Minisink Valley High School

TRANSPORTATION NEWS: Bus schedules are scheduled to be mailed the end of this week! Please watch for your postcard in the mail!

The 2025-26 Varsity/JV season officially opens today, Aug. 18, with team practices on our campuses! What great weather to start the season! Take a peek at the workout of the boys soccer team...they were impressively on the field at 7 a.m. this morning! It's going to be a great season for all of our fall teams! Please join us in wishing all teams the best of luck in their pre-season workouts!

HIGH SCHOOL FAMILIES:
Reminder: Grades 9 to 12 Back to School information is now available! Please review this material in preparation for the beginning of the school year. To access this information:

On this website, click the “Schools” drop down menu on the homepage and select "Minisink Valley High School”

Click the “Menu” tab

Under the "Information for Students” section click on your grade level tab to view important information for the start of the school year.

Review the other informational tabs on the website.

NEED A REFRESHER on how to view daily breakfast and lunch menus or how to fund your student's My SchoolBucks account? It's simple; click here:
https://www.minisink.com/o/district/page/food-services

LIGHTS, CAMERA...ACTION!
SENIOR PORTRAITS are underway! Take a peek at the behind-the-scenes work which leads to the stunning senior portraits we'll see in the high school yearbook and which families will have for decades to come!
Don't blink, Class of 2026 families, because this year will go by fast!

Summer time means all buildings undergo major cleaning to ensure everything is in pristine shape for the opening day of school. And, that includes getting our bus fleet and Transportation Center ready as well!

Please join us and thank Andres Massari, Chris Thorpe, Tara Grogan, Kerri Mohrmann, Nate Vogt and Kyle Redner for all they are doing to make sure our fleet and Transportation Center is equally prepared for opening day! It’s been said the first “doorway” to school every day is the door to a school bus, and our drivers and monitors and the entire bus fleet are just about ready to greet all of our riders!

HIGH SCHOOL FAMILIES: We're getting closer to opening day! Be sure you read this note from Principal Hauck (which has also been mailed to you.) CLICK HERE: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1QMI83DA4svMOnPC6E9aMqCzkAlpk6gjETxaqTt26gnM/edit?fbclid=IwY2xjawMC20FleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETE5Mjh2RWlOMlJuQVdVZzQxAR4eSL6hl98pOY-SMSajgmLD_p-mfGpUHPFC6_hEPiFa6e7AXWHvTMpl4o1Vtw_aem_CLCFbNVSsc86WXLEn1agWA&tab=t.0

JUNIOR AND SENIOR FAMILIES:
Applications for student parking for the 2025-26 school year are now open! Don't miss out if interested. Please call the high school with any questions.
JUNIOR: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1sDc1jQmBnyYoafhFi1CswbrG-oVLIxA8EzeuHfbqmu0/edit?tab=t.0
SENIOR: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1aesNYSpJjDJQhikVWeMlREOWmGldwJ33KgjXputBdgA/edit?tab=t.0

REMINDER: The High School FBLA will conclude its annual school supplies drive to benefit the Minisink Valley community on Friday, Aug. 15.

Donations are being collected through Aug. 15 with distribution taking place on Aug. 22 and 23.

For further information or to make arrangements for supply drop off, email advisor Seth Johnson at sjohnson@minisink.com

REMINDER: Don't let your student's school-issued Chromebook battery fully discharge over the summer!

Even when a Chromebook is off, its battery continues to slowly lose charge. If left long enough, the batteries might no longer function and can’t be recharged. At the same time, you shouldn’t keep Chromebooks plugged into a charger while in storage for months. This can reduce battery life and lead to other issues.

Prepare Chromebooks for long-term storage:
--- Charge your Chromebooks so that the battery is at least 80% full. This ensures that even when the battery discharges while unplugged over the summer, it won’t fully run out of power.
--- To slow the discharge rate during storage, do not physically remove the battery from the Chromebook for storage. Instead, take the following steps:
Connect the device to a charger and turn it on.
Hold Refresh and Power at the same time.
While holding these keys, remove the power cable from the device and then release the keys. The device should shut down and remain off.
Confirm the battery disconnect worked by pressing the power button. The device should not power on, despite having a battery charge. The Chromebook won’t power on by touching the power button or opening the lid, until you plug the device back to a power source.

This is the ideal way to store devices. It reduces battery discharge to a minimum, prevents constant charge and discharge from reducing the battery life, and keeps the Chromebook in a stable, powered-off state.

Note: If you can’t put your Chromebook into the battery disconnect state described above, charge the battery to at least 80%. Then, turn off the Chromebook, unplug it from a power source, and store it in a cool, dry place.

Here is a video of the process: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mfhpbNZk3js

Please email any questions to parentportal@minisink.com

Thank you for your attention to this important information, and thanks for sharing!

PLEASE HELP, no matter what building your student attends!
The Elementary School is continuing with its TREX recycling challenge over the summer months. Since May, the school has collected 235 pounds of soft plastic and needs to collect only 765 more pounds to reach the 1,000-pound mark to receive a special TREX bench for the school! While the school has until April 30, 2026 to collect the remaining soft plastic, it’s looking to the community to help! Stop by the ES main entrance from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Thursday with your donations! Thank you for whatever you can do to help the cause!

Reminder: Download the district's free smartphone app!

The Minisink Valley School District's free smartphone app offers users the ability to stay current with individual school updates and information on district events and activities.

It also provides users with customized notifications related to each school selected by each user, including a quick and easy way to learn breakfast and lunch menus in all buildings each day!

The free app is available for Android and Apple devices in their respective app stores.

To stay up-to-date on the latest district news and events via the app, visit Google Play Store and search for Minisink Valley CSD; or the Apple App Store and search for Minisink Valley CSD NY.

SWIM SUMMER CAMP BEGINS AUG. 4! REGISTRATION IS TAKING PLACE NOW! Don't miss out if interested! Details: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1ctcuEIbr2FY8u-pdBqPDe65wBgBaTYyW

HIGH SCHOOL FAMILIES: All the photography taken by Lors Studio for this past school year is now available for purchase on SmugMug including the recent CLASS of 2025 GRADUATION! Photo purchases support the production of the High School Yearbook.
USE THIS LINK to access photos: https://lorsstudio.smugmug.com/MinisinkValleyHS/School-Year-2024-2025

CLASS OF 2026 families: Here we go! A friendly reminder: Please be sure your rising senior has scheduled his/her senior portrait time with Lors Studio! (We've already emailed this information to them!) Dates: Aug. 11 to 15 Time: 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Location: High School auditorium If, for some reason, you didn't receive an email from Lors, here's the information: 1. Go to: Lors Studio and click seniors https://myschedule.lorsstudio.com/accounts/login/ 2. Username: Your Last Name 3. Password: Student ID Number For questions, or to schedule a portrait sitting by telephone, call 908-964-3040. Note: Makeups/retakes by also by appointment on Oct. 16 and 17 from 7:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the auditorium. Please note there are no retakes for October photos. Thank you for your attention to this important information!

The Athletic Department has presented Athletic Appreciation Awards to district’s Fields and Grounds crew and the Transportation Department for their ongoing support of Minisink Valley Athletics! Athletic Director Tim Bult expressed his gratitude and those of all team coaches for the critical behind-the-scenes and day-of support given by these two important groups. Their assistance and support are keys in the success of the Athletic Department’s operations each year!

The Class of 2025 Baccalaureate Service was a poignant evening that we know will be memorable due the wonderful advice offered to our soon-to-be graduates and their families. We are grateful for the wonderful words of wisdom offered by teacher Adam Hubbard, Senior Sean Crowe, Parent Ethan Gutzeit, Principal Kenneth Hauck, Superintendent Brian Monahan and Board of Education President Joseph Flaherty. See more photos on the district's Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/MinisinkValleyCSD

Kudos to sophomore Daniel Oenga, who represented Minisink Valley as an ambassador at the recent Hugh O’Brian Youth Leadership New York East (HOBY NYE) seminar. Selected for his leadership potential and commitment to service, Dan joined other sophomores from across the region for a weekend focused on leadership development, community engagement, and personal growth. In addition to Dan’s participation, juniors Ashlyn Burke and Malunga Kinzonzi served junior facilitators at this event. Ashlyn and Malunga are HOBY program alumni and were selected to serve as mentors and guides to this year’s ambassadors, helping to lead group discussions, coordinate activities, and foster an inclusive, empowering environment for all participants. WELL DONE, everyone! HOBY New York East has been shaping young leaders across Eastern New York for decades, empowering high school sophomores to develop their leadership skills and make a lasting impact in their communities. Each year, HOBY New York East brings students together for a weekend seminar filled with interactive workshops, inspiring guest speakers and hands-on service projects. Guided by alumni and volunteers, participants leave the seminar with a renewed sense of purpose and the skills to become changemakers in their schools and communities.

AMAZING! Congratulations to the staff of the High School’s 2025 yearbook, which has been honored with the Gallery of Excellence distinction from Walsworth publishing. The edition, titled “Out Loud,” will be used an example of solid yearbook production and design to help other schools to gain inspiration. The Walsworth Gallery of Excellence is a distinction awarded to a select group of yearbooks published by Walsworth Yearbooks that demonstrate superior quality in theme development, coverage, design, and photography. It signifies that the yearbook is among the highest caliber publications produced by Walsworth and serves as an example of excellence in scholastic journalism