Board Adopts 2015-16 School Calendar
After two snow days that postponed both the January and February Monthly Business Meetings, the Board of Education adopted the new calendar for the 2015-16 school year on February 10. You can view the new calendar on the district website at www.ewsdonline.org > hover on District Calendar on navigation bar > click on 15-16 Calendar Summary or view by clicking on this link – 2015-16 School Calendar Summary.
Reminder: Coffee with the Superintendent – February 23
As I mentioned in my last newsletter, the evening Coffee with the Superintendent will take place when school reopens, on Monday, February 23 at 7:00 PM in Room 450 at The Wheatley School. I look forward to seeing you there.
Wheatley Art Gallery
There is new artwork displayed in the Wheatley Gallery from some of Wheatley’s art classes, Drawing and Painting 1, Photography 1, Portfolio, Advanced Portfolio Photography and Advanced Portfolio. If you happen to be at the school, the gallery is in the front lobby. If you can’t get there, you can view some of the artwork at the following link – Wheatley Art Gallery.
District Technology Fair Enhanced! – March 11
Thanks to the work of the District Technology Committee and with many thanks for financial support from the North Side and Willets Road PTOs, the District Technology Fair is taking on some new and enhanced offerings this year. These new offerings further support our district-wide STEM initiative, identified as a priority of our five-year strategic plan.
In addition to the Technology Fair, students in grades 2-7 have been given the opportunity to participate in activities offered by the New York Hall of Science and a STEM class of their choosing, presented by our teachers. Although the New York Hall of Science and the classes are only open to students in grades 2-7, everyone is invited to attend the Technology Fair which will also include seven STEM activities offered by the New York Institute of Technology (NYIT) in addition to demonstrations of how technology is being used in East Williston classrooms every day. If your child is in grades 2-7, you should have received an invite to register for the whole event. There are still about 30 seats open. Please note that this is not a drop-off program; registered children must be accompanied by an adult.
Also note, this event, our District-wide Technology Fair, New York Hall of Science and NYIT will take place on March 11 from 5:00 PM – 7:30 PM at Willets Road. This time and venue is a change from the printed calendar in order to accommodate the new activities.
Staff Sharing Knowledge and New Ideas!
You may recall, way back in September, I wrote about our district hosting the first Long Island “EdCamp.” EdCamp, a national initiative, is known as an “unconference,” designed specifically for educators and stakeholders involved in education. It is built on the principles of connected and participatory learning and strives to bring educators together to talk about the things that matter most to them, their interests, passions and questions.
During each month, our faculty and staff spend time before or after school in faculty and grade level meetings working together professionally and meeting on a variety of topics related to our educational program. This past Tuesday, the Willets Road faculty conducted their faculty meeting as a series of professional development workshops modeled after the EdCamp Professional Development Conference format. Faculty and administrators volunteered to conduct workshops that their colleagues could randomly choose to attend. The workshops were held in two separate 25-minute sessions to allow the participants to attend two different workshops. The workshop titles included: 1) The 8 Minutes that Matter the Most: How do you begin and end your lessons? presented by Willets Road Principal Stephen Kimmel; 2) Topics in Technology; PLN, PLC, Twitter, GAFE, Chromebooks presented by instructional technology teacher Audra Beberman 3) The Google Classroom presented by physical education teacher David Burke; 4) #BookLove: Texts to Enhance Professional and Classroom Libraries presented by fifth grade teachers Monica Gibson and Lynn Flynn; 5) The Creativity Test: Part 1 & 2 presented by art teachers Colette Hardy and Melinda Gomez; 6) The Benefits of Using the App “Remind” presented by fifth grade teachers Diane M. Viola and Maryann Rutter; 7) NoodleTools presented by librarian Diane Ilkiw; and 8) Edmodo Snapshot presented by sixth grade teacher Ronald Roaldsen.
This was a great opportunity for staff to learn new technologies to enhance instruction and to share their knowledge with each other within the context of an ongoing professional learning community.
Students Travel to Italy
Twelve Wheatley students departed this afternoon for a February vacation they will never forget. They will be visiting Rome, Sorrento, Pompeii, the Island of Capri, The Vatican, Orvieto, Florence, Tuscany, Siena and Venice with Wheatley teachers Susan Vasselman and Pilar Principe-Franco. Aside from sightseeing, the cultural experiences include dancing the Tarantella, learning about regional specialties in an Italian version of Food Challenge and, weather permitting, a gondola ride. Buon viaggio! Students participating include Olivia Braito, Samantha Cumming, Jennifer Dioguardi, Laura D’Angelo, Julia Haghighi, Jacqueline LaGinestra, Alana Leahy, Morgan Misk, Raffaela Palmieri, Ashley Saparzadeh, Andrew Schloss and Olivia Suppa.
Goals Meetings Continue
Administrators and faculty continue the process I shared with you recently, reviewing district progress toward this year’s goals and beginning discussions about next year’s instructional goals. Periodically, I will update you on our progress.
One of our big picture goals is Goal #8: Continue Successful Science Learning for Students. This year a related SMART (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Time Bound) goal is to plan and pilot a LEGO Robotics Club for Grades 6 and 7 at Willets Road. I am excited to share that this spring there will be a pilot LEGO Robotics Club offered for our 6th and 7th graders. Look for information regarding this club offering and registration process in the coming weeks. This program also supports our STEM initiative.
Seventh Grade Research Presenters
The results are in! Some of our students have been selected from among many fine candidates, to represent the East Williston School District at the “Junior Division” of the National History Day Regional Conference at Hofstra University on March 8. The National History Day projects that have been carefully chosen for competition are an outgrowth of last year’s SMART goal to define and articulate specific skills in research and writing in Grades 7, 8 and 9 which will support success for the Grade 10 research paper. Congratulations.
The following students’ projects have been selected:
Individual Websites:
• Rebecca Sparacio (7th grade) (Elie Wiesel)
• Ashley Vincenzo(7th grade) (Jonas Salk)
• Emily Blumberg (7th grade) (Alice Paul)
Group Websites:
• Rebecca Zeltsman and Maggie Caroddo (7th grade) (Harriet Tubman)
• Peter Cuomo and Theodore Koutsoftas (7th grade) (Franklin Delano Roosevelt)
Group Documentaries
• Diya Shah, Alison Keller and Alison Amarain (7th grade) (Andrew Jackson)
• Alex Horowitz and Ilana Nimkoff (7th grade) (Ruby Bridges)
Group Projects:
• Megan Kaye, Kaya Amin and Kavina Amin (7th grade) (Margaret Thatcher)
• Rahul Ajmera and Brenden Resnick (7th grade) (Machiavelli)
Individual Papers:
• Karen Li (7th grade) (Clara Barton)
• John Scudero (8th grade) (Douglas MacArthur)
• Brandon Zhu (8th grade) (Harry S. Truman)
Congratulations and Commendations
Student of the Quarter
Congratulations to Daniel Schiesser who was named Student of the Quarter at BOCES Barry Tech.
Calendar Changes
Occasionally, the district calendar has additions or changes due to weather or unforeseen scheduling conflicts. To receive notification when there are additions or changes from the printed calendar, you can access the email update/alert system sign-up on the home page of the district website at www.ewsdonline.org and follow the directions. You should check the Calendar box and press Save. If you have any questions about the sign-up, do not hesitate to contact me at checklas@ewsdonline.org or 333-1693.
Recent Calendar Changes
The week of February 23 – 27 will be Willets Road SPARK Week (not this past week as noted on the printed calendar).
On March 11, 2015: The District-Wide Technology Fair will be held at the Willets Road School (not Wheatley as printed) and it will beginning at 5:00 PM (change).
On March 11, 2015: The BOE Budget Workshop #3 will be held at the Willets Road School in the Media Center (not Wheatley as printed) beginning at 7:30 PM.
On April 17, 2015: The Wheatley Student Art Show will be in the Wheatley Lobby from 6:00 PM – 7:00 PM (not on April 24 as noted in the printed calendar).
On April 17, 2015: The Wheatley Tri-M presents Puttin’ on the Ritz – A Big Band Night will be held in the Wheatley Cafeteria from 7:00 PM – 9:00 PM (not on April 24 as noted in the printed calendar).
Have a Good Weekend and a Great February Break
District and school offices will be open on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday of next week. As always, don’t forget to email me at kanase@ewsdonline.org or call me at 333-3758 with any questions, suggestions and/or any topics you would like to see in this newsletter.
Best regards,
Elaine Kanas, Ed.D.
Superintendent of Schools
