the economic impact it has on parents to continue to go to work, or work from home. In New York City, Mayor de Blasio was concerned about the food programs that exist in the public schools statewide that get food to low-income families. Dutchess County Legislator Nick Page has indicated that both New York State and the federal government are working on aid packages.

With Dutchess County’s State of Emergency declared today, all schools in the county must close. While kids are being regarded as (thankfully) not having severe symptoms, thoughts are being revisited as to if keeping the schools open is a good idea. The podcast Unchained (normally a cryptocurrency podcast) dedicated their entire show today to data-based insights on coronavirus, and recommended that readers read this essay in Newsweek, written by a doctor in a major hospital in Western Europe. He writes from Italy (which is under quarantine and the streets are empty, just in case you hadn’t read that yet):

From Newsweek:

“I'm a doctor in a major hospital in Western Europe. Watching you Americans (and you, Brits) in these still-early days of the coronavirus pandemic is like watching a familiar horror movie, where the protagonists, yet again, split into pairs or decide to take a tour of a dark basement.

”The real-life versions of this behavior are pretending this is just a flu; keeping schools open; following through with your holiday travel plans, and going into the office daily. This is what we did in Italy. We were so complacent that even when people with coronavirus symptoms started turning up, we wrote each off as a nasty case of the flu.”

The Beacon City School District is off today anyway for a professional day, so kids have been home in a practice day off. More news is to come of what sort of preparation plans the District has for students.

Superintendent Matt Landahl’s letter to parents:

Dear Beacon Community:

Due to the Dutchess County State of Emergency, the Beacon City Schools will be closed for classroom and extracurricular activities for the next two weeks due to Coronavirus/COVID 19. This school closing lasts through March 27th. We have been preparing for this potential and we will share some of our plans with you in the coming days. I want everyone to be safe and be kind to each other. I will update the community soon.

Matt Landahl

Beacon City School District Superintendent Matthew Landahl Updates Community After Governor Cuomo's Message

Governor Cuomo spoke on Monday morning about New York State and the coronavirus, COVID-19, after declaring a state of emergency over the weekend. Several schools in New York City have closed, including places where someone who tested positive for COVID-19 either attended, or worked at, or is a spouse of someone who was regularly in the building.

Scarsdale, in Westchester County, announced Sunday evening that it would close the district until March 18 (just under a two-week period), and that they would explore e-learning options for students. A teacher at Scarsdale’s middle school tested positive for the virus and was experiencing “mild illness” according to Scarsdale’s message to parents.

This gets parents worried, of course for the safety of all persons, but also for the disruption to normal life. Work culture doesn’t usually allow for such duration of sick days. Plus, Beacon schools’ spring break is right around the corner (April 6-13), and there would be big disruption to the curriculum and activities that teachers have planned for children, which sometimes include grant-funded field trips and opportunities.

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio agrees, and said in a news conference on Monday: “We would only consider closing any particular school for very specific reas‎ons, and for as brief a period of time as possible,” as reported in The New York Times. “I think parents want to see the schools keep going so long as it’s safe, want to see their kids getting educated.” Mayor de Blasio also said that evidence indicated that coronavirus presented “minimal risk” to healthy children, and said “the schools are not the place we’d be looking first” to mitigate the virus. Read why Mayor de Blasio says that closing schools is a last resort.

Governor Cuomo issued guidance on school closures, stating that “if a student in New York tested positive for the virus, their school would be closed for an initial 24 hours while health officials assessed the situation,” according to the New York Times article.

Beacon Superintendent Matthew Landahl issued a letter to parents, which is posted to the district’s website here in English and here in Spanish. In it, Landahl stated: “If we have a positive test for COVID-19 with one of our students or employees, I will notify the school community after getting the information from the health department. Per Governor Cuomo today, schools will be closed for a 24-hour period if a student or employee tests positive, to clean and make further decisions. I will determine next actions in consultation with health and government officials.”

He also let the community know that day and evening custodians are working extra time during the week to make sure all high-touch surfaces get wiped down and disinfected. “They will be working Saturdays for the foreseeable future to help keep school buildings clean. The transportation department is disinfecting buses on a regular basis as well,” he stated.

Elementary schools have had small adjustments made by principals to the kids’ schedule “to allow students more time to wash their hands properly before lunch and at other times of the day.” At the secondary level, students are being educated and encouraged to wash their hands as often as possible.

What To Do With This Information

If you are a parent of young children, the Scarsdale closure might have had you panicking. This direction from Beacon Superintendent Matthew Landahl, Governor Cuomo and Mayor de Blasio might have you reassured. But you’ll still want to prepare mentally and physically:

Mental Prep

We’re going to lighten this mood by taking you back to 1978 in Columbus, Ohio. This blogger’s hubby was just a young lad then, in 7th grade. He experienced a two-week school closure after a blizzard dumped a lot of snow on already existing mounds of snow. Learn more details and see pictures in this article. His teachers taught their students by broadcasting on the TV. Days of broadcast! He remembers thinking his teachers were celebrities.

Blizzards make your physical life out of control. But they also can make acceptance of being snowed in a little easier. Translate this into voluntary closures and self-quarantining.

Headlines: Read the full article. Don’t just read a headline and keep going. The media (and yes, ALBB is part of the media and we try to headline responsibly) is using grabby headlines in some cases, which create anxiety. So read the full article before forming your opinion.

Lists: Make lists of things you need to do, and stick very closely to them. Working with small kids around you is distracting, but if you have your list, it’s easier to hunker down lightning-fast when you have moments when your kids are safely engaged in something. In those short bursts, you may actually have a more productive work day/week then you’ve ever had.

What To Do With Young Kids

Start making a list of what you would do with your young children while at home (if it were for two weeks… but so far we might be looking at 24 hours). Ideas include taking a walk. Learning to roller-skate. Enjoying the sunshine. You may not need to resort to this daily schedule, but having ideas helps.

Benefits Of This Possible Snow Day Series

Remember… We are thinking of it like snow days - which are out of our control. If home-schooling starts for the Beacon School District, this means:

• Recess could increase from 20 minutes in your backyard or nearby park to 40 minutes (or more!)

• You don’t have to shovel snow.

• You could relax on your front porch or stoop and work or read.

Most important, is to take breaks from pressing the Refresh button on your coronavirus Google search. Step away from the computer. Step outside. Enjoy life. People are working on tests and vaccinations and best practices. You do you. Do your clean things. Don’t expect stores to give you wipes (supplies are out for everyone, so just wash up when you get home!). Stay informed but continue on.

How To Predict School Closures and Delays Due To Weather And Snow In Beacon

Photo Credit: Katie Hellmuth Martin

The past few years in Beacon have seen relatively frequent school closures, but this year, not so much. In past years, by February, parents would be on edge with any prediction of snow, having their work disrupted, kids’ routines wrinkled, or figuring out how to get home from New York City on a train in time for an unexpected early pickup due to canceled programming.

A Little Beacon Blog took to examining the source of how school closures and delays are called in Beacon. On a personal note, I have exited out of all group predictions and penny bets in social media, as the stakes are too high; I need to preserve my adrenaline for issues that are more important. On a positive note, from our research last year for this article, I have been able to devise a private prediction system that you may benefit from.

By the time this article was written in 2019, the season of school closures had blissfully ended, so the post remained in Drafts. We are publishing it now - post Groundhog Day 2020, while spring bulbs have sprung in February - just in case you need a quick reference to make a prediction.

How The Beacon City School District Predicts A Closure Or Delay

The superintendent makes the call on whether there is a closure or delay. In years and superintendents past, this may have included foggy conditions. It also included a double early dismissal - which means an early dismissal is called, and then a few moments later, an even earlier dismissal is called. This can make life unsettling for commuting parents who have limited backup plans and little or no family in the area to retrieve their children.

This is how current Superintendent Matthew Landahl makes the call, as told to A Little Beacon Blog when we reached out to him last February during a particularly bad winter season:

On a regular school day, we have bus runs in-district and out-of-district that run from about 6 am until the last elementary student is dropped off around 4 pm. We actually have a couple of runs that start before 6 am and sometimes we don't wrap up until after 4 pm.

We start checking roads at about 3:30 am in the morning. A small team from our Transportation Department does this. Since I live here in Beacon, sometimes I join in on the fun. For instance, this morning (back in February 2019) we found a lot of areas still icy where our buses go, causing our own vehicles to slip around, thus causing a call for a delay.

Our main concern on any day is whether we can run buses safely between 6 am and 4 pm (this does not include after school/evening activities).

Calls based on forecasts are usually much tougher and are much more open to criticism or feedback from folks. The decision is mine alone and entirely based on whether we feel our buses can run safely. We subscribe to a very good weather service and I look at other forecasts, but in the end, it is my call with input from the Transportation Department.

I totally understand that my decisions cause inconvenience at best for everyone (including my family). It is definitely a no-win part of the job, but I always focus on travel safety with my decision-making.

How The City Of Beacon Plows and Salts The Streets

So now you might be wondering how the streets are plowed by the City of Beacon. What time do they start? We wondered the same thing. Here’s what Beacon’s City Administrator, Anthony J. Ruggiero, M.P.A., told ALBB:

That is a tough one to answer, and there is no easy answer.

There are a lot of factors that go into responding to a snow storm:

• time of day

• temperatures

• the type of precipitation (snow, or mix of snow and ice)

• and amounts predicted

No two storms are alike. With storms that start overnight, the Highway Department will be dispatched by the Police. Generally speaking, it is at this point that 5 trucks with sanders/salters are assigned areas citywide and treat roads with salt.

Typically for larger storms, all roads are treated with one application of material to help snow and ice bonding to blacktop. Once snow accumulates to about an inch, all plows are sent to designated areas (typically 24 vehicles, including large trucks with plows and sanders and small trucks with plows) to scrape the roads. This continues until the snow stops and then everything will be treated with one final application of salt. For smaller storms, it may be just salting, possibly followed by a scraping if necessary.

The City of Beacon Highway employees have always taken great pride in the way snow removal and servicing the residents of the City is conducted to assure roads are safe.

How This Writer Tests The Weather To Determine Freezing Streets

If slippage at 3:30 am is a main issue, then one must determine if the roads will be frozen at 3:30 am, possibly before plows or salt trucks are out. This year, in February 2020, there has been very little snow, but a lot of rain. Last week, a few snow flakes showed up in weather apps on smart phones, yet with a 39 degree prediction. Parents starting making backup plans and predictions for a two-hour delay. This writer came up with the following test:

• Ask yourself, has the ground been frozen for a long time? Or has it been over 35 degrees for many days?

• Step outside. Wave your arms in the air to feel the degree of coldness for yourself.

• If it feels kind of cold, but mainly warm and wet, and if the ground has not been frozen for days or weeks, and if the little bulbs have been popping out of the ground, then chances are, the snowflakes we’re seeing in the weather app will not accumulate or freeze when the prediction is 39 degrees, thus causing little to no slippage (though be careful on your front porch steps).

• If it has been under 32 degrees for days, and if there is a little snowflake icon in your weather app, and the percentage of precipitation is above 50% in the early morning hours (between 12 am and 4 am), then you can gauge a 70% chance of a school delay (unless it’s a storm with constant snow into the morning and afternoon).

• PLEASE NOTE: This is a very unsophisticated, nontechnical method that does not employ the weather tracking system that the District uses, but has been effective in making unprofessional predictions.

On this particular night last week, using this test method, the prediction of no two-hour delay was correct.

Hopefully this helps you plan and understand how calls are made. Keeping your blood pressure down, and your mood up. If there is a delay, that just means you’ve got time to make chocolate chip pancakes!

Beacon's Superintendent Encourages Everyone To Take 2020 Census - Explains Benefits

It’s Census 2020 time, which is an opportunity for the City of Beacon and the Beacon City School District to benefit from new financial opportunities and incentives. Beacon’s Superintendent, Dr. Matthew Landahl, published on his Superintendent’s Blog a message encouraging people to participate in the Census.

The Census begins on April 1, 2020, and every household in the country can participate in it. “An accurate count is critical as the results will be used to determine funding for a range of programs, including many that our students and our school districts rely upon. Unfortunately, many households did not participate in the 2010 Census and that number is expected to increase this year,” said Dr. Landahl in his blog post.

”Some households are concerned that their responses will be shared with other government agencies,” he continued. “This is not the case and respondents should know that their participation can only benefit them, their families, and their communities.”

To learn more about the process and how it benefits public schools, visit this link.

Beacon's Superintendent Hosts Listening/Discussion Sessions For 2020/2021 Budget Planning

The Beacon City School District is preparing for the 2020/2021 budget and potentially a new Capital Project, according to the Superintendent’s Blog by Dr. Matthew Landahl, who is hosting different listening/discussing sessions with different stakeholder groups as he has done in previous years.

Meetings will be held with school PTOs, student groups from grades 5-12 in all of Beacon’s buildings, and meetings with faculty and staff. “Listening to the BCSD community is the most important thing I do as we make plans for the future,” said Dr. Landahl.

The schedule for the PTO meetings the Superintendent will be attending:

• Rombout Middle School Wednesday, February 5 at 6:30 pm

• Glenham Elementary Thursday, February 6 at 3:30 pm

• JV Forrestal Elementary Tuesday, February 11 at 4 pm

• Beacon High School Wednesday, February 12 at 7 pm

• Sargent Elementary Thursday, February 20 at 7 pm (this may change slightly, we will update if it does)

• South Ave. Elementary Tuesday, March 10 at 6 pm