Dear Batavia Families and Community,

When I last provided an update, one of my priorities was to ensure that the new cell phone policy would not define our school year. With over one month into the year, I am pleased to report that this is true! 

The implementation of the policy has been overwhelmingly successful, with our students not only adhering to the new procedures but also embracing them. Students are reporting more conversations and, of course, fewer distractions. Our teachers and building administrators are excited to see students more focused, engaged, and eager to participate in classroom activities. 

I will admit that, as a parent of a BHS senior myself, I had some doubts, and my wife and I shared some of those same reservations held by other families. That being said, I would like to acknowledge our principals, especially Ms. Wesp at BHS and Dr. Crine at BMS, as well as their assistant principals, Ms. La Spina and Mr. Doore at BHS, and Mr. Langridge and Ms. Cameron at BMS, for their proactive leadership in implementing this policy. Our Director of Educational Technology, Wendy Villone, also lent her expertise, and I would like to thank our custodial and clerical staff for their support as well. Well done, team, and well done, students!

Each month, our Board of Education highlights all the good news from our schools, and I wanted to share with you our most recent update, which you may find here: BCSD Good News. Please take a moment to check it out and join me in recognizing and thanking our BCSD faculty and staff. 

October is National Principals Month, and I am proud to recognize our five BCSD principals for their leadership and commitment to BCSD: Jessica Korzelius at Robert Morris, Maureen Notaro at Jackson Primary, Paul Kesler at John Kennedy Intermediate, Megan Crine and BMS, and Jenni Wesp at BHS. Each of them truly brings their own unique set of skills and talents that they enthusiastically share with our students, staff, and community, and I am personally and professionally grateful for their leadership.

Most recently, we celebrated a special award at John Kennedy, which will no doubt be replicated soon among our other schools. As we began our journey on the Professional Learning Communities (PLC) path through the New York PLC at Work Project, we have implemented research-based practices to improve student achievement across our District, with John Kennedy recently being awarded a Promising Practices School for their implementation of these “promising practices,” which included items such as time for professional learning, review of student data and assessments, a focus on results, and a common approach to essential learning standards. Congratulations to our JK team! 

This week, we also celebrated National Coaches Day. Our coaches at BCSD put in countless hours, along with our many volunteers, to provide a high-quality, scholastically based athletic program for our student-athletes. While the wins are fun, it is the lessons on and off the field and court that resonate: lessons such as teamwork, commitment, and the old-fashioned values of “hard work” and “grit.” 

Our playground build at Robert Morris last month was a big success! Thank you to our team of volunteers and staff members led by Principal Jessica Korzelius. Our amazing custodial crew (we also celebrated National Custodian Day last week!) played a huge role in this process, and I thank them and their leader, Chad Bliss, for their support. Well done, Blue Devils—be on the lookout for an official ribbon-cutting ceremony!

As we approach the upcoming holiday weekend, I would like to extend my gratitude to our families for their ongoing support and partnership at BCSD. The start of a new school year is always special, bringing unique challenges and opportunities. 

Finally, a special shout-out to our senior fall student-athletes, who are in the midst of senior night celebrations. Seniors, thank you for sharing your skills with our families and community—it is an honor to celebrate each of you!

Have a great weekend—and go Bills and Blue Devils!


Jason A. Smith
Superintendent of Schools