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Published: 12 August 2010

Created: 12 August 2010

Last Updated: 18 August 2010

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Our area offers a wealth of preschool, after school and enrichments programs for children of all ages.  Scarsdale10583 sent out requests to many programs in the area for information and below are the facts from those that responded.  If you want to add your program to the guide, please send a us a description and contact information and we will add you to the list.

Preschool:

Citibabes has some exciting new classes scheduled for the fall 2010 semester as well as some favorite signature classes. New classes this year include the first ever CitiSchool 3s program, which builds on the foundation of the 2s program, expanding upon the learning and socialization developed in the previous year while exposing students to other vital elements of development including family and community, and global, cultural, and environmental exploration; “CitiBoys,” a program designed specifically for boys’ learning needs; and “CitiSchool Masters,” a class where artists, performers, and community leaders lead hands-on workshops aiming to help students cultivate future interests. Citibabes will also be unveiling CitiGym, a new movement and tumble room designed to help children develop fine and gross motor skills, sports fundamentals, and have fun! Classes that will be held in the CitiGym include “Power Baby: Muscle Movers,” “Mighty Tykes,” and “Master Movers.” And don’t forget great signature classes like “CitiSports,” led by Citibabes’ lively coaches who instill the importance of teamwork and good sportsmanship all while having fun and developing an overall appreciation for sports and a healthy, active lifestyle, and “Bandmates,” where Citibabes’ 3-piece band always entertain! For more information or to register, please contact Kim Proal at [email protected] or call 914.725.3334.

The Hoff-Barthelson Music School community extends a welcome of warmth and caring to all who walk through its doors and into its musical home. At Hoff-Barthelson, students of all ages embark upon a journey of musical growth under the guidance of our distinguished and dedicated faculty, and are encouraged to explore their musical ideas, tastes, and potential in a familial setting of friendship and support.  The School offers individual lessons on all instruments and voice in classical and jazz studies; a full range of performance opportunities at all levels of expertise in chamber ensembles, orchestras and choruses; a Music Technology Lab; Jazz Studies  Program; the HBMS Preschool for 3 and 4 year-olds; and a full program of Music and Movement Classes for preschoolers from 4 months – 5 years. www.hbms.org , [email protected], 914-723-1169; 25 School Lane, Scarsdale.

Over the Moon Music and More: Did you know that all children are musical? Have you ever wondered what you can do to nurture the musical growth of your child, regardless of your own musical ability? And did you know that there’s a storefront location where you and your child can play musically together, right here in Scarsdale? Over the Moon Music and More offers Music Together®, the internationally recognized early childhood music and movement program, in a beautiful and comfortable space at 78 Garth Road, as well as in 6 other convenient locations in south to mid-Westchester County. Classes--for children from birth through kindergarten age accompanied by an adult caregiver--are research based and experiential, not performance oriented, but most of all, they’re fun! Free demo classes are available. For class and demo class schedules, visit www.overthemoonmusicandmore.com or call 914-722-2025.

Tumble Bugs is a dynamic and creative physical education movement program with a unique curriculum designed specifically for children between the ages of 12 months and 6 years old. A progressive lesson plan formats allow Certified Instructors to advance your child at an age-appropriate pace. In doing so, your child begins to develop an early appetite for an active lifestyle.

For the first time, this fall Tumble Bus is offering Krazy Kool Creations Lifeskills Class where children ages 4 through 8 will build Lego creations and get introduced to different life skills such as negotiation, communication, self-pride, creativity, public speaking, and tolerance. The students work together in groups of 3-5 to build one creation per group. There is a theme each class for each group to work on. At the end of building time, each group tells the other students about what they have made and how they have made it in a presentation style format. Each student is also working towards being a Krazy Kool Creations Master each class. There will be a special award for each student at the end of each session.

Krazy Kool Creations will offer three one-hour classes on Thursdays (starting 9/16/2010). There are 12 classes in the session. Class times are 1:15pm (KKC Pre-School class), 4 pm and 5:15p m (KKC Lifeskills program).

Tumble Bugs, 826 Scarsdale Avenue, Scarsdale New York. To register, call 914-713-1113. For more information, call Shari O'Neill (KKC Owner and Creator) at 203-292-8038.

Westchester Reform Temple Early Childhood Center (WRT ECC) is launching their 35th school year.  “We started in 1985 with only a Parent Center and classes for toddlers,” says ECC Director, Sue Tolchin. “Today we serve infants through Pre-K, we have new state-of-the-art playground and classrooms dedicated solely to our youngest learners.  This is going to be a very exciting year!”  The small class size creates an environment to build self confidence and independence through an enhanced curriculum, including math concepts, pre-reading and writing readiness, art, music, movement and Jewish learning from Hebrew to challah. New enrichment programs offer something for every child, from Little Chefs to Tae Kwon Do to Super Science.  WRT ECC, licensed by NYS Department of Children and Family Services, has a full time Social Worker on staff and provides options for lunch, extended day and summer sessions.  Limited spaces are available for 2010-11 and registration for 2011-12 begins in November.  For an appointment and tour contact Sue Tolchin at 914 723-5493 x 103 or [email protected]

Enrichment and Sports Programs for School-Age Children:

Backyard Sports is pleased to announce two new basketball programs for Fall 2010.  BYS Prep will offer 4th-12th grade boys and girls the chance to develop technical and tactical skills and then practice those skills in real time games under the supervision of our exceptional coaching staff.  The program will take place at SUNY Purchase on Sundays from 12 noon-1:30pm  BYS PREP Jr. is for preK-third grade players offering exceptional training with our coaches.  Please check out the website at http://www.byardsports.com for schedule information."

Crane Bridge offers Chinese as a foreign language program for young beginners whose native language is not Mandarin Chinese. The focus of our service is on the needs of American children learning Chinese. The school provides a small and intimate environment where Chinese listening, speaking, reading and writing skills are acquired through language usages in real life situations, interactive games, and both small group and one-on-one class activities.  The curriculum, textbooks and workbooks are uniquely designed by Crane Bridge academic team with age appropriate contents, relevant to American children’s daily life, cultural environment and imagination.

The program was established in March 2009 and now is entering its fourth season. There are classes for grades K-2 and Grades 3-8 two age group Level 1 through Level 3 Beginners’ classes.  In the coming Fall Semester, there will be Pre-K preliminary Chinese classes for 4 & 5 year old children.  At this time, there are still a few spaces for Level 3 classes and 2-3 spots for the new Pre-K classes. For more information about Crane Bridge Chinese Language of Young Beginners, please contact Anne Tong at 914.525.4173, or visit www.cranebridge.net .

G-tec Kids: Amazingly fun! - Challenging! - Exciting! That's how students describe their G·tec experience. And parents feel the same way. They are energized by their kids' enthusiasm for learning. The G·tec Kids curriculum caters to what kids need most: a rich and personalized after school enrichment environment that challenges bright and creative children in grades 2 through 5.

Classes include no more than six students, so each student receives more personalized attention. Classes are held once a week for one and a half hour sessions. At G·tec, children are exposed to hands-on, real life experiences that enhance their innovative and critical thinking, problem posing and problem solving so their cognitive strengths of higher-level thinking are tapped. The program naturally integrates history, visual arts, science, and computers in a three-year progressive course of study. G·tec supplies students with state-of-the-art materials and manipulatives from computers, animation equipment, drafting boards, weaving looms to architectural tables. Some activities include making pottery, building model lungs, simulating an archaeological dig, deciphering the Rosetta Stone, drafting an architectural plan, and designing and filming an animated movie. Contact Dr. Andi Stix at 914-636-0888 and visit her website.

The Steffi Nossen School of Dance conducts classes right in the heart of Scarsdale. Classes at Scarsdale Community Baptist Church start Thursday, September 23; Tami Mele will teach Core Curriculum modern dance and jazz.  These classes also take place at our central studios in the nearby Music Conservatory of Westchester (across from the County Center) in White Plains on Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. Most classes feature live music accompaniment. Also at the White Plains studios are technique classes in Modern, Ballet, Jazz, Tap, Hip-Hop, Classical Story Ballet, and Moving Wheels & Heels for students with special needs. Try all classes FREE during our Open House September 27 - October 2. The school is managed by the not-for-profit Dance in Education Fund. Please visit our website, www.steffinossen.org, for complete class descriptions and schedules, faculty information, and more.  Or contact us at 328-1900 or [email protected]; we will happily help you plan your dance year.

West Math Lab offers a unique math enrichment program with complete mathematical course for each grade from kindergarten to 8th. Students will achieve a deep understanding and superior mastery of mathematical concepts. The program is based on the well-respected Singapore Math curriculum, which emphasizes mental calculations; solving word problems; logical reasoning; speed and accuracy. Classes are now offered in two locations: Dobbs Ferry and Scarsdale. Two new courses are added for the fall of 2010 – Kindergarten and 7th Grade Math/Science. For more information, please visit http://www.westmathlab.com/ or call 1-866-956-3804.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Published: 02 August 2010

Created: 02 August 2010

Last Updated: 03 August 2010

Hits: 7144

New York State test results for the academic year 2009-10 for grades 3-8 were released last week.  There’s interesting news for Scarsdale.  Our mean scores for both the Math and English tests have barely changed, however, this year, after the test was administered, the state reset the proficiency standards, in effect raising the score a student needs to be deemed proficient.

 Historically, upwards of 95% of Scarsdale students had scored in proficiency levels 3 or 4 on the tests, but under the new scheme, the number of students in those levels has fallen from 5% - 20%. See the results in the chart on the right.

Statewide results are pretty grim. Across grades, 3-8, only 53% were found to be proficient in English, and 61% in Math.  This represents a steep decline from 2009 results where 77% met or exceeded standards in English and 86% were proficient in Math. To learn more, visit the state education website or search for results by district here.

Scarsdale Schools Superintendant Michael McGill does not believe the test results signal a decline in student abilities and discounts the test as a predictor of future academic success.

Here is a statement from Dr. McGill:

This week, school districts across the state received the scores from grade 3-8 tests that were administered in the spring.  Statewide, fewer students scored at the upper levels, and more scored at lower levels.

The reason is that the State Education Department has increased the number of responses a student must get right in order to achieve a top rating. Learning hasn’t actually declined, in other words; pupils just have to reach a higher score to be called “proficient.”

In Scarsdale, we’re still in the process of reviewing our results.  However, we have no reason to think we’ll be an exception to the rule.   We expect that the statewide pattern will hold here, and that fewer of our pupils will be in the upper levels.  

We ordinarily share state test scores with parents in the fall, and we’ll do that as usual this year.  When we do, we want parents to know that a child who’s earned a mark of 1 or 2 may well be there because the scoring method has changed and the bar is higher, not because he or she is any less able.

In Scarsdale, state tests have never been strong predictors of children’s long-term academic success, and by the time our students graduate, they’re well prepared for college.   In general, the tests tell teachers relatively little that they don’t already know from working closely with their pupils.  In-class exercises, other demonstrations of learning and close personal observation enable them to provide students the ongoing support they need to learn and grow.

More broadly, the Scarsdale schools are committed to provide our students with a deep, rich education.  We want our graduates to go well beyond basic mastery to become excellent thinkers and problem-solvers who can contribute, lead and succeed in the global community.  We avoid teaching to government-mandated tests, relying instead on a wide range of assessments for a broad picture of our students’ progress.

We think it’s unfortunate that the State decided to make this change late in the game and without letting schools or parents know it was going to happen, or why. Nonetheless, we fully endorse the Regents’ effort to set higher expectations for students. We will continue to set even higher educational standards in Scarsdale.

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Published: 05 July 2010

Created: 05 July 2010

Last Updated: 05 July 2010

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Scarsdale residents Sara Kober and Naomi Shapiro run a unique business that helps parents and students find sustainable school supplies. Here is an interview with founder Naomi Shapiro:  Tell the users a little about you an your partner? What is your professional background? Sara and I are both lawyers and moms who met through our daughters. I have been an enforcement attorney with an environmental agency for 17 years, mainly concerned with toxic substances, pesticides, and petroleum management. Sara is now retired, but practiced corporate and real estate law in both a large firm and in house at a corporation. As part of her law practice, Sara was involved with the trading of air emissions credits, so her work had an environmental component as well.

What lead you to start Green My Locker and when was the business launched?

Sara and I volunteered to run the environmental committee at our local elementary school (Heathcote). As part of those activities, we created water and air quality conservation weeks, sponsored a concert featuring the "Junk Man" (music on found instruments), and published a monthly environmental tip sheet. When Heathcote held its first school supply fundraiser featuring products that were largely disposable and made in China, we suggested that something greener would be more consistent with the district's efforts to reduce its environmental footprint. The PTA directed us to go find a greener vendor and when we couldn't, we founded Green My Locker to fill that void in 2008.

How long have you lived in Scarsdale and do you have children of your own?

I have lived in Scarsdale most of my life and have an 8 year old son (4th grade) and a 13 year-old daughter (9th grade). Sara and her family have lived in Scarsdale for over 15 years. She has a 14 year-old daughter (9th grade) and a 15-1/2 year-old son (11th grade).

As far as you know are there other similar companies located around the country?

There's a company in Utah that offers some green supplies, but their primary mission is not environmental sustainability; they began as a conventional supply company and that's still their focus and the biggest portion of their business. We exist to provide a sustainable alternative to conventional supplies. Also, given the distance the goods have to travel and the packaging involved with shipping from out West, they are really not a viable alternative for a local school that wants to "go green."

For which grades do you supply school materials?

K-12. The market in environmentally-sustainable supplies started with college bookstores and has expanded downwards through the grades. The breadth of available products-- from flash drives to washable markers -- is staggering and is increasing all the time.

How does the cost to purchase them through you compare to purchasing at stores like Staples or Office Depot?

The vast majority of our products are not available at Staples or Office Depot, so it is hard to compare directly. Where those stores do offer the same products, our prices are lower than theirs -- it's just not what they do. If you compare our high-quality recycled products to the Staples or Office Depot in-house budget brands of conventional school supplies, however, our products are going to be more expensive. As parents ourselves, we are sensitive to price --we discount all the items we sell, and package them together in order to provide the best pricing we can to our customers.

What has been the reaction to your service from parents, teachers and children?

Really gratifying. The kids love our products and understand right away what is different and special about them. Teachers like the concept of receiving consistent, high quality supplies from the students and have been terrific about trying new brands and providing us feedback. Some PTAs see our mission as congruent with their values and a natural extension of their efforts to "be green." Others are still naive about the real costs of production -- socially and environmentally. As a generation, we grew up thinking of school supplies as inherently disposable and an extension of our tastes and brand loyalties. As much as some parents want to embrace green, they are still seduced by the sparkly pack of pencils or the Superman notebook, regardless of how or where it is made.

Do you offer other services in addition to school supplies?

Yes. We also sell water filters that we install on school water fountains to remove 99.9% of all bacteria and sediment, including chlorine, lead and scale which greatly improves the taste of the water, as well as bottle filling faucets so that in addition to getting a quick drink of water, children can fill reusable water bottles that they bring from home. We also offer home-packs of supplies: parents can order order environmentally-sustainable supplies to support homework -- printer paper, poster boards, colored pencils, flash drives, you name it! In addition, we have started carrying items for a waste-free lunch – reusable containers, sandwich and snack bags and bpa-free water bottles, which can also be offered as a PTA fundraiser.

Where are your offices? Right here in Scarsdale.

What have been the biggest challenges you encountered and what are the pleasant surprises (if any?)

The best surprises are the phone calls we get from new school districts. A PTA volunteer will call us, for example, and say a parent is a teacher in a district that used your supplies last year, how can we do that too?

The biggest challenge is the turnover in PTAs. Every year there is a new executive board in most districts and each arrives with a different idea about the purpose and goals of a school supply fundraiser. We are obviously most successful with schools who see this program as a piece of their efforts to be environmentally-conscious. The energy savings in just switching to recycled paper in every classroom is enormous. Our program has all the convenience and money-raising aspects of conventional programs, plus this added benefit.

Anything else you want to add?

We understand how hard it is for the average consumer to evaluate environmental claims for any given product -- "greenwashing" is the latest trendy marketing scheme. We invest a significant amount of our time (and our professional experience) researching and verifying the claims our vendors make for their products. We share what makes each of our products "sustainable" and the country of manufacture with our clients, so they know what supplies they are getting and why we selected them.

Interested in learning more or ordering school supplies through Green Your Locker? Visit www.greenmylocker.com

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Published: 28 June 2010

Created: 28 June 2010

Last Updated: 28 June 2010

Hits: 7810

Jeff Blatt, just completed six years of service on the Scarsdale School Board, giving innumerable hours to the district while also working at a very demanding job at Time Incorporated. Here are the remarks he made at his last Board of Education meeting on Monday night June 21. Read his thoughts on the non-partisan system and the recent election below:

It has been a great honor to serve on the Scarsdale Board of Education for the last six years. I will always look back on this time in my life as one where I gave my time and effort simply because it was good and important work worth doing and doing well. This is the purity of volunteerism that so many in Scarsdale know so well but that honestly, I had not previously experienced in any meaningful way. I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to undertake such work, so intensively, ever again, but I am very pleased that I will be able to look back on this period of my life and know that I did my best for as many of my fellow citizens and our children as I possibly could.

I’m keenly aware that anything I accomplished was part of a team effort. Over many years, I have served with fabulous trustees, people like Emily Sherwood, Jeff Samuelson, Bob Steves, Terri Simon, and Florie Wachtenheim. I won’t name each trustee on our current board, but I do want to cite Linda Chayes, who served as Vice President of the Board during the year in which I was President. Linda’s skills were the perfect compliment to my own, and together, I feel that our dialog, our back and forth, our listening to each other and our give and take, got us to the right outcome in almost every case.

This district is run by amazing professionals in every discipline. Mike McGill, Joan Webber, Linda Purvis, Mike Mendelson, Lynn Shain, Jerry Crisci and Jeff Martin are a dream team of School District Administrators. Someday, they’ll be gone, and if you don’t know what we have in these people today, you’ll surely know when they depart. And of course, ditto for our District Clerk, Lois Rehm. People say that Lois runs the district, and of course, they’re right. But let’s not let this inside joke trivialize what Lois really means to all of us. Lois makes us all better and in so doing is one of the many roots of a system that makes the educational experience what it is for all of our students.

In my time on the Board, we’ve done some truly wonderful things. We’ve ended the practice of occasionally starting special education students in one building and moving them to a different elementary school in a later grade based on space considerations. We’ve built a proper new wing at Quaker Ridge. We’ve modernized our PTA gift giving policies. We’ve introduced an AT curriculum that has reminded our nation’s colleges and universities of Scarsdale’s commitment to lead and innovate. We’ve introduce elementary foreign language and expanded and deepened our offerings in the arts. We’ve wisely resisted calls at elementary schools for additional construction. We’ve put through remarkably low tax increases in difficult times. We’ve collaborated with our teachers union on a ground breaking reopening of a contract. I could go on and on. It’s been a privilege to be a small part, for a small period of time, of such wonderful and important endeavors.

We all know that what matters most happens in the classroom. We have spectacular teachers in Scarsdale. I’ve had teachers call me at home at 9pm, and at 7:30am to discuss my children. I know about lesson planning and grading papers and staying after school to meet with students. I know that the job is not 8am – 3pm. And I believe most others in town know it too. To Trudy Moses and the STA, thank you for your great work and ongoing partnership.

To get the best teachers, we’ve paid the best wage, a choice taxpayers often make in their own lives in other areas, be it an architect, plumber, or painter, and certainly a choice that we always made with full disclosure and citizen support. No trustee should apologize for so doing. I urge my colleagues who remain on the board, and those who will serve in the future, to focus on the Budget vote results and what they mean. They are the ultimate arbiter of what the electorate wants, and clearly, consistently, and loudly the vote has overwhelmingly said one thing – we endorse the work of the board and the school district and we support that work. Never forget this. Without superior schools, we have no identity as a town. And given cost realities that are beyond local control, schools will not stay superior on annual tax increases that rise less than 3 percent per year for any sustained period of time. As I have said, there comes a time when less is indeed less. And we are about there.

I would be remiss if I didn’t thank the SBNC for selecting me for Board service. I cannot emphasize enough the difference the SBNC makes in Scarsdale. Our non-partisan system is at the very heart of why we have such great schools in this town, and therefore, by extension, why we have enjoyed great prosperity as a community for decades. In the most recent election to take my seat, some talked about this being the town’s first contested election in decades.

This is simply not true. Every year the school board nominating committee – YOUR ELECTED REPRESENTATIVES – pick from among a slate of candidates for school board. Anyone can run. Multiple people run. People go before the committee and vie to be chosen. There are people chosen and people not chosen. THAT IS, by any definition, A CONTESTED ELECTION. I can tell you that I would never have run had I had to do what Suzanne Seiden just did – stand at a train station and hand out material and campaign. What would my campaign have been “vote for me I’m smart and fair?” Or perhaps “vote for me, I have no experience in these matters and you’ve never heard of me, but I know in my heart I will do a good job?”

I can tell you that almost all of the great trustees I have worked with would never have sought election if traditional campaigning were involved. Why anyone would want to encourage a process where people stake out entrenched positions before they have any idea of what they are talking about, when they can otherwise rely on their elected representatives to choose from among the best and the brightest, as they have done for decades, is beyond my comprehension. The sanity of the SBNC process is the reason that so many great people have been willing to serve our community as school board trustees. And thus it is this system that is an important root of our community’s prosperity. What we had this year was pedestrian, a regression to the mean, and a path to the mediocrity that exists in public education throughout our nation. I hope to never see it again in my lifetime.

In closing, I want to thank my family. My wife Erin Foster is a saint. As a general matter, she puts up with me and constant diatribes like the one you just heard. As it relates to this evening, Erin was the one who first brought the idea of board service to my attention. A very substantial contributing school volunteer in her own right, at one point Erin dealt with my being on the school board, my holding down a demanding job, and my attending night school all at the same time. To my three children Josie, Louisa, and Charlie, I’m very proud of you. Keep trying your best in school, as I have tried my best on the school board! I’ll be home more often now, and when I haven’t been there the past six years, I’ve missed you. Thank you all very much. It’s been an honor to serve.