Capturing the individual and collective experiences of students and staff was the idea behind the club created by Smithtown High School East art teacher Dianne Shanian. “From the last day of in-class school on March 13, the students and staff have been coping with staying at home and doing our best with online instruction, and other limitations the Covid-19 virus has imposed,” she said.

“Since every person has been affected on some level by this sudden change in our lives, I wanted to offer a platform where students and staff could express or capture their feelings and thoughts in the form of words, photos, paintings, drawings or videos,” she said. “The collective visual result is emotionally powerful. The realization that these entries came from students in kindergarten through 12th grade, and from staff members, speaks to the overarching impact this experience has had on people of all ages, genders, cultures and backgrounds within our school district.”

CAPTURE slide presentation serves as a record for our district of this unique time in history, and we hope all viewers find something within it that resonates in them.

They may not have had the traditional sendoff to high school, but the district’s eighth graders surely felt special during their drive-by moving up ceremonies. The district’s three middle schools – Accompsett, Great Hollow and Nesaquake – each hosted parades on June 16 to celebrate the achievements of their eighth grade classes. Administrators, teachers and staff members lined the sidewalks of each respective building, holding signs of congratulations for the students as they celebrated their milestone moving up to high school.

 

Even though schools may be closed, the Great Hollow Peanut Butter Gang has still been busy with their community service. Check out some of their activities during the last few month in this video.

It’s every writer’s dream to have their work published, but it’s even more of an honor when a middle school student finds out they will soon become a published author. Ariana Glaser, an eighth grade student at Great Hollow Middle School, was recently notified that her book “She Remembers” will be published by Foundations Book Publishing.

Ariana received her letter of acceptance in mid-May and is excited to share her work with the world. “Writing has been such a huge part of my life for so many years, and finally being able to share my writing with everyone is more than I could ever ask for,” she said. Ariana began writing short stories at the age of 7, and when she turned 11, she finished writing her first full-length novella, “The World I Never Knew.” The following year, she self-published the novella through Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing.

Ariana knew that “She Remembers” deserved more attention than what she would achieve through self-publishing. “I searched for a publisher for ‘She Remembers’ for several months before Foundations Books offered me a publishing contract,” she said. “To say I was overjoyed would be an understatement. I am already working on my third novel, a mystery involving a dystopian society.”

According to Ariana, “She Remembers” is dedicated to Isabella Muntean, a 15-year-old who she knew through social media who passed away from cancer in April 2018. Bella founded Angel Heart of Hope, a charity dedicated to helping childhood cancer victims. Ariana hopes her book calls attention to the plight of these children.

The district is asking students and staff to capture and submit their thoughts and expressions about COVID-19. The deadline for submissions is June 10th. Click here to upload

Prior to the closure of schools, members of the Peanut Butter Gang community service club at Great Hollow Middle School collected and organized wash kits to donate to their community members in need.

The club typically donates to Hospitality Too soup kitchen in Brentwood. However, the organization suspended its usual operations for most of April. In early May, club adviser and Great Hollow Middle School library media specialist Sheila Cavooris were able to deliver the wash kits by meeting with volunteers in the parking lot. The Peanut Butter Gang made 100 wash kits that were picked up by those in need while the soup kitchen volunteers distributed food in the parking lot using social distancing measures.

High School East and High School West have been recognized by the New York State Education Department as Recognition Schools. Schools must be high achieving and show strong progress to be identified as a Recognition School. Smithtown’s high schools are two of the 582 schools across New York to receive the honor.

“These are exemplary public schools that demonstrate that all students can achieve at high levels with the right supports and resources,” said Board of Regents Chancellor Betty Rosa. “Recognition Schools help to ensure equity for all children across New York State.

To be identified as a Recognition School, a school must: have an accountability status of Good Standing; have a Level 4 for the Combined Composite Performance and Graduation Rate for high schools for the All Students group; not have a Level 1 for any accountability indicator for the All Students group; not have any subgroups that were identified as potential targeted support and improvement based on 2018-19 school year results; and not have a 2018-19 participation rate for ELA or math for the All Students group that is less than 95%.

“Recognition Schools are the highest performing and rapidly improving schools across the state,” said Interim Commissioner Shannon Tahoe. “Recognition Schools across the state demonstrate the relentless commitment of teachers, administrators, staff and parents, without whom this growth would not have been possible.”

At the April 28 Board of Education meeting, the district granted tenure to 31 staff and administrators. Congratulations to the following administrators who were granted tenure:

Timothy Hellmuth, assistant principal at Accompsett Middle School and Daniel McCabe, principal at Nesaquake Middle School.

The district also congratulates the following teachers who received tenure:
Janelle Albano, reading teacher, Smithtown Elementary
Tracey Ballato, special education teacher, Accompsett Middle
Amy Bleecher, special education teacher, Great Hollow Middle
Rachelle Ciota, math teacher, Great Hollow Middle
Janice Concagh, teacher, Dogwood Elementary
Patrice D’Elia, psychologist
Kristen Dicpinigaitis, science teacher, Great Hollow Middle
Lauren DiNapoli-Iannello, foreign language teacher, High School West
Melissa Fenster, special education teacher, Tackan Elementary
Jaclyn Fettinger, FACS teacher, High School East
Desiree Fischer, special education teacher, High School East
Sarah Gilbert, English as a second language teacher, High School West
Corinne Gorniok, reading teacher, Mt. Pleasant Elementary
Chander Mallhotra Jr., special education teacher, High School East
Courtney Mancuso, special education, Tackan Elementary
Tonina Manziello, science teacher, Nesaquake Middle
Alyssa Mescia, special education teacher, Great Hollow Middle
Maeve Miller, business teacher, High School East
Erin O’Connor, special education teacher, Mt. Pleasant Elementary
Alyssa Ochrym, English teacher, High School West
Chana Penini, special education teacher, High School West
Roseann Primus, special education teacher, Great Hollow Middle
Joseph Sagarese, English teacher, High School East
Jenna Simonetti, science teacher, Great Hollow Middle
Dana Thau, psychologist, Dogwood Elementary
Denise Trifaro, technology teacher, Great Hollow Middle
Elise Viola, special education teacher, Tackan Elementary
Katherine Wassle, reading teacher, High School West
Nancy Zimmermann, reading teacher, Dogwood Elementary

Smithtown Central School District’s elementary and middle schools have been recognized as Distinguished Schools by Project Lead the Way for the 2019-202 school year.

For the third consecutive year, all seven of Smithtown’s elementary schools have been designated as Distinguished Launch Schools based on its PLTW Launch program in the 2018-2019 school year. Smithtown’s elementary schools represent seven of only 19 in New York to be recognized. Across the United States, only 404 Launch schools have received this distinction for 2019-2020.

For the second consecutive year, all three of Smithtown’s middle schools have been designated as Distinguished Gateway Schools based on their Gateway program in the 2018-2019 school year. Smithtown’s middle schools represent three of only seven in New York to be recognized. Across the United States, only 176 Gateway schools have received this distinction for 2019-2020.

“The PLTW Distinguished Schools designation recognizes Smithtown’s continued commitment to providing all students with hands-on STEM experiences that are highly engaging and foster creativity and collaboration in problem-solving,” said Paul Strader, executive director of curriculum. “Through the PLTW curricula, students engage in the study of biomedical science, computer science and engineering and have the opportunities to apply that knowledge in real-world scenarios.”

The career and technical teachers from the technology department at Smithtown Central School District have been hard at work creating masks and shields for staff at St. Catherine of Siena Medical Center and Stony Brook University Hospital.

Using their 3D printers, the teachers created and delivered 140 masks/shields so far. Teachers Brian Costello, Connor Kelly, Dave Savage, Caitlin Caputo and Sean Tomasello have been volunteering their time, using the 3D printers from the school program to make the masks and shields. They have been working with High School East 2019 graduate Ben Levine.

During his time at High School East, Ben was very involved in the career and technical education department and was a member of the robotics team. He set up a GoFundMe campaign to raise money to purchase the filament and transparency film needed to make the masks. Ben has been working with the teachers to print them and distribute them to frontline workers at the two hospitals.

“The teachers have been really passionate about wanting to do what they can to give back and assist the frontline workers,” said Christine LoFrese, career and technical education direction, Smithtown Central School District. “It is so nice to see them all working together with a former grad on this project of coming up with the design and then implementing it. They are putting all their skills to good use and modeling what they teach to the students in their classes.”