Hannah Lawrence leads the Comsewogue high school seniors this year. Photo from the school district
Hannah Lawrence leads the Comsewogue high school seniors this year. Photo from the school district
By Rachel Siford
Two Warriors and two Royals are leading the pack as they look forward to throwing their caps on graduation day.
Hannah Lawrence and Renuka Diwan were named Comsewogue High School’s Class of 2015 valedictorian and salutatorian, respectively.
Lawrence is finishing her high school career with a 102.61 GPA. She is attending Yale University in the fall, majoring in applied mathematics. Lawrence comes from a long line of valedictorians: her mother Cindy, brother David and sister Rachel all graduated at the top of their classes at Comsewogue High School.
Renuka Diwan leads the Comsewogue high school seniors this year. Photo from the school district
Lawrence kept herself busy throughout high school playing varsity tennis, helping to integrate new tech in her school as a Comsewogue Student Technology Specialist, and participating in the Women in Science & Engineering Program (WISE), Math League, the National Honor Society and the Academic Club. She is also a National Merit scholar.
Diwan wrapped up her high school career with a 101.39 GPA. In the fall she will start college at Brown University but is undecided about her area of study. She was a National Merit Scholarship Program finalist and was involved in the National Honor Society, varsity tennis, the Academic Club, the French Honor Society and the WISE program. She also practices Indian classical dance outside of school.
Noah Davis leads the Port Jefferson high school seniors this year. Photo from the school district
The Earl L. Vandermeulen High School announced Noah Davis as its Class of 2015 valedictorian and Natalia Zaliznyak as salutatorian.
Davis, the younger brother of 2013 valedictorian Gabriel Davis, is continuing his studies at Duke University this fall, majoring in biomedical engineering. He is an AP Scholar with Distinction, participated in the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory’s Partners for the Future research program and is on the Science Olympiad team.
Davis has already made strides in his career by submitting a patent for an environmentally friendly flame retardant and was a semifinalist in the Siemens Foundation Competition in Math, Science and Technology.
Natalia Zaliznyak leads the Port Jefferson high school seniors this year. Photo from the school district
Zaliznyak is also an AP Scholar with Distinction and a member of the Science Olympiad team. She is a National Merit semifinalist and a member of the Latin Club. She participated in the Simons Summer Research Program at Stony Brook University and in a local Russian theater group. She is attending Yale University in the fall to study molecular biophysics.
Joan O’Brien, clerical staff, Park View ES; Diane Nally, trustee; Janice Cassagne, third-grade teacher, Park View ES; Joe Bianco, trustee; Regina Symansky, Special Education teacher, Kings Park HS; Pam DeFord, trustee; Laura Peterson, third-grade teacher, Fort Salonga ES; Tom Locascio, president, board of education; Judith Letterman, assistant principal, Kings Park HS; Kevin Johnston, English teacher, Kings Park HS; and Timothy Eagen, superintendent, at the Kings Park school board meeting on Tuesday, June 2. Photo by Victoria Espinoza
Kings Park Board of Education celebrated 12 retirees for their cumulative 261 years of service to the district of Kings Park Tuesday night at the school board meeting.
Judith Letterman, assistant principal at Kings Park High School, was one of the many to be leaving the district, as well as Regina Symansky, a special education teacher who has the longest tenure at King Park — a total of 37 years.
“I have been blessed to lead such hard working and devoted employees,” Superintendent Timothy Eagen said in a statement.
The total list of retirees includes Joan O’Brien, Janice Cassagne, Regina Symansky, Laura Peterson, Judith Letterman, Kevin Johnston, James Fernhoff, Bonnie Capaldo, Dianne Kroog, Cyndia Kopp, Esther Mathie, and Wesley Walker.
“On behalf of the Board of Education, I congratulate all of this year’s retirees for their dedication and service to the Kings Park Central School District” said Tom Locascio, president of the board of education. “These individuals have helped shape the lives of thousands of students, faculty and staff, and the collective impact of their time here truly is immeasurable. May the years ahead bring nothing but joy and relaxation.”
The board also recognized 25 science fair winners from William T. Rogers Middle School in grades six through eight.
Kings Park school district received more than $5,000 in donations, which include athletic equipment and teaching aids. Many contracts were renewed or approved for the new school year including one that adds new vendors to the district and another that established an agreement with the Town of Smithtown for repair and maintenance of roads.
Kerrin Welch-Pollera, district executive director of instructional technology, outlines Three Village’s plans to upgrade its technological approach inside the classroom. Photo by Andrea Moore Paldy
Though it may seem counterintuitive, administrators in Three Village are encouraging Ward Melville High School students to bring their smart phones, tablets and other digital devices to class.
It is part of the Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) initiative designed to enhance students’ academic experience by allowing them to log into the district’s Wi-Fi network for educational resources.
In a comprehensive report to the Three Village school board last week, Kerrin Welch-Pollera, the district’s executive director of instructional technology, spoke of those and other technological initiatives now in play or soon to be introduced at the elementary and secondary levels. She also gave an update on the district’s use of technology to improve security at the school campuses.
Speaking specifically of the BYOD program, Welch-Pollera said that there are 3,336 devices currently connected to the district’s Wi-Fi network. They are all running Google Apps for Education. She explained that this special version of Google lets students do searches in an environment that “is pretty much closed off to the public” and has no advertising.
Also, she said, teachers can share documents with their students through Google Classroom.
For students who don’t bring their own devices, there are 23 Chromebooks available for check out from the high school library at the beginning of the day. There is usually a line for them, Welch-Pollera said.
Additional resources include access to Microsoft Office 365, which staff, students and parents can download to their home devices. BYOD will be piloted at the junior high schools this fall.
Welch-Pollera also spoke about instructional technology helping to standardize curriculum across grades and managing the Destiny online library system. As an example, Destiny has eBooks that can be read by an entire grade at the same time. This tool has made the district-wide fifth grade Bull Run project possible and is facilitating a voluntary seventh grade summer reading assignment about cyber bullying.
Other instructional support has come with the purchase of seven Smart tables, which work like smart boards. Welch-Pollera told the board that two smart tables will be used in the new preschool program. Five are already being used in special education classrooms, she said. The district also has 150 iPads and 3D printers in the secondary schools and will receive an additional 123 Chromebooks from BOCES through Race to the Top funds, Welch-Pollera said.
This school year also saw a major upgrade of the district’s security technology with the addition of access cards, entryway cameras and driver’s license scanners. Welch-Pollera also noted upgrades to Infinite Campus, the district’s parent portal, and software training workshops for teachers. In July, the district will roll out a new website. A new, customizable district app will be introduced in the fall.
Additions to the curriculum will include an “hour of code” initiative to be led by the new elementary STEM teachers. The new program will introduce programming language to elementary school students. A computer science class will be offered at the high school in January and a technology class at each junior high.
Welch-Pollera will work with administrators and teachers to determine how to spend the district’s $3.39 million allocation of Smart Schools Bond money, state funds earmarked for prekindergarten facilities, security technology, Internet connectivity and technology for learning.
The district will develop a 3-to-5-year plan that outlines goals for instruction and how technology can support it, she said. There is no time limit for when the district can spend the money, but it cannot use the funds for professional development, technical support, software or subscription services. Being considered are network and wireless infrastructure upgrades to make sure there are access points in every classroom, additional security cameras, upgraded phone systems and additional classroom projectors and displays, Welch-Pollera said.
Port Jefferson Earl L. Vandermeulen High School. File photo by Elana Glowatz
Port Jefferson school district officials announced on Thursday that middle school Principal Antonio Santana would not return for 2015-16, making him the second building leader in the last few months to step down.
In a letter to parents and staff, Superintendent Ken Bossert said Santana would leave Port Jefferson Middle School for a role at a Nassau County high school beginning in July.
“While this news is disappointing, we are happy for Tony that he has chosen to continue to shape his career in the manner that he believes is best for him and his family,” Bossert wrote.
Antonio Santana, above, is leaving his role as Port Jefferson Middle School principal after three years. File photo
The same day, Santana sent out an email to parents about his departure.
“I cannot emphasize enough what a pleasure it’s been working with my students, staff, and parents,” he said. “As I have mentioned at many school functions, it has been a true privilege working in such a great community and all of your efforts in raising such wonderful children have been much appreciated. Having said this, I can’t help feeling a great deal of sadness when I think about all of the people I will miss, especially my students.”
Santana’s news comes about three months after high school Principal Matthew Murphy said he would resign at the end of the current school year, “to pursue other educational opportunities.” Murphy and Santana were both hired three years ago to jointly replace the combined middle school-high school principal, Roseann Cirnigliaro.
The district has filled Murphy’s slot — it announced recently that Christine Austen, the assistant principal for all grade levels and a Port Jefferson graduate, would succeed him at the helm of Earl L. Vandermeulen High School.
“It is wonderful to be given this opportunity to come home and give back to the community this way,” Austen said in a statement.
Austen said she wants to introduce more technology into classroom learning and implement new technology-related courses.
“Our goal is to prepare our students with skills that will last a lifetime,” the incoming principal said.
Bossert said in his Thursday letter that the search is already underway for a new middle school principal, but “due to the timing of this vacancy, it is likely that there will be a gap between Mr. Santana’s departure and the appointment of a new principal.”
Parents may reach out to Bossert, Assistant Superintendent for Business Sean Leister or Executive Director of Curriculum Maureen Hull with any questions.
“Further information about the progress of our search for Mr. Santana’s successor will be shared with our community as it develops.”
At the time of Murphy’s resignation announcement, the superintendent said the district did not plan to return to its previous system of having one principal for both the high school and the middle school. The district was able to operate in that manner for the two schools, which share a building, because it had a waiver from the state education department but that waiver has expired. Bossert has previously said the two schools are different learning environments that require “separate and distinct” principals.
Elwood Superintendent Ken Bossert. File photo by Elana Glowatz
The Port Jefferson school board could change the way it evaluates the district superintendent.
Board members approved a first reading of proposed policy updates that would change their schedule for meeting with the superintendent to discuss district goals and to receive updates, resulting in more communication, and would change the rating scale for the administrator’s performance to one similar to the statewide teacher evaluation scale — with scores of highly effective, effective, developing and ineffective.
After accepting its first reading during the board meeting on May 12, the board may vote to adopt the new policy at its next session.
Under current policy, the board must hold a minimum of two evaluation meetings with the superintendent: one midway through the school year and the other toward its end. But the proposed changes would require a first meeting between the board and the superintendent during the summer, for the parties to discuss goals for the new school year. They would meet again in January to go over progress and, after the board convenes to discuss the superintendent’s performance, the members would meet with him again in May or June. Along the way, from September to May, according to the draft of the updated policy, the superintendent would provide “regular updates to the board regarding progress toward goals” and would submit a self-evaluation in April or May.
Rather than relying on an evaluation scale that employs percentiles, the proposed rating scale would assign the superintendent a ranking in various categories — his relationships with the school board, the community and the staff; business and finance; instructional leadership; and district results — as well as an overall rating.
If the school board revises the policy, some pieces of it will not change: The board would still have to vote upon a superintendent’s ratings and provide explanations for them, and the superintendent would retain the right to add his comments to the evaluation for the record.
MaryEllen Elia succeeds John B. King Jr. as the state’s next education commissioner. Photo from state education department
Shortly after our newly-elected school board trustees are sworn in for the next school year, MaryEllen Elia will officially take her seat as New York’s top education official.
As a community newspaper, we understand just how much the neighborhoods we cover care about education. We’ve taken notes through countless school board meetings, forums on the Common Core Learning Standards and rallies for public education. We have witnessed the passion on both sides of the aisle when it comes to educating our kids.
But while the whole debate over Common Core, higher standards, testing and teacher evaluations — just to name a few — started out as a civil one, it has become overrun with rhetoric, anger and confusion. We hope Elia will help start a new conversation.
Critics of former commissioner John B. King Jr. often mention he had no experience in the classroom. We are pleased to see that Elia, who began her career as a social studies teacher in New York state, has nearly two decades of teaching experience.
In addition, the teacher evaluation system she helped develop received praise from the president of the American Federation of Teachers, the union that oversees many of our local teacher associations. The system uses student test scores as a factor, but also provides developmental support for teachers and utilizes a pay structure that encourages teachers to take on more challenging positions.
We see this system as a sort of compromise and we want to see similar outcomes in New York with Elia at the helm. Both sides need to cooperate with each other, remain respectful and — most importantly — leave politics out of the classroom.
Robert Pearl will once again take the helm at Norwood Elementary School. File photo by Elana Glowatz
Along with freshly sharpened pencils and blank notebooks, the new school year will also bring several administrative changes to Comsewogue schools.
Special education teacher Robert Pearl will be the new principal at Norwood Elementary School, replacing longtime leader Leah Anesta, and James Hilbert, a John F. Kennedy Middle School social studies teacher and part-time dean, will become the new assistant principal at JFK.
The Comsewogue School Board of Education officially approved Pearl and Hilbert on Monday night, along with some other personnel changes, such as giving 15 educators increased work hours for the upcoming school year, with 10 teachers promoted to fulltime positions.
Pearl served a stint as interim principal from September to December, when Norwood Principal Leah Anesta took a leave of absence to care for an ill parent. Now she is retiring, after being with the district for more than 10 years.
Pearl, who has lived in the community for almost two decades, has said he would like to increase the elementary school’s involvement with parents and the community.
Hilbert’s hiring is part of a more complicated switch.
Comsewogue was operating with a dean at the middle school and one at Comsewogue High School, both part-time officials who had teaching responsibilities. Starting next year, to create more flexibility, those dean positions are being replaced with full-time assistant principals.
Bill Bodkin is retiring as the high school’s dean of students after many years, and is being replaced by two assistant principals: Jinu Mathews, who is already on board, and one more who has yet to be hired to replace Pearl, who entered the high school position upon Anesta’s return but will soon leave to once again step into her shoes.
The middle school already had one assistant principal, Theresa Etts, in addition to part-time dean Hilbert, so there will now be two of those full-time staffers at that school.
Suffolk Stop Bullying music video contest winners announced
A Mount Sinai Middle School student will share his original anti-bullying song with hundreds of people at Suffolk County Legislator Sarah Anker’s concert series this summer.
Jameson Wessels, a Mount Sinai eighth-grader, was named the winner of Anker’s (D-Mount Sinai) bullying awareness music video contest on Monday. Jameson and his friend Katie Gudzik created the anti-bullying video featuring the song — called “Why?” — that will be posted on the Suffolk Stop Bullying website.
First-place winner Jameson Wessels, left, poses with second-place winner Isabela Neves. Photo by Erika Karp
The site, which launched last year, provides information and resources about bullying and anti-bullying efforts. Jameson also received a $500 prize from the North Shore Youth Council.
The video showcases music written and performed by Jameson and stars Katie as a victim of cyberbullying. Savannah Moore, another student, wrote the song’s lyrics.
Jameson said he hopes the music video will show others how sad bullying can make someone feel.
“I’ve been bullied in my life and I think that it’s wrong,” he said. “It happens more often than you think.”
Fellow Mount Sinai student Isabela Neves won second place for her original song, while teachers Sommer and Margie Marchand, of Marchand’s School of Dance in Miller Place, won third place for their dancers’ performance of Colbie Caillat’s “Try.”
Suffolk County Legislator Sarah Anker announces the winners of an anti-bullying music video contest on Monday. Photo by Erika Karp
Mike DelGuidice, lead singer of Big Shot, a Billy Joel tribute band; Anthony Mingoia, drummer of pop punk band Patent Pending; and Danny “Enjetic” Rivera, of the Asking Myself Association, an anti-bullying organization, judged the entries.
“There are so many ways to get a message across and I think one of the most important ways is through creative music, and that is why we chose this type of forum,” Anker said.
DelGuidice, a Miller Place native, said bullying affected his life and now, as a father, he sees how bullying still affects kids.
“[I] just thought we could all gather together as a community and actually put a stop to it and do our best to keep our eyes on it,” DelGuidice said.
Jameson, who has been bullied, said bullying is in every community and parents and administrators can’t push the issue aside. He added that other students must take a stand and not be just a bystander when they witness bullying, which can be a hard thing to do.
“I think I’ve gotten better at it as I’ve gotten older, but it is still something many people struggle with, including me,” he said.
Above, Northport girls' soccer player Victoria Colatosti winds up in a game against Garden City. File photo by Desirée Keegan
A group of Northport-East Northport school district residents will be bringing their A-game to a new committee tasked with brainstorming ways to upgrade its athletic facilities.
The school board voted unanimously on Monday to appoint a group of 15 district residents who will roll up their sleeves and get to work on recommending repairs and projects.
Trustee Regina Pisacani spearheaded the creation of the Athletic Facilities Citizens Advisory Committee back in March in an effort she said was born out of community desire to do something about the district’s sports facilities.
“I hope to meet the needs the community wants for the district for the athletic fields and facilities,” Pisacani said in an interview with reporters at Monday night’s school board meeting. “There’s been a lot of disappointment in the state that things have gotten to and I hope to turn that around.”
The school board first approved the creation of the committee in March and tasked it with focusing on the inspection and evaluation of the present state of athletic facilities and grounds and deciding whether to rehabilitate or replace fields, equipment and facilities. It is also charged with reviewing, analyzing and summarizing the state of the district’s athletic facilities in a written report to the school board and creating a list in order of safety and importance of recommended repairs and/or replacements.
Other tasks of the group include determining the costs of the recommended repairs and analyzing outside funding opportunities to help pay for upgrades.
The resolution authorizing the group said the committee must present a five-year plan to identify priorities for the board by Dec. 14, 2015. It must also prepare a presentation for the 2016 budget meeting before the committee expires on June 30, 2016.
Earlier this year, parents lobbied the school board to seriously consider funding upgrades to the district’s facilities in the school’s budget. In January, 27 people emailed the school board on the issue with many saying they felt the current state of athletic facilities is “embarrassing” and in some cases “a safety hazard.”
Steve Kils, who wrote one of the letters, said at the time he was disappointed with the sports facilities, particularly at the high school.
“For example, lighted football/soccer/lacrosse/field hockey fields with either well-groomed grass or, preferably, artificial turf is the standard,” he said. “Our children are competing with others throughout the country with these basics, and I believe strongly that we need to make these upgrades a priority for our community and school district.”
Some parents echoed the desire to bring turf to the district.
“The children playing on these fields are putting themselves at risk of being injured due to lack of upkeep, and quite frankly, after visiting many high schools with gorgeous turf fields, it is quite an embarrassment to show off our overgrown, bumpy and lumpy, grass fields,” Michele Bica wrote at the time. “Please put this in your budget immediately… How many years do we have to sit by and wait (for something that would benefit many teams as well as the high school image) for you to make room for something as important as this in our budget.”
Pisacani said the first meeting of the committee is on June 8 at 6:30 p.m. in the school board conference room at the William J. Brosnan School building. The meeting is open to the public.
MaryEllen Elia succeeds John B. King Jr. as the state’s next education commissioner. Photo from state education department
MaryEllen Elia, a former Florida superintendent, will succeed John B. King Jr., as New York’s next education commissioner and local education leaders across the North Shore are anxiously waiting to see if she’ll pass the test.
The New York State Board of Regents formed a seven-member search committee in January to find a replacement for King, who announced he was leaving his seat after accepting a federal senior advisor position to U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan.
For a decade, Elia served as the superintendent of Hillsborough County, Florida, and was named state Superintendent of the Year in 2015. She is credited with much success in Hillsborough, as her district won $100 million from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to help develop a teacher evaluation system that used student standardized test scores as a key factor.
The system, Empowering Effective Teachers, received national praise from Duncan and the American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten, who stated in a press release the system provides extensive support for teachers and pay structure incentivizes teachers to take on more challenging positions.
Board of Regents Chancellor Merryl Tisch said in a press release that Elia has a remarkable record of working collaboratively with parents, students and teachers to get things done, which was crucial to make sure the implementation of the Common Core Learning Standards went smoothly for students and teachers in Florida.
Elia is delighted to return back to New York, and said in a press release that she is happy to work on behalf of the children. She still considers herself a teacher at heart, and believes that a good teacher is also a good listener.
The New York native had her first teaching job in Sweet Home Central School District in Amherst, N.Y., where she taught social studies for 16 years. In 1986, when her family moved to Florida, she became a reading teacher for three years and then held various administrative positions in the district until her departure.
During Elia’s 10-year tenure as superintendent of Hillsborough, students have received national recognition for their achievement. Fourth and eighth grade students earned high reading scores than any of the other 22 districts that participated in the 2013 Trial Urban District Assessment.
All of Hillsborough districts public high schools placed on the Washington Post’s list of “America’s Most Challenging High Schools” in 2012 and 2013.
Former state education Commissioner John B. King Jr. at a community forum. File photo by Erika Karp
King stepped down last December amidst much controversy, specifically for his methods of implementing the highly controversial Common Core in New York.
Superintendents, politicians and members of the community all found problems with King’s techniques, feeling that the Common Core was rushed into the schools and not given enough time for teachers and students to understand it. Another fault was his background, which lacked any teaching jobs. King was a co-founder of Roxbury Prep, a charter middle school in Massachusetts.
“I was the first to call for his resignation, he developed a hostile approach and seemed oblivious to his role,” New York State Assemblyman Steve Englebright (D-Setauket) said.
Englebright said he hopes Elia will provide a fresh look at the system, and that she’ll bring her background as both a teacher and an administrator to the schools of New York.
One thing is for sure; Elia has her work cut out for her.
“I think she has a monumental task ahead of her, “ Timothy Eagen, Kings Park’s superintendent said. “On Long Island, about 50 percent of students in grades three through eight refused to take the assessments this past year. There is a lot of work to be done.”
Middle Country school district Superintendent Roberta Gerold felt there wasn’t a collaborative culture surrounding the application of the Common Core under King’s tenure.
“There needs to be a responsible conversation, and I don’t think we had that with King, he was reluctant to slow down,” said Gerold, who also serves as president of the Suffolk County School Superintendents Association.
Fellow superintendent, Joe Rella, of Comsewogue, said he is desperate for a more collaborative and ongoing conversation.
“This reform dialogue needs to stop, he said. “We need time to examine what has happened. I am optimistic on Elia’s hiring until further notice.”
The superintendent’s prayers may just be answered, as Elia stated that her first item of business as commissioner will be listening to the members of the community, parents, teachers, students and administrators.
Johanna Testa, vice president of the Miller Place Board of Education, said while she is 100 percent happy to see a new commissioner, who has experience teaching in New York, she still has some concerns over Elia’s track record of student test scores being tied to teacher evaluations.
“I’m just not convinced she’s the right person for the job,” Testa said.
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