Parent Partnership Network

The gym at Delaware Academy was filled with parents, grandparents and family members Friday morning as smiling elementary students proudly showed off their Expeditionary Learning Projects.

Principal Milagros Escalera said the students have been working on the projects for several weeks.

Second grade students displayed salt paintings and projects about the weather. Several fifth-graders donned period clothing and read aloud from biographies of different people involved in the slave trade and the Underground Railroad.

The Syracuse City School District has been awarded a grant from the American Association of School Administrators (AASA) designed to increase the number of already eligible children who actually receive breakfast at school. Syracuse is one of four school districts from across the United States chosen to participate in the program. The program is funded through a generous grant from the Walmart Foundation.

Students from throughout the Syracuse City School District will be displaying their talents from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Saturday at Nottingham High School.
“Reaching for the Stars 2012’’ will include continuous performances from school choir and choral groups, step/drill teams and dancers performing dances from several countries. In addition there will be hands-on activities for young children in a Pre-K area and sample-size food for purchase. You will also be able to meet school district staff.

Nearly 500 students, parents, health care practitioners, educators, and advocates gathered at the State Capital Building in Albany to raise awareness of the impact School Based Health Centers (SBHC’s) have on communities across New York State. Five students from the Syracuse City School District’s Westside Academy at Blodgett participated in the “Student Speakout” and listened to speeches from legislators and others who have been instrumental in bringing comprehensive health services to students on-site at schools.

Elsie Pagan-Alford was one of four Syracuse City School district employees honored Monday with a Children's Guardian Award from the McMahon/Ryan Child Advocacy Center.

Representatives from McMahon/Ryan, including Julie Cecile, the group's executive director, showed up at Delaware Academy to surprise Pagan-Alford, who was the first to receive the award. Pagan-Alford was given balloons and a mug as her happy first-grade students looked on.

The Syracuse West (Corcoran and Fowler) and Syracuse East (Henninger, Nottingham and ITC) varsity girls softball teams participated in the first ever Syracuse University softball camp in the Carrier Dome. Little League, high school and college teams took part in this event. The Carrier Dome was transformed into two softball fields separated by a huge curtain in the middle. The East and West teams played a scrimmage format in the Dome for their game.

Students from Hughes Middle School spent time Thursday learning about different local job opportunities at a Career Fair at the school. More than 100 7th and 8th graders attended the event.

The students learned about a number of careers including graphic arts and animation, freelance writing, social work, culinary arts, event planning, building and grounds work and opportunities in the law and health care fields.