Superintendent's Office
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July 2026
Hope you are enjoying summer so far. After the winter and spring we had, I am not complaining one bit about the heat. We have been very busy here at school, trying to get as many things done as we can before students and staff return in September.
What I can tell you in terms of a construction update is that things are torn up all over, but workers are making progress in getting everything put back together. The high school parking lot is probably the most visible thing from the outside, and if you drive by, you will see that it is completely torn up, and workers are beginning to put base rock down, as well as bollards for lights. They are on schedule to deliver a completed parking lot to us by Labor Day weekend, and I am very comfortable that they will hit their mark. I included a picture from today because, with the wildfire haze, it looks like they are working on the surface of Mars out there!
We have some bathrooms, the high school library, and the team rooms at the high school under full construction at this time, with delivery scheduled before we return to school. There is some gym floor repair work to be completed, and we do not have an ETA for that, as it is extra, and as a result of a leak caused by the roof replacement installation in April (which the contractor accepted responsibility for). The hope is that a small section that got wet would dry and stay in place, but it hasn't yet, so we demanded a full repair of that section, and they have agreed, and at their expense. It is just scheduling the time to get it done.
All of the classrooms at Gorham are gutted, as air conditioning piping and unit ventilators are installed. It is an old building, like Valley, so the building looks like a war zone while the workers install, retrofit, and put things back together, but the foreman for that portion of the project, Josh, is a Whitman graduate and has assured us that we will be good to go in time for school. We expect the air conditioning to be working there by spring 2027, but the invasive classroom work will be largely completed by September.
If you have a child participating in youth sports and attend practices or games at either Valley or Gorham, there is some milling and paving being completed at both buildings. Please be respectful of the construction cones and where you are parking. Thank you!
Last week, our administrative cabinet attended the WFL BOCES Leadership Academy at Fingerlakes Community College, along with about two hundred and fifty other leaders from the surrounding districts in the tri-county area.
Marcus Whitman student Lilly Burnett and her former classmate (Hailey Higgins), were the ONLY students invited to present to the group about their experiences in the Elevating Student Voices program. They were selected due to their leadership qualities throughout the program last year and we were very proud to see them represent!
Students Elsie Foust and Holland Benge are Clay Target champions, and we know that from their performances during the clay target season. They took their talents to Michigan and competed at the USA High School Clay Target League National Championship, where Elsie finished 135th out of all 1800 competitors (boys and girls) and 13th in the nation out of 250 girls. Holland, who also did well at the event, used the event to gain more competitive experience and is sure to return next year. Pretty awesome, and I am sure that their families are as proud as we are of their accomplishments.
Back here at home, Ms. Taft, as one of the last things she did before signing off into a much-deserved retirement, helped recognize two incoming seventh graders, Weston Betts and Henry Davis, for their efforts back when they were in third grade. When they were third graders, they petitioned to have an outdoor water fountain with a bottle filler installed at Gorham. If you remember four years ago, we were coming out of COVID and headed into construction, but they didn't give up. With the help of our local Rotary as well as the Lions and Leo's Club, their dreams became a reality, and the fountain was opened this week! We appreciate the work of these students and the generosity of our community groups for making an idea become a reality.
On Monday night, our new board of education member, Lisa Grefrath, took her oath of office, as did incumbents Scott Lambert and Phyllis Frantel.
Two other people also took their oaths of office, and they were Devin Bond and Lilly Burnett, who are our ex-officio student board members.
One of the most powerful things students can do, in my opinion, is use their voices to help shape how the school district functions. Once the students take the oath of office, they sign the oath book, and for Marcus Whitman, this book has signatures of former board members, board clerks, and superintendents dating back to 1956. Now, Lilly and Devin are a part of history, and congratulations to them!
While all of this has been happening, Dr. Thibodeau and her staff have been working hard at the Extended School Year (ESY) program, and I am excited for their annual field trip to the Ontario County Fair next week.
Thank you for reading, and I will reach out again in a couple of weeks!
Thank you,
Christopher R. Brown, Ph.D.
Superintendent of Schools