Salt Point Center (SPC) teachers and staff welcomed parents this week for the annual Back to School Night.
“My son is in first grade this year. I’m excited to learn about his day to day and see the space that he’s in,” shared parent Alison Litwak.
First grade teacher Samia Rucker is new to Dutchess BOCES this year.
While she has spoken to all of her students’ parents, she enjoyed meeting them in person.
Rucker told parents about the classroom team, including her, two teaching assistants and a 1:1 aide. She also detailed classroom communication, student expectations, the daily schedule, and platforms that students use on the computers. She also reminded her visitors about parent teacher conferences. “This is where we can talk more in depth about each student,” she shared.
“My students made some “Hello Fall” crafts to leave out for their parents to see and take home,” Rucker added. 
Shanynn Myers’ son is entering eighth grade this year and has been attending SPC since first grade. “This year I’m looking forward to seeing him continue to excel and improve. He likes challenging himself and being challenged,” she shared.
“I have an awesome group this year. I’m excited to see all the academics that we’re going to do, and all the growth. We’ve already seen so much growth in just this month,” shared Kourtney Fitzmaurice, who teaches seventh and eighth graders in the Adolescent Day Treatment program.
She spoke to parents about how BOCES teaching staff works in conjunction with the Astor Services clinical staff that are housed in the building and work with four classrooms. “Our program is a highly therapeutic environment and social emotional learning is the basis to all of our lessons,” Fitzmaurice shared.
She helped parents acclimate to the room, explaining where the schedule for the day is, what the weekly objectives are going to be, classroom phone policies and assigned and alternate seating.
In a special area of the classroom, Fitzmaurice introduced parents to the class pet, a lizard named Levi. Surrounding the tank are drawings made for Levi from students across the SPC community. 
“Back to School Night was amazing at SPC! We had a wonderful turn-out and so many happy families leaving the building,” shared Principal Melissa Murphy. Murphy thanks the teachers and staff at SPC for showcasing all the wonderful things happening in their classrooms.