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RANDOLPH, NY (WNY News Now) – With the start of the school year just days away, parents at Randolph Central School had the opportunity to tour their children’s classroom ahead of the new year. This, as the district is touting a new improvement to help kids relax during lunch time.
At Randolph Central School, Superintendent Kaine Kelly welcomed parents back for the first time in almost three years.
“We’re excited to welcome back all of our families and the kids for our first open house since the 2019-20 school year. I think this officially marks the end of the pandemic for us, and we’re happy to have kids start the school year next year without the restrictions they’ve seen in the last couple years,” says Kelly.
The Superintendent emphasized the importance of open houses for parents and students. He says this helps to ease first day anxiety, especially for elementary students.
“The fact that they can get in here, they can see where their classroom is, get the lay of the land, meet their teacher, get their stuff set up in their cubbies, get their stuff in the classrooms, it’s nice for them,” explains Kelly. “It helps us the first day usher them in and just get things going and hit the ground running.”
Teachers also discussed classroom expectations with parents, while having an opportunity to connect one-on-one before classes begin.
While kids were on summer vacation, the elementary school, which houses pre-k through sixth grade, was busy developing a new cafeteria.
“We just felt we needed an updated version, something more welcoming for the students where they can come in and enjoy breakfast and lunch with something really nice to look at,” says Lori Benson.
Cafeteria Manager Lori Benson was amongst those who pitched the idea for a new cafeteria last year. The school contracted Imaginate Your Space, a design team with experience with school transformations, to bring the new cafeteria space alive.
The team at RCS was able to add a personal touch too.
“When you look out the Elementary building, you can see the cardinal hills right past the parking lot, so we wanted to incorporate a little bit of that to,” explains Benson.
In the future, Benson hopes to continue redecorating the space by painting additional walls and continuing the cardinal theme throughout.
The open house was also an opportunity for parents to sign up for support throughout the school year.
“Unfortunately, the USDA is no longer sponsoring the free meal program for the 2022-23 school year,” says Benson. “So we’re really encouraging families to fill out the free and reduced meal application. Just so we continue to give the families that need it, can get either reduced pricing or free meals for their students.”
Benson encourages any parents who think they might qualify to apply for the program, so their children can enjoy RCS favorites like chicken nuggets, pizza, taco in a bag, and homemade lunchables for free, or, at a reduced price.
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