East Williston School District Superintendent Lorna Lewis reported Monday that the number of advanced placement scholar students in the district had risen from 96 in 2010 to 120 in 2011.
“In order to become an AP scholar a student must earn a three, four or five on their exams in three different subjects,” Lewis said in a presentation to the school board Monday night.
The district held its annual Red Ribbon Week this week, which is dedicated to raising awareness on drugs and alcohol.
“We have programs that focus on drug and alcohol awareness for Red Ribbon Week. Each school participates in it and we have presentations, workshops, and activities during and after school all week long that reinforce the need for awareness on these subjects.”
The Wheatley School Key club held a walk-a-thon for charity last Sunday, and raised more than $10,000 for five different charities.
“One of district priorities is to engage the district in safety and this past weekend we certainly were engaged as a community,” Lewis said.
The charities involved were, Kamp Kiwanis, Diabetes Research Institute, North Shore Animal league, Habitat for Humanity, and the Children’s Learning Center.
In other developments East Williston School District Board President Mark Kamberg asked the board to look into how much it would cost to hire a security guard for the front door of the Wheatley School.
Kamberg asked that the topic be researched and put on the agenda for the next board meeting.
“The board has been talking about the security at every board meeting, and security updates is on our all our agendas,” Kamberg said after the meeting. “We’ve done a lot over the years to improve security such as installing ID cards and providing ID cards for the staff and the students.
This is just an ongoing update and more of the same part of the process. We want to make sure that our schools are safe and secure for our students and staff.”
