Chatham Central School District - Everyone Everyday

Calendar update: MED Picture Retake Day has been scheduled for Monday, April 11, 2022 in the morning. The PTA was able to schedule this one-time picture retake for our families who missed our spring picture day or who want new photos. You can order online at https://my.lifetouch.com/mylifetouch/#/ with your student’s school ID or picture day ID: EVT6CCPR6

Reminder: requests for transportation to childcare locations or private/parochial schools for next school year are due April 1, 2022. Request forms are available on our Transportation webpage: https://www.chathamcentralschools.com/page/transportation

The Smith Pond annual trail maintenance is April 2 from 10AM to 2PM. Join friends and neighbors to clear downfall along the trail and remove invasive brush and vines. Come when you can… for a few minutes or a couple hours… or just to say hello!!! Check-in at the boat launch area on Shore Road (next to our CHS/MED campus drive). RSVP: oxherders@icloud.com

Our 3rd mandatory bus drill at CHS & CMS, originally scheduled for March 8, has been rescheduled to Thursday, March 24. CHS will dismiss all students early at 2:20 p.m. CMS will dismiss students at the regular time. Please be sure to update your calendars!

Nominating petitions to run for the Board of Education are now available from the District Clerk. Candidates must be able to read and write, be a current resident of the District for at least one year, and be a qualified voter of the district (citizen of the U.S., at least 18 years of age or older). Board candidates wishing to appear on the ballot must be nominated by petition. Petitions must be signed by at least 25 qualified voters of the Chatham Central School District and returned to the District Clerk prior to 5:00 p.m. on April 18, 2022. Questions about serving on the Board of Education or the candidate petition process can be directed to Deborah Pottenburgh, District Clerk at 392-1501 or Pottenburghd@chatham.k12.ny.us. The District Clerk’s office is located in the Mary E. Dardess Elementary School, 50 Woodbridge Avenue in Chatham.

The Saturday, March 12, 2022 performance of "Little Women" is canceled due to the winter storm.

All CCSD after-school activities are canceled for today, Wednesday, March 9, 2022, due to the winter weather.

March 8, 2022: Out of an abundance of caution, all Chatham Central schools are exercising a lockout for the remainder of the school day. There is no threat and students were never in any danger. The lockout is due to an empty shell casing found on the MED playground this afternoon. Police have investigated and found no credible threat. As a precaution, outside activities are suspended until time of dismissal, indoor activities will continue as normal. After-school activities will be held as normal.

Tickets for sectional games are available on the Section 2 GoFan site. All spectators should purchase their tickets in advance at https://gofan.co/app/school/NYSPHSAAII

The Board of Education has scheduled a Special Meeting for March 1, 2022 at 6pm in the HS library. The Board anticipates immediately entering Executive Session during this meeting for the express purpose of interviewing Board candidates. The Board does not anticipate conducting any business or voting on any items when they return to open session.

All CCSD schools and offices are closed Monday, February 21 in observance of Presidents' Day.

Enjoy the Winter Break! Classes resume Monday, February 28.

Sign ups for JV and Varsity spring sports open Monday, February 14 - sign ups for Modified spring sports open Monday, February 21 on Family ID: https://www.familyid.com/organizations/chatham-athletics

Chatham Central School District will be closed Friday, February 4 due to the winter storm.

Panther Pride Day is this Saturday, February 5! Come show your support as the Panthers take on Taconic Hills in our annual day-long sporting and school spirit event.

Due to low response, the Columbia County Department of Health has discontinued its weekly student testing pods at the Chatham Firehouse and at the AB Shaw Firehouse in Claverack​. CCDOH will continue to provide testing for students and staff of Columbia County schools by appointment only at the CCDOH office back parking lot Monday-Friday, 8:30-11:30am and 12:45-3:30pm starting February 3, 2022. Call (518) 828-3358 x.1251 to schedule an appointment. ​

February 2, 2022 Dear CHS Families, Chatham High School will be dismissing CHS students at 11:15 this morning due to ongoing power issues in the building. Afternoon CTE students will attend classes as normal. All after-school extracurricular activities, with the exception of sports, are canceled. A decision about sports will be made at 1:30 p.m. today. This emergency dismissal applies to CHS only. MED and CMS students will dismiss at their normal times. As you know, we have been having power issues at the High School over the past week, which appear to be stemming from a transformer not working properly. To address this issue in the short term, we have rented a generator to supply the building with power while we await the arrival of a new transformer. Today, the generator began having operating problems itself and began cutting out, causing recurring power outages in the building, which is the cause for today’s need for an emergency dismissal. We apologize for the inconvenience this may cause as we work to get the issue addressed. Sincerely, Sal DeAngelo Superintendent

Dear CHS Families, Shortly before 1:00 p.m. today, we unexpectedly lost power at the High School. While the building has a back-up generator that supplies power to its critical systems, most other areas within the building are without power. We called in an electrical contractor and had students remain in their classrooms until our regular dismissal time. For this afternoon, athletic practices scheduled to take place at CHS have been relocated to CMS; all other after-school activities at the High School are canceled. It is our intention to have the problem solved this evening and to hold classes as normal at CHS tomorrow. If anything should change, we will let you know. Sincerely, John Thorsen CHS/CMS Coprincipal

Tonight's 6th Grade Winter Concert has been postponed to next Thursday, February 3, 7:00 p.m. in the CHS auditorium. The need to reschedule the event is due to emergency service that needs to be performed on the high school's power system this evening.

January 25, 2022 - Please be reminded that all students, staff, and visitors are required to wear a mask while in our schools. Following a court hearing today, a judge issued a stay on yesterday’s ruling against the state mask mandate by a Nassau County Supreme Court judge. This means that the state mask mandate will continue to be in effect while the state appeals the ruling. As we have throughout the pandemic, we will continue to keep you informed about any changes that affect our COVID-19 safety protocols.