Education

Starting in September, the Bridgehampton School District will offer its students a slate of new courses designed to boost academic rigor and prepare them for future careers. Its school board approved the curriculum offerings in January, and teachers and guidance counselors have already been talking them up, getting the kids excited for what’s in store.

The Economic Opportunity Council of Suffolk, which has operated the child care program at the Montauk Playhouse for 17 years, has announced it will cease operations there effective May 3, and while East Hampton Town is already seeking bids from other providers, many Montauk families are left coping with uncertainty.

Springs School’s two robotics teams, along with their coaches, were all smiles Saturday because they received a total of three awards at the Long Island LEGO League Robotics Tournament at William Floyd High School.

School districts in New York State are facing another difficult budget cycle for the fiscal year ahead, with inflation still at challenging levels, dramatic increases in health insurance costs, and Gov. Kathy Hochul’s recent announcement of changes that could leave some South Fork districts coping with as much as a 20-percent decrease in state aid.

The jazz band, camerata choir, and chamber orchestra of East Hampton High School will give a concert Thursday night at 6:30. Elsewhere, the Valentine's Day crafts and programs are picking up.

“I’m very happy to share, so the younger generation wouldn’t say that it never happened,” Judy Sleed of East Hampton, who escaped the Nazis in Budapest in 1944, told students at East Hampton High School. “I just hope you don’t have to experience anything like I went through.”

The Wainscott School is encouraging parents to register their children "as soon as possible."

The East Hampton Town Trustees voted on Monday to donate $2,000 to Finn O’Rourke, an East Hampton High School sophomore, toward the purchase of a satellite tag for a shark movement research project he plans to conduct this year as part of his science studies.

In the East Hampton School District, the prekindergarten classes may be shrinking in size but the kids are coming in with more educational needs than ever, administrators said last week. Now, the district is getting ready to explore adding a program for 3-year-olds.

The Church in Sag Harbor will host Mai Le Ho, a French-Vietnamese performance artist and educator, who will lead a diverse cast of performers at an all-ages dance jam called LayeRhythm on Saturday evening from 6:30 to 9. Plus: winter blues fun at the East Hampton Library, children's movies, arts and crafts, and more coming up for kids and teens.

Rob Schumacher, a science teacher at Sag Harbor’s Pierson Middle and High School, presented a proposal Monday for a new science classroom: a “wet lab” that would bring marine environments to life in a real-life, hands-on way, going beyond textbooks and simulations.

Springs School District officials reported disappointing scores this week from standardized math and English tests given last spring to students in grades three through eight. “We can improve,” said Erik Kelt, the new school principal, in announcing strategies for boosting students' proficiency in these subjects.