Principal's Message

August 2023

Dear Students, Parents and Families of Bronxville Middle School,

On behalf of the Bronxville Middle School family, it is my pleasure to welcome you for the 2023-2024
school year. This is my 29th year in education. Middle School is an incredible time in a child’s life. As
many of you know, I refer to it as a beautiful bridge. It connects the wondrous time of elementary school
to the incredible world of high school. In the middle of that is your child’s time with us. Today, the
significance of this period for learning good habits is perhaps only surpassed by that of early childhood
development, and it’s seen as critical for everything from developing personality traits, the ability to
persevere, curiosity, and study habits to making decisions about a future after high school.

It has always been my belief that children are the most precious resource in this world. Each day you
share that which is most precious to you with us. For that, we are so grateful. I look forward to getting to
know all of our new incoming students, seeing all of our returning students and continuing our work
together. Most importantly, I just love being a part of their lives. Like you, we want the very best for each
of your children.

Let us continue to fulfill the Bronxville Promise. To prepare students for success by enabling them to be
innovative, lead, think critically and engage the world. Our shared goal is to continue to address the many
needs of our students and to nurture them towards becoming capable, confident, caring, and
compassionate people. Our curriculum will be relevant. Our teaching approaches will meet the diverse
learning styles of students. Our assessments will vary. Our goal together is to ensure that all students
experience success. At Bronxville Middle School, we pride ourselves on building relationships with
students and their families. Together we change the world for the better through your child. Together we
can all accomplish great things.

In one of my favorite books, How Children Succeed by Paul Tough the author discusses how children
grow up to be successful. He speaks of the qualities they must develop. They must have a solid
foundation filled with enrichment opportunities. One of the qualities discussed is that a successful
person must have what is known as grit. Grit is defined as a powerful motivation to achieve an
objective.

Perseverance and effort promote overcoming obstacles or challenges. This serves as a driving force in
achievement realization. This means having the courage to take on a question you do not immediately
know the answer to. It is our continued goal for all students to be courageous in their pursuit of
knowledge and to be strong in their perseverance of gaining that knowledge. It is our job to guide,
support, challenge and celebrate our student’s journey towards success. Above all, it is our job to love
them in all they do.

This year we welcome some wonderful people to the Bronxville Middle School Family.

• It is my pleasure to welcome Ms. Vanessa Janec to our Middle School Math Department. Ms. Janec has a proven record of success as an elementary teacher in the Bronxville Elementary School. To know Ms. Janec is to know that teaching Math is a true passion of hers. We look forward to her sharing that passion with our sixth grade students this year.
• Mrs. Katie Krieg has been our incredible main office manager for the past five years. As many of you know she has a passion for special education. She was supposed to move into this department last year but did me an incredible favor and stayed an extra year. I can never repay that favor! Katie will now be working in our Middle School Guidance office in her new role. With that said, it is my pleasure to welcome Mrs. Kathleeen Matthews to our Middle School Main Office team. Many of us have had the pleasure of working with Katheleen in her incredibly valuable role with the Bronxville Foundation. Her skills and personality make her a perfect addition to our team. We are very fortunate and grateful to have her with us. We have begun what we hope to be a smooth transition for our middle school main office.
• We are very pleased to welcome back Ms. Julia Brogan to our special education department. From our Physical Education staff, Ms. Erin Doolan also joins us to teach some of our Physical Education classes. We welcome teacher aide, Ms. Aurela Isufaj who joined us after working at our elementary school. Finally, we congratulate Ms. Brittany Braia and Ms. Emily Cloud on their marriages over the summer. Ms. Braia is now using her married name, Mrs. Miceli.

A reminder from our Village:

In 2022 NYS authorized villages to reduce their maximum speed limits to 25 m.p.h. from 30 (excluding
school zones which are already at 20 m.p.h). The legislation recognized that the reduction in speed
reduces the risk of injury or death from automotive accidents between motorists and pedestrians. The
State legislation noted that “according to the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, a pedestrian struck by a
vehicle going 25 m.p.h. has a 25% risk of sustaining a serious or fatal injury, a 50% risk at 33 m.p.h. and a
75% risk at 41 m.p.h. The Village was one of the first communities in Westchester to consider local
adoption of the new reduced maximum speed and following an independent traffic engineering analysis
by a traffic engineer adopted legislation early in 2023 reducing the Village’s maximum speed limit on all
Village streets to 25 m.p.h. The reduced speed limit further recognizes the continued emphasis the
Village has placed on safety, vehicular and pedestrian improvements throughout the community,
prioritization of the importance placed on improving walkability and encouraging our residents to walk
instead of drive. The new law is effective September 1 and all Village speed limit signs have already been
changed to reflect the new 25 m.p.h. limit. We ask that our families be mindful of this law as they drive
to and from school and throughout the Village and also encourage walking as an even better alternative to
driving to School. The Police Department under the direction of Chief Satriale will continue to promote
the “School’s Open” campaign and remind residents of the new speed limit.

The Middle School sends out a weekly “Principal’s Message” newsletter on Friday afternoons.
Please make sure you are signed up to receive this newsletter by clicking HERE to register for
Constant Contact messages. We also suggest that you sign up to receive the district newsletter as
well. Remember that the school is always your primary source of information about anything
related to school. We love your questions so if you have any please ask us! We are here to help you
and your child. If you haven’t already purchased school supplies, you can view the list HERE.

All schedules will be available on Infinite Campus on Monday, August 28th at 12:00 p.m.
Students will find their schedule under SCHEDULES or they can look under DOCUMENTS for the
MS 6 Day Schedule version. On the first day of school on Tuesday, September 5th, classes will
begin at 10:00 a.m. Please click HERE for the first day of school schedule. You will be receiving a
hard copy of the 2023-2024 district calendar in the mail in the coming weeks. Speaking of the
calendar, please mark Thursday, September 28th at 7:00 p.m. for our BACK TO SCHOOL
NIGHT!

We have also made some updates to our Middle School Handbook which we would like to also share
with you. I have the great pleasure to work with a talented team of educators that want the best for your
children. Our mission is their success. Please know that we are here to serve. Together we are a team
with one goal, the success of your child. There is no better goal or reason to team up than that.

I truly look forward to the coming school year.

Sincerely,
Sincerely,
Mr. Joseph Mercora