Five Tips From a Professional Organizer
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- Written by: Midori Im
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When spring rolls around, many things come to mind, such as baseball, gardening, and enjoying the outdoors after a confining winter. Perhaps top of the list for many is spring cleaning. While it’s not something that we look upon with pleasure, we still have to get it done. I recently sought tips on how to tackle spring cleaning from Stephanie Naccari, a professional home organizer since 2016 in lower Westchester, whose motto (and business name) is, simply put, “Get It Done.”
Here’s what she shared:
The $64,000 question…is there a trick to making spring cleaning more enjoyable?
Have realistic expectations. I think sometimes people don’t realize that it can be a very emotional journey. To help make it more enjoyable I suggest starting small and working your way around the house. Chip at it a little at a time - try a drawer, then move up to a small closet. When you get into rooms, break the room up into sections and try tackling a wall or one corner of the room at a time. This way you will feel a sense of accomplishment by addressing it piecemeal.
When tackling a big project, do you have a recommended plan of attack?
Follow four or five steps - all essential - but the way the steps are followed varies according to the organizer. And this would apply whether the project is big or small.
First - take everything out
Second - Categorize all items
Third - Purge (all at once, per category)
Fourth - Strategizing placement of the category in the room/closet
Fifth - Measure, purchase products to optimize space and create systems, implementation and label
What is the biggest mistake people make?
There are actually two that come to mind. One is not being realistic about the time it will take to declutter and organize your space. The second is buying product before you are ready.
What’s the best way to store winter clothing?
I like clear plastic close topped bins, labeled, of course. I recommend storing the bins in a temperature controlled room. However, if that is not an option, get a very good dehumidifier.
Best space saver?
The best space saving hack is try going vertical. Use the walls - add shelves or hooks depending on what you need to make room for in the space. Keep an eye out for “negative space” availability. If you still don’t have enough room, it may be time to do another round of decluttering.
What’s your favorite tool to help with organization?
I’d have to say my label maker. I am a big promoter of labeling. There are many reasons why psychologically it helps with the overall maintenance of the system created for your family. However, a top reason is that it simplifies your life, period. I like making my clients lives easier, so I label!
Favorite hack?
Set up a system where you put all hand me downs in shelving above active clothing . Categorize clothes to grow into (tops, leggings, etc.) and that way when your child moves up a size they can go “shopping” from their own closet. Also place a donation bin below active clothing so it is taken out of rotation and can be put to good use elsewhere. Actually, a donation bin can be in any room where you might need it.
Brilliant!
Everything I do with my clients has to do with setting up my clients to succeed. It comes down to creating systems properly. Yes, it takes time from the beginning to pull everything out, but in the end you have a manageable system to keep you organized, save time and reduce your stress.
Stephanie Naccari is the founder of Get it Done by Stephanie Organizing & Move Management. Be it professionally organizing your home, coordinating a move from packing to unpacking/organizing to designing a closet and garage system, Get It Done by Stephanie’s team knows how it get done. With over seven years of experience Get it Done by Stephanie has become a trusted resource and support for their clients.
Westchester Remembers
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- Written by: Joanne Wallenstein
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Stuart Kolbert and Barbara Tartell carry historic scrolls.Former Scarsdale residents Barbara Tartell led the processional of historic torahs at a Yom Hashoah Holocaust Commemoration event at the Garden of Remembrance in White Plains on Tuesday April 18. The day featured keynote speaker and Holocaust survivor Hannah Holsten and a procession of scrolls that were rescued from synagogues and towns during World War II.
The event was hosted by the Holocaust and Human Right Education Center (HHREC) and the Westchester Jewish Council and was attended by approximately 200 people.
Commenting on the day Tartell said, “I’ve been involved with HHREC for the last 17 years. My involvement began as an exercise of personal discovery, trying to learn as much about my parents personal histories, but has since grown to be more of a mission of Holocaust education and its relevance to the diverse community in which we live. I believe that with the dramatic increase of hate in general and anti-Semitism specifically, HHREC role in our community is more vital than ever. I consider it a great honor to carry this Torah for such an important Day of Remembrance.
Photo credit: Julie Brimberg Rothschild
Westchester County Executive George Latimer
Scarsdale's Paint Recycling Program: A Win for Scarsdale and the Environment
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- Written by: Joanne Wallenstein
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Scarsdale's Paint Recycling Program, which started in November, has been a huge success. Already Scarsdale has recycled over twelve tons of paint!
Residents can bring their leftover oil and latex-based paint, shellac, varnish and sealers to the Paint Recycling Area (pictured) at the Scarsdale Recycling Center (110 Secor Road). Paint that has dried out is accepted. Instead of being discarded and burned at the County incinerator (where all of our trash goes), the paint is reused or recycled!
The containers are separated by material type and recycled. Another bonus is that paint no longer has to be hardened with kitty litter or other materials. Just place your paint container into the paint recycling collection bin. The Recycling Center is open Monday-Saturday, 8am-3pm.
For a complete list of accepted and not accepted paint products, please click here.
Recycling paint keeps toxins out of our waste stream while saving energy, water and raw materials. It also provides a means by which Scarsdale's Sanitation Department can address the disposal of paint in a cost-efficient and environmentally-friendly way.
Thanks for recycling your paint and please spread the word!
Recycling Your Batteries is Easy
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- Written by: Joanne Wallenstein
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Scarsdale makes it easy to recycle batteries. Residents can bring their used batteries to Village Hall, Monday-Friday, 9am-5pm, and to the Recycling Center, Monday-Saturday, 8am-5pm. Battery recycling tubes are located in the lobby of Village Hall and in the Recycling Center Office.
Single use batteries that should be recycled include alkaline, lithium and button batteries (used in watches and hearing aids). Batteries that are rechargeable or that are damaged are not accepted. Nearby stores that accept rechargeable batteries include Cornell’s Hardware (310 White Plains Road, Eastchester), Home Depot (601 Sprain Road, Yonkers) and Best Buy (299 N Central Avenue, Hartsdale). For a list of batteries that are accepted and not accepted by Scarsdale, visit here.
During the recycling process, batteries are broken down and valuable materials such as nickel, cobalt and lithium are recovered. Recovered materials are then made into new products such as new batteries.
Battery recycling allows valuable metals to be reused, thereby reducing the need to mine new metals. It also eliminates the toxic fumes that are released when batteries are burned at our county incinerator (where all our trash goes).
So please, recycle your batteries.
LWVS Consensus Statement on the 2023-24 $177mm Scarsdale School Budget
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(The following statement was read at the meeting of the Scarsdale School Board on March 27, 2023)
The League of Women Voters of Scarsdale (the “League”) thanks the members of the Board of Education (the “Board”) and District Administration (the “Administration”) for participating in a panel at the League’s General Membership Meeting and School Budget Information Session and addressing questions on the Preliminary Proposed Scarsdale School District Budget 2023-24 (the “Budget”) and the proposed Scarsdale High School Auditorium Renovation Bond Project (the “Bond Project”) on March 22, 2023.
The following statement reflects the consensus of League members at a Consensus Meeting held immediately following the Information Session.
Positions
The League supports the Preliminary Proposed Scarsdale School District Budget for 2023-24 and recommends that, barring any significant revisions before its adoption by the Board of Education, the community vote “yes” to approve the final proposed Budget on May 16, 2023 at Scarsdale Middle School.
The League supports the proposed SHS Auditorium Renovation Bond Project and, barring any significant revisions before its adoption by the Board of Education, recommends that the community vote “yes” on May 16, 2023 at Scarsdale Middle School to approve the proposed Bond Project and to authorize the District to issue bonds up to the total amount of the Project.
The League offers its comments and recommendations regarding certain budgetary items as well as the budget process, which we hope will be considered as next year’s Budget is revised and finalized, and in future budgets. The League further offers comments regarding the Auditorium Bond Project.
Budget Overview and Noteworthy Features
The proposed Budget is $177,620,492, with a budget-to-budget increase of 2.59% and a tax levy growth of 1.93%. The estimated tax rate increase for Scarsdale homeowners will be 1.36%, and the estimated tax rate increase for Mamaroneck residents will be -11.26%.
-According to the Administration, the Budget accomplishes the following:
-Maintains high-quality teaching and learning
-Supports the continued study and development of DEI Initiatives
-Elevates District focus on the social emotional support of students
-Advances in-district instructional opportunities for students with disabilities
-Funds New Financial Accounting and Human Resources Software
-Improves and upgrades facilities with a focus on building infrastructure and funding for a shared Fields Study with Scarsdale Village
-Prepares the District for changes to our transportation system by funding a comprehensive transportation study
What is not included in the 2023-24 budget is also notable. The Board voted to exclude the Scarsdale High School Auditorium Renovation Project from the 2023-24 general fund budget in its entirety and present it as a separate voter proposition in May. Voters will have the opportunity to approve a $4,734,581 Bond Project that also authorizes the District to issue bonds for that total amount.
General Comments
The League acknowledges, with appreciation, the substantial time and effort that goes into
developing the proposed Budget and thanks the Administration and Board for their additional effort spent preparing for our March 22nd Information Session, including responding to our written questions and to the questions posed orally during the meeting.
The League also appreciates that the Administration continues to include League Budget questions and Administration responses on the District website as a public resource.
Comments and Recommendations
Budget Proposals and Proposed Reductions
The League appreciates the District’s disclosure of their organically and authentically developed first draft of the budget. The League further acknowledges the constraints placed upon the District by the state-imposed tax cap and appreciates the Administration’s efforts to prioritize expenditures that have the greatest impact on students’ growth and learning. The League acknowledges and appreciates the iterative process the District took to arrive at the current proposed budget, which included the presentation of multiple budget scenarios. The League encourages the District to ensure that proposed future budgets not only maintain Scarsdale’s long tradition of educational excellence, but also pursue forward-looking curricular initiatives and program enhancements that provide opportunities and environments to stimulate innovation, growth, and enhanced educational excellence for all students and faculty.
The League commends the Board and the Administration for their transparent and thorough discussion of the proposed budgets and, in particular, for the line-by-line analysis of proposed reductions. This transparency allows the community to better understand the Administration’s rationale and helps ensure a greater degree of confidence that the final budget represents the best balance between advancing the program and gaining taxpayer support. The League encourages future Boards to continue to evaluate and analyze proposed budgets in an open, thorough, and transparent manner.
Personnel and Staffing
The League commends the Administration for prioritizing the social emotional health of students and strongly supports the District’s plan to hire consultants to support elementary social emotional learning as a next step in the process of determining what longer term solution best serves the needs of that age group. As the Administration noted, its “capacity to support students in the ways we feel are necessary and beneficial has been outstripped by the needs students are exhibiting.” The League encourages the District to continue to prioritize the social-emotional and mental health needs of students.
The League strongly encourages the Administration to support continued education around mental health and learning disabilities, and more specifically, to encourage and incentivize faculty and staff to participate in professional development in these areas, including enrolling in relevant STI and ST@C courses. The League suggests that the Administration explore avenues to incentivize and attach greater weight to professional development classes addressing those areas to encourage greater participation.
Special Education
The League has consistently stressed the importance of supporting special education students in Scarsdale, which has only become even more important given, as the Administration explained, the “significant rise in the number of classified students and the intensity of student needs over the past 5-7 years.”
The League commends the District for advancing in-district opportunities for students with disabilities. Specifically, the League strongly supports the Administration’s effort to have special education students who are eligible for extended school year services stay in-district for the summer session instead of being placed in an out-of-district summer program. The League agrees with the Administration’s priority of expanding the continuum of services, in a financially sustainable manner, to educate as many students as reasonably feasible within our own programs.
The League appreciates the District’s recognition of the increasing demands on the chairpersons and administrators in the special education department. We recommend that the Administration continue to prioritize special education program review and expansion in future years to ensure that our special education students benefit from appropriate staffing and resources at all levels within the Scarsdale school system.
DEI
The League commends the District for its commitment to keep values of diversity, equity, and inclusion at the forefront of its programming, the curriculum, its outreach, its hiring efforts, and its planning process, and strongly encourages the District to ensure that DEI remains a consideration across all areas of Scarsdale schools. The League looks forward to the DEI survey being developed and encourages the District to be timely and transparent with the results of the survey.
Plant and Capital Improvements
The League acknowledges the completion of the Buildings Condition Survey, and urges the District to keep the results of the Survey and our aging facilities in mind as we budget for the future. We would like to reiterate from past statements that, given that several of our schools were built over a century ago, thoughtful, proactive facilities planning and capital improvement are of utmost importance to ensure that our buildings maintain and enhance student learning, and are safe, sustainable, and flexible enough to support 21st century innovation and future programs. The League also encourages the District to consider the current and future impact of climate change on the physical plant and on future infrastructure and capital projects.
The League appreciates the Administration’s recognition of a need to bring the Scarsdale High School building to a certain level of cleanliness and looks forward to the District’s re-assessment of such staffing needs in the future.
Facilities: Security and Sustainability
The League appreciates the District’s continued evaluation of safety protocols and priorities, including its decision to budget for the installation of door-ajar sensors in light of the Uvalde tragedy. We encourage the District to continue to implement security measures that incorporate best practices and also reflect and connect to the values of the entire Scarsdale community.
The League commends the District on its plan to proceed with a Behavioral Energy Savings Program and appreciates the District’s efforts to reduce its energy costs. The League encourages the District to consider other sustainability projects that would be beneficial to the environment, the individuals who use our buildings, and the physical plant.
Advocacy
The League commends the Board for its advocacy in conjunction with Scarsdale Village administration to address the persistent gaps in cellular coverage in the Village, including in and around our schools, which we view as an important safety and communication issue. The League strongly encourages the Board and Administration to continue to work closely with its Scarsdale Village counterparts to address dead zones in cellular coverage and also to be leaders in advocacy at both the state and local levels on issues that impact the Scarsdale schools.
Scarsdale High School Auditorium Project
As the League has previously noted, the auditorium renovation project was originally estimated to cost approximately $900,000 and was included in a bond proposal approved by voters in December 2014. Due to cost overruns on the 2014 bond projects, most of the proposed auditorium renovation was not undertaken. Since that time, the scope and projected cost of improvements to the auditorium have evolved into a $4.7 million project that addresses lighting improvements, an acoustical overhaul, seating and stage floor replacement, and renovations to the backstage and dressing room spaces.
The League commends the District for prioritizing this long-deferred but much discussed renovation through a thoughtful and open discussion, resulting in the decision to shift funding strategies from the annual budget to a bond. The auditorium is used by all SHS students, a significant number of high school parents, and various community organizations, and, when the project is completed, will benefit directly those students who are currently elementary and middle school aged. The League therefore understands and supports the Administration's recommendation and Board’s decision to bond the project, subject to a separate proposition in May at the same time as the school budget vote that asks voters to approve the $4.7 million project and to authorize the District to issue bonds for that total amount.
Budget Process/Community Engagement
The League appreciates that the Administration makes the Budget Presentations and Budget Development and Staffing Recommendations available early in the budget development process. The presentations allow a comprehensive view of the myriad components of the Budget and through them there is an enhanced understanding of the Budget itself.
The League commends the Board for recognizing the challenges faced by many organizations with a one-week turnaround between the last Budget Study Session and the Public Forum, and for adjusting the budget calendar for the 2024-25 budget season to allow for a two-week gap. This added week should provide slightly more time for the League and other community organizations to engage in a more detailed study and understanding of the preliminary proposed budget and greater opportunity for discussion in the formation of a consensus statement or other community feedback for the Board to incorporate into the final iteration.
The League thanks the Board for creating opportunities for public input into the budget at various points in the development process and encourages the Board and its Community Engagement Subcommittee to explore additional means and methods of expanding such engagement throughout the year. The League strongly encourages the Board to continue to work to be proactive and transparent to ensure community trust in the Board process.
We thank all members of the Administration and Board for consideration of our statement. The League looks forward to the release of the Board’s final Budget iteration resulting from having considered community comments.
Alissa Baum – President of the LWVS
Nan Eileen Mead – School Budget Portfolio Co-Chair LWVS
