Board of Ed Asks for Your Participation in Superintendent Search Process
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- Written by Joanne Wallenstein
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(Here's a reminder from the Scarsdale Board of Education)
Dear Scarsdale Community,
This is a reminder that the Superintendent Search Survey closes in 2 days, on September 23, 2022 at 5 p.m. If you haven’t already, please follow this SURVEY LINK to provide your input.
The final Community Forum is tomorrow, Thursday, September 22, 2022, at 7:00 p.m. (via Zoomlink).
Whether you complete the survey, attend a focus group, or do both, the Board urges you to take the opportunity to provide your input. Your participation is essential for a successful Superintendent search!
For additional details, please see our September 8th communication regarding community engagement or visit our superintendent search page.
Thank you for your input in finding an exceptional Superintendent to lead the Scarsdale Schools!
Sincerely,
The Board of Education
National Merit Semifinalists Named
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- Written by Joanne Wallenstein
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Twelve students from Edgemont High School and twenty eight students from Scarsdale High School are among the 16,000 named as semifinalists in the 68th annual National Merit Scholarship Program. These high school seniors have an opportunity to continue in the competition for some 7,250 National Merit Scholarships worth nearly $28 million that will be offered next spring. To be considered for a Merit Scholarship® award, Semifinalists must fulfill several requirements to advance to the Finalist level of the competition. About 95 percent of the Semifinalists are expected to attain Finalist standing, and approximately half of the Finalists will win a National Merit Scholarship, earning the Merit Scholar® title.
The names are as follows:
Edgemont High School
Samika Agarwal
Justin P. Alexander
Skandan Gurumurthy
Julia Hu
Aarya J. Kumar
Chaemin Lim
David I. Litvack
Rajan S. Sandhu
Raj Savla
Andrew D. Shane
Vivien F. Wong
Maxwell F. Yang
Scarsdale High School
Matthew Barotz
Claire Chou
Cindy Y. Dedianous
David Diao
Thomas D. Dilorenzo
Ali El Moselhy
Jackson Fielding
Isabella Frank
Carly S. Gelles
Oliver S. Hong
Anushka Kumar
Mason Y. Lau
Hyunjin Lee
Amelia Liu
Olivia Liu
Emily-Jane Luo
Michael Marks
Colin H. Michael
Amanda D. Nudelman
Bryan Shi
Katherine Shi
Noa S. Shiloach
Steven C. Su
Emily Q. Wang
Hannah Y. Wang
Benjamin P. Yacoub
Maxwell Zhang
Matthew Zhao
Steps in the 2023 Competition
High school juniors entered the 2023 National Merit Scholarship Program by taking the 2021 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT®), which served as an initial screen of program entrants. The nationwide pool of Semifinalists, representing less than one percent of U.S. high school seniors, includes the highest-scoring entrants in each state. The number of Semifinalists in a state is proportional to the state’s percentage of the national total of graduating seniors.
To become a Finalist, the Semifinalist and a high school official must submit a detailed scholarship application, in which they provide information about the Semifinalist’s academic record, participation in school and community activities, demonstrated leadership abilities, employment, and honors and awards received. A Semifinalist must have an outstanding academic record throughout high school, be endorsed and recommended by a high school official, write an essay, and earn SAT® or ACT® scores that confirm the student’s earlier performance on the qualifying test.
From over 16,000 Semifinalists, more than 15,000 are expected to advance to the Finalist level, and in February they will be notified of this designation. All National Merit Scholarship winners will be selected from this group of Finalists. Merit Scholar designees are selected on the basis of their skills, accomplishments, and potential for success in rigorous college studies, without regard to gender, race, ethnic origin, or religious preference.
National Merit Scholarships
Three types of National Merit Scholarships will be offered in the spring of 2023. Every Finalist will compete for one of 2,500 National Merit® $2500 Scholarships that will be awarded
on a state-representational basis. About 950 corporate-sponsored Merit Scholarship awards will be provided by approximately 180 corporations and business organizations for Finalists who meet their specified criteria, such as children of the grantor’s employees or residents of communities where sponsor plants or offices are located. In addition, about 160 colleges and universities are expected to finance some 3,800 college-sponsored Merit Scholarship awards for Finalists who will attend the sponsor institution.
Community Invited To Attend Forums On Superintendent Search
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- Written by Amelia Fader
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Scarsdale School District is inviting community members to participate in a public forum on the search for a new superintendent. Below find a letter from the district providing times and details.
The Board of Education cordially invites you to assist the Board in establishing direction for the selection process for the new Superintendent of Schools. As you may be aware, this year the Board is charged with the important task of selecting the next chief officer of our schools. We are reaching out to you, as valued members of our school community, for your input in this critical process. Community forums with Ms. Deborah Raizes and Dr. Susan Guiney from Hazard, Young, Attea & Associates, the search firm engaged by the Board to assist with this search, have been scheduled for:
Wednesday, September 14, 2022, at 9:30 a.m. (Scarsdale Public Library, Scott Room)
Monday, September 19, 2022, at 7:00 p.m. (Scarsdale High School, Room 170-172)
Thursday, September 22, 2022, at 7:00 p.m. (via Zoomlink)
All members of the community are invited to attend. For the September 22nd meeting, all guests will initially be placed in a Zoom waiting room and will be allowed into the forum by the host. The goal of the meeting will be to identify the personal and professional qualities and experiences that the Scarsdale community would like the new Superintendent of Schools to possess. Dr. Guiney and Ms. Raizes will describe the process and estimated timetable for the search. Much of the focus group meeting will be devoted to hearing participants' views on the following three prompts:
1. How would you describe the strengths of the District?
2. What do you see as the greatest challenges facing the District in the next few years?
3. What characteristics and areas of expertise would you like to see in the next Superintendent?
Please note that we encourage all community stakeholders to participate in a survey that will be available on our superintendent search page from September 8th-23rd, as an additional means for the community to voice their input. The survey questions will be similar to the questions discussed in the focus groups so if attendance to a focus group is not possible, the survey can provide a comparable opportunity to share your feedback. Whether you attend a focus group, complete the survey, or do both, the Board hopes you will take the opportunity to provide your input.
Information from this and other focus groups with members of the District’s school community will be synthesized into a set of search specifications that the Board anticipates reviewing at its meeting on October 3rd. This Leadership Profile Report will then serve as a guiding framework for the Board of Education as it undertakes the search for a new Superintendent.
The Board thanks you in advance for participating in this important process.
Sincerely,
The Board of Education
Amber Yusuf, President; Ron Schulhof, Vice President; Colleen Brown; James Dugan; Robert Klein; Suzie Hahn Pascutti; Jessica Resnick-Ault
boardofed@scarsdaleschools.org
Give Your Input on the Search for a New Schools Superintendent
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- Written by Joanne Wallenstein
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The following letter was sent to us by Amber Yusuf and Ron Schulhof, President and Vice President of the Scarsdale School Board:
Dear Scarsdale Community,
The search for the next Superintendent of Schools is underway and we hope you will take the opportunity to provide your input! We are committed to conducting an inclusive, thoughtful and comprehensive process. The Board of Education has planned for extensive community engagement, including focus groups, community forums, and a survey.
The Board welcomes your input as feedback from the school community will be used to develop a set of search specifications to create a Leadership Profile. This Leadership Profile will serve as a guiding framework for recruiting and vetting candidates.
The survey is conducted by a search firm, which ensures that your individual responses are kept anonymous. The survey is available in English, Spanish, Mandarin and Portuguese.
The survey is available online here and will remain open until September 23rd at 5 p.m.
We also invite you to attend any of the three community forums, on the following dates:
● Wednesday, September 14, 2022, at 9:30 a.m. (Scarsdale Public Library, Scott Room)
● Monday, September 19, 2022, at 7:00 p.m. (Scarsdale High School, Room 170-172)
● Thursday, September 22, 2022, at 7:00 p.m. (via Zoom.)
Whether you attend a community forum, complete the survey, or do both, the Board hopes you will take the opportunity to provide your input! Learn more here.
With thanks,
Amber Yusuf, Board of Education President
Ron Schulhof, Board of Education Vice President
Patrick Welcomes Community Engagement in the Scarsdale Schools
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- Written by Joanne Wallenstein
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Signaling a new spirit of openness at the Scarsdale Schools, we recently met with Interim School Superintendent Andrew Patrick and Public Information Officer Michelle Verna for an informal discussion before the opening of the new school year.
Despite the August heat, the district office was humming. Staff wore t-shirts that read, “The Jerry Factor,” and "The Rachel Effect" to mark the last day of work for District Director of Instructional Technology and Innovation Jerry Crisci and Director of Information Technology Rachel Moseley who both retired and will be replaced by former Edgewood Assistant Superintendent William Yang and Jeannie Crowley. Patrick was already engrossed in school business and welcomed me into his office to discuss his priorities for the coming year and his thoughts on engaging with the community and the media.
Due to the constraints of the COVID crisis and safety concerns during the last several years parents have had almost no access to the schools. With policies preventing visitors, security guards at the doors and at times, limited in-class time for the students, some parents and community members have not seen the inside of school walls in years.
We asked Patrick if any of that will change and he said, “it already has.” He discussed end of year celebrations and moving up ceremonies at the elementary schools this past June and said that occasions like this would continue “within reason,” in the coming school year.
In addition to physically welcoming parents, Patrick hopes to engage the community on several issues that are on the agenda for the 2022-23 school year.
What are they?
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) – The district will continue to work with Dr. Derrick Gay, “a Diversity and Inclusion Strategist who consults with organizations, both domestically and abroad, Over the past 23 years, he has partnered with over 500 organizations across numerous sectors to deepen D&I capacity; enhance inclusion and engagement; attract, hire, and retain the best talent; and design strategy to maximize business and education goals.”
A session is planned during the year for Gay to address parents directly.
Public Information Officer Michelle Verna sports a t-shirt to recognize Jerry Crisci's retirement.
Advanced Track and Advanced Placement Curriculum – The district will continue the work done by the Tri-State Consortium last spring and delve further into the question of the merits of Scarsdale’s AT curriculum vs. the more traditional AP curriculum offered nationwide.
Also new this year is REVEAL, a new math curriculum for K-5, that has been the subject of several courses this summer at the Scarsdale Teacher’s Institute, where teacher’s received training in the new program.
We asked Patrick for his thoughts on safety and security, given more disturbing news about gun violence around the country. He said, “Our first focus is student well-being…This year we have added four psychologist to our staff. Our first line of defense is to make students feel supported and engaged.” Referring to shootings in other areas he said, “These incidents have been caused by disaffection from someone in the community,” so the best way to prevent violence is to make people feel connected and engaged in their community.
About the school’s physical plant, Patrick noted that the buildings and facilities staff have spent this summer completing work funded in the 2018 school bond. This summer, unit ventilators were installed in several buildings. Patrick hopes that another heat wave won’t hit us in early September as though all schools have some air conditioned spaces, not all rooms are equipped with air conditioning and high heat could be disruptive.
Beyond the specifics of his agenda, what was most telling was Patrick’s willingness to invite me into his office, share information, suggest topics for upcoming articles and staff members to interview. His genuine desire to engage the community in the district agenda and the schools themselves was a sea change.
L-R: Jerry Crisici, Retired Director of Instructional Technology & Innovation, William Yang, K-12 Coordinator of Digital Learning & Literacy, Jeannie Crowley, Director of Technology and Innovation, and Rachel Moseley, Retired Director of Information Technology, Chief Information and Data Protection Officer.
