News from...Millbrook High School
News from...Millbrook High School
Embedded Files
Dear Millbrook Families...
Dear Millbrook Families...
October 2025
MHS Families,
It's hard to believe we completed our first month of the 2025-2026 school year. Thank you to everyone for a fantastic start!
Thank you to all our families who came to our Financial Aid informational meeting and Back to School Night! If you have any questions or concerns, please never hesitate to reach out to your children's teachers or any support staff throughout the school year.
With our first month in the books, progress reports will be available on October 16th. Please reach out to your classroom teachers for any concerns.
We NEED Your Help! If you have any cool pictures of our students in action, we would LOVE to see them and promote them on Instagram, Twitter and our Newsletter. Please email any images to eric.seipp@millbrookcsd.org
We have lots of great information to share with you below!
Eric T. Seipp
Principal
Important dates for the 2025-2026 school year:
October 10 - 1/2 day for students - dismissal at 11:05 AM
October 13 - Columbus Day - School Closed
October 14-17 Spirit Week
October 16 - 5-week progress reports available
October 16 - Homecoming football game, 6:30pm
October 17 - Homecoming dance, 6:30pm
October 30 - PSAT exam
November 19- Parent Teacher Conferences early dismissal
November 20- Parent Teacher Conferences early dismissal (Evening Conferences Available)
November 26 - 28 Thanksgiving Recess
A.C.E.S (Adverse Childhood Experiences)
Supporting our children mentally, emotionally, and socially is of the utmost importance to the faculty and staff at MHS. As we return to normalcy, many children may have difficulty expressing how they feel or adjusting to the social and academic rigors of school. Our staff are learning how exactly these circumstances are impacting the overall well-being of our children, students, and families and want to help navigate these challenging times together.
Adverse Childhood Experiences, or ACEs, are stressful or traumatic events that can lead to social, emotional, and cognitive impairment that impact the overall functioning of a student. Exposure to ACEs produces chronic stress that often leads to children struggling in school because of their inability to focus, process information, and or cope emotionally.
The importance of continuing to support our children and putting in place protective factors are essential. Understanding how our children experience various circumstances is pertinent for their overall growth and success. Therefore, the mental health staff at the middle school are committed to sharing information about ACEs with school personnel to help guide social-emotional support throughout the building. Thank you for supporting your children at home and partnering with school staff.
If you are interested in learning more about ACE’s please visit the following websites:
Please contact Cayla Kuey (School Psychologist) or Tom Chanowsky and Lauren Prince (School Counselors) for any questions or concerns.
Thomas.Chanowsky@millbrookcsd.org
Lauren.Prince@millbrookcsd.org
845 - 677 - 2510
Handle with Care
If your family is experiencing difficulties at home, we would like to provide additional support at school. We understand that you are not always able to share details and that's okay. If your child is coming to school after a difficult night, morning or weekend, please let us know. A simple email to our team with the subject "Handle with Care." Nothing else will be said or asked. This will let us know that your child may need extra time, patience, or help during the day.
Attendance Matters
“Chronic absence” is defined as missing at least 10% of the school days for which a student is enrolled over the course of an academic year for any reason. It serves as an early warning sign that children may be falling behind academically and are at risk of academic failure.
Although statewide data for chronic absenteeism in NYS high schools for the 2023-2024 or 2024-2025 school years, more than 34% of high school students were chronically absent in school year 2022-2023.
As a friendly reminder, our Board of Education policy emphasizes that consistent, daily attendance is essential for student success. The Board is committed to reducing unexcused absences, tardiness, and early departures, and we need your partnership to make this possible for your child. We will continue to monitor attendance closely and be in communication when we see these trends and work collaboratively with families to find solutions that ensure we provide interventions aimed at our students maximizing their potential. Our team led by Dean of Students, Mr. Gilroy, will be work with students and their families who are regularly missing school to create personalized plans of support to ensure we get the most of our time at MHS!
Millbrook Central School District Presents:
Internet Safety Night with NY’s Finest – Thomas Grimes
Millbrook CSD is proud to welcome back Thomas Grimes, a retired NYPD Detective and renowned safety advocate, for a virtual internet safety presentation open to all district families.
About the Presenter:
Thomas Grimes is a United States Air Force veteran and a retired NYPD Detective with over 20 years of service. He began his career in the Bronx at the 46th Precinct and went on to serve in elite federal task forces, investigating international narcotics operations with the FBI and DEA. His work took him from New York City to the Caribbean and South America. He also served as a first responder on 9/11 and has provided security for world leaders, including four U.S. Presidents and Pope John Paul II.
Now, Tom channels his deep experience into educating students and families about real-world dangers in the digital age. He speaks nationally on how to protect children from online threats, including cyberbullying, inappropriate content, predators, and digital footprints.
Why Attend:
This session will help parents:
Understand the latest online trends and platforms
Learn how to talk with children about safe and responsible digital behavior
Identify potential warning signs and risk factors
Take actionable steps to create a safer online environment at home
Virtual Presentation Details:
Date: Tuesday, October 14
Time: 6:30 PM – 8:00 PM
Location: Online via Google Meet (link provided in district calendar and email)
This event is open to all K–12 families. We encourage you to join us from the comfort of your home to learn how we can partner together to keep our children safe online.
PLUS:
Mr. Grimes will be visiting Millbrook High School in person on Friday, October 17 to speak directly with students in grades 6–12 about internet safety, digital responsibility, and making smart choices online.
Tutoring Club
Tutoring Club
Tutoring club will be in operation starting in October. To connect with a tutor, email dylant2126@gmail.com with the student’s grade, and the subject they need help in.
Students are loving our newly renovated High School Library!
Students are loving our newly renovated High School Library!
Our newly renovated library space now features a flexible classroom area equipped with an interactive board, a refreshed book collection organized by genre, a cozy beanbag reading corner, and a brand-new MakerSpace. In the MakerSpace, students can get creative with project supplies, a button maker, and even 3D printing pens. The library is quickly becoming a favorite spot for learning, collaboration, and exploration!
A GREAT Way to Get Involved
This is a great opportunity for anyone who wants to get involved in our learning community. This is a great way to get community service hours for things like National Honor Society and beyond!
Report an absence
Attendance, lateness, and student sign-outs will be handled in the main office. Please call 677-5210, extension 2322 to report an absence as soon as possible in the morning. An email communication to MHS is an acceptable and legal form of communication: katherine.mattes@millbrookcsd.org
Call the main office in the case of an extended absence (two or more days) so that we are aware. Please be sure that work is done and submitted in a timely fashion so long as your child is well enough to complete it. Having our students in the building is the only way we can truly ensure students are getting everything they need in order to be successful. As a school, we will contact families and work with students who have excessive absences in order to create a plan to be in class daily.
SchoolTool Portal
We are very happy to announce that the SchoolTool portal is now available to all MMS and MHS students! The tech team has created and enabled accounts for all middle and high school students which they can now use to access SchoolTool via the Google account sign-on option from the web portal. The attached document provides step-by-step directions on how to access their accounts.
A HUGE THANK YOU to our Technology Team for putting in the work to get this activated, tested, and provide the attached directions document to simplify the process as much as possible.
Safety at MHS
We have been working hard on preparing our students on all of the necessary safety procedures that could possibly happen to ensure our preparation. Our teachers have been trained and have spent the beginning of the year educating students on these procedures in all of their classrooms. Over the course of the last week we have successfully completed four evacuation drills, a Shelter In Place / Shelter drill and one lockdown drill / hold in place drill with the assistance of law enforcement. We cannot thank our SRO Deputy Freer, our local and state police, and our safety team members that ensure that we are prepared in the event of any emergency. We work to make our drills as realistic as possible utilizing teachers and staff to be put in situations where they must react to take measures to keep us safe.
Another safety measure that we now have in place is our sign out procedure. If you or a family member are picking your student up from school early, please make sure that you have an ID available to show the greeter.
***As a reminder, on November 10, 2025, we will be doing a simulated shelter in place/shelter drill that will culminate with an early evacuation drill at 2:15 PM. Please make sure to recognize your child will arrive home roughly 15 minutes earlier than usual on this date. After school activities will still be available to students on this date***
This and next week we will continue to practice our safety drills. Students and staff are doing an incredible job with these drills.
A note from Pupil Personnel Services
Consistency Across Schools
We’re working to make sure families have the same smooth experience with PPS District Wide.
504 Plans
Annual and reevaluation consents have been sent out. If you haven’t received yours, please call the PPS office. A special thank you to Danielle Leonardi for organizing this process!
IEP Collaboration Portal
Consent forms were sent home so families can receive secure updates and notifications. Need another copy? Contact PPS and we’ll resend it.
County Collaboration
We recently joined other PPS Directors from across Dutchess County to share ideas and strengthen support for students.
Staff Training
CPI Training: A small group was trained Sept. 26, with a larger session on Nov. 4.
Behavior Support: We’re exploring new training through Dutchess BOCES to build positive and lasting classroom strategies.
Nursing Coverage
While hiring continues, substitute nurses are stepping in to keep our schools covered. We are grateful for their support!
English as a New Language (ENL) Services
ENL support started on the first day of school. We’ve welcomed three new students this month. Thank you to Ms. Ellis, our new ENL Coordinator, for helping with assessments, placements, and family communication.
As always, if you have questions regarding your child, please do not hesitate to contact the PPS Office:
Ana Nyarady - Supervisor of Pupil Personnel Services
845-677-4200 ext. 1116
ananyarady@millbrookcsd.org
Danielle Leonardi - Administrative Assistant
845-677-4200 ext. 1107
danielleleonardi@millbrookcsd.org
Alexandra Ellis- ENL Coordinator
845-677-4200 ext. 1109
alexandra.ellis@millbrookcsd.org
Joann Hobson- Special Education Coordinator
845-677-4200 ext. 1107
joann.hobson@millbrookcsd.org
For Resources, News & Announcements from our School Counseling department, please visit our webpage by clicking here.
Schedule Changes & Drops
Schedule changes and drops will be made only when needs are clearly indicated. This year’s deadline was Tuesday, September 30th. After this date all requests to drop/change courses will require a parent conference with the teacher, counselor, student and principal. These requests will only be granted if absolutely necessary. The request will not receive final approval until the appropriate steps have been taken.
Fall Sports are Underway!
Fall Sports are Underway!
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