Education

Citarella raised $132,170.64 for the East Hampton Fund for Children this past summer through a campaign in which shoppers at its gourmet markets in East Hampton, Bridgehampton, and Southampton were encouraged to donate to the fund or purchase tote bags at checkout. 

Last week marked a turning point for two early childhood care providers in East Hampton Town. The Eleanor Whitmore Early Childhood Center celebrated the first week of a new program for babies between 12 and 18 months, and Project Most received an emergency grant to cover operational costs at the Montauk Child Care Center, which serves children as young as 6 weeks old. 

Friday is homecoming at Pierson High School in Sag Harbor, and students will be celebrating all day long.

Coming up: Big Truck Day at the Children's Museum of the East End and a plethora of offerings at the East Hampton Library for kids and teens.

It’s back to school season and the two books featured in this column are perfect autumn reads.

Next Thursday at 6 p.m. the East Hampton School Board will hold the first in a series of forums to gather comments on projects that could be covered by a more than $60 million bond the district plans to put on the May 2026 ballot. 

The League of Women Voters of the Hamptons, Shelter Island, and the North Fork will host a forum on school boards and how to get involved next Thursday at 6:30 p.m. at LTV Studios in Wainscott. 

For kids this week, a drip-painting workshop inspired by the pollinator garden at East Hampton Town Hall, a "crime scene" investigation in Montauk, and all sorts of things to do at the East Hampton Library.

“It’s going to be a great year for us,” Erik Kelt, the principal of the Springs School, said at the school board’s first meeting of the academic year Tuesday night. Although it was only five days into the semester, Mr. Kelt said he can already feel a “different atmosphere” and “a lot of positivity.” 

The school year began on Tuesday at the John M. Marshall Elementary School in East Hampton, where 505 students were enrolled as of earlier this week.

East Hampton High School students and staff adjusted fairly easily to their first smartphone-free day Tuesday, the principal, Sara Smith, told the school board, with the opening day of the year serving as a sort of test for a policy mandated by the state but long planned by the administration.

In the spring, the first cohort of dual-language enrichment program students graduated from the John M. Marshall Elementary School in East Hampton after having spent their entire time at the school being taught in both English and Spanish. They will begin middle school next week.

School starts next week on the South Fork: Tuesday in East Hampton, Amagansett, and Bridgehampton; Wednesday in Springs, Sag Harbor, Sagaponack, and Wainscott, and next Thursday in Montauk.

It will be up to the community which projects rise to the top of the list as the East Hampton School District begins to firm up plans for a bond referendum of more than $60 million it will put on the May 2026 ballot, and on Tuesday night the superintendent, Adam Fine, announced four workshops designed to gather that input over the next few months.

Smokey Buns, a conveniently located burger joint, and Scoop and Waffle, a sweet little ice cream spot, off Park Place in East Hampton, were the perfect spots for the students of The Star’s Summer Academy to have a casual meal together on a Friday afternoon and try their hands at restaurant reviewing.

This installment features three books beloved by your favorite celebrities who you may not know are bookworms: Emma Watson, Taylor Swift, and Ariana Grande.

The Amagansett School Board issued a notice on Monday that Wayne Gauger, the board’s president, had resigned effective immediately. The board’s vice president, Addie Slater-Davison, has assumed the position of president and will hold the title until a new president is elected at the board’s July 2026 reorganization meeting. 

Hampton Racquet and Project Most will serve up a kick-off benefit for the brand-new John T. Graham Scholarship Fund on Sunday. 

Organizacion Latino Americana of Eastern Long Island has named the six recipients of its scholarship awards, and among them are four recent East Hampton graduates: Briana Chavez, Vanessa Salome Galindo, Gabriela Jacome, and Bradley Rodriguez. 

“Our season has been an amazing season,” John Ryan Jr., the town’s chief lifeguard, said of East Hampton Town’s junior lifeguard program, which teaches children ages 9 to 15 the importance of water safety and ocean awareness.

The East Hampton Town Trustees heard a pitch for the construction of a fifth and sixth oyster reef in Three Mile Harbor on Monday, a plan they quickly approved. 

On Wednesday, Goat on a Boat Puppet Theatre will host a puppet-making workshop at LTV Studios, at 75 Industrial Road in Wainscott, from 5 to 7 p.m.

The East Hampton Library will host its annual Children’s Fair on Sunday at Herrick Park, with festivities including carnival rides, games, crafts, performances, food, and raffles.

Alexander Svarre, a 17-year-old rising senior at Manhattan’s Dwight School, has been spending his last summer before graduation as an intern for the East Hampton Village mayor’s office, working on a very specific task: documenting the memorial plaques under 492 trees located throughout the village.

The Children’s Museum of the East End in Bridgehampton will host a panel talk featuring three pediatric specialists on Friday, Aug. 15.

“This is one of those rare opportunities when you don’t have to ask taxpayers for money to do the things that improve students’ lives,” the district superintendent said of the newly paid down construction bond.

For her just-released science-fiction novel, “Black Hole Highway,” Georgia Flight, an East Hampton High School English teacher, drew inspiration from stories like “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” and “Star Wars,” and the work of Kurt Vonnegut — whimsical, fun to read, and not weighed down by extensive passages of “dreary” world-building.

Student artwork inspired by Springs, the Mermen at Guild Hall.

Organizacion Latino Americana of Eastern Long Island has launched a scholarship initiative with seven Latino-owned businesses to support “the future of East End Latino youth,” according to the nonprofit.

Cindy and Joe Realmuto have “been an instrumental component of Project Most since its inception,” its executive director, Rebecca Taylor, said. They will be celebrated at a summer benefit on Sunday at Moby’s in East Hampton.