Education

From online laboratory simulations to individual sets of science supplies to constant cleaning of equipment, teaching and learning science amid the Covid-19 pandemic has been one big experiment in itself for local educators and students. In normal times students would be able to work in groups, clustered around a table sharing lab equipment like beakers, burners, and microscopes — but these are not normal times.

During the pandemic, the online overhaul of work, school, and the rest underscores a tech-aware message passed along by Denise Roland's Intentionally Unplugged and Nicole Delma's Mind Offline, brainchildren largely inspired by their real children.

Bedtime stories, bouncy balls, online trivia and creative writing sessions, and a Thanksgiving photo contest for teens.

Students from East Hampton High School are taking part in an international effort called the Breathing Project that is meant to be therapeutic for essential workers who have kept society afloat during the Covid-19 pandemic.

In it, students first interview doctors, nurses, ambulance drivers, food pantry staff, social workers, and others, with the goal of gathering their personal stories. Then, artists from the high school's National Art Honor Society, along with others from around the world, create works of art to illustrate or represent those stories.

A new case of Covid-19 diagnosed in a fourth-grade student at the John M. Marshall Elementary School has led the East Hampton School District administration to close that school to in-person classes for the two days leading up to the Thanksgiving break next week.

A new program for girls from the Neo-Political Cowgirls, a photography contest for teens through the East Hampton Library, and more.

I-Tri, an East Hampton nonprofit, met its goal last month of raising $200,000 over 11 days for its programs fostering positive body image, empowerment, and healthy lifestyle choices for adolescent girls.

A Covid-19 outbreak in a school can impact the community, and an outbreak in a community can impact its schools. So goes a circle that school officials here are keeping their eye on — while still planning, in some cases, to bring back more students for in-person classes.

One more positive test result was confirmed in Sag Harbor, meaning with four total cases, 22 students and five staff members are quarantined. The East Hampton Middle School reported its second covid case on Monday, and two additional East Hampton High School students have tested positive, bringing the school's total to 16 as of Monday.

At the Hayground School in Bridgehampton, students in Julie Fanelli's class of middle learners, who are between 6 and 11 years old, have been busy imagining and building "Covid-19 inventions" to eventually share with the community.

Two local libraries are helping kids say "thanks" to essential workers and others, just in time for Thanksgiving.

The East Hampton and Springs School Districts have opted into a Suffolk County program meant to improve bus safety for students, administrators said on Tuesday.

The John Jermain Memorial Library in Sag Harbor has an online college essay workshop planned for tomorrow from 4 to 5 p.m., promising tricks and tips for writing college admissions essays.

Justine O'Mara Limonius, a graduate of East Hampton High School who now has two children attending the John M. Marshall Elementary School, has been appointed to fill the vacant seat on the East Hampton School Board.

The Board of Regents, which oversees public education in the state, will meet in December to plan out graduation requirements for those high school students who were counting on taking the January exams to graduate.

Project Most activities, a makeup class for teens and adults, family art activities, and more.

School districts are using online surveys to gauge how their families are feeling about school attendance and whether they prefer in-person, remote, or hybrid learning. Their answers will help shape the coming months.

By Monday morning, South Fork school districts had reported three more cases of Covid-19 diagnosed since Friday. The affected districts are Montauk, Sag Harbor, and East Hampton.

Two entire classrooms of children at the John M. Marshall Elementary School are in quarantine through Nov. 19 after two cases of Covid-19 were confirmed among fifth-grade students this week. Additionally, two more cases have been diagnosed among East Hampton High School students, and one among the support staff at the Wainscott School.

Jennifer Buscemi, a previous full-time business administrator for the Sag Harbor School District who later became a consultant to the district, will return in a full-time capacity starting Dec. 1.

The Springs School Board on Monday approved two resolutions to address a $2.3 million budget surplus leftover from the 2019-20 school year.

Guild Hall's Teen Arts Council is partnering with The East Hampton Star on a new publication called TIC-TAC-TOE: A Teen Zine, that will be produced by and for teenagers and will be published three times next year.

Charlotte Egerton-Warburton has been busy during the Covid-19 pandemic with a project that helps the world in two ways. Charlotte, 10, makes and sells beaded necklaces that are handy to keep one's mask around the neck. She is using the sale as a fund-raiser for research into ADNP syndrome, also known as Helsmoortel-Van Der Aa Syndrome, a rare neurodevelopmental disorder that affects her younger brother, Rowland.

On-camera audition class at Bay Street Theater, Legos return, and art books all around.

A week ago there was just one known case of Covid-19 among East Hampton High School students, but that number has since risen to six and all of them are connected to a single recent indoor gathering, school officials said this week. The district's John M. Marshall Elementary School also reported a new case in a fifth grader.

The Greater East Hampton Education Foundation, which provides grants to local teachers for equipment and activities not covered in school district budgets, began selling tickets for its Winter Cold Cash Raffle this week.

If all 400 tickets are sold, the grand prize will be $2,500. A $1,000 prize for second place and two $250 prizes for third place will also be drawn. Ticket sales end Nov. 10, and the drawing will take place on Dec. 16.

Springs School District officials on Monday announced that the school will soon start offering in-person instruction to larger groups of students four days per week instead of two, and in the interim will begin live-streaming classroom lessons.

In an email to parents on Monday, James Crenshaw, the East Hampton High School principal, said that the number of confirmed positive Covid-19 cases had risen to six. High school students will have classes online at least through Friday.

Late in the morning on Halloween, East Hampton High School’s principal put out a call for students and families to “please be safe” after two more cases of Covid-19 were confirmed in students within the past 24 hours, bringing the school’s total to four cases.

The Bridgehampton School on Friday afternoon announced that a staff member had tested positive for Covid-19 earlier in the day. That staff member was most recently at school on Thursday, according to a message from Michael Miller, the school's principal.