Education

After writing earlier this year to President Joseph R. Biden expressing their concerns and hopes for the future of the country, David Cataletto and his sixth-grade students at the East Hampton Middle School were pleasantly surprised when the children got a letter back from the president on June 9.

The Bridgehampton School District’s 2021-2022 budget goes to a revote Tuesday, June 15, after its original 8.93-percent tax-levy increase was knocked down to 6.49 percent — still piercing the tax cap — when $400,000 of unanticipated income was discovered during a re-examination of the original spending plan.

Collages, Crafts, and Music

In sync with Guild Hall's newest exhibit, "Shipwrecks" by Alexis Rockman, there will be a family art workshop on Saturday from noon to 1:30 p.m. The theme is micro-plastic collages and the workshop is appropriate for children ages 4 and up. There will be similar events each Saturday through July 10. The registration fee is $50 for a family of four; $35 for families who are members of Guild Hall.

Despite criticism from several teachers last month, Springs School administrators are moving ahead with a plan to move from eight to nine class periods per day, starting in September.

Registration for summer academics in the East Hampton School District is coming up for high school students seeking to improve their grades and complete graduation requirements and for elementary and middle school students who need extra help in reading, math, or writing. All classes are held at the high school, running from July 5 through Aug. 5.

Bridgehampton School's fifth-grade book club battled a dragon over the past year and three months, though this particular creature wasn't the scaly, fire-breathing type from fantasy lore. It was worse. Their dragon went by the name Covid-19, and the battles played out in letters the students wrote that are on display at the Hampton Library.

Graduation season is upon us, which means not only lots of pomp and circumstance but also a chance to formally congratulate high school seniors on their accomplishments in a special issue of The Star on June 17.

Following new recommendations and a clarification from the Centers for Disease Control, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo announced that New York would modify its mask guidance to allow schools to opt out of requiring masks outside. And in general, virtually all Covid-19 restrictions can be lifted once 70 percent of adult New Yorkers have received at least one dose of the vaccine

"In true Covid fashion," reported Adam Fine, the East Hampton School District assistant superintendent, there was a Dumpster fire adjacent to the middle school at about 12:30 p.m. on Tuesday, "which kind of puts in perspective the entire year."

LTV has announced a new annual program to celebrate young people's creative and capable use of smartphones. From now through Nov. 1, for its "Fone Film Festival," LTV will accept submissions of short movies created via smartphone by those 18 years or younger.

In December, a film festival marathon on LTV's channel 20 will feature the films, which will continue to be broadcast throughout 2022.

Fabulous Tapping

"Tap: The Rhythm Awakens" on Friday, June 11, and June 12 is the latest production from Our Fabulous Variety Show, its first stage show since December of 2019. To be held at the Children's Museum of the East End in Bridgehampton at 6:30 p.m. both days, student and adult dancers will pay tribute to the art and history of tap dance while celebrating each performer's own dance journey. 

Tickets are $15 and can be bought at the door, in advance by phone at 631-507-4603, or online at ourfabulousvarietyshow.org.

Audrey Smith, a Montauk School eighth-grader, and Daisy Pitches, who is in the seventh grade, have earned first place and a $1,000 prize in a national video competition that celebrates rural schools.

The Bridgehampton School District has chosen to place the same over-the-tax-cap $20.66 million spending plan on the June 15 budget ballot, with school board members appealing to the community for a second chance at the supermajority of voter approval needed for it to pass.

On May 18, the Bridgehampton budget was just two votes shy of that supermajority. The final tally was 150 to 103, or just over 59-percent voter approval when 60-percent approval was required. The proposed tax-levy increase is 8.93 percent, with a $1.67 million increase in overall spending.

Kids ages 12 to 17 who opt to get fully vaccinated for Covid-19 will be entered into a random drawing to win a full college scholarship, including room and board costs, to a SUNY or CUNY institution, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo has announced.

Go With the Flow

Project Most's upcoming STEAM workshop for kids ages 3 and 4 is all about mixing paints and watching how the colors move and change. It will be held on Saturday, June 5, starting at 9:30 a.m. At 10:45 that morning, kids in kindergarten through the third grade can turn milk cartons into cars, and at 12:30 p.m., fourth through sixth graders can learn about water striders (a type of water bug) and take a challenge to make their own.

Part of what makes imaginative play at Hayground School so unique comes before recess even begins. The playground's new rainbow climber, a work in progress, crystalizes this special environment, one in which students are having hands-on involvement in the design and creation of a play space to best serve their imaginations. Sometimes that means mixing concrete as a 10-year-old.

Joanne Goerler didn't want to retire in January from her teaching job at the John M. Marshall Elementary School, where she had worked since 1989, but she didn't really have a choice. The Covid-19 pandemic posed a life-threatening risk to her immune system, which had been compromised by a blood cancer called myelodysplastic syndrome, a surprise diagnosis Ms. Goerler received in the spring of 2018 after having some routine bloodwork.

The Bridgehampton School District on Wednesday evening appointed a new superintendent, Mary T. Kelly, who was chosen from a field of 21 applicants.

"A number of issues that the district thought compromised the safety of our students" need to be addressed ahead of any contract renewal, the Sag Harbor School District superintendent told residents who are disappointed in the lack of compromise on a new contract between the district and Mashashimuet Park.

Springs School officials want everyone to know they can't use the school's brand-new soccer and baseball fields just yet because the sod is too fresh, and they want all-terrain vehicle drivers to know that there cannot be any riding across the fields at all.

To that end, the district will soon erect a fence around the new fields and will install security cameras at key places -- with an eye to catching the license plates of offenders.

All About Frogs and Bats

Who doesn't love frogs? Today at 4 p.m., through the East Hampton Library, the Quogue Wildlife Refuge will offer an up-close look via Zoom at Long Island frog species for children of all ages. Bats, though, might be a different story. These often-misunderstood creatures will be the subject of another library Zoom session, this one on Tuesday at 4 p.m. Sign-up information is online at easthamptonlibrary.org, or by phone at 631-324-0222, extension 2.

Project Most’s annual plant sale will be Saturday at the Neighborhood House at 92 Three Mile Harbor Road in East Hampton, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. There will organic vegetables seedlings, herbs, and flowers grown by its after-school students.

One can only wonder what Margaret Olivia Slocum Sage, Sag Harbor's greatest philanthropist of the early 20th century, might think of the newly emerged rift between two village institutions: the Sag Harbor School District, for which Mrs. Sage donated money to build what is now Pierson Middle and High School, and Mashashimuet Park, another one of her gifts to the people of the village.

Two years after banning the intentional release of balloons, the East Hampton Town Board appears poised to go further by also enacting a ban on the sale and distribution of filled latex and Mylar balloons.

While turnout was low almost across the board, the vast majority of voters in all but one local school district gave their stamp of approval to their districts' budgets on Tuesday. The Bridgehampton School District fell just short of the 60-percent supermajority of voter approval it needed to pass an over-the-tax-cap budget proposal of $20.66 million, but other districts — including East Hampton, Montauk, and Amagansett — saw budgets pass with more than 80 percent voter approval.

NAMM's Best Communities for Music Education lauds schools for their "innovative and resourceful music education programs." This year represents East Hampton's sixth straight such award.

Registration is open for East Hampton Town's summertime youth clinics and programs in sailing, basketball, tennis, and swimming. Swimming lessons are free, and the others range from $45 to $225 for each week of clinics.

On Tuesday, voters across New York State will head to the polls to weigh in on school district spending plans and propositions and to elect board members. Bridgehampton and Sagaponack seek to override New York State's cap on tax-levy increases, which will require approval of at least 60 percent of district voters. All but one local district, Montauk, are proposing budgets that increase overall spending. Here are the basics in each of the school districts The Star covers.

There are both pros and cons to keeping an eight-period day in place or retooling the daily schedule for nine periods, Springs School District administrators said Monday. A lively work session debate drew input from several teachers and school board members alike, all of whom said they wanted further discussion before any decisions are made.

In her first bid for a seat on the Springs School Board, Hella Drew will challenge Barbara Dayton, a two-term incumbent, in the May 18 election.