As I am preparing for the 2021-22 academic year I was reflecting on the history of our charter school. We were chartered in 2004 and have grown to include a middle school as well as our high school. Charters were developed to grow teaching excellence and innovative approaches to learning. Maritime is always searching for ways to improve the delivery of instruction to our cadets and candidates. 2020-21 was a difficult year for all schools. Many teachers and administrators are leaving the profession because of the stress caused by the pandemic. This has given our teachers the opportunity to take everything they have learned at Maritime and use that knowledge to benefit students in a variety of ways. I would like to wish Fair Winds and Following Seas to the following teachers who have left Maritime for other positions: Jonathan Anderson, Patrick Barron, Rory Bialecki, Colleen Clancy, Morgan Forte, Tianna Gamble, J’anate Ingram, Deb Johnson, Thomas Kramer, Abbey Marchewka, Jennifer Martin, Dena McCraith, Kelsey McGowan, Demario Rhodes, Petrina Scaglione, Daniel Tracz, Frank Veneziano, and Christian Wheatley. We are accustomed to teachers leaving each year and this year is no exception. I would like to thank each teacher for their dedication and commitment to excellence. I know they will take what they learned here and continue to grow in their new positions.
We have been very fortunate to be able to hire an excellent incoming group of teachers who are excited to meet our cadets/candidates and continue to nurture the mission of Maritime. We are blessed to have two thirds of our staff remaining to help us continue on our pathway to excellence. Let’s make 2021-2022 the best year yet! Thank you to all the parents who trust our school with their children. This unique partnership has resulted in over a 90% graduation rate for 8 of the past 9 years, an increasing number of advanced regents scholarships, 8 military officers and more in the pipeline. The vision of our board is being realized as each of our graduates commits to exercising the effort to become the best that they can be.
We have also kicked off our summer school program at 2219 South Park Ave. for both schools to report for five weeks starting July 7th through August 3rd, 2021. This gives our students another crack at completing course work and receiving course credit due to the struggles and challenges that we all faced. We continue to think about how to make your child successful and are optimistic that our summer school program will help over 70 students who need extra support. Please remember that if your child is absent more than 2 days, summer school cannot be completed. We need your help in making sure that we can work with your child for all 20 days!
Thank you for your endless support and for working with us to make this summer a huge success!
Sincerely,
Catherine Oldenburg
Commandant
Western New York Maritime Charter School
2219 South Park Avenue
Buffalo, New York 14220
C_oldenburg@wnymcs.com
716-842-6289
