Education

A routine annual review of the Bridgehampton School District’s 2020-21 finances by an outside auditor was sparkling, save for a handful of small issues, one of which was the district’s accidental allocation of more scholarship money for students than it had available from donors for that purpose.

On an average day at the Montauk School, it’s normal for around 13 or 14 students to be absent, amounting to 4 percent of the school’s enrollment of 328. On Friday, its absences jumped to 23 percent — about 75 children — after a social media post threatening violence went viral and whipped families into a frenzy across the nation.

A holiday break camp at the Children’s Museum of the East End in Bridgehampton will offer something for kids 3 1/2 to 5 to do from 9:30 a.m. to noon Monday through next Thursday. Each day there’s a different focus.

Worrisome cracks in the brickwork, wall-joint separation, and rusting lintels are just some of the issues the Sag Harbor School District is planning to tackle with a large-scale masonry repair project expected to cost nearly $1 million.

Police departments here and across Long Island are on heightened alert at schools, following social media posts that threatened violence today, Friday. Those threats have now been deemed non-credible.

“It’s fun to have buddies,” Keira Huerta said, “because you don’t have to be alone.”

Keira, a first grader at the John M. Marshall Elementary School, summed it up perfectly as one of about a dozen students who told the East Hampton School Board last week that they really like their buddy program, which pairs fourth graders with first graders for educational activities and playtime.

The Hampton Library’s popular gingerbread cookie-decorating program happens on Saturday. Kids and their families can also choose from lots of other activities coming up.

It’s got a new name and a new look, but its goals have not changed.

The East Hampton Education Foundation has officially dropped “Greater” from its name, hoping that the community will more easily recognize it and connect to its mission, which is to “enrich the lives of students in East Hampton public schools by supporting superior educational and wellness programs.”

Fond memories of Bella Adlah, who lived and attended school here up until a few years ago, have led to a swell of support for her family following her diagnosis in June with functional neurological disorder, which causes daily seizures, loss of vision and ability to eat, and left her unable to talk above a whisper or use her limbs and torso from her shoulders down.

The East Hampton School Board, which has been conducting an assiduous search for “affordable and attainable” housing options for school teachers and other employees, urged the town on Tuesday to bring back a past plan for such a development on a 40-acre property off Stephen Hand’s Path in the Wainscott School District.

A family day at the Parrish Art Museum, decorating a tree for the birds at the South Fork Natural History Museum, and lots of winter and holiday-themed crafts are on tap for kids this week.

With Covid-19 again putting off the East Hampton Masonic Lodge’s community pot roast dinner, which raises money for scholarships, sports teams, and other activities for kids here, Brian Lester recently wondered to himself what could possibly be done to replace it, for now at least.

Then a proverbial light went off in his brain, inspired by the holiday light shows he took his family to see in Riverhead and at Smith Point County Park in Shirley last year. Why not do something similar in East Hampton?

The Hampton Ballet Theatre School will present a magical rendition of “The Nutcracker,” a traditional harbinger of holiday cheer, on Friday, Dec. 17, Dec. 18, and Dec. 19. The studio’s 12th production of the beloved ballet is in person, marking a return to live theater after a long hiatus caused by Covid-19.

What had been an anticipated dip in high school graduation rates brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic across the United States largely did not come to pass in school districts on the eastern end of the South Fork, data from the last two school years show.

East Hampton School District officials wanted their affordable housing forum on Tuesday to be a brainstorming session focused on solutions and proposals, and from innovative financing and land use ideas to promises of partnership from elected officials to participation by community members, that’s just what they got.

Programs for kids this week offer a big dose of holiday fun and a chance to move, create, and connect.

For teens this week through local libraries, there are community service opportunities, a chance to unwind with art, and a suicide awareness training session to help students recognize when someone is in distress and offer support.

The Bridgehampton School's auditorium, which was to be completed by late November or early December, may not be fully finished until after then, the district's superintendent, Mary Kelly, told the school board on Nov. 17.

To be moderated by Jackie Lowey, a school board member, the forum will explore topics such as residential zoning changes, mortgage assistance, and purchasing or building housing units. Experts in the housing industry are expected to take part, though community members will also be able to share opinions and ideas.

The Springs School's eighth-grade class will benefit from a pancake breakfast fund-raiser at the Springs Fire Department headquarters on Dec. 5 from 7 to 11 a.m. Menu items include eggs, French toast, pancakes, sausage, bacon, toast, hash browns, and juice, coffee, and tea.

The coming week's activities for kids include a marionette show at the East Hampton Library, an open house at the South Fork Natural History Museum, and art and science activities.

Starting Monday, Montauk School students will have a chance to shop for books and gifts during a weeklong holiday fair at the school. Browsing and shopping will take place during regularly scheduled library and computer classes, and parents, guardians, and families can take advantage of the sale after school from 3 to 6 p.m. from Monday to next Thursday.

As a response to the growing concern about the lasting impact of the pandemic on children's well-being, I-Tri, the East Hampton organization whose goal is to empower middle school girls through fitness, and the Center for Healing and Justice Through Sport, a national organization, offered a free trauma-informed coaching session.

The East Hampton School Board on Tuesday introduced the idea of setting up a new reserve account dedicated to paying for critical repairs of an emergency nature.

Liz Joyce, the founder of the nonprofit Goat on a Boat Puppet Theatre, is getting ready to launch new programs in the spring. With help from fellow puppeteers, she’ll be able to take the show on the road to bring the art of puppetry to a wider audience.

Sewing, textile printing, and rope jumping are among the fun activities on tap this week with Project Most at the Neighborhood House in East Hampton.

"When a child doesn't know how to read, we teach them how to read," Christine Cleary, the Springs School principal, said during Tuesday's school board meeting. "When a child doesn't know how to multiply, we teach them how to multiply. When a child doesn't know how to behave, we punish them. We have to teach them how to behave."

Children on the autism spectrum or who have sensory processing disorders will get a special welcome at the Children's Museum of the East End in Bridgehampton on Saturday morning.

Now that children 5 to 11 are eligible to receive Pfizer's Covid-19 vaccine — the first that has been approved for pediatric administration in the United States — medical professionals and government officials here and across Long Island are quickly putting plans in place to meet families' needs.

At a Nov. 3 school board meeting, Adam Fine, the district superintendent, announced that student enrollment numbers were up in all three of the schools.