Follow the Yellow Brick Road to Greenacres
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- Written by: Midori Im
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It's hard to imagine a school that could be better suited to host "Emerald City" than Greenacres Elementary. This year the PTA, in partnership with Sandbox Theatre, produced the Wizard of Oz, performed on January 30 and 31. While the play itself has been shown at the school in the past, this year's approach marked a new, more inclusive approach to the school play focused on learning about theatre.
Traditionally the school has a cast featuring first and second graders in the chorus, with third through fifth grade students auditioning for roles. This year, however, there were two separate productions, with kindergarteners through second graders in a more simplified version, and the older elementary in a slightly longer one. This meant that younger students could be more engaged since everyone had a specific part to play. Rehearsals were also stretched out over four weeks rather than the customary two, so that students could rehearse in a less rushed fashion.
Laura Chavis, who served as play chair for the first time,
noted that, "The extended period of rehearsal time allowed children to learn their parts in a more relaxed way, resulting in performances where students truly inhabited and owned their roles. The students worked very hard, and we appreciate all the support the families gave for taking this different approach. Some families had children in both younger and older shows, thus resulting in their attending four performances in two days!"
New Prenatal Support Course for First-time Parents
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- Written by: Joanne Wallenstein
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A new prenatal support course is launching to support and educate first-time parents on the practical and emotional aspects of being a parent.
The three-week course starts on February 21, and will be held at Over the Moon Music and More on Garth Road in Scarsdale. The objective is to educate soon-to-be parents about the journey ahead, while also enabling them to make new friends and establish a support community.
Run by a licensed clinical social worker, a birth doula and licensed massage therapist, and a lactation consultant, the course will take couples through the birthing process and offer insight that is not always provided at traditional prenatal classes operated by hospitals or doctors' offices.
Jessica Seidel, the licensed clinical social worker who will conduct the course, said, "Nowadays, the traditional network of grandparents and parents is not always there to offer long-term support to new parents. Motherhood can be incredibly lonely at first, and being a new parent can be emotionally taxing. We will help provide these parents with coping mechanisms and a support network to aid them in the exciting journey ahead."
One of the directors at Over the Moon Music and More, Jackie Freimor, commented, "I wish I had taken a course like this when I was a new parent. In addition to all of the other challenges, maintaining a healthy marriage when lack of sleep was involved was also a concern. A support network and tips and tools on how to negotiate my husband's and my relationship would have been really helpful."
Held on three consecutive Sundays, 2-21, 2-28 and 3-6 from 10 am to 4 pm, for couples, the course is intended to bring together first-time parents who have similar due dates to keep everyone's learning and knowledge aligned. The cost is $300 per couple and the class size will be kept to a maximum of 8 couples so parents can ask as many questions as they wish. Parents due in April can register online at www.overthemoonmusicandmore.com or call (914) 722-2025.
Edgemont Elementary Schools Celebrate India
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- Written by: Laura Kim
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Edgemont Elementary Schools PTA celebrated Annual Cultural Arts Heritage Day this week. This year India was spotlighted. Over the past week the students at both Seely Place Elementary and Greenville Elementary have been learning about India from geographic facts to artwork, music and dance. The cultural heritage of India main events were in classroom presentations about India, art projects highlighting the festival of Holi, A Bollywood workshop for one some and the stage dance performances for All students by Surati.
"One of the reasons that we moved to Edgemont was to live in a community where we teach our children to respect the heritage, customs and backgrounds of each other." said Seely Place Cultural Arts Co-Chair Laura Kim. "All the children were eager to learn about India. The teachers embraced the project. But most special was how the parents rallied to give lessons and wear their most beautiful Indian clothing."
Photos and text by Laura Kim
SURATI is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit performing arts and education organization whose mission is to promote Indian art and culture, educate and enrich the community primarily through dance, music and drama. Surati, based in, Jersey City, New Jersey, brings to its audience quality staged performances, classes, events, educational projects, lectures and workshops. Surati's team of professional dancers, musicians and instructors perform at corporate, fund raiser, community and cultural events throughout the U.S. and abroad and imparts quality training to its students.
Surati promotes performing arts and artists through performances, workshops, lecture demonstrations and classes.
Today Surati is also:
-A dance and music academy that provides an insight into the performing arts (primarily Indian performing arts)
-A platform for its talented faculty, artists and students to grow and nurture their talent.
For more information visit Surati's website
Opinion: Will We Have Full STEAM Ahead?
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- Written by: Mayra Kirkendall-Rodríguez
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The Scarsdale School Administration announced during its January 13th Board of Education meeting that it is presently working on developing the K-12 STEAM curriculum. Given the incredible demand for technical, science, and math skills globally, the administration's work is commendable.
In order to be able to say 'Full STEAM Ahead,' it is very important to remember that foreign languages are an extremely useful, but neglected, Art, that is critical to the successful implementation of a STEAM program. Reams of academic research internationally and in the US document that early foreign language acquisition, substantially helps children with cognitive development, and importantly, to improve math skills and standardized test scores.
Additionally, scientists have confirmed the health benefits of foreign language acquisition. For example, the Alzheimer's Society in the UK and the University of Kentucky College of Medicine in Lexington have produced a number of studies demonstrating how foreign language acquisition can help slow down the onset of dementia and Alzheimer's. Neuroscientists have also found benefits to the heart and emotional well-being to studying foreign languages.
Unfortunately, the US is in a foreign language crisis; less than 20% of Americans speak a foreign language. According to Department of Defense and Department of Education analyses, we are not producing a sufficient amount of people who can speak languages critical to US national security. Moreover, there is significant demand in the US for foreign language speakers in multiple sectors of the public and private economy.
Scarsdale schools could really differentiate themselves by enabling our students to be proficient, if not fluent, in at least one foreign language when they graduate. Speaking a foreign language can also help Scarsdale students be more unique when they apply to undergraduate and graduate schools. Anecdotally, at different times for two decades, I have volunteered to interview prospective applicants to my undergraduate and graduate alma maters; by far, the biggest missing skill in applicants is being able to speak even Spanish fluently, much less a more challenging foreign language.
The Scarsdale Administration announced in December 2015 that it will convene another World Language Committee to study how Romance languages are taught in Scarsdale schools and how Mandarin might be incorporated earlier than in high school. Two world language committees were convened in 2008 and more recently in the fall of 2015. Both committees found that the Scarsdale community has great interest in Spanish and Mandarin.
For the sake of transparency and a good use of taxpayers' dollars, it would be very helpful for the administration to inform the Scarsdale community:
- who will be in the new world language committee and when will it be established,
- the type of foreign language and level of fluency of committee members,
- the objectives of the group,
- the timeline of the language study proposal, and
- when Scarsdale children will have more choice of foreign languages beyond the current Romance language offerings.
Recently, a Scarsdalian young man won a prestigious Schwarzman scholarship to study in China. In addition to his native English, he acquired fluency in Mandarin and Spanish; however, he acquired those foreign languages in a private Catholic school. The Scarsdale administration, together with the Board of Education and dedicated parents, is very capable of empowering Scarsdale's children to learn foreign languages in our public schools. Just because we live in Scarsdale Village, does not mean that we have a wall that impairs having a global vision. Let's make 2016, the year of FULL STEAM AHEAD!
This article was submitted by Fox Meadow Resident Mayra Kirkendall-Rodriguez
Schools Foundation Produces Videos and SBNC Announces Election Results
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- Written by: Joanne Wallenstein
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The Scarsdale Schools Foundation has created two new videos describing plans for a new Design Lab and Fitness Center at the high school, for which the foundation is seeking to raise $2.6 million. The videos are available using the links below.
The 3-minute videos highlight the positive impact the two projects will have on teaching and learning at SHS. They feature Superintendent Thomas Hagerman and Principal Ken Bonamo, along with Athletic Director Ray Pappalardi for the Fitness Center and teacher Lisa Yokana for the D-Lab. As SSEF Executive Director Steve Seward explained, "we hope these short films will be helpful – especially for parents of children who are not yet in the high school – in understanding the crucial role these projects will play in the academic lives of students and teachers at the high school."
Click here to view the Design Lab video:
Click here to view the Fitness Center video:
School Board Nominating Committee Election Results:
The results of the Scarsdale School Board Nominating Committee are in. Here are the candidates who were chosen to join the Scarsdale School Board Nominating Committee at the SBNC elections on Tuesday, January 12th:
Edgewood: Michael Chayes, Jordan Copeland
Fox Meadow: Miriam Beveridge, Sang Han
Greenacres: Sharon Kass Higgins, Tanya Singer
Heathcote: Manos Makrakis, Melissa Pecullan (Fielding)
Quaker Ridge: Jonathan Drescher, Eric Premisler
There were 179 total votes cast in the election. Fox Meadow had the highest number of voters with 74 ballots cast. Heathcote had 34 voters. Greenacres had 27 ballots cast and Edgewood and Quaker Ridge each had 22 voters.
This year's ten new SBNC members will join twenty others already on the committee serving staggered three-year term. The committee will have its first meeting on Sunday, January 24th and by the end of March, the SBNC will nominate three candidates to run for the Scarsdale Board of Education to fill the seats currently held by Leila Shames Maude, William Natbony and Suzanne Seiden. Maude and Natbony are completing their first three-year terms and each is eligible for re-nomination. Seiden is completing her second three-year term and is not eligible for re-nomination. The SBNC Board of Education candidates, along with any other candidates who may choose to run, will be up for public election at the same time as the School Budget vote in May 2015.
