Resources for families

At Monticello Central School District, we are committed to providing and connecting our families with the resources that they need to thrive, particularly during these extraordinary times. 

Please continue to check page on this page, as it is frequently updated. 

For information regarding individual class assignments or information, please contact your/your child’s teacher. 

Not sure what you need? 

New York State recently launched a “Find Services” app. On this app, you can answer a series of questions about your needs, and you will be matched with local services that may be able to help. 

Table of Contents

Central Office/Business Offices

In order to limit the spread of COVID-19 (2019 novel coronavirus) and to comply with public health guidelines to maintain social distancing, Monticello Central School District’s Central Administration and Business Offices will be scheduling appointments in order to limit visitors. Please call 845-794-7700 to schedule an appointment if you should need our services.

Childcare

Financial support/tuition scholarship for childcare is available

If you need assistance finding childcare, the Sullivan County Child Care Council may be able to help. 

Phone: (845) 292-7166
SCCCC website 

Counselor’s Corner

The Monticello Central School District recognizes that these are very trying times for our students and their families.  Please feel free to reach out to one of the following members of the support staff should you need assistance: 

KLR support staff

Harriett Dever       hdever@k12mcsd.net 

Kenneth Montemurro  kmontemurro@k12mcsd.net

Jamie Gaebel Bury  jgaebelbury@k12mcsd.net 

Barbara Shaw-Zirt  BShaw-Zirt@k12mcsd.net  

Cooke support staff

Mackenzie Biro  mbiro@k12mcsd.net 

Regine Fontaine  rfontaine@k12mcsd.net

Linda Wertheim  lwertheim@k12mcsd.net 

Chase support staff 

Kaitlen Rubin  KRubin@k12mcsd.net  

Elementary school counselor

Molly Messina mmessina@k12mcsd.net 

MCSD School Counselor, Molly Messina, has put together a guide for parents of elementary-aged children highlighting how to help younger children cope through the COVID-19 closure. 

Click here to watch in English

para una traducción en español haga clic aquí

RJK support staff

Catching Up with the Counselors video series

Harrison Larkin  HLarkin@k12mcsd.net 

Jennifer Ducey jducey@k12mcsd.net 

Brittany Zaccaria bharden@k12mcsd.net 

Shannon Follansbee sfollansbee@k12mcsd.net 

Laurie Oshinsky loshinsky@k12mcsd.net 

MHS support staff

Daniel Jankowski  DJankowski@k12mcsd.net MHS 

Annette Rasmussen  arasmussen@k12mcsd.net MHS 

Angela Padhiar  APadhiar@k12mcsd.net MHS 

Brianna Lagarde blagarde@k12mcsd.net MHS 

Katherine Truesdell ktruesdell@k12mcsd.net MHS 

Allyson Steinberg astenberg@k12mcsd.net MHS 

Josef Seidl jseidl@k12mcsd.net MHS 

Jeff Mannino jmannino@k12mcsd.net MHS 

Sheryl Manz smanz@k12mcsd.net MHS

Virtual Calming Corner

Virtual Calming Corner  (Please note that you must be logged in to your Monticello email student or staff email account in order to access this website.)

Educational/Enrichment 

Talking to Children About COVID-19 (Coronavirus): A Parent Resource

Handwashing: A Family Activity

Germ Prevention Strategies

Frequently Asked Questions and Answers: Coronavirus Disease-2019 (COVID-19) and Children

FOR KIDS: Brainpop: Coronavirus

FOR KIDS: Mystery Science: How do germs get into our bodies?

FOR KIDS: Scholastic: No more germs

FOR KIDS: Just For Kids: A Comic Exploring The New Coronavirus

FOR KIDS: Germ Smart Kids:  How to wash your hands

Family Support Line

MCSD families can call the EPIC family support line from Monday to Friday between 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. for assistance with issues such as stress management, home routines, positive discipline strategies and any other issues that arise during time home with children. The Family Support Line number is 716-332-4111

Food Pantries (Please call to inquire about pick-up details):

Each student enrolled in the Monticello Central School District will receive $420 in food benefits through the Pandemic Electronic Benefits Transfer (P-EBT) program between June and August. P-EBT is a new program to help fill the school meals gap for children who lost access to free or reduced-price school meals due to COVID-19 school closures. In  schools where all students receive free meals, such as Monticello, all enrolled students will receive this benefit, regardless of income or immigration status. Read more

Monticello

Free farm stand and mass food distribution 
309 East Broadway
Dates vary; read more

Federation for the Homeless
(Please Register) 1-2 Times a Month Plus Emergency Food
9 Monticello Street
Walk-In with I.D.
Breakfast Mon-Fri 8:30 a.m..-.9:30 a.m.
Lunch Mon-Fri – 11:30 p.m. – 1 p.m.
Food Pantry – Every other Friday (Call for Dates)

V.A. Pantry
Every other Friday 1:15pm (Call for Dates)
1st & 3rd Friday – Food for Veterans – After 1:00pm
(845) 794-2604

St. John’s Episcopal Church
15 St. John Street
Open on the 1st,2nd,3rd & 4th Tuesday Each Month 4 p.m. – 6 p.m. 
(Closed on the 5th Tuesday)
845-794-8111

Hudson Valley Community Services
20 Crystal Street (HVCS) Food Pantry for clients
845-791-8871

United Way of Sullivan County Emergency Food
33 Lakewood Avenue
845-794-1771

Rock Hill

Church of Nazarene
210 Katrina Falls Road
Anytime by appointment:  845-796-3729

United Methodist Church
410 Rock Hill Drive
845-796-3833

White Lake

Faith Ministries of White Lake Reformed Presbyterian Church
Blessing Shephard’s Pantry
2nd Thursday of the month 10:00am-12:00pm
4th Thursday of the month 5:00pm-6:00pm
Coralie Bloom 845-583-5885 or 845-707-2333

Liberty

Soul Food Café @ United Methodist Church
170 N. Main Street
Food Prayer Fellowship
Monday Night Dinners 5 p.m.- 6:30 p.m.
845-292-6243

St. Peter’s RC Church
262 N Main Street
Wednesday & Saturday 10 a.m.-2 p.m.
845-747-4073

Lighthouse Ministries
5 Triangle Road (Next To Computer Doctors)
3rd Thursday 11 a.m. -2 p.m.
845-985-7026

St. Paul’s Lutheran Church
Interfaith Council Liberty
24 Chestnut Street (Next To Post Office)
2nd, 3rd & 4th Friday 3 p.m. – 4:30 p.m.
Once A Month Pick-Up
Walk-In no I.D. required
For information call: 845-292-4626
Dinner for those in need every Wednesday 5:45 p.m.-6:15 p.m.

Vine & Branch
2535 Rt. 52
Call For Pantry Days (3rd Sunday of Every Month 1 p.m. – 3 p.m.)
Pastor Ed or Bob (845) 292-5227

Health Insurance

Please click here for information from NY State of Health for families who are without, or at risk of losing, health insurance. 

Internet Access

The Monticello CSD conducted a Digital Equity Survey in March 2020 to assess students’ and teachers’ level of access to devices and high-speed internet. We found that approximately 103 students and 25 teachers did not have access to a device at their place of residence. In addition, approximately 104 students and 10 teachers did not have, or do not have sufficient, internet access at their place of residence. A cellular audit was also conducted throughout the district. Our findings showed that several areas, particularly in Wurtsboro Hills, Forestburgh, and along the outskirts of Bethel, have “dead zones” and cellular/internet service is not available.

A critical factor of our district reopening plan is to mitigate inequities in technology and internet access. To address the need to provide devices, all students, K – 12, will be issued a personally-assigned device. Our K – 8 students (approximately 1,900) will be issued 1:1 iPads at the beginning of the school year. Our 9 – 12 students (approximately 905) will be issued a personally-assigned laptop by October 5, 2020. We currently have 627 laptops that will be ready to be deployed at the beginning of the school year. Priority will be given to students that will work in a fully remote environment. We have ordered 490 additional laptops, however, with the current demand on manufacturers, we are unable to ensure availability at the beginning of the school year. We have also ordered and additional 250 laptops, with no anticipated delivery date, to begin to replace the aging high school laptops and provide additional devices for teacher use.

In addressing the need to provide internet access:

  • Hot spots will be given to families when reliable internet access is not available or if families are unable to afford internet service.
  • Monticello CSD will continue to work with internet service providers to expand/keep the free and low-cost home internet service options in our community.
  • Through E-rate funding, we will begin to expand our Wi-Fi access signal to the school building parking lots.
  • We will continue to notify families of where free public WiFi access is available
  • We will make students who do not have internet access a priority for our 4-day, onsite learning model
  • In the event that students still do not have reliable internet access, we will look at each case on an individual basis and develop plan to deliver equitable continuity of instruction.

If you do not have internet access at home, you may be eligible for 60 days of free broadband from Charter Communications. Charter will offer free Spectrum broadband and Wi-Fi access for 60 days to households with K-12 and/or college students who do not already have a Spectrum broadband subscription and at any service level up to 100 Mbps. To learn more, call 1-844-488-8395. Additionally, we are posting this list of providers who have made similar offers.

Families can visit https://www.everyoneon.org/find-offers and enter their zip code to research low-cost internet options. 

Xfinity has also published a map where users can search for free WiFi hotspots  by location: https://hotspots.wifi.xfinity.com/.

Please note that the district is not affiliated with, nor endorses any of these offers. We are sharing as a public service. Please contact the providers directly to learn more. 

Many cell phone service providers are increasing their data usage at no additional cost to help during this time. Please contact your cell phone provider to see if what, if any, free increases they are offering at this time. 

Local Resources 

(please reach out to organizations directly to confirm services/times/dates)

Access 24/7 Virtual Mental Health and Substance Use Urgent Care
1-888-750-2266, option 2

Hudson Valley Region 211 
You can call 2-1-1 for everything from basic needs like food, clothing and shelter, to legal services, drug treatment, employment support, childcare, physical/mental health resources, elder care, services for persons with disabilities. If you have difficulty accessing 2-1-1 by dialing the three numbers, please call 888-899-1479

Mobile Mental Health
845 -790-0911

Mental Health Toll Free Hotline
800 -710-7083

Mobile Mental Health:
845-791-7123/1-800-710-7083 

Sullivan County Community Services 
845-292-8770 

Children’s Mobile Crisis Intervention: 
845-701-3777 

Sullivan County RISE (Rape Intervention Services and Education) 24 hour Crisis Hotline
(845) 791-9595

Safe Passage Domestic Violence
845-292- 5700

Meals on Wheels
845-807-0241

Child Care Council/Child Care/Day Care
845-292-7166

Sullivan County Emergency Community Assistance Center (Monday – Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.)
845-807-0925

Mental Health Resources 

National Suicide Hotline: 

1-800-784-2433 
1-800-273-8255 

Teen Line: 
1-888-375-8336 
Text 273TALK to 839863 

Mobile Mental Health:
845-791-7123/1-800-710-7083 

Sullivan County Community Services 
845-292-8770 

Children’s Mobile Crisis Intervention: 
845-701-3777 

Meals

The district will continue to deliver meals when students are learning remotely. 

Please note that New NYSED guidance requires parents to register their children in order to receive delivered meals. Parents were notified via several alerts in the first and second week of their students with the opportunity to register their child for meals.  If you registered your child for delivered meals, please review the delivery schedule below.   

Meal Delivery Schedule

*Please note that the last day of deliveries in 2020 will be on Tuesday, Dec. 22. Deliveries will resume on Jan. 4, after winter break. 

If you have any questions concerning meal delivery, please contact the bus garage at 845-794-8570 or 845-794-2120  

Technology

Tech support during the COVID-19 closure