Houlihan Lawrence Congratulates Their Graduates
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- Written by Joanne Wallenstein
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Post Tributes to Your Grads in the Scarsdale10583 Graduation Issue
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- Written by Joanne Wallenstein
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This year, Scarsdale10583 will produce a special graduation issue covering all end of year activities: including prom, academic awards, senior transition day, moving up ceremonies from the five elementary schools and of course, the Scarsdale High School Graduation. We invite you to be a part of it by posting a tribute to your graduate - whether they are moving up from fifth grade, graduating from high school, college or graduate school. Details are below: To book your space and get answers to your questions, contact Sharon Higgins at sharonshiggins@gmail.com or call her at 914-261-8668. She can also help you with your artwork. See examples below.
We look forward to covering all these wonderful events and making you a part of the celebration!
Scarsdale Students Take Home Awards from All-Girls Chess Championship
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- Written by Joanne Wallenstein
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Audrey Zhou, Tanishqa Balasubramanian and Nikki Chan with Coach Matan Prilleltensky.Scarsdale students demonstrated their chess prowess at the 20th Annual All-Girls National Chess Championships held April 4-6 in Chicago, Illinois. The event which was presented by The Kasparov Chess Foundation and Chicago's Renaissance Knights Chess Foundation, attracted a record-breaking 546 players from 33 states, Washington, DC, and US Virgin Islands, as well as Canada and the United Kingdom.
Chess champion Garry Kasparov attended the event and expressed enthusiasm about the growing popularity and engagement of girls in the chess community.
Coach Matan Prilleltensky, Alexandra Wang, Allison Zhou (leading scorer), and Amelia Chen
Under the guidance of National Scholastic Chess Foundation Executive Director Matan Prilleltensky, local students achieved great results across multiple age divisions.
Greenacres Makes National Debut
The Greenacres Chess Team competed in the Under 8 section, marking their first appearance as a full team in a national competition. The young squad—featuring Alexandra Wang, Allison Zhou (leading scorer), and Amelia Chen, and Brooke Gao (not shown) —secured the sixth place team trophy with a strong finish.
Edgemont Claims National Runner-Up Status
In the Under 14 section, the Edgemont Chess Team placed second in the nation—the school's best team result at a national championship in many years. Notably, Edgemont was the only non-New York City school to place in the top 3 across all six competition sections. The team comprised Audrey Zhou, Tanishqa Balasubramanian, and Nikki Chan.
Edgemont students Alice Shi (Under 16) and Leah Chan (Under 18) also posted solid results as individual competitors.
Individual Championships for Zhou and Liang
Audrey Zhou claimed the individual national championship title in the Girls Under 14 division, scoring an impressive 5.5 out of 6 points. With this achievement, Audrey joins National Master William Graif and Max Li on the exclusive list of students who have won individual National Championships while attending Edgemont High School.
Melanie Liang, Girls Under 10 National Chess Champion.Another stellar performance was achieved by Melanie Liang, a Scarsdale resident who is a fourth grader at Rye Country Day School. Melanie, who is coached by NSCF Founding Director Sunil Weeramantry, scored a perfect 6 points to become the Girls Under 10 National Chess Champion.
All these students have taken classes and participated in tournaments organized by the National Scholastic Chess Foundation. Young chess enthusiasts can look forward to the organization's next tournament, scheduled for Saturday, May 17, at Bronxville School. The event is open to competitors in grades K through 12. For more information or to register, visit the NSCF website at nscfchess.org.
Audrey Zhou, Girls Under 14 National Chess Champion.
Scarsdale Troop 4 Scouts Earned over 55 Merit Badges and Over 30 Rank Advancements
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- Written by Mayra Kirkendall Rodriguez
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Newly Elected Officers: Tiago, Christian, Stella, and DelfinaThirty-three Scarsdale Troop 4 scouts celebrated a Court of Honor last Sunday. The Court of Honor is a formal recognition ceremony in Scouting where Scouts are officially recognized for advancements in rank (except for Eagle) and merit badges.
Collectively, Troop 4 scouts earned over fifty-five merit badges, and thirty-three scouts advanced in rank. Scouts earned badges in a wide range of categories such as academics, art, civics, life skills, sports, and STEM. Additionally, Harper Mazza earned the National Outdoor Award ; Landon Hernandez received The Complete Angler Recognition Award for completing three fishing-related merit badges.
The scouts who earned merit badges, advanced in rank, or in many cases both, are: Finley Baird, Jonah Balking, Zachary Balkin, Stella Bowman, Isaac J Cohen, Aidan M Copeland, Tian Dong, Landon P Hernandez, Lucas J Houpt, William C Houpt, Jonathan Hunker, Andrew Li, Christian Kirkendall-Rodríguez, Delfina Kirkendall-Rodríguez, Robert F Kolb, Oliver Lieto, Vaed Machineni, Estelle Maddison, Ibrahim Mansouri, Harper Mazza, Ayden Ostermiller, Dylan Ostermiller, Ellie Paek, Mila Paek, Ashton Radom, Jason Ren, Steven Ren, Tiago Rodríguez, Julia Ruiz Fraile, Elizabeth Schaible, William Schaible, Harry Zheng, and Troy Wong.
Scarsdale Troop 4
Troop 4 thanks Aidan Copeland and Jason Ren for completing their term as Senior Patrol Leader and Assistant Senior Patrol Leader, respectively. The Troop had elections yesterday; Adult Scout Leaders thank all the scouts who ran for all four positions. We are very proud that our scouts are learning to exercise their leadership skills and about civic engagement. All candidates gave speeches to scouts and parents; everyone learned a lot about the candidates’ participation in scouts and their vision for future scout activities. The Troop’s newly elected leaders are Senior Patrol Leader Christian Kirkendall-Rodríguez, Assistant Senior Patrol Leader Tiago Rodríguez, Assistant Patrol Leader for Community Service and Fundraising Delfina Kirkendall-Rodríguez, and Troop Guide Stella Bowman. Congratulations to the new leaders.
Anyone wanting to learn more about Scarsdale Troop 4 may write us here.
C.H.I.L.D. Supports the Proposed 2025-26 Special Education Budget
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- Written by Joanne Wallenstein
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(This statement was read at the Scarsdale Board of Education meeting on April 7, 2025.)
Good evening. My name is Erin Rudensky, I am co-chair of C.H.I.L.D. along with Rachana Singh and Jessica Freede.
For those of you that are unfamiliar with C.H.I.L.D., we are a subset of the Parent Teacher Council. We function as both a support group and advocacy group for parents in our district whose children have an IEP or a 504 plan. Currently, roughly 1 in 4 children in Scarsdale fall into this category, with 14% of all students having an IEP. For those unfamiliar with this term, an IEP is an Individualized Education Plan which requires accommodations and services based on the child's disability that is mandated by the state.
In Scarsdale, many of the state requirements not only benefit the student with the IEP but also benefit the general ed students in the class with them. For example, the state mandates a student to teacher ratio. So, in an elementary ICT or integrative co-taught class, general ed students without an IEP or 504 benefit from the small groups within the class afforded to them by an additional teacher or aides in the classroom. If these types of programs were not implemented, these students would have less time with their teacher due to the overwhelming demand many students with learning differences or social emotional needs present to a single teacher. If a full class of 24 students includes 6 students with an IEP or 504 plan, think about how much time the teacher would be taking away from the rest of the class to address those student’s needs. In Middle School and High School, special ed teachers that push into the classroom eliminate the need for the teacher that specializes in the specific content area to interrupt the class to tend to special ed students. These models allow students with learning differences to be in the Least Restrictive Environment. This means that students with disabilities can and should be educated in the general education setting with their non-disabled peers. Unless their IEP determines a more restrictive environment, like a special ed classroom or special ed school, which is necessary for them to receive a Free Appropriate Public Education.
One of the long-term goals of the district has been to offer a continuum of services to all students that live in our district that have a disability or learning difference. We have always agreed with the district's philosophy that the best way to continue implementing this goal is for Scarsdale residents to be able to send their children with a 504 or an IEP to a Scarsdale school. Our most vulnerable students deserve to feel included and be a part of our community while accessing their general education and being provided a Scarsdale education. This continuity ensures that all types of learners know they have a place in our school district and are valuable members of our community. They must not be disenfranchised.
While we understand and share everyone's concerns for the growing costs across all areas of the budget, we feel very strongly that the increase budgeted for next year's special ed programming is both mindful and necessary. While roughly $500,000 is for the rising costs of salaries and benefits such as health insurance for the existing special education team, the other $500,000 is for current Scarsdale students to be able to continue their education in the district. This includes children in the 8:1:2 program being able to continue on to Scarsdale Middle School, and students in the Bridge program being able to continue on to Scarsdale High School in the 12:1:1 program. Besides that this is the right thing for our students, it is also fiscally responsible as the cost to send these students out of district would cost roughly $736,000 that we would need to pay. That is actually a savings of close to a quarter of a million dollars.
Therefore, we would like to reiterate that CHILD supports this year's proposed special education budget. And it should go without saying that the families of special ed students are equal stakeholders, taxpayers, and members of this community.
In addition, we are advocating for the district to conduct a survey of both special ed parents and teachers regarding the efficacy of our special ed programs as we embark on the next five-year plan.
Thank you.
