The Master of the Cloud Returns to Scarsdale
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Scarsdale got a glimpse into the past and the future when the Scarsdale Schools Foundation welcomed SHS alumnus Andy Jassy to address the community on Tuesday night, September 16th. Jassy, who heads up Amazon's Cloud Computing division called Amazon Web Services, gave the packed audience a glimpse into what's driving Amazon's success as well as his own impressive career trajectory at the company, offering credit to Scarsdale for making him the person he is today.
Superintendent Thomas Hagerman interviewed Jassy and said he looked back at Jassy's transcript at Scarsdale High School for something interesting but could only find a record of success. He presented Jassy with a framed photo of himself from his 1986 yearbook.
Jassy reminisced about Scarsdale and said the last time he was in the auditorium he was performing in the senior class play Guys and Dolls. He told the audience that Scarsdale has "an incredible school system" and "you should feel lucky you send your kids to school here." He remembered the teachers who had made a difference in his life including Eric Rothschild who taught him to write, engage and consider himself a student. In Warner Feig's class on constitutional law he learned the Socratic method and the importance of preparing for class. Though he wasn't fond of English teacher Courtney Cauble, he ended up in his class for three years. Cauble had "unrelenting standards" and taught Jassy to write. His ninth grade Social Studies teacher Larry Davis insisted he learned to take notes in shorthand, a skill he continues to use at meetings today.
After attending Harvard College and Harvard Business School Jassy accepted a position at Amazon in Seattle where he felt he could learn and quickly assume bigger responsibilities. In fact, Jassy believes that a hunger to continue to learn throughout life is key to success. Today he manages what he says could become Amazon's biggest business, Amazon Web Services, which serves some of the world's biggest websites, companies and government agencies. Clients include Pinterest, Netflix and Air B&B as well as General Electric, Time Inc. and large academic centers. He said, "We are still in the early days of what is possible," and that the company "develops their services in response to customer needs."
What do they look for in hiring new talent? Amazon seeks intelligent, analytical people with a high tolerance for ambiguity. They look for people who are strategic but can deal with the details as well. Those who succeed are tenacious, persistent, able to overcome barriers, reflective and vocally self-critical. According to Jassy, the company cannot hire enough computer engineers. He said, "It used to be that becoming a doctor was a guarantee of earning a good living. Today, if you
graduate with a degree in computer science you will have a job." He encouraged the district to teach coding at an early age as it teaches problem solving and critical thinking.
In order to be nimble, the company is divided into small, autonomous units so that work teams are not dependent on other units to succeed. These units are called "Two pizza teams" meaning that the teams must be small enough that they would need only two pizzas for a meal.
Another key to Amazon's success is the prioritization of new projects. Since there are always new ideas, the challenge is to select those that will respond to customer needs and have the biggest impact. In order to define those projects Jassy says that before any coding or development begins the team will write a press release and an FAQ on the new product, laying out its benefits to customers and answering questions that will arise. By evaluating these materials first the company can decide which projects have the most merit and potential before using resources for development.
What's down the road? Jassy said, "We are planting seeds now that will hopefully grown into trees." More specifically he mentioned the drones project that could be two, five, or even ten years away. He said that in the future very few companies will have their own data centers and will use the cloud to collect, store and analyze data at a far lower cost. He even predicted that cancer would be cured by computer scientists through data analysis. The use of mobile apps and devices will be more pervasive and sensors will be used to collect and transmit data back to the cloud.
Hagerman questioned Jassy about the work environment and Jassy replied that the rapidly growing company always has too little space. In order to make the most of the space they have, walls are lined with white boards so that any room can become a meeting space. To keep teams in Seattle in touch with teams around the world, they stream videoconferencing on their computers 24/7 and speak to people around the world as if they were in the same room.
Asked who inspires him, Jassy said, "My boss Jeff Bezos." He continued, "He is the most brilliant thinker I know, he is unbelievably creative, has technical acumen and unusual empathy for the customer. Jassy shadowed Bezos for 18 months and saw that "he quickly got to the heart of an issue and added value." Bezos is "not set in his ways, does not rest on his laurels, is optimistic about change and does not believe there is a glass ceiling on what we can do."
An audience member asked him what he wished he knew when he was in high school and he quickly replied, "I wish I knew then that trying to be cool or popular was overrated."
The irony is that almost 20 years later Jassy is the coolest guy in the room.
Watch the entire conversation on Video on Demand here.
The talk was sponsored by the Scarsdale Schools Education Foundation that is supporting research and development, innovation, technology and the improvement of the physical infrastructure of the Scarsdale School District. The foundation will embark on a fundraising program to support these initiatives this fall. For more information, visit scarsdaleschoolseducationfoundation.org.
Scarsdale BOE Reaches Consensus on Capital Project Plan
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At their first public study session of the 2014-15 school year the Board quickly reached consensus on the proposed capital projects that would be included in a bond referendum early in December. After a recap of the process by Linda Purvis, Dr. Hagerman announced his recommendations to cutback the scope of the work at the Middle School and High School, reducing the amount that would be borrowed to $16,772,000.
What's changed?
At the middle school there were three options proposed by the architects to facilitate a practice room for the orchestra, who now use the stage of the auditorium as their classroom. Hagerman recommended that the district adopt the lowest cost option, which will add a room to the school by bumping out the building next to the current band room. The custodian's office will be renovated to create space for music instruction and there will be adequate storage space for the instruments. This option saved the district $232,000 off the original budget.
At the high school the board opted to scale back by eliminating a second floor corridor that would have connected the new Learning Commons with the library. According to Purvis, "The architects wanted to create a flow between the Commons and the eating and study spaces and the library, which would have been desirable from an instructional perspective and would have reflected the ways kids are actually working and learning." Also eliminated from the scope is a covered area for deliveries to the kitchen. The total savings from these two changes was $550,000.
However the plans now do include the following:
- District wide replacement of technology infrastructure
- A new library, central office and small group instruction space at Edgewood
- A new multi-purpose room, entrance canopy and small group instruction space at Heathcote.
- An orchestra rehearsal space and storage space as well as a new instructional music space at the Middle School
At the high school:
- A new learning commons using the space in and around gyms A & B that includes an additional kitchen, food service and cafeteria area, an elevator, mezzanine flexible seating and collaborative workspace. The I-Lab will include breakout rooms.
- A new design lab in the space that was formerly the auto shop.T
- A new 6,200 square foot fitness center located below the new gym.
The total cost of the plan is $19,820,000, but $3.1 million would come from other sources; $500,000 for the fitness center has been allocated from previous budgets and the board has asked the Scarsdale Education Foundation to raise $2.6 mm in funding for the fitness center and design lab. A $300,000 donation from the Madoff family for the equipment at the fitness center is not included in the budget.
Though the scope of the project had been hotly debated last year, at the September 8 meeting the Board quickly agreed to adopt Dr. Hagerman's recommendations. There was little discussion about the proposed changes though former Board President Suzanne Seiden asked if it would be possible to request alternative bidding for the corridor/kitchen project at the high school with the hope that the bid would come in within the budget. She said, "I would hate for us to be penny wise and pound foolish."
A final decision on the bond referendum will be made at the Board's October 6, 2014 meeting. The League of Women Voters of Scarsdale is planning to hold a public information meeting on the bond referendum from 9:30 to 10:15 am on September 29 at Village Hall.
The First Day of School
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Though the hot weather on September 2nd felt far more like summer than fall, it was off to school for Scarsdale kids. For some it was the first day of kindergarten, a bittersweet day for parents who were proud to take them to school for the first time and sad to realize they were growing up.
Here are photos from the first day of school of kids around town. Share yours by sending them to [email protected].
Update on Elementary School Enrollment for 2014-15
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The cutoff date to determine the number of sections in each of the elementary school grades has now passed, and the Scarsdale Schools Administration has adjusted the number of class sections to meet the district' policy for class size, which is a maximum of 22 students in grades K-3 and 24 students in grades 4 and 5.
In order to accommodate increases in enrollment, an additional section was added for first grade at the Fox Meadow School, bringing the total to five first grades. Third grade also has an additional section at Fox Meadow, for a total of four third grade classes.
At Edgewood, one third grade class was added, for a total of four sections and a fourth section for fourth grade was added to accommodate the inclusion class. As of today, August 19, there will be 107 elementary school sections, up four sections over last year. The projected staffing for the 2014-15 budget calls for 108 sections allowing for five additional elementary school teachers over 2013-14, three at Fox Meadow.
Does this mean that there will be no oversized classes this coming school year? According to School Superintendent Thomas Hagerman, "As of the 12th (of August), when this analysis was done, and sections were updated, we were within all recommended caps. Now, just to be clear, we may still get kids in, so I can't promise that we won't reach some cap before the first day of school, but we are within or under in all sections now.
Keith Martinez Meets Barack Obama
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Keith Martinez, the Scarsdale STEP student from South Dakota who graduated from Scarsdale High School in 2012, recently attended a private meeting with President Obama as part of an initiative called 'My Brother's Keeper' that was founded by Obama himself. The mission of the group is to mentor at-risk young men to keep them focused on school and their goals. Keith is a native American of Lakota/African American heritage and during the week of July 21 he met with NBA players and the Basketball Commissioner to receive advice on how to succeed through hardship and to share their stories. He also met with senators on Capitol Hill to get updates on what they are doing for the Indians and attended a conference and panel discussion on changing the name of the Redskins Football Team.
About the week Keith said, "This trip was extremely exciting and I was glad I was able to attend... all thanks to CNAY (Center for Native American Youth) for completely funding my trip. This means a lot to me and shows me that great things can happen to a poor kid from a reservation. Times like this give me more hope that I can make a difference in the future. I hope to continue my work and gain more supporters.
This summer, Keith who is now a student at Villnova, has returned to Scarsdale to live with Mara and 
Brandon Steiner, who hosted him during his two years at SHS. He is interning at Steiner Sports.
