Painting When School’s Out

Kids can explore a range of mediums and indulge their creativity at the Parrish Art Museum during next week’s school break. The museum will offer workshops from Monday through Friday, April 29, for kids 4 and older covering Impressionist painting, sculpture, portrait painting, perspective drawing, and abstract painting. Classes run from 10 a.m. to noon for kids 4 to 6 and from 1 to 3 p.m. for kids 7 and older. The cost is $40 per class, $30 for members. Advance registration is required.

Spring Break: Options Aplenty

To recap other spring break options mentioned in detail in previous issues: LTV in Wainscott and the Bay Street Theater in Sag Harbor have spring break camps planned and the East Hampton Town Recreation Department will offer a free morning recreation program at the John M. Marshall Elementary School in East Hampton and the Montauk School.

The Bay Street musical theater camp is for ages 8 to 12 and will run all five days of the break from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.; the cost is $385 per child, and registration is with the theater. LTV’s design camp for ages 12 and up will give kids a chance to try their hands at skateboard deck design, cartooning, Polaroid photography, and button design. It meets Monday through next Thursday from 9 a.m. to noon and costs $150 per day or $500 for all four; registrations are being taken at 537-2777. The town program, for kids of any school district, will run from Tuesday through Friday, April 29, from 9 a.m. to noon. Sign-up can be done at the schools each morning of the program.

Lego, Barbie, and Bars of Soap

At the John Jermain Library in Sag Harbor, kite making, Legos, Barbies, and chickens will fill the schedule next week. Kids 7 and up will make newspaper kites on Monday at 11 a.m. On Tuesday, a Lego League for ages 5 and up gathers at the library at the same time, and on Wednesday at 11, it’ll be the Barbie Bunch for ages 3 and up.

The Cornell Cooperative Extension will explore the life cycle of chickens during a program on Friday, April 29, for ages 5 to 12. Advance registration is requested for that one and the kite program.

Over at the Amagansett Library, kids in first through third grade will make bars of soap on Saturday at 2 p.m. And well in time for Mother’s Day. Space is very limited and advance sign-up is a must.

Decorating Dog Treats at CMEE

Saturday is Pet Appreciation Day at the Children’s Museum of the East End. Visitors from the Southampton Animal Shelter will be on hand from 10 a.m. to noon. A dog treat decorating workshop runs from 10 to 10:45 a.m. for ages 3 to 6. The cost is $17 including museum admission; members pay $5.

Great Flicks for Children

There are movies galore on the schedule at the East Hampton Library this week. Today, it’s “Toy Story 2” at 4:30 p.m. “The Lion Guard: Return of the Roar” will be shown on Monday at 1 p.m. Next Thursday “Frozen” will blast in at 1 p.m. and “Monsters Inc.,” will be screened at 4:30. Teens have been invited to see a young-adult novel that has been adapted for the screen on Tuesday at 5 p.m.

Kids in sixth through eighth grades will be offered a taste of snacks from around the world during a program on Tuesday at 3:30 p.m. On Friday, April 29, little ones 4 and up will make prints from vegetable stamps during a workshop from 1 to 2 p.m.

The Bridgehampton Child Care and Recreational Center will bring in the deputy commissioner of the Suffolk County Police Department for a talk on Monday in its Thinking Forward Lecture Series.

Deputy Commissioner Risco Mention-Lewis will discuss the department’s community-based intervention strategy “for reaching our children, to reduce crime while creating a new moral community voice.”

The department credits this community-based strategy with recently reducing violent crime by 39 percent and property crime by 46 percent.

The talk will begin at 7 p.m. at the center, which is at 551 Bridgehampton-Sag Harbor Turnpike. Those wishing to attend have been asked to email Bonnie Michelle Cannon, the center’s executive director, at [email protected], or call 537-0616, extension 16.

Watermill Center for Families

The Watermill Center will open its doors to families on Saturday for a picnic lunch, video workshop, and scavenger hunt. Families with children 4 to 12 can tour the grounds of the cultural center and kids 7 to 12 can join in a video workshop to learn about green-screen technology, costuming, and improvised acting with Amy Khoshbin, the 2015 artist in residence at the center.

The family day will be broken into two sessions, one from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., which includes lunch at noon, and another from 11:30 to 3:30, with lunch at 12:30. Admission is $10 for children and $15 for adults, plus a small online service fee. Information can be found at watermillcenter.org. Reservations are required as space is limited.

“Coppelia” at Guild Hall

The dancers of the Hampton Ballet Theatre Company will perform their new spring ballet, “Coppelia,” tomorrow through Sunday at Guild Hall.

The story of a doll so lifelike that she inspires both love and jealousy, the comedic ballet was scored by Leo Delibes. The company’s director, Sara Jo Strickland, choreographed the production, which features new costumes designed and sewn by Yuka Silvera and lighting design by Sebastian Paczynski. Rose Kelly, an advance professional student, will dance the lead role of Swanhilda. Joining her and the other students will be a pair of guest artists, Adam and Gail Baranello of the A&G Dance Company, and Nicholas Sipes as the young man who falls in love with Coppelia, not realizing she is just a doll.

Show times are tomorrow at 7 p.m., Saturday at 1 and 7 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. Advance tickets cost $20 for children under 12 and $25 for adults at 888-933-4287 or hamptonballettheatreschool.com. Tickets are $25 and $30 at the door.

Planting Seeds at CMEE

Children of all ages can nurture their green thumb at the Children’s Museum of the East End on Saturday from 10 a.m. to noon, when Frank Trentacoste from Bhumi Farms leads a seed planting workshop to get the museum’s garden ready for the growing season. Kids and adults will learn about planting, transplanting, and germination in this workshop, which is free with museum admission. Space is limited, so advance reservations are required.

Looking ahead to April 16, CMEE’s fourth annual Egg Drop Challenge will give kids the task of designing and constructing a container to prevent an egg from breaking when dropped from the top of the museum’s pirate ship. The workshop starts at 9:45 a.m. and costs $14, $2 for members.

Lip Gloss and Dream Gardens

Lip balm is always in style, and kids ages 6 and up can learn how to make their own on Tuesday in a workshop at the East Hampton Library. Flavors will include strawberry swirl, grape, and caramel toffee, and it might even make a great gift for Mother’s Day. The workshop is from 4 to 5 p.m. at the library. On Friday, April 15, at the library kids 4 and up can create giant drawings and collages of their dream gardens starting at 3:30 p.m.

Crafternoon in Montauk

Sushi and pizza will be on the menu at the Montauk Library. Fruit sushi and dessert pizza, that is. On Saturday from 2 to 4 p.m. young chefs can make tasty concoctions with the children’s librarian and then take them home to eat.

To celebrate Earth Day, the Montauk Library is holding a “crafternoon” with Joyce Raimondo, an artist and children’s author, who will lead the construction of robots made from recycled finds. The activity runs from 4 to 5 p.m. on Tuesday. A Mommy and Me yoga session for adults with kids ages 1 to 5 will be held on Friday, April 15, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Spring in the Air

The signs of spring are all around us, and a family-friendly slide show and walk at the South Fork Natural History Museum on Saturday at 10:30 a.m. will take advantage of them. A nature educator will first lead a presentation on the various animal sounds that may be heard this time of year in your own backyard, and after that, participants will take a walk outdoors to listen and look for some of those animals.

My Life: The Musical

Kids will be the stars of My Life: The Musical, a spring-break camp at Bay Street Theater in Sag Harbor. Participants will create their own original songs and dances to perform for family and friends at the end of the week.

The camp is for kids ages 8 to 12 and will run April 25 through 29 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. each day. The cost is $385 per child and space is limited. There will be lessons in acting, singing, dance, and more, with theater games and improvisation activities. The program will be led by Bethany Dellapolla, an actress, teacher, choreographer, and director who has taught in the Triple Threat program at New York City’s Broadway Dance Center, Gateway Playhouse in Bellport, Pierson Middle School, and others. Advance registration is through Bay Street Theater.

Spring Break at LTV

Another school vacation option is LTV’s first-ever spring break arts, media, and design camp, which will run from April 25 to 28. To change things up each day, activities will include designing skate decks, Polaroid photography, designing and creating buttons, cartooning, and designing sneakers and caps with Andy Piver, a professional illustrator, toy designer, and writer who lives in Springs.

The camp is for kids 12 and up and sessions will run from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. each day at LTV Studios in Wainscott. The cost is $150 per day or $500 for all four, with sibling discounts available. Registration is at 537-2777.

Plans for a Bridgehampton School garden and farm stand at the corner of Montauk Highway and Lockwood Avenue have continued to evolve since two Bridgehampton teachers pitched the idea to the school board in December.

The teachers, Judiann Carmack-Fay­yaz and Jeff Neubauer, updated the school board on the proposal during a school board meeting on March 30. They hope to expand the school’s current, thriving garden by establishing a farm stand and general store and by developing an agricultural business program.

Two separate, adjacent lots are involved. The Hampton Classic manages the lot on the east on behalf of a group of landowners. It is zoned for agricultural use, and the Classic had offered the school a free, three-year lease on it. The lot to the west, which abuts the school property, is owned by the Babinksi family and is zoned for commercial use. The Babinskis have now offered to lease it to the school for $3,000 a year.

Meanwhile, Paddlers for Humanity, a charitable group that gave the school $30,000 this year, has now given the school the green light to use $3,000 of the gift toward the first year of rent on the Babinski property.

Ms. Carmack-Fayyaz and Mr. Neubauer said the goal is to have a self-sustaining program by the end of the first year. The school board asked them for a financial plan, which they said they were still working on. “Without putting stress on the district, we are trying to look for creative ways to put it in the hands of the students,” Mr. Neubauer said.

The legal details are still being worked out,  but school board members have indicated their support. The teachers said they were mapping out plans with a conservative mind frame. “What we’re really planning on doing here is to start out slow and manageable, because this could become a huge commitment,” Mr. Neubauer said.

Ms. Carmack-Fayyaz added, “We don’t want to stretch and overreach. There’s lots of long-term prospects for it.”

“I think it’s a really nice initiative, a nice entrepreneurial venture,” Fred Doss, a co-founder of Paddlers for Humanity, said by phone on Tuesday. “I think it’s a wonderful opportunity. . . . The people at Bridgehampton School have been terrific partners, and very proactive in terms of how they are running their programs there. They are a wonderful group of people.”

Both parcels had been leased to the Small Potato Nursery, which sold Christmas trees and topiary. Elizabeth Linker, the owner of Small Potato, has said she may have to close the business she ran for nearly 20 years as a result of losing the leases.

The critically acclaimed documentary “The Hunting Ground,” which covers the widespread problem of sexual assault on college campuses, will be screened on Monday at the East Hampton Library.

The library and East Hampton Town’s Department of Human Services, along with the East Hampton Town Police Department, the Family Service League, the Retreat domestic violence shelter, East Hampton High School, and I-Tri, an empowerment-through-athletics program for teenage girls, are jointly sponsoring the screening in order to get the message out to young people that sexual assault is a problem among college students. The film presents research showing that one in five women in college experience sexual assault, most often in their freshman or sophomore years, and 5 percent of men in college are also victims.

The screening and a subsequent panel discussion with local experts will begin at 6:30 p.m. in the Baldwin Family Lecture Room. The 45-minute high school version of the film will be shown. It is targeted at youth ages 15 and up, their parents, parents of middle school students, and teachers. Students who attend will receive credit for two hours of community service.

“Sexual assault is a national issue that seriously threatens our young people’s safety and well-being,” East Hampton Town Councilwoman Kathee Burke-Gonzalez said in a statement. “Through the viewing of this film, our community will gain a clearer understanding of sexual assault, its impact on our young people, and how we can empower them to stay safe and make smart choices.”

Student Films on Screen

Films by second through 12th graders submitted for Guild Hall’s annual student film competition will be shown on Sunday at 5 p.m. at the museum. Students from the Hayground, Springs, and East Hampton schools and some who are home-schooled entered their work in the competition.

The winners in grades one through four were Milla Campomar (first place for “Snowball”), Taylor Atwell (second, “Ireland”), and Samantha Grabb (third, “The French Fry Story”). Among fifth through eighth graders, Dash Breen took first for “Running,” Lire Coulter won second for “Hershey Park,” and Myla Dougherty took third for “The Creek.” First place for high schoolers went to Emma Norris for “Texting and Driving.” Abigail Loos took second for “Dance A Thon,” and Gage Getz won third for “Shattered.”

Sunday is also the final day to see the Student Art Festival Part II, which featured work by local high schoolers. Admission is free.

“Coppelia” at Guild Hall

Tickets are on sale now for the Hampton Ballet Theatre School’s spring production, “Coppelia,” which will open at Guild Hall on Friday, April 8.

This is the first time the school is staging this ballet, which features a score by Leo Delibes and choreography by the Hampton Ballet Theatre’s director, Sara Jo Strickland. Rose Kelly, an advanced professional student at the school, will dance the role of Swanhilda. Joining her and other student dancers on the stage will be three guest artists, Adam and Gail Baranello of the A&G Dance Company and Nicholas Sipes. Yuka Silvera is the costume designer and lighting design is by Sebastian Paczynski. Advance tickets cost $20 for children under 12, $25 for adults, and can be reserved at 888-933-4287 or hamptonballettheatreschool.com. They are $25 and $30 at the door.

Poetry and Buddies

April is National Poetry Month and to celebrate it the Amagansett Library is inviting kids in second grade and above to write a poem to display at the library or at home on Tuesday at 4 p.m.

Fifth and sixth graders who have read “The Golden Compass” by Philip Pullman may want to mark their calendars for next Thursday at 6 p.m. and find a buddy of any age. The Buddy Book Group will play book games, reimagine the book through flash writing and drawing activities, and make models of parts of the popular fantasy adventure.

Candy Wrapper Art

At the East Hampton Library tomorrow at 3:30 p.m., kids 4 and up will make new art out of old candy wrappers, not hard to find five days after Easter. Birds will be the theme for a story and craft time for kids 4 to 6 on Tuesday at 4 p.m. On Wednesday, kids 4 and up will build castles, houses, playgrounds, or anything else their imagination suggests during a construction program from 4 to 5 p.m.

April Showers Story Time

At the South Fork Natural History Museum in Bridgehampton, Xylia Serafy will read Amy Gibson’s “Split! Splat!” during an April Showers story time for ages 3 to 5. Afterward, kids will talk about what makes rain fall and put their theories to the test. The program will begin at 10:30 a.m.

Kids 6 and older can observe the museum’s animals at feeding time and talk about who eats whom during a program on Sunday at 10:30 a.m. Reservations have been requested for both of the above.

As the May 17 school budget vote and school board member election approaches, residents still have a number of chances to observe or take part in the budget development process in several local school districts.

Sag Harbor will hold a budget workshop and board meeting beginning at 6 p.m. on Monday in the Pierson High School library. East Hampton will hold a budget workshop at 6 p.m. on Tuesday in the East Hampton High School technology room.

The following week, on April 11, the Springs School District will hold its third budget work session and a regular school board meeting beginning at 7 p.m. On April 12, the Montauk School District will hold a school board meeting and budget work session starting at 4 p.m. in the school library. The Amagansett School District will also hold one that day, at 7:30 a.m. in the school library.

The Bridgehampton School District’s next school board meeting and budget discussion will happen on April 13 at 7 p.m. Sagaponack’s will be on April 21 at 6 p.m.

School boards are required to adopt a budget by April 21 to present to the community for a vote. Each district will also be required to schedule a public hearing and communitywide mailing on the budget in the coming weeks

Those who are interested in running for school board seats in South Fork districts must hand in their nominating petitions by April 18. In most local schools, the paperwork is available through the district clerk during normal school hours.

Petitions must contain at least 25 signatures of adults who are 18 or over and who have lived in the respective school district for at least 30 days before the election, which will be held on May 17. Signatures must be in ink and must include an address that is not a post office box.

This year in Sag Harbor, two seats, held by Susan Kinsella and Chris Tice, will become available. Two seats in Springs, occupied by Jeff Miller and Adam Wilson, and two seats in Amagansett, occupied by Victoria Handy and Phelan Wolf, will become available. Three on the East Hampton School Board, now held by J.P. Foster, Wendy Geehreng, and Rich Wilson, are up for election, as are two in Bridgehampton, held by Jennifer Vinski and Larry LaPointe.

In Wainscott, Billy Babinski’s seat will be available, and in Sagaponack, Cathy Hatgistavrou’s seat is up. Patti Leber’s seat in Montauk will become available, and another vacancy will be created after Jason Biondo’s resignation becomes effective on June 30.

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An earlier version of this story did not list J.P. Foster, a member of the East Hampton School Board, whose term is expiring.

When the Montauk School Board meets on Tuesday it is expected to approve the district’s proposed 2016-17 budget in the amount of $18.9 million, a decrease of $49,000 or .08 percent from the current year’s budget. As a result, the total amount to be raised by taxes will show a small decrease.

The board held weekly budget workshops through the month of March. Unlike previous years, the budget approved for balloting in May is the same as the one handed out at the beginning of the month. This year’s tax rate, $544.59 per $1,000 of assessed property value, will decrease by .095 percent.

 When the board received the initial budget figures, they commended Jack Perna, the district superintendent, and Maura Mirras, the district treasurer. Diane Hausman, the school board president, said in an email this week that the board is proud of their conscientious efforts. She said they put in endless hours reviewing and tweaking the budget to make sure the education of the students was not compromised while also keeping in mind the board’s fiduciary responsibility to the community at large.

However, Ms. Hausman said the decrease in the budget comes from changes in the number of students sent to East Hampton High School and that there will not be a decrease when the 2017-18 budget is written. There are 120 high school students at a cost of $24,539 each, and 10 special education students at $68,125 per student being sent out of the district this year. With 26 students to graduate in June and a freshman group of 40 expected to enter in September, the tuition will greatly increase and so will the next budget.

Looking at the budget for the coming year, Mr. Perna commended the teachers for limiting expenses. He also noted that there were no cuts in clubs or staff. The only problems encountered during the budgeting process were the continuing teachers’ protest that they have been working since July without a contract.

In an email on Tuesday, the superintendent wrote that the school’s negotiating team, Mr. Perna and the attorney William Cullen, had received the teachers’ response to the district’s last proposal. He said it had been discussed at the board’s last executive session and that a meeting with the two negotiating teams will be scheduled within two weeks, or as soon as all parties can get together.

Mr. Perna pointed out that an earlier article about the teachers’ complaints had stated incorrectly that he would accept a salary freeze next year as he has this year. That is not the case.

Anticipating the annual meeting, to be held on May 17 from 2 to 8 p.m. in the school gym, it was reported that Patti Leber’s five-year term on the board is up this year and that she is running for re-election. Another seat is open for the three years left in Jason Biondo’s term since he resigned in January. Two people have picked up petitions that require 25 signatures to run for the board. The are available in the school office, and the deadline to turn them in is April 18. 

The Sag Harbor School Board took on a number of ongoing issues at its meeting Monday, including plans for the former Stella Maris Regional School, which the district is considering buying, a controversial proposal to install a synthetic turf field behind Pierson Middle and High School, and the district’s 2016-17 budget.

The board had previously agreed to add a bond proposition about Stella Maris to the district annual balloting on May 17, but it did not specify which of five options for the property would be pursued. In a survey, residents have since favored using Stella Maris for the district’s prekindergarten program and early intervention services for students with special needs. On Monday, the school board revised the language of the forthcoming bond proposition in keeping with residents’ suggestions.

“I think we all agree that the first option was something that was supported by the administration and the community,” Susan Kinsella, the board president, said. Meanwhile, Katy Graves, the school superintendent, announced that the district would hire an outside firm to review Stella Maris cost projections.

When the proposal for a new playing field came up, at least three board members indicated support for a new field other than synthetic turf. Tommy John Schiavoni and Stephanie Bitis said they wanted to explore alternatives to synthetic material and Diana Kolhoff, who was not at the meeting, submitted a letter in which she said she favors grass. The discussion was met with applause from about 20 residents in attendance.

During the board’s last business meeting, it had rejected two bids for turf fields because both came in over the $1.62 million budgeted. On Monday, Sandra Kruel, a board member, suggested bringing in an outside expert to evaluate the current field and give the district a breakdown of what it could do with the money that already had been approved by voters for a new field. Other board members seemed to agree.

According to Ms. Graves, the district will have to put funding or a change of use for the field up for another vote regardless of what material it agrees to use. Doing so would also require special legislation from the state, she said.

At the start of Monday’s meeting, the school board reviewed a second draft of the 2016-17 budget, which stands at $38.78 million. The proposed tax levy increase is 2.98 percent, which is under Sag Harbor’s allowable limit of 3.2 percent.

It was reported that additional state aid and revenue from a $247,000 transportation contract with the Wainscott School District allowed the district to take on the financing of several new buses, including one that will be wheelchair-accessible.

According to Jennifer Buscemi, the school business administrator, “Nothing is being cut out of next year’s budget. Everything is being sustained.”