Education

Following a robust discussion during a June 15 meeting of the East Hampton School Board, the decision was made not to change a policy barring seventh-grade athletes from moving up to varsity-level teams in most sports.

Not long after receiving favorable construction proposals for a new playground for children in prekindergarten through the second grade, the Springs School District has found itself unable to complete the project in time for the start of school in the fall.

John J. Finello has been hired as superintendent and principal of the Sagaponack School, and Christine Schnell has been named its district treasurer. The school board unanimously voted on Tuesday to appoint them.

The Bridgehampton School's Future Farmers of America Club and its adviser, Judiann Carmack-Fayyaz, have designed a memorial dedicated to transportation workers who died during the pandemic.

"Please help save our beautiful Mashashimuet Park!" said Diane Schiavoni, who is leading a fund-raiser to restore the park's grandstand. She announced on Facebook that she will kick off the initiative by offering a donation for a bundle of shingles worth $150; she hopes community members will do the same. Any amount is appreciated, she wrote, with hope for "many more years of watching our great school teams compete at our local park!"

Open Mike and More

Burn the Stage is a monthly open mike night at Guild Hall for kids ages 13 and up in which they can perform music, comedy, dance, poetry, and other forms of live art. The in-person event, to be held tomorrow at 8 p.m., will be hosted by Naomi, a drag queen whose nickname is "Crown Jewel of the Hamptons."

After falling just two votes shy of passing its over-the-tax-cap $20.66 million budget plan in May, the Bridgehampton School District found itself with a margin of just one vote that tipped the scale in its favor on Tuesday.

After writing earlier this year to President Joseph R. Biden expressing their concerns and hopes for the future of the country, David Cataletto and his sixth-grade students at the East Hampton Middle School were pleasantly surprised when the children got a letter back from the president on June 9.

The Bridgehampton School District’s 2021-2022 budget goes to a revote Tuesday, June 15, after its original 8.93-percent tax-levy increase was knocked down to 6.49 percent — still piercing the tax cap — when $400,000 of unanticipated income was discovered during a re-examination of the original spending plan.

Collages, Crafts, and Music

In sync with Guild Hall's newest exhibit, "Shipwrecks" by Alexis Rockman, there will be a family art workshop on Saturday from noon to 1:30 p.m. The theme is micro-plastic collages and the workshop is appropriate for children ages 4 and up. There will be similar events each Saturday through July 10. The registration fee is $50 for a family of four; $35 for families who are members of Guild Hall.

Despite criticism from several teachers last month, Springs School administrators are moving ahead with a plan to move from eight to nine class periods per day, starting in September.

Registration for summer academics in the East Hampton School District is coming up for high school students seeking to improve their grades and complete graduation requirements and for elementary and middle school students who need extra help in reading, math, or writing. All classes are held at the high school, running from July 5 through Aug. 5.

Bridgehampton School's fifth-grade book club battled a dragon over the past year and three months, though this particular creature wasn't the scaly, fire-breathing type from fantasy lore. It was worse. Their dragon went by the name Covid-19, and the battles played out in letters the students wrote that are on display at the Hampton Library.

Graduation season is upon us, which means not only lots of pomp and circumstance but also a chance to formally congratulate high school seniors on their accomplishments in a special issue of The Star on June 17.

Following new recommendations and a clarification from the Centers for Disease Control, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo announced that New York would modify its mask guidance to allow schools to opt out of requiring masks outside. And in general, virtually all Covid-19 restrictions can be lifted once 70 percent of adult New Yorkers have received at least one dose of the vaccine

"In true Covid fashion," reported Adam Fine, the East Hampton School District assistant superintendent, there was a Dumpster fire adjacent to the middle school at about 12:30 p.m. on Tuesday, "which kind of puts in perspective the entire year."

LTV has announced a new annual program to celebrate young people's creative and capable use of smartphones. From now through Nov. 1, for its "Fone Film Festival," LTV will accept submissions of short movies created via smartphone by those 18 years or younger.

In December, a film festival marathon on LTV's channel 20 will feature the films, which will continue to be broadcast throughout 2022.

Fabulous Tapping

"Tap: The Rhythm Awakens" on Friday, June 11, and June 12 is the latest production from Our Fabulous Variety Show, its first stage show since December of 2019. To be held at the Children's Museum of the East End in Bridgehampton at 6:30 p.m. both days, student and adult dancers will pay tribute to the art and history of tap dance while celebrating each performer's own dance journey. 

Tickets are $15 and can be bought at the door, in advance by phone at 631-507-4603, or online at ourfabulousvarietyshow.org.

Audrey Smith, a Montauk School eighth-grader, and Daisy Pitches, who is in the seventh grade, have earned first place and a $1,000 prize in a national video competition that celebrates rural schools.

The Bridgehampton School District has chosen to place the same over-the-tax-cap $20.66 million spending plan on the June 15 budget ballot, with school board members appealing to the community for a second chance at the supermajority of voter approval needed for it to pass.

On May 18, the Bridgehampton budget was just two votes shy of that supermajority. The final tally was 150 to 103, or just over 59-percent voter approval when 60-percent approval was required. The proposed tax-levy increase is 8.93 percent, with a $1.67 million increase in overall spending.

Kids ages 12 to 17 who opt to get fully vaccinated for Covid-19 will be entered into a random drawing to win a full college scholarship, including room and board costs, to a SUNY or CUNY institution, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo has announced.

Go With the Flow

Project Most's upcoming STEAM workshop for kids ages 3 and 4 is all about mixing paints and watching how the colors move and change. It will be held on Saturday, June 5, starting at 9:30 a.m. At 10:45 that morning, kids in kindergarten through the third grade can turn milk cartons into cars, and at 12:30 p.m., fourth through sixth graders can learn about water striders (a type of water bug) and take a challenge to make their own.

Part of what makes imaginative play at Hayground School so unique comes before recess even begins. The playground's new rainbow climber, a work in progress, crystalizes this special environment, one in which students are having hands-on involvement in the design and creation of a play space to best serve their imaginations. Sometimes that means mixing concrete as a 10-year-old.

Joanne Goerler didn't want to retire in January from her teaching job at the John M. Marshall Elementary School, where she had worked since 1989, but she didn't really have a choice. The Covid-19 pandemic posed a life-threatening risk to her immune system, which had been compromised by a blood cancer called myelodysplastic syndrome, a surprise diagnosis Ms. Goerler received in the spring of 2018 after having some routine bloodwork.

The Bridgehampton School District on Wednesday evening appointed a new superintendent, Mary T. Kelly, who was chosen from a field of 21 applicants.

"A number of issues that the district thought compromised the safety of our students" need to be addressed ahead of any contract renewal, the Sag Harbor School District superintendent told residents who are disappointed in the lack of compromise on a new contract between the district and Mashashimuet Park.

Springs School officials want everyone to know they can't use the school's brand-new soccer and baseball fields just yet because the sod is too fresh, and they want all-terrain vehicle drivers to know that there cannot be any riding across the fields at all.

To that end, the district will soon erect a fence around the new fields and will install security cameras at key places -- with an eye to catching the license plates of offenders.

All About Frogs and Bats

Who doesn't love frogs? Today at 4 p.m., through the East Hampton Library, the Quogue Wildlife Refuge will offer an up-close look via Zoom at Long Island frog species for children of all ages. Bats, though, might be a different story. These often-misunderstood creatures will be the subject of another library Zoom session, this one on Tuesday at 4 p.m. Sign-up information is online at easthamptonlibrary.org, or by phone at 631-324-0222, extension 2.

Project Most’s annual plant sale will be Saturday at the Neighborhood House at 92 Three Mile Harbor Road in East Hampton, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. There will organic vegetables seedlings, herbs, and flowers grown by its after-school students.

One can only wonder what Margaret Olivia Slocum Sage, Sag Harbor's greatest philanthropist of the early 20th century, might think of the newly emerged rift between two village institutions: the Sag Harbor School District, for which Mrs. Sage donated money to build what is now Pierson Middle and High School, and Mashashimuet Park, another one of her gifts to the people of the village.