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WPCNR THE LETTER TICKER. From White Plains Schools Superintendent Dr. Joseph Ricca. December 20, 2023:
On behalf of the White Plains City School District Board of Education, and the entire school community, please accept my best wishes for a happy, healthy holiday season and a joyous New Year!
We are amazed to be nearing the midpoint of the academic year so quickly! Thankfully, we do not have the challenges that we’ve experienced in past years regarding COVID-19. Still, we recognize that ‘cold and flu’ season remains a fact of life and we are committed to maintaining a healthy learning community. Our community continues to follow the preventive measures available to keep our schools safe, healthy, and secure. Once again, we are grateful to our wonderful staff for continuing to provide an outstanding educational experience for our children in a healthy and safe school environment.
As is usual in our school district, we have many reasons to be #WPProud. Among these, we honored 156 Scholar-Athletes from ten Fall Varsity Teams at the December Board of Education meeting. White Plains athletes had a successful fall season and five of our Girl Swimmers went to the State Championships. The High School INCubatoredu program received the WIN Champions Award from the Business Council of Westchester in November for connecting students to real world learning. We have seven High School seniors named Commended Students in the 2024 National Merit Scholarship Program. And, most recently, representing our amazing staff, Coach Fred Singleton was inducted into the prestigious Armory Coaches Hall of Fame. A four-time Westchester Coach of the Year, Singleton has been coaching and supporting our Tigers for 48 years!
Also, last month, we saw eight athletes named to the Athletics Hall of Fame. In a ceremony on November 13th, inductees were Steve Casarella, Tomas Cobb, Kelsey Kulk, Jason McLaughlin, Mark Santa-Donato, Chuck Stogel and Mike and Quincy Summers. An overflow crowd was on hand in the High School Media Center to celebrate this wonderful accomplishment.
College letters are just starting to come in and we’re happy to report that WPHS seniors have received acceptances from schools such as Brown, Dartmouth, Tufts, University of Pennsylvania, Columbia, Penn State, Hartwick College, SUNY/Albany, Hampton University, and Culinary Institute of America, just to name a few. There will be many more to come!
Finally, we thought you would enjoy the photo below of Mr. May and our WPHS Tiger String Ensemble performing a holiday medley for the White Plains Rotary Club this week – it was a lovely opportunity to connect with an organization that both puts service above self and supports our Tigers through competitive scholarship opportunities annually!
Don’t forget to keep up with us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/wpschools our website, www.whiteplainspublicschool.org and X (Twitter): www.twitter.com/@drjosephricca
Of course, please feel free to contact me at any time with any questions or comments.
Again – all the best for a wonderful holiday season and we look forward to sharing updates and good news with you in 2024!
Respectfully,
Joseph Ricca