October 30, 2020 – November 6, 2020

Dear Parents, Guardians, Staff and Students:

The generosity of the Niagara Falls community was in full force on Wednesday, October 28, 2020 at a Fall Harvest Festival at Abate Elementary. The event was a safe, socially distant, family, walk-through, grab and go, free farmers market packed with community giveaways. The Fall Harvest Festival started as a community impact project organized by Kyle-Lynn Tuttle, a Niagara University graduate student, who is student teaching at Abate.

Kyle-Lynn did a magnificent job organizing the annual community impact project despite the difficulties presented by COVID-19 this year. She said her motivation came from a desire to give Niagara Falls City School District students a safe, socially distant way to celebrate autumn and Halloween as usual school functions this time of year had to be cancelled due to the pandemic.   

Thank you, Kyle-Lynn for giving our students and families a beautiful fall day to remember. Thank you as well to the generous donors who made the day so special:

• Niagara Falls Firefighters - free back packs with fire prevention information
• Niagara County Sheriff's Department and local farmers - 475 + pumpkins
• Becker Farms - free apples
• Interns from NU and UB - COVID information and masks
• TREC- disposable masks and drawstring backpacks
• Catholic Health - peanut butter and jelly
• Little Bakery 300 loaves of bread (Assemblyman Morinello)
• Frankie’s Donuts and Village Bake shop - prepackaged cookies and donuts
• City Councilman Kenny Tompkins and supporters: hats, gloves and scarves sets (650+ sets) and warm socks
• Pinnacle - free blankets and ear muffs
• Levesque Institute - Halloween Literacy activities and crayons
• Fidelis

Have a safe week. As promised, I am keeping the lines of communication open. I will always tell you immediately if we become aware of any positive COVID-19 cases in our schools. Let’s stay strong and continue to work together.

Sincerely,

Mark Laurrie,

Superintendent of Schools