Education

With names sounding like something from a cool animated TV show, the Springs School’s two robotics teams — the Lightning Bots and the Thunder Bots — have had a banner year in competition.

The school district is cutting to the chase in its search for a new principal, with applications due by the end of the day on Tuesday — just two weeks after the Springs School Board accepted the resignations of both Christine Cleary, the current principal, and Josh Odom, the assistant principal, effective June 30.

It’s part community service, part environmental initiative: A new children’s clothing swap effort at the Eleanor Whitmore Early Childhood Center will be available to the public starting tomorrow. Anyone in need of clothes for their kids, sizes 2T to 7, can stop by the center on Friday afternoons or by appointment to choose from the overflowing racks and tables of shirts, sweaters, pants, jackets, hats, and mittens in good condition.

The Sag Harbor School Board has called a special meeting for Thursday night at 6:30 to update the community on the proposed purchase of land on Marsden Street for a sports field.

Project Most is offering a six-week photography class for students in grades four through 12 on Friday afternoons, titled See How You Feel, starting this week at the Most Holy Trinity school building in East Hampton.

During a Springs School Board meeting at which the resignations of both the school principal and assistant principal were on the agenda, tears were shed amid a tense atmosphere as teacher after teacher, parent after parent, stepped up to the lectern to decry a school culture in which, they say, morale is low, communication is lacking, and even students are starting to wonder what’s going on.

With subtle nods to the hit Netflix series “Wednesday” and a cast that was tasked with making iconic characters their own, East Hampton High School’s Drama Club will perform the musical “The Addams Family” this weekend. Showtimes are Friday and Saturday at 7 p.m. and Sunday at 1. Tickets can be bought at the door for $20 each or $10 for students and senior citizens.

On Saturday, East End Arts, a nonprofit based in Riverhead, kicks off a monthlong program called Fantastic Art Time for children. Plus: movies, crafts, and story time for kids, and community service opportunities for teens.

The Southampton Town Board chose not to close a public hearing and vote to commit community preservation fund money to a Sag Harbor School District project to build an athletic field and community park across from the school along Marsden Street. Instead, at its meeting Tuesday night, and much to school officials’ chagrin, the board voted to keep the public hearing open until its March 14 meeting.

With significant snowfall in the forecast, local school districts on Monday night began announcing delayed opening times for Tuesday.

The Springs School District on Monday announced the resignation of both its principal, Christine Cleary, and assistant principal, Josh Odom. Mr. Odom is set to succeed Jack Perna as principal and superintendent of the Montauk School.

Excelling both inside and outside the classroom, Nicole Velez and Aryan Chugh have been named valedictorian and salutatorian of East Hampton High School’s class of 2023.

The New York International Children’s Film Festival will host a matinee short-film program titled “Celebrating Black Stories” for kids 9 and up this weekend at the Sag Harbor Cinema.

According to the federal Centers for Disease Control, which compiled the extensive Youth Risk Behavior Survey in 2019, one in 12 teens experiences some form of physical dating violence. That's one reason why the Retreat's Teen Leadership Council has spent the month of February spreading awareness of the topic of teen dating violence.

The Goat on a Boat Puppet Truck will pull into Project Most’s temporary headquarters at the Most Holy Trinity school building in East Hampton on Saturday at 11 a.m. to perform its take on “The Three Little Pigs.”

On Friday, a group of neighbors whose properties border the proposed Marsden Street athletic field filed a lawsuit against the Sag Harbor School District, alleging it failed to adequately complete a state-mandated environmental review.

In the East Hampton School District, anonymous donors have stepped up to start wiping out about $7,000 in school-lunch debt that the district has incurred over the last few years.

Assemblyman Fred W. Thiele Jr. has put Stony Brook University’s administration on notice for what he alleges is years of neglect of its Southampton campus. Last week, he called for Stony Brook to commit to renovating the crumbling Southampton Hall, develop a five-year plan for the rest of the campus, and appoint a senior administrator dedicated to overseeing it all.

The East Hampton School District is planning to put a proposition on the May 16 budget ballot enabling it to withdraw $3,925,000 from its capital reserve account for several big-ticket projects, with one important asterisk.

Jack Perna doesn’t have any children of his own, but at the Montauk School, where he has worked since February 1973 and been superintendent and principal since 1995, he has helped guide thousands of students through their formative years.

Catch Pierson High School students' photos on display through the end of February. Plus: Valentine's Day crafts galore, STEM activities, art workshops, and more for kids and teens.

Project Most’s effort to build its new, state-of-the-art community learning center at 92 Three Mile Harbor Road is in full swing, with a $10 million fund-raising campaign and discussions with the East Hampton Town Planning Board formally underway.

The 2023-24 school budget cycle is in full swing, and at least one local school district — Sag Harbor — has proposed a preliminary budget with a tax-levy increase that doesn’t rise to the maximum allowed by New York State. This is unusual because most school districts tend to go right up to their allowable increases, but it’s not unusual for Sag Harbor, which has been a few percentage points under the maximum almost every year since the tax-cap legislation took effect in 2012.

The office of New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli on Friday released an audit report indicating Sag Harbor let some minor claims errors slip by between July 1, 2020, and March 31, 2022. The report states that “although all claims were appropriate, audited, and approved before payment, the claims auditor did not ensure claims were supported.”

An exhibition of Pierson High School students' street photography — meaning compelling, candid scenes from around Sag Harbor — is on display at Bay Street Theater through the end of February.

For almost an hour on Tuesday, Ina Garten imparted lessons on cooking, baking, business, the business of cooking and baking — plus life, love, and the pursuit of happiness — to students in East Hampton High School's culinary arts program. Her messages immediately resonated with the students, who later said they are feeling lots of pressure to choose a college, a major, and a career.

Ahh, slime — kids still can’t seem to get enough of it, so Hamptons Community Outreach is throwing a slime-party fund-raiser this weekend. Plus: lots more on the agenda for kids and teens.

In November, residents in the Sag Harbor School District voted 638 to 521 in favor of spending district money to buy land on Marsden Street to create athletic fields across the street from Pierson Middle and High School, but the nature of those fields remains a raging debate, as seen last week when the school district held its second public forum on the proposal. “We decided, as it pertains to the Marsden lot fields, to take 100-percent synthetic turf off the table,” said Jeff Nichols, the district superintendent.

Organizacion Latino-Americana of Eastern Long Island will receive $600,000 from Suffolk County over the next three years for opioid abuse prevention work among young people, the group announced Friday.

A seemingly routine aspect of public-school finance is tripping up local school districts that find themselves having to borrow money during the months before tax revenue starts to flow in. “The interest rates have gone through the roof and are continuing to increase,” Jennifer Buscemi, business administrator for the Sag Harbor School District, told the Sag school board on Monday.