Education

Ahh, slime — kids still can’t seem to get enough of it, so Hamptons Community Outreach is throwing a slime-party fund-raiser this weekend. Plus: lots more on the agenda for kids and teens.

In November, residents in the Sag Harbor School District voted 638 to 521 in favor of spending district money to buy land on Marsden Street to create athletic fields across the street from Pierson Middle and High School, but the nature of those fields remains a raging debate, as seen last week when the school district held its second public forum on the proposal. “We decided, as it pertains to the Marsden lot fields, to take 100-percent synthetic turf off the table,” said Jeff Nichols, the district superintendent.

Organizacion Latino-Americana of Eastern Long Island will receive $600,000 from Suffolk County over the next three years for opioid abuse prevention work among young people, the group announced Friday.

A seemingly routine aspect of public-school finance is tripping up local school districts that find themselves having to borrow money during the months before tax revenue starts to flow in. “The interest rates have gone through the roof and are continuing to increase,” Jennifer Buscemi, business administrator for the Sag Harbor School District, told the Sag school board on Monday.

With a goal of helping young students get set up for success in school, Chelsea Petrozzo-Wilson recently launched The Wonderers, a tutoring and small-group educational program.

On Saturday, the Guild Hall Teen Arts Council will hold another open mike night and dance party, this time at the Clubhouse on Daniel’s Hole Road, for artists and performers of all ages to share their talents with the community. Plus: sensory jars, lacrosse sign-up, family-friendly movies, and lots more for kids and teens.

The Sag Harbor Historical Museum has approached the Sag Harbor School Board with a proposal that would see the museum benefit from a public tax levy that the school district would collect on its behalf, similar to the way the school collects tax money for the John Jermain Memorial Library.

The curtain rises tonight on the annual Springs School opera, this year titled “The Magical Doors,” an original show written and performed by the 67 Time Traveler Opera Company — also known as the entire fourth grade.

The South Fork Natural History Museum in Bridgehampton has several programs coming up to capture the attention of children who love all things nature. Plus: art workshops, chess lessons, movies, and more for kids and teens.

The Sag Harbor School District announced this week that it has scheduled another Marsden Street community forum. It will take place on Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. in the Pierson library and virtually via Zoom.

Project Most, the East Hampton nonprofit organization dedicated to providing after-school, weekend, and vacation programs for children, will hold two healthy-cooking gatherings at the Bridgehampton School for children and families in that district.

What happens if you do away with homework and grades in schools? Is the traditional "raise your hand" mentality a best practice in classrooms? What happens if you do away with competition and instead encourage collaboration? These are the kinds of questions on the minds of progressive educators and writers like Alfie Kohn, who will be the speaker at Friday's "Child-Centered Conversation" cosponsored by the Bridgehampton Child Care and Recreational Center, the Hayground School, and the Bridgehampton School District.

On these winter days, there's a lot to keep kids and teens busy.

When clients of Phoenix House visit East Hampton High School, it’s usually on invitation from Jim Stewart, the school’s longtime health teacher, who wants his students to understand how substance abuse, treatment, and recovery look and feel.

“I have been told by students it’s one of the best classes of the semester,” Mr. Stewart said this week.

Southampton Town is willing to make good on its offer of $6 million from the community preservation fund toward the joint purchase with the Sag Harbor School District of land on Marsden Street, but on at least three conditions.

From new classes at Projects Most in East Hampton to community service projects for teens to winter craft programs there's a lot for kids and teens to do, even in these quiet times.

Debra Winter, who was hired as Springs School superintendent in the spring of 2017 and started her post in July that year, confirmed Monday that she is planning to retire in June 2024 after completing what will have been her seventh year with the district.

State Senator Anthony Palumbo has recognized the Eleanor Whitmore Early Childhood Center in East Hampton with the Empire State Award, the highest honor that can be given by a New York State legislator, for its service to the community over the last 50 years.

According to an extensive report published in November by the New York State Board of Regents, survey respondents by and large said they felt the exams “were no longer an adequate measure of student understanding.” Instead, they favored the creation of a new system of high school graduation requirements that give students more options for demonstrating their mastery of “21st-century” skills and knowledge.

Registration is open now for an afternoon of virtual reality activities for kids 10 and up at The Church, the arts center in Sag Harbor. The Jan. 12 program will be offered through a partnership with the Long Island Science Center.

Sag Harbor School District officials have decided not to wait for the Southampton Town Board to formally vote on its offer of community preservation fund money before starting what they have been calling “phase two” of the process. On Dec. 21 the district began gathering public comment to shape the proposal for an athletic field and related facilities on Marsden Street, which has been a hot issue in the village ever since the plan — involving the purchase of land from a private developer — was announced in September.

There are 36 members of the Radio City Rockettes, and 36 members of East Hampton High School’s Camerata choir. Coincidence? Yes, definitely. But both groups took the stage at Radio City Music Hall last Thursday, with the East Hampton singers serving as opening act for the Rockettes in a thrilling six-minute performance that made for quite the harbinger of Christmas spirit.

Ice skating with Santa Claus, holiday crafts, science-themed activities, and more coming up for kids and teens this week.

When she gets ready to star in Studio 3’s annual production of “Mixed Nuts” this weekend at Bay Street Theater in Sag Harbor, Maya Leathers will leave her obstacles at the stage door; they simply can’t crack her when she’s in pointe shoes and a tutu.

A series of matinees for kids and families is good reason for kids to head to the Sag Harbor Cinema on weekends throughout the winter, but this weekend brings the bonus of a virtual Santa experience on Saturday from 2 to 5 p.m.

As if playing a game of environmental football, Cornell Cooperative Extension scientists are hoping to intercept a large underground plume of ammonia in groundwater in Springs before it reaches the end zone — Accabonac Harbor.

The Teachers Association of Sag Harbor has thrown its support behind the potential joint school-and-town purchase of five lots on Marsden Street for an athletic field near Pierson Middle and High School, citing the academic benefits the plan would bring.

It has been quite a few years since East Hampton had a robust lineup of adult programs, such as bookkeeping and computer classes, defensive driving, a notary-certification course, and even a class on building one’s own fishing rod. Now, the East Hampton School Board has given the district superintendent the green light to explore bringing back adult education programs — with one caveat.

Meredith Cairns, who was elected to a three-year term on the Amagansett School Board in May 2020, resigned from the post on Oct. 14. The rest of the board voted on Nov. 15 to accept her letter of resignation.

From dance shows to staged readings and caroling, December is showtime. Plus: aromatherapy, board games, jewelry making, movies, and more.