Director Update: School Start Date Change

August 29th, 2017
Comments Off on Director Update: School Start Date Change

August 29, 2017

Dear Valued Parents and Families of New Century Academy:

Welcome all of you to a new school year and a new horizon for New Century Academy! I, Jason Becker and Board Chair, Kathy Prellwitz, would like to thank you all for your patience and understanding as we move forward in our new building with exciting possibilities. We are writing this email to inform all of you of the progress we have made as we approach the start of a new school year at New Century Academy.

We have all been working very diligently to execute the remodeling and construction of our new building. This process involves the State of Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry, including the plumbing and mechanical departments. These departments are involved in the approval of our construction plans. Once approved, the City of Hutchinson issues permits to allow the various levels of construction.

The original plans were submitted for approval in early June. Unfortunately, it took until August 11th to receive approval for construction from the state. At that time, the state had not approved certain pieces of the mechanical and plumbing plans. It took several resubmissions before the state would approve the mechanical and plumbing plans. We received approval of these remaining pieces today, August 29th. While I’m confident we will receive a Certificate of Occupancy soon, we will not have enough time to complete critical pieces of construction needed before the original calendar start date of September 5th.

For these reasons, we feel, in the interest of student safety, that it is necessary to move the school start date to Monday, September 11th. This would then mean that we would move the school end date to June 1st. However, please know, these decisions are being made in the best interest of the students: we want them to start a new year in a steady and structured environment, as proud and excited as we are! I understand that this may change plans for some families, and I apologize for any inconvenience this will cause. Please understand that it is in our highest interest to start the year off conveniently with as much access to the building as possible. We value every day that we have with your children and will work tirelessly to prepare.

There will be a Special School Board Meeting held tomorrow night, Wednesday August 30th, at 6:00pm at the new school site on 950 School Road SW in Hutchinson. This meeting will be to approve a move of the school start date from Tuesday, September 5th to Monday, September 11th. This change in start date will be to accommodate the construction and acquisition of a Certificate of Occupancy issued by the City of Hutchinson.

We invite all of you to join us for the special board meeting on Wednesday night, particularly if you have any questions or concerns. We truly appreciate your patience as we make this tremendous and exciting transition into a new spectacular location, and we truly appreciate your patience and commitment to NCA. We are so excited to be a part of your child’s future!

The Open House and Ice Cream Social will remain for this Thursday, August 31st. Student schedules will be available as well as the opportunity to meet new and returning staff. Please join us for a social and preview of the construction project. We look forward to seeing all of you!

Jason Becker, Director

Kathy Prellwitz, School Board Chair

Comments are closed