Scarsdale Tennis Teams Compete for League Title
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The Scarsdale Womens' B2 Team advanced to the playoffs as the fourth placed team in the league with 17 points. Their first playoff match was against the top seeded team, Briarcliff which earned 27 points during the season. After beating Briarcliff they faced the Scarsdale B1 team in the finals. The B1 team ending the season in third place with 26 points and beat Chappaqua (who also earned 26 points) in the playoffs. In the final match it was Scarsdale vs. Scarsdale, with the B2 team winning 3 of the 5 matches. Three courts went to third set tie breakers.
Pictured Above:
Top Karen Friedman, Diane Loft, Karen Cohn, Elena Kanner, Lori Falow, Tammy Fine, Geralyn DellaCava, Yuko Onoda, Mayu Kojima, Geralyn DellaCava, Joanne Teoh, Michele Silberberg, (Captians) Lauren Haller, Alexa Froomberg and Sarah Roth, Missing: Florence Alkalay, Gail Behar, Erica Choset, Nancy Clarvit, Amy Cooper, Helyn Goldstein, Barbara Goodman, Lydia Hassan Jill Hyman, Renee Koevary, Susan Oh, Erika Radin and Shari Romano
Class of 2016 Struts Their Stuff at Pre Prom Celebration
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The resplendent SHS Class of 2016 strutted their stuff at the red carpet celebration before the prom on Thursday June 2 at Scarsdale High School. The students were aglow in colorful, flowing gowns for seniors with above the knee dresses for junior and sophomore girls. This year the gowns ranged from hot pink, red, orange and teal, to spring florals, whites and traditional black. Some of the dresses featured sheer midriffs, sequins, open backs and chiffon skirts. Hair was worn down in spiral curls, or up in elaborate braided buns.
Boys wore tuxes and some accompanied their dates with bowties and cummerbunds to match their dates' gowns. Parents, grand parents, teachers an friends flocked to the high school to admire the partiers, pose for photos and send off the class on white coaches buses to Glen Island Country Club for the much-awaited event.
Kids reported that they had a great time at pre-prom parties at friends homes, the red carpet celebration at the high school, the prom itself and at the post-prom party on the rooftop of the Copa Cabana in New York that went on until the wee hours. Hail to the class of 2016.
(If you don't see your photo in the gallery, please send it to scarsdalecomments@gmail.com, and we will add it to the display.
School Budget Receives 81% Approval from Scarsdale Voters
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The Scarsdale School Budget for 2016-17 passed easily on Tuesday May 17, 2016 with an 81% approval rating from 553 voters. Turnout was low, as there was little controversy surrounding the proposed budget, which came in under the calculated tax cap. The total budget is $150,454,297 which is a 1.63% budget to budget increase which will require a tax levy increase of .63%.
This was the first budget vote for Assistant Superintendent Stuart Mattey who replaced Linda Purvis last year. The results of the election were announced by former Scarsdale School Board President Jill Spieler who served as the Chair of the Budget Vote and Election.
Three candidates for service on the Scarsdale School Board were also elected. Lee Maude, who has served as the President of the School Board this year received 462 votes, William Natbony, the current Vice President of the Board got 462 votes. They will both serve an additional 3-year term. Nina Cannon, 
who will begin her first term in July, received 469 votes. Cannon will replace School Board member Suzanne Seiden who will complete six years on the board in June. All three candidates were nominated by the Scarsdale School Board Nominating Committee and ran unopposed.
Voters were creative with their 42 write-in votes that included Donald Trump, Pope Francis and Mickey Mouse.
Commenting on her election Cannon said, " I am thrilled to be elected and join with such accomplished and dedicated board members. I look forward to the challenges ahead and collaborating with the board on making policy that will serve the best interest of our students and our district as a whole.
Superintendent Hagerman said: "I am obviously very pleased with the outcome of the budget vote and with 81% we are assuming the vast majority of the community is supporting the work that we are engaged in, the process we used for budgeting this year and the excellence of our education programs." When asked what lies ahead, Hagerman said, "Greenacres would be one of the biggest issues along with stem education, 
special services we are offering, special programming within the district itself, and continuing to do a good job with the programs we created this year: the elementary school workshops, and keeping innovation critical and creative thinking alive in the schools".
Greenacres Needs a State of the Art Facility
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(This is an opinion piece written by site founder Joanne Wallenstein) I am concerned that Greenacres residents have become so polarized that they've lost sight of what's at stake in the discussion about the future of our neighborhood school. I don't know what the best solution is for Greenacres and for Scarsdale as a whole, but I do know that I am putting my faith in our administration, Board of Education and district architects to figure it out. Whether they decide to renovate or build a new school, I believe the school must be a place that sets new standards for elementary education and includes features that will continue to draw families to Scarsdale.
As a member of this community I need to believe in the people we elected, selected and hired to lead us into the future. Superintendent Hagerman was appointed after a lengthy national search. When Linda Purvis announced her retirement, the district also underwent another thorough search process to identify Assistant Superintendent Stuart Mattey to head up our facilities and finances. Architects KG&D were retained in November 2013 after consideration of a long list of firms and extensive presentations from the five leaders. The seven board members were each vetted, selected and nominated by Scarsdale's non-partisan School Board Nominating Committee and then elected by residents. After investing so much time and energy in picking the right people to lead we need to back their decisions.
And whether they decide to do an extensive renovation of the existing building or start from scratch across the street, they need to envision an environmentally efficient school that works for the next five years and the next fifty. We can't remedy only what doesn't work today; we need to add new features, flexible learning spaces, and light, inviting facilities that will draw young families to Scarsdale. Learning technology is changing rapidly and we need facilities that can be adapted with the times.
Today's school does not meet state standards, as it was built in 1912, more than 100 years ago. It lacks many of the basic features of other elementary schools in Scarsdale, putting Greenacres families and their real estate at a real disadvantage. Classrooms are too small to accommodate desks for each child, the school has no auditorium and no cafeteria which means that lunch spans three periods and custodians have to set up and take down lunch tables and chairs every day. The school lacks a proper entry where children can be dropped off and picked up, posing consternating safety and traffic issues. The gym, which doubles as a theater and music room, is in original condition. The school needs an entirely new HVAC system and a roof and windows are due for replacement within the next ten years. Sections of the school are dark, gloomy and damp.
If the board needs to factor in parity with other schools when making plans, they can look at what's inside the other elementary schools now and what is being built this year to see that Greenacres is out of step with 21st century facilities. Other schools have auditoriums for performances and ceremonies and music rooms for choral, band and orchestra practice. Quaker Ridge has a cafeteria, Heathcote is set to get a new multipurpose room and entrance canopy to facilitate drop off and pick up. Edgewood will have a new media and research center with a computer lab, multimedia equipment plus small group and flexible space for collaborative learning. Work will begin this summer on upgrades to many district schools, funded in the December 2014 bond, which did not include any improvements for Greenacres.
When the Heathcote School opened in 1954, the
glass walls and novel floor plan of clustered classrooms or pods around common rooms drew national attention and won the American Institute of Architects' 25-Year Award, an award that had been given only once before, to the Rockefeller Center in New York City. The design was progressive at the time and has served the community well in the intervening decades. Today we need to empower our architects and decision makers to dream big and get Scarsdale the same quality of design and innovation the district got for their tax dollars at the time.
At one time or another, we all moved here for the schools. Even those who never used the school system invested in the community because the reputation of the district made the investment in their homes a sure bet. In order to serve those who are here now and attract new residents in the future we all need to agree on a plan that does far more than remedy our current space and HVAC issues. I encourage everyone to put your differences aside, look beyond your own backyards and plan to be best in class, whether it's on the north or south side of Huntington Avenue.
Vote on Tuesday, School Board Meeting Monday Night
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Tuesday May 17 is the vote for the Scarsdale School Budget and nominees for the Scarsdale School Board.
The proposed budget for the 2016-17 school year is $150,454,297 which is a 1.63% increase over the 2015-16 school budget and would mean a tax levy increase of .63% which falls below the calculated tax cap of .81%. As the budget does not exceed the tax cap, it can pass with a simple majority vote.
The budget includes $1,251,931 for plant improvements at Edgewood and Scarsdale Middle School as well as district wide roof repairs, brick repointing and paving. That's a $496.931 increase over last year's plant improvement budget.
Also on the ballot will be nominees for the School Board who were selected by the Scarsdale School Board Nominating Committee.
Board members Leila Maude and William Natbony are on the ballot to serve second three-year terms while Nina Cannon is running for election for the first time. This year, Maude served as the President of the Board of Education and Natbony as Vice President. Read statements from the candidates here:
Voting will take place at the Scarsdale Middle School on Tuesday May 17 from 7 am to 9 pm.
A Board of Education meeting will be held on Monday night May 16th. At 7 pm the Board will hear a report from the Middle School and High School principals on Innovation Practices and Instructional Focus at the middle and high schools.
At 8 p.m. the Board will conduct a business meeting and many people with concerns about the Greenacres School are expected to speak. You can watch the session on Scarsdale Cable Television on attend the meeting in rooms 170-172 at Scarsdale High School.
