Update from Clarence CSD August 23, 2024

Dear Clarence School Family,

On behalf of our school community, it is my pleasure to welcome you to the start of the 2024-2025 school year! While new teachers, schedules, locker combinations, and academic assignments can bring a mix of excitement and nervousness for us all, please rest assured that your child is in good hands. Clarence is filled with the best educators in the business, and your child is going to be wrapped in support the minute they step on the bus.

Because “good communication is the bridge between confusion and clarity,” you will be receiving different messages from school between now and our first day back. They are meant to answer questions that regularly come up, but we would encourage you to reach out if something is unclear. Since most issues can be resolved by the person in charge of the class or program, we wanted to share a link to our “Communication Guide” to point you in the right direction.

ParentSquare Account Registration

Since we transitioned to ParentSquare in July, I’m pleased to share that just over half our families have already registered for their accounts. If you have not yet registered, we will continue sending text and/or email invitations to join using the contact information we have on file in the Parent Portal (Power School). Once you receive an invitation, we would invite you to click the link to activate your account. (It’s super easy and takes less than a minute.) If you do not receive the invitation, you can also register your account using the steps listed below.

     1. Go to www.parentsquare.com

     2. Under the Register Section, type in your email that is on file in the Parent Portal (Power School) and click “Get Started”

     3. An email will be sent with password reset instructions. Remember to check your spam folder too.

     4. If you don’t receive the email, it is likely that the email entered is not the email that is on file in the Parent Portal 
         (PowerSchool). Contact your student's building office to update your email address.

The best part of ParentSquare? You can use it on any device. You can download the free mobile app for iOS or Android or use the desktop version at www.parentsquare.com.

Transportation Information

Thank you so much for taking the time to fill out the busing survey from our Transportation Department earlier in the summer. For the second year in a row, we will be using the Parent Portal (Power School) rather than postcards to communicate bus numbers and pick-up times for students in grades 1-12. At some point after Wednesday, August 28, please use these directions to check bus assignments. To ensure a smooth start to the year, we also ask that you keep the following in mind:

• Parents of kindergartners will still be receiving paper postcards. The postcards were put in the mail today and should be arriving shortly.
   
• If you need to make a change to your child’s bus assignment, please call our Transportation Department at 716-407-9500.
   
• New students are continuing to register, and there will likely be a handful of changes to our pick-up times between now and the end of summer. With that in mind, please re-check your child’s busing information in the Parent Portal (Power School) through Monday, September 2.
   
• If you are interested in following the location of your child’s bus using the Global Positioning System (GPS) that has been installed on all of our vehicles, please download the application My Ride K-12. (Note: We are no longer using MyStop.)
   
• Despite tons of planning, it always takes a few days to smooth out final pick-up and drop-off times. To help get us off on the right foot, please have your child out waiting for the bus 10-minutes prior to their pick-up time.

Clarence Calendar/Handbook

Each summer, we put together a Calendar/Handbook that is sent out to community residents. While print copies will be mailed, I wanted to pass along the link to the digital Calendar/Handbook. We hope the document will help you take full advantage of the rich experiences our District has to offer, and we would encourage you to post the Calendar/Handbook in a place where you can use it as a guide over the course of the coming year.

Costello-Sulik Appointed to Board of Education Vacancy

We are pleased to announce that Dr. Adrienne Costello-Sulik was appointed to fill a vacant Board of Education seat this past Monday evening. Dr. Costello-Sulik is a proud Red Devil graduate who has extensive experience in the fields of both education as well as business, and we are grateful she is willing to serve in this volunteer capacity through May. To read more about Dr. Costello-Sulik, please click this link.

Our Varsity Football team was back in action this past week, and the rest of our High School athletes report for preseason on Monday. If you want to look your best (and show a little Clarence pride!) on the sidelines this fall, check out the online apparel shop organized by our Athletic Department.

Have a great weekend, Red Devils. I’ll check back in next Friday with a bit more back-to-school information.

Matt Frahm
Superintendent of Schools

PS: If you’re watching the Bills’ preseason game on Saturday, make sure to cheer on Bree Hurley as she represents Clarence on the Section VI Flag Football Team!