Town Hall Meetings - August 2020

District - August 18, 2020, 9:00 AM

District - August 18, 2020, 5:00 PM

Albany Avenue Elementary

Northside Elementary

Saltzman East Memorial

Woodward Parkway

Howitt Middle School

Farmingdale High School

Reopening Plan Presentation and Q/A Slides - Click HERE

Below is the transcript from the message that went out via Parentlink on Friday, August 7.

Click HERE to listen to the message below.

Hello to My Farmingdale Family. 

This is Paul Defendini, Superintendent of the Farmingdale Schools and today is Friday, August 7, 2020.

Attached to this message is a link to a presentation that was created in an effort to respond to many of the questions that we received last week.  As expected, many of the questions that you asked were also asked by other parents in the community.  In some instances, the questions were the same, while in other cases, there were subtle differences.  In an effort to avoid being repetitive, we spent time organizing the questions in a way that we could answer groupings of questions.  I am fully aware that additional concerns will come up after today and we will continue to address them. 

As a reminder to my message from last week, you will be receiving correspondence from your child’s building principal early next week, inviting you to another round of discussions.  This next round of questions can be more specific to individual building-level protocols.

Also as a reminder, you will be receiving a districtwide correspondence on Monday regarding your decision to request remote learning.  If you opt into a remote learning option, your child will be required to remain in that learning platform for the first trimester at the elementary level, or the semester at the secondary level.  All requests for remote learning must be submitted by Friday, August 14th, to allow the district to schedule effectively for September.  

Finally, I would like to leave you with a story that moved me to tears yesterday afternoon.  At one of our graduation ceremonies yesterday, I noticed that one of our graduates was sitting alone.  We invited all of our graduates to attend our graduation ceremony with two special guests of their choosing.  These groups sat together on the stadium field at Farmingdale High School.  After about 15 minutes it became clear that one of our graduates was there alone.  In response, one of our chaperones took the lead to walk over and sit beside this graduate.  Toward the end of the ceremony, a group of students came over to provide their support and love.  Our family here in Farmingdale Schools has never been more important than it is right now.  We will be challenged by the outside world to break apart.  We will be challenged to take sides.  We must resist these outside forces and instead fight to stay connected and together, to be kind.  The short of it is that we need each other more now than ever before.  I couldn’t be more proud of our Farmingdale family than I was yesterday.  I continue to believe that there is nothing we can’t do if we simply stick together.  Sending you all of my best wishes Farmingdale, and I look forward to tackling the challenges that lie ahead with all of you.  

Best,

Paul