Winter 2017 Vol. 65 No. 2

Published by the Board of Education, Pleasantville Union Free School District, Pleasantville NY

NYS Underfunds Suburban SchoolsThanks to a recent study by the United Way, the Westchester suburbs have a new view of just how underreported poverty statistics have been in our region. While Albany bureaucrats continue to whittle away at public educa-tion armed with their outdated and unrealistic data, this study proves how difficult it is for many suburban families to make ends meet.

The United Way’s ALICE report (Asset Limited, Income Constrained and Employed) reveals that 44 percent of households in the state of New York — more than one in three households — are “walking a financial tightrope, unable to afford this state’s high cost of living.”

“These households struggle to afford even the most basic necessities of housing, child care, food, health care, and transportation,” says the report (available at UnitedWayALICE.org/NewYork), which reveals a far broader and more serious problem than previously thought.

In particular, the ALICE report notes that in the counties bordering New York City, an area that includes Westchester County, 8 percent of residents now live below the poverty level, while another 28 percent live below the basic cost of living level for the region. In total, that accounts for 36 percent – more than one-third – of the region’s residents. In our own community of Pleasantville, 18 percent of residents live below the threshold.

Yet the state of New York considers our community “low need” when it determines our state aid. The state must update the data it uses to deter-mine a school district’s wealth, and devise a new formula to dictate how Foundation Aid will be distributed. The formula was first put in place in 2007 and relies on poverty data from the outdated 2000 Census. Because property values are so high in Westchester, Putnam and Long Island, our districts are considered wealthy. But for many in this region, as indicated by the ALICE report, nothing could be further from the truth.

Receiving less Foundation Aid, and facing yet another near-zero tax cap, will leave suburban school districts with no alternative but to propose budgets that override the cap or drastically cut programs and services. And some districts may have to do both.

Your voice matters. You can write to our legislators or send the letter (State Underfunding of Suburban School Districts) located in the Advo-cacy section of the District website. Together we can make a difference.

—Angela Vella, Board of Education President

Board Meetingsthrough June 2017

Unless otherwise noted, all meet-ings of the Board of Education be-gin at 7:30 p.m. in the Pleasantville High School Library Media Cen-ter. Reports scheduled are subject to change. Information on the up-coming Board meeting is available at www.pleasantvilleschools.com and 741-1460. Every meeting pro-vides an opportunity for comments and questions from the audience.

Tuesday, March 14• 2017-2018 Budget Analysis

Tuesday, March 21 (pending)• 2017-2018 Budget Workshop

Tuesday, March 28• Winter Athletic Season Recap• Proposed 2017-2018 Budget

Tuesday, April 18Board votes on adopting proposed 2017-2018 Budget

Tuesday, May 2Budget Hearing followed by Public Meeting

Tuesday, May 23• 2016-2017 Board Goals Update

Tuesday, June 6• 2017-2018 Board Goals

Tuesday, June 20• Spring Athletic Season Recap

School News — Achievements & Awards

31 Inducted into Science National Honor SocietyThe Science National Honor Society inducted thirty-one new members at ceremony held in the High School cafeteria on November 16.

Front: Daniel Ammirati, Rohan Chandy, Katherine Stargiotti, Nicole Ciano, Andrew Song, Michael Kokkatt, Gabriel Finehout, Megha Patel, Hannah Collins, Kiersten Coolen. Middle: Vikrant Bakshi, Charlie McPhee, Daniel Batan, Olivia Wislocki, Jayson Calvi, Nicholas Satriale, Declan McDermott, Jack Geier, Arthur Rogers, Harrison Waxler. Standing: Kiara Vedovino, Katelin Schaub, Alexa Pettenati, Benjamin Trombetta, Max Coleman, Anna Grace Mockler, Mia Dillon, Sydney Levine, Grace O’Hara, Jenna Dolgetta. Not pictured: Benjamin Baylies.

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English Honor Society Holds 1st Induction CeremonyTwenty students became the inaugural members of the PHS chapter of the National English Honor Society at an induction ceremony held on February 13 in the school’s library media center. English teachers Staci Tedrow and Phyllis Grella are the faculty advisors for the new organization, which adopted Tennyson’s “To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield” as its motto.

Front: Rohan Chandy, Hannah Collins, Sydney Shulman, Mia Dillon, Maia Farina, Gabe Finehout, Sophie Rapley, Sophia Lamb, Sydney Levine. Middle: Harrison Waxler, Michael Wang, Benjamin Trombetta, Samantha D’Angelo, Katie Schaub, Kamelle Ruano, Arthur Rogers, Emma Kiley, James Persons. Standing: faculty advisors Phyllis Grella, Staci Tedrow.

Science Talent SearchAna Malfa was one of 20 Lower Hudson Valley students among the 300 nationwide who were named as scholars by the Regeneron Science Talent Search. Her science research project focuses on alveolar rhabdo-myosarcoma (aRMS), an agressive pediatric soft tissue cancer. Ana

conducted her research at Memorial Sloan Kettering under the guidance of her mentor, Dr. Mary Baylies.

Ana Malfa

School News — Achievements & Awards

Scholarship WinnerKai Zhang was named the recipient of the Jeanette Wang Award, given annually to an Asian American high school senior of exceptional prom-ise with a courageous life story to tell. The award is sponsored by the Westchester chapter of OCA, the largest Asian American advocacy organization in the United States.

Born in China, Kai spent most of his childhood in rigorous training as a competitive table tennis player. He came here in 2013, with virtually no English and little formal schooling, with two goals: to pursue an education and to play for the U.S. in the Olympics. Kai, who applied his training to mastering English, now takes AP and Honors classes in addition to competing as a top-ranked U.S. player in table tennis tournaments around the world. He will attend college in the fall and has his sights set on the 2020 Summer Olympic Games.

Kai Zhang

Scholastic Art and Writing AwardsWriting: Violet Fearon, whose Senior Writing Portfolio was selected by jurors as the most outstanding in the region, was awarded the Madeleine L’Engle Senior Writing Portfolio scholarship. Violet also received two Gold Keys (Historical Fiction and Flash Fiction) and a Silver Key (Dramatic Script). Silver Keys were awarded to Allegra Copland (Short Story) and Mary Kate Crowe (Poetry).

Mary Kate also earned five Honorable Mentions (Writing Portfolio, Poetry, Short Story, Flash Fiction, Personal Essay/Memoir). Charlotte Harter received Honorable Mention in Poetry.

Art: Riley Kennedy received a Gold Key and a Silver Key, both in Painting. Melissa Jacobs received a Gold Key in Painting and Honorable Mention in Design & Illustration. John Kim and Raquel Sammartano each earned Honorable Mention in Design & Illustration.

All Gold Key winners are forwarded for consideration at the national level.

Art teacher Jim Maron, Raquel Sammartano, John Kim, Riley Kennedy, Charlotte Harter, Allegra Copland, Mary Kate Crowe, Violet Fearon, English teacher Leigh Meyer. Not pictured: Melissa Jacobs.

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All-Eastern ChorusKatherine Stargiotti has been se-lected to the All-Eastern Honors Mixed Choir, which will perform at the National Association for Music Education’s biennial Eastern Divi-sion Conference in Atlantic City, April 5-8. Only students who have performed in an All-State ensemble, as Katherine did in December, are

eligible to apply for All-Eastern consideration.

Katherine Stargiotti

School News — Achievements & Awards

Elementary & Intermediate All-County MusiciansTwenty students have been selected to perform in the Elementary (grades 4–6) and Intermediate (grades 7–9) All-County Music Festival on March 4 & 5 at the SUNY Purchase Performing Arts Center. This annual event is a showcase for outstanding student musicians from schools throughout Westchester County.

Front: Elementary Chorus members Marc Forchetti, Melinda Nelkin, Adriana McGarry, Sebastian Vidra. Back: music teacher Katherine Hughes.

Front: Junior Orchestra members Angela Berg (violin), Richik Acharya (string bass), Miyako Cornelius (violin),

strings teacher Barbara Berg. Back: orchestra teacher Mary Anne Meade, Elementary Orchestra members Alexandra Powell (violin), Kaavya Girdhar (viola).

Front: Elementary Chorus members Sally Kim, Kayleigh Picco, Justin Kang, Emma Leis, music teacher Hillary Johnson. Back: Intermediate Chorus members Kirsten Owens, Miranda Miller, Andrew Daniel, Ava Portmore, Lily Vidra.

Intermediate Chorus member Charlotte Ward; Intermediate Orchestra member Anahita Subramanya (cello).

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MS Geography BeeSixth grader Alex Kylander was the winner of the Middle School’s fifth annual National Geographic Bee, held on January 3. He subsequently took a qualifying test for the state-level competiton and is awaiting the results.Eight finalists — two grade-level winners per grade — competed for the school championship. Front: Weston Coleman, Jack O’Reilly, Clara Nelson-Papish, Ella Munoz, Gerald Ahmetaj, Benjamin Hahn. Back: Geo Bee coordinators Bob Slotoroff & Melissa Brown, runner-up Isabelle Lahiri, winner Alex Kylander.

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School News — Achievements & Awards

Football — League, Section, & Region Championships

Boys’ Cross Country — 4th Consecutive League Championship

Row 1 (seated): Doug Crocitto, Matt DeSousa, Vincent Carway, Gus Trotta, Luke Pregiato, Tim Stelzl, Andy Mathew, Lou DiMeglio. Row 2 (kneeling): Sean Durrang, Alex O’Reilly, Thomas Browne, Alex Malfa, Thomas Sulli, Lee Greenwald, Brian Halloran, James Daniele, John Baffuto, Jack Fitzgerald. Row 3: Brian Reda, Assistant Coaches George Lamar, Pete Christie, Head Coach Tony Becerra, Assistant Coaches Brian Maceyak, Mike Minerva, & Kevin Nugent, Julius Marchi. Row 4: Jake Farrelly, Jack Minerva, Jack Howe, Declan McDermott, Charlie McPhee, Jack Mueller, Greg May, Lucas Cohen, Ryan Drillock, Will McFadden, Conner Brennan. Row 5: Cullen Dell, Ian Esliker, Jack Buckstine, Greg Driscoll, Leo Cabassa, Nick Salzarulo, Owen Ball, Zenun Hoti, Will Frawley, Tim Driscoll. (Photo: PHS Yearbook)

Front: Shane McBride, Robert Feeney, JC Yahia, Devin O’Neill, Andrew Scardina, Brendan Connelly, Kyle Largey, Jeremy Dahl, Ben Trombetta, Nevan Lewis, Phil Yahia, James Blasdell. Back: Assistant Coach Kieran Moran, Jacob Freiheit, Mateo Rodriguez, Drew DiPietro, Jared Rosen, Justin Lupo, Aidan Lynch, Dylan Bronkema, Kieran Moran, Ryan Dirgins, Sam Conte, John Bentley, Head Coach Rebecca Demetropoulos. Not pictured: Will Blasdell, Michael Bloom, Ryan Burton, Thomas Carty, Max Coleman, Thomas Conte, Jack Cooper, Jack Geier, Estuardo Mejia. (Photo: PHS Yearbook)

School News — Achievements & Awards

Fall Varsity Awards*Boys’ Cross Country. All Section: Drew DiPi-etro, Robert Feeney, JC Yahia. All League: Dylan Bronkema, Drew DiPietro, Robert Feeney, Aidan Lynch, Mateo Rodriguez, JC Yahia. All League Honorable Mention: Will Blasdell.

Girls’ Cross Country. All League: Ashlin Leen, Megha Patel. All League Honorable Mention: Jaden Deanda.

*Field Hockey. All State: Jackie Bendeson. All Elite: Jackie Bendeson. All Section: Jackie Bend-eson. All League: Jackie Bendeson, Katie Keane, Alexis Moskowitz.

Football. All Section: Greg Driscoll, Ian Esliker, Charlie McPhee. All Conference: Ryan Drillock, Jack Howe, Nick Salzarulo. All League: Doug Crocitto, Ryan Drillock, Greg Driscoll, Tim Driscoll, Ian Esliker, Jack Howe, Declan McDermott, Charlie McPhee, Jack Minerva, Brian Reda, Nick Salzarulo, Tim Stelzl. All League Honorable Mention: Connor Brennan, Lucas Cohen, Cullen Dell, Jake Farrelly, Jack Fitzgerald, Will Frawley, Lee Greenwald,

Girls’ Soccer — 2nd Consecutive League Championship

Front: Katie Schaub, Gwen Whalen, Eliza Murphy, Riley Kennedy, Sydney Levine, Kathryn Finnegan, Kristie Guttridge, Kayla Proctor, Bianca Balducci, Caitlin O’Neill, Erin Egan, Susu Albarghouthy, Sophie Rapley. Back: Assistant Coach Keith Gardener, Anna Touitou, Ana Malfa, Rachel VanSise, Kate Stargiotti, Analese Picart, Catherine Kauber, Skylar Schneeweiss, Lyndsey Minerva, Julia Serret, Head Coach Chris Osterhoudt. Not pictured: Alden Iaconis. (Photo: PHS Yearbook)

Marisa Rodriguez, Sydney Shulman-Arno, Abigail Finkelberg, Lauren Arnold, Johanna Runolfsson Girls’ Swimming is a merged team with Briarcliff, Valhalla, and Westlake High Schools. (Photo: PHS Yearbook)

League Championship —Girls’ Swimming

continued on page 7

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Brian Halloran, Will McFadden, Luke Pregiato. Class B Most Valuable Defensive Lineman: Ian Esliker. Class B Most Outstanding Offensive Back: Charlie McPhee. Class B Most Outstanding Defensive Back: Nick Salzarulo. Class B Coach of the Year: Tony Becerra. Golden Dozen: Ian Esliker (recipient of the Christopher Mello Memorial Scholarship); Honorable Mention: Doug Crocitto.

*Boys’ Soccer. All Section: Jonathan Kyriakidis. All Section Honorable Mention: Liam Perrine, Ian Ward. All League: Jonathan Kyriakidis, Ryan Onuma, Liam Perrine, Ian Ward, Stephen Wolf. All League Honorable Mention: Jan Becerra, James Grom, Marc Kyriakidis, Nolan McAndrew, Humza Mumtaz, Jeremy Stone. League MVP: Jonathan Kyriakidis.

*Girls’ Soccer. All Section: Lyndsey Minerva, Caitlin O’Neill. All Section Honorable Mention: Riley Kennedy. All League: Bianca Balducci, Catherine Kauber, Riley Kennedy, Lyndsey Minerva, Caitlin O’Neill, Rachel Van Sise. All League Honorable Mention: Erin Egan, Kristie Guttridge, Sydney Levine. Conference 3 League A Coach of the Year: Chris Osterhoudt.

*Tennis. All Section: Olivia Ashton. All League: Olivia Ashton. Conference III Singles Champion: Olivia Ashton.

*Swimming. All League: Abigail Finkelberg.

*Volleyball. All League: Carolyn Meaney, Briana Tucci. All League Honorable Mention: Lily Rosenbaum.

*NYS Scholar/Athlete Team — a team’s average GPA for 75% of the roster must be greater than or equal to 90.00

School News — Achievements & Awards

Fall Varsity Awards .............(continued from page 6) Milestone ReachedSenior Mike Manley, a three-year Varsity Basketball team member, scored his 1000th point on February 10 in a 58-55 win against Somers. Mike, with 1025 points and counting, is only the fourth male basketball player in forty years to attain this milestone. He now joins high-scorers Paul

Bohlander (’76), Otis Hill (’92), and Kyl Jones (’01) in the record book.

Olivia Ashton

Mike Manley

Literary Magazine AwardThe 2015-16 edition of Reflections, the PHS liter-ary magazine, received an Excellent rating from the National Council of Teachers of English. The award acknowledges excellence in writing and school-wide participation in production.

Front: advisor Leigh Meyer, editors Eddie Tu, Violet Fearon, Maia Farina, Maureen Ederer, advisor Gaffney Murray. Back: editors Husnaat Malik, Gabe Finehout, Kamelle Ruano. Not pictured: editors Greg Hunter, Meagan Sweeney.

StArt 2017 Exhibition

Paintings by Riley Kennedy, Raquel Sammartano, and Gianna Durante appeared in StArt 2017, an annual juried art exhibit that accepts only three pieces per high school. Over thirty schools throughout the region participated.

School News

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7th & 8th Grade Musical: Singin’ in the Rain

In December, seventh and eighth grade cast and crew members staged Singin’ in the Rain, directed by BRS music teacher Katherine Hughes, who was assisted by teachers Hillary Johnson, Dorian Nuccio, and Jon Vercesi and a number of MS PTA volunteers.

The Inclusion Project

Eight seventh graders participated in the Human Rights Institute for Middle School Student Lead-ers sponsored by the Holocaust and Human Rights Education Center in White Plains. The goal was to have students develop concrete ideas and plans for creating a more inclusive environment in their schools. Our students decided to work toward making lunchtime seating more inclusive. They enlisted the participation of Panther Pride Unified and began in December with an inclusion cluster of four tables, once a week, during seventh grade lunch. The rules at these tables are: No Gossiping. No Technology. Everybody Is Welcome. Sit With Somebody New.

The inclusion cluster has now grown to seven tables, twice a week. Plans are being considered for fifth and sixth grade lunchtimes in the fall.

School counselor Pam D’Agostino, Michael Gordon, Peter Pueyo, Jack Klingner, Amina Fayaz, Meghan Hogan, Christina Matica, Jordan Rosen, Ellen Pettus, Panther Pride Unified advisor Jean Gilroy

The BRS Student Council sponsored a drive that collected nearly 190 new pairs of pajamas and 145 new books for the Westchester chapter of the Pajama Program, a national nonprofit organization. These items are distributed to children living in poverty, in homeless shelters, or in foster care.

The Girls’ Varsity Basketball team raised $5,000 from various fundraisers, including sales of pink “Shooting for a Cure” t-shirts, for breast cancer research at Memorial Sloan Kettering.

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District News

Mid-Year ChangesAfter 26 years in Pleasantville, Dr. Carolyn McGuf-fog is the new superintendent of Greenberg-North Castle UFSD, a special act district that provides day and residential programs for students with learn-ing disabilities, emotional dis-turbance, autism, multiple disabili-ties, and intellec-tual challenges. She served as a school psycholo-gist for 13 years and has been the administrator in charge of Edu-cational Services since 2004. Dr. McGuffog guid-ed the creation of highly regarded special educa-t ion programs that educate the majority of our students with disabilities in-district as well as tuition-paying students.

The Board of Education appointed PHS school psychologist Dr. Rukmini Bhalla as Interim Direc-tor of Educational Services from February 1–June 30 while the District looks for Dr. McGuffog’s re-placement. The Board also created a new position, Assistant Director of Educational Services, that includes oversight of Pleasantville Academy, our alternative high school, and a share of the increased demands from state and federal mandates; and ap-pointed Dan Iorio, formerly .4 special education teacher and .6 program supervisor of Pleasantville Academy, to the position beginning February 1. Ad-ditionally, Christine Purcell was hired to replace Kathleen Doke, CSE financial clerk, who retired at the end of November.

School psychologist Dr. Debra Green retired at the end of January after 22 years in the District.

She worked in the Middle School until September 2007, when she moved to the High School. Her position is now filled by Dr. Melissa Mittler (B.S. in Psychobiology, minor in Spanish, SUNY Bing-hamton; M.S. in School Psychology, PsyD in School Clinical Psychology, Yeshiva University’s Ferkauf

Graduate School of Psychology).

Arlene Lowry, secretary to the Middle School principal, retired after 33 years of service as of December 30. Though she plans to travel and en-joy some leisure time, she is cur-ren t ly f i l l ing in as secretary to the Middle School principal until a replace-ment is hired.

Assistant Business Manager Vicki Cory, a 16 year veteran of the District, also retired as of De-cember 30. Joseph Cecere was hired to fill that position. Human Resouces Coordinator Carolyn (Lyn) Hackert retired as of February 24, but will continue in a part-time clerical capacity thereafter. Christine Galletta is the new Human Resources Coordinator.

At its February 7 meeting, the Board accepted the following resignations for the purpose of retire-ment: Vivian Ossowski (Middle School principal); Kathleen Ballantine (PHS Teacher on Special As-signment); Mary Lynne Bonforte (PHS art teacher); Lorraine Kearney (PHS science teacher); Virginia Mancini (PHS social studies teacher); Robert Sloto-roff (MS social studies teacher); Maureen Spinozza (MS special education teacher); Barbara Vaccaro (MS special education teacher); and Eileen Yee (PHS special education/English teacher).

Dr. McGuffog

Mrs. Lowry

Dr. Green

Dr. Mittler

Mr. Iorio, Dr. Bhalla, Ms. Purcell

Ms. Galletta, Mr. Cecere

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District News

Principal SearchA 12-person search committee has been formed to aid in finding a replacement for retiring Middle School principal Vivian Ossowski. Comprised of representatives from parent groups, community leaders, teachers, and administration, the committee will interview candidates and identify those who will proceed to separate meetings with teacher and administrative groups. Finalists will then be inter-viewed by the Board of Education. We anticipate the process will conclude in early May with the appointment of our new Middle School principal.

Transportation RequestsRequests for transportation to private and paro-chial schools for the 2017-2018 school year must be submitted in writing to the District Office by Monday, April 3, 2017. A family moving into the District after this date must submit a written request to the District Office within 30 days of occupancy if transportation to a private or parochial school is required. These deadlines are strictly observed.

A new request must be submitted each year, even if transportation is currently being provided. A Transportation Request Form is available on the District website under Forms. For more information, contact the Business Office at 741-1400, x10521.

Unused Snow DaysWe have used one Snow Day to date and, between student attendance days and the teachers’ contract, have several more in reserve. For your planning purposes, depending on the number of unused Snow Days remaining by late March, we hope to “give back” Monday, April 17 and Friday, May 26 to our students and staff as non-instructional days.

Board Election & Budget Vote There will be two vacancies for the Office of Mem-ber of the Board of Education for three-year terms, July 1, 2017—June 30, 2020. Nominating petitions are available at the District Office. They require a minimum of twenty-five qualified voters’ signatures and must be returned to the District Clerk no later than 5:00 p.m. on Monday, April 17, 2017.

To be eligible to vote in the Annual Budget Vote and School Board Election on May 16, 2017, you must be:1. A citizen of the United States; 2. At least 18 years of age (by May 16, 2017);3. A Pleasantville UFSD resident at least 30 days

immediately prior to the day of the vote;4. Registered with the Westchester County Board

of Elections OR registered no later than May 11, 2017 with the school district.Registering at the District Office does not reg-

ister an individual with the Westchester County Board of Elections.

If you have previously registered and voted in either a school district or general election in the last four calendar years, re-registration is NOT required.

For more information, select Voter Registration from the Forms menu on the District’s website.

Fund for Learning GrantThe Pleasantville Fund for Learning awarded a $2500 grant from its Fall 2016 cycle to the High School to fund the RAMP School Coun-seling Program. RAMP (Recognized ASCA Model Program) provides onsite training that compliments the ongoing evaluation of

the school counseling program and culminates in an application for national recognition. The grant applica-tion was submitted by School Counselor/Coordinator Joyce Connell and Principal Joe Palumo.

Pleasantville Fund for Learning grants are awarded to educational programs that are not covered by state and federal funding and tax revenues.

Mr. Palumbo & Mrs. Connell

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District News

Dear Community Member,The Summer 2016 Technology Project created the infrastructure needed to support the technology-in-fused curricular initiatives of Pleasantville Schools 2026, our five-year strategic plan. More WiFi access points, greater bandwidth (data transfer rate), and a cloud-based operating environment are some of the changes that allow, for example, students to bring their own devices/technology to school, classrooms without walls, and anywhere/anytime access of files from any authorized internet-based device.

Under the guidance of Dr. Cameron Fadjo and Ms. Galit Price, Technology Coordinators at the Lower Hudson Regional Informa-tion Center (LHRIC), we are focusing on three key initiatives: a High School Student Help Desk; CS and STEAM (i.e., Computer Science and Science, Tech-

nology, Engineering, the Arts, Math); and Active Learning Experiences.

The High School is investigating the creation of a Student Help Desk whereby students would provide basic tech support and also research and present technology-related topics, such as bio-technology, cyber security, and robotics. Assistant Principal Gregg Fonde will be taking a group of teachers and students to Bronxville High School to learn how its Student Help Desk is run.

A STEAM Team comprised of Dr. Fadjo, Ms. Price, curriculum coordinators Lisa Rodriguez (K-4) and Melissa Brown (5-8), community member Joan Jacobsen, and relevant teachers are developing an integrated, vertical computer science and coding program for K-8. The goal is to make computer science a core discipline for all students.

To date, third graders learned to code using Scratch, a free block-based programming language developed by the MIT Media Lab. The second grade began its 6-7 week course the week of January 30, to be followed by grade-level appropriate courses for fourth grade, first grade, and kindergarten. The

Dr. Fadjo & Ms. Price

Middle School will offer Scratch on a quarterly basis (quads).

Last year, members of our District Technol-ogy Committee visited LHRIC’s Active Learning Center, a classroom designed “to facilitate project-based and collaborative interactions with specific attention to mobility, flexibility, and multiple device usage.” As we begin the process of integrating Ac-tive Learning Centers into the Middle School and High School, each building is engaged in develop-ing Active Learning Experiences. A group of nine Middle School and High School teachers represent-ing different disciplines have volunteered to pilot activities within their existing classroom lessons and identify resources that contribute to making them “active learning experiences.”

I look forward to sharing the progress of these exciting initiatives with you at the end of the school year.Sincerely,Mary Fox-AlterSuperintendent of Schools

Third grade Scratch coding class

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The Board of EducationPresidentAngela Vella (769-5729)pleasantboardav@gmail.comVice PresidentLarry Boes (773-1882)pleasantboardlb@gmail.comMembersLouis Conte (773-1532)pleasantboard7@gmail.comShane McGaffey (409-3487)pleasantboard6@gmail.comEmily Rubin Persons (747-0136)pleasantboardep@gmail.comSuperintendent of Schools Mary Fox-AlterDistrict Websitewww.pleasantvilleschools.comBoard Meetings and School Closings: 741-1460Editor / PhotographerJulie Schwartz

Board of EducationPleasantville Union Free School District60 Romer AvenuePleasantville, New York 10570

NONPROFIT ORGU.S. POSTAGE

PAIDWHITE PLAINS, NYPERMIT NO. 7046

Kindergarten RegistrationA Letter of Intent was mailed to Bedford Road School’s list of households with children eligible to enter kindergarten in September 2017 (five-years-old on or before December 1, 2017). Those with eli-gible children who did not receive this letter can either print one from the District website (on the BRS home page, click on “Kindergarten Letter of Intent 2017-2018” under News and Announcements) or call the school (741-1440).Important Dates• March 2 at 7 p.m. in the BRS

Little Theater: “A Peek into Kindergarten,” an orientation program for incoming kinder-garten parents

• March 23 & 24, 7:45–11:45 a.m. in room 316: In-person registra-tion (parents only)

• May 17–19 at BRS: Kindergar-ten screening, by appointment

PHS Performing Arts Spring MusicalCast and crews are busy preparing The Drowsy Chaperone, a madcap send-up of 1920s musicals, for five performances: March 10, 11, 17, and 18 at 8 p.m.and March 12 at 2 p.m. Tickets are $15 for adults and $12 for students/senior citizens. They can be purchased online at phsplay.org, by phone at 1-866-967-8167, or, if available, at the door one hour prior to all performances.

Front: Michael Bloom (Adolfo), Carina Florio (Drowsy Chaperone), Kellie Allen (Janet), Lyndsey Minerva (Mrs. Tottendale), Marc Darmohraj (Underling). Middle: Joseph Zucker (Feldzieg), Sam Selesnik (Man in the Chair). Back: Jordan Goodman (Pastry Chef/Gangster), Benjamin Trombetta (Robert), Sonya McGaffey (Kitty), director Kathleen Donovan-Warren, Jack Geier (Pastry Chef/Gangster), James Persons (George), Katherine Stargiotti (Trix).