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.

Members of the Mills Pond Cares Club usually visit the seniors at the St. James Healthcare Facility a few times a year. Since they haven’t had the opportunity to visit since schools closed, the club members and fifth graders and teachers put together a video to share with the residents. Students expressed their well wishes and how much they missed their visits in hopes of brightening their day.

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

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.”

Before school closure, members of the High School East Drama Club performed for the students of Mills Pond Elementary School to kick off their Parents as Reading Partners initiative. High School East senior Jennifer Donohue wrote a play to kick off their PARP event “Reading is MARVEL-ous.” The students performed as Marvel superheroes for all of the K-5 students, who then had a Q & A with the actors after the performance. The Drama Club members are hoping to inspire the joy of reading to young readers in the district.