Even if you’ve never seen Tchaikovsky’s “The Nutcracker,” you’ve probably had its most iconic song, “Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy,” stuck in your head at some point this holiday season. Two local companies will present their versions of the Christmas classic this weekend.

    Studio 3 in Bridgehampton will bring “Mixed Nuts” to the Bay Street Theatre stage in Sag Harbor tomorrow and Saturday at 7 p.m. and Sunday at 2. The Hampton Ballet Theatre School, also in Bridgehampton, will perform “The Nutcracker” at Guild Hall tomorrow at 7 p.m., Saturday at 1 and 7, and Sunday at 2.

    Studio 3’s production, described as “a holiday ‘Nutcracker’ with a twist,” is set in the 1920s. Professional dancers from Festival Ballet Providence will dance the roles of the Sugar Plum Fairy and Cavalier. Tickets cost $20 for adults, $15 for students, and can be purchased at the door or in advance by e-mailing [email protected].

    Sara Jo Strickland, the director of the Hampton Ballet Theatre School, did the choreography for the Guild Hall production, which features costumes by Yuka Silvera and lighting design by Sebastian Paczynski. Adrianna de Svastich and Nick Peregrino of Ballet Fleming in Philadelphia will dance the roles of the Sugar Plum Fairy and Cavalier.

    Advance tickets cost $25 for adults and $20 for those under 20 at hamptonballettheatreschool.com. Tickets at the door are $30 and $25.   

Y.M.C.A. Winter Camp

       The Y.M.C.A. East Hampton RECenter is offering a full-day winter vacation camp for 5 to 12-year-olds on Monday, next Thursday, and Friday, Dec. 27. The program will run from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. each day, and kids will do arts and crafts, play games, watch movies, and enjoy free play and other activities. The cost is $65 for one day, $124 for two, or $180 for all three. Advance registration is required.

Games, Stories, Workshops

       The Children’s Museum of the East End in Bridgehampton will host a morning drop-off program during the holiday break for 3 to 6-year-olds. Sessions, held Monday, next Thursday, Friday, Dec. 27, and Jan. 2 and 3 from 9:30 a.m. to noon, will include games, story time, and a workshop. The cost is $85 per day per child, or $75 for members of the museum.

       The museum is having a holiday cookie workshop for 2 to 6-year-olds on Saturday. It includes a story. The start time is 10:30 a.m. and the cost is $25, or $15 for members.

       The museum’s gingerbread house workshops originally scheduled for Dec. 14 were canceled because of snow and have been rescheduled for Sunday at 10 and 11 a.m., noon, and 1 p.m. The cost is $30 per house or $20 per house for members. Advance registration is required for all museum programs.

“The Night Before Christmas”

       The Goat on a Boat Puppet Theatre in Sag Harbor will present “The Night Before Christmas” on Saturday at 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. Tickets cost $12, $10 for members and grandparents, and $8 for siblings and children under 3.

Holiday Tree for Birds

       Families will decorate a holiday tree for birds on Saturday at 10 a.m. at the South Fork Natural History Museum in Bridgehampton. Using seeds, suet, and dried fruits, participants will also make holiday treats for birds that they can take home to their own outdoor trees. There is a $3 materials fee for the program, plus the cost of museum admission.

       Young scientists 8 to 11 can gain a deeper understanding of microbiology during a program on Sunday at 10 a.m. Lindsey Rohrbach will teach kids about the fascinating world of microorganisms — how they recycle waste, create food, and can be found in every part of our planet. All of the museum’s programs require registration in advance.

Loads to Do at Libraries

       Local libraries will have plenty to keep kids busy in the lead-up to Christmas and the days after it. The Amagansett Library will celebrate the arrival of winter with a Winter Festival story and craft time on Saturday at 3:30 p.m.

       A Winter Wonders family time with crafts, games, and other fun is on the schedule Saturday from 2:30 to 4 p.m. at the Montauk Library.

       At the Hampton Library in Bridgehampton kids of all ages can drop in anytime today or tomorrow to design their own wrapping paper. Tomorrow from 4 to 5:30 p.m. and Saturday between 11 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. kids can make winter ornaments. Movies and crafts for kids 4 and up are on tap at the library on Monday at 2 p.m. And starting next Thursday kids in seventh grade and above can stop by to make paper New Year’s wish fortune cookies.

       Joyce Raimondo will lead a Winter Wonderland art program for kids 4 and older next Thursday from 1:30 to 2:30 p.m. at the East Hampton Library. On Friday, Dec. 27, kids 4 and older can make marshmallow wreaths there from 1:30 to 2:30 p.m. Those under 7 should be accompanied by an adult. Reservations are a must for all programs.

       Kids 9 and older who want to spend some time delving into the world of Minecraft can do so on Friday, Dec. 27, at the John Jermain Memorial Library in Sag Harbor. From 10:30 a.m. to noon, all things Minecraft will be covered, with a discussion about the different choices and styles of this educational game and the computer as well as app editions to play. Early reservations have been suggested.

Starting in January, high school juniors and seniors will have an opportunity to study creative writing while also obtaining three college credits, as part of the Young Scholars program being offered at Stony Brook  Southampton. The deadline for applications is Jan. 3.

The course will cover creative writing across multiple genres — from fiction to poetry to scriptwriting, with participants reading contemporary works, giving a public reading, and attending regular events alongside accomplished authors.

The Introduction to Creative Writing course will meet on Wednesday evenings, from late January until mid-May. The cost is $250.

Julie Sheehan, who directs the M.F.A. in creative writing and literature program at Stony Brook Southampton, can be contacted with questions at [email protected]. Applications are available online at stonybrook.edu/ugadmissions/forms/YSP.pdf.

      Middle school can be cruel enough without also having to contend with the slings and arrows of social media, or the insults and judgments that originate online but routinely manifest during the school day.

       As of January, partly as a response to cyberbullying and also to the fairly widespread sense that students remain tethered to devices during school hours, East Hampton Middle School will institute a new policy on student-owned electronic devices.

       The “no display during the school day” policy, as it is being called, will forbid students from using cellphones, iPods, earphones, headphones, and other devices during the day.

       It is a departure from the existing policy, which currently allows middle school students to use their devices before school, at recess, and during lunchtime.

       Increasingly, students are sneaking screen time into other parts of the day, with some girls reportedly stashing their phones on the insides of fur-lined Ugg boots for stealth access.

       “This policy has been some time coming,” said Charles Soriano, the middle school’s principal, in a conversation earlier this week. Early Friday morning, he sent an e-mail alert to parents, updating them about the change. “Over the past year, I’ve witnessed a number of incidents with phones, where students are either over-sharing or bullying someone. Impulsivity and electronics don’t mix. It’s a toxic combination.”

       Though students are still likely to remain tethered to such devices during after-school, weekend, and evening hours, Dr. Soriano sees it as his responsibility to set limits during the part of the day he can control. “It can lead to situations where children are hurt and bullied and teased and made fun of,” he said.

       The new policy, which was created by the school’s site-based committee, comprised of administrators, teachers, staff members, and parents, will go into effect once students return in January. From Jan. 6 through 10, the school will offer a one-week grace period, during which time students will be given reminders and warnings, but no formal consequences.

       But for the remainder of the year, from the moment students enter the building until the dismissal bell rings, cellphones must be in either off or silent mode and stored in lockers or on their person (but hidden from sight in either a backpack or pocket). Should students fail to adhere to the new policy, a series of disciplinary actions will ensue, from confiscation of the device to detention to in-school suspension.

       “The decision was a wise one and long overdue,” said Marie Klarman, whose son is in sixth grade. “Kids don’t need to be in 24/7 contact with their peers.” She considers her son to be in the minority of students not in possession of a cellphone.

       Ms. Klarman said she has watched a generation come of age glued to their screens. “Whether texting and Tweeting or on Facebook, these kids are sleeping with their phones and bringing them to the table when they’re not supposed to,” she said. “It leads to antisocial tendencies and behaviors. Children don’t know how to communicate outside of typing a note. The art of conversation is being lost.”

       Partly, she sees it as a developmental hurdle. Recent research has shown that the frontal lobe of the brain, or the region that governs decision-making and self-control, doesn’t fully develop until the mid-20s.

       “They’re sending around these half-clothed ‘selfies’ and they have no idea this stuff is out there forever,” said Ms. Klarman. “You can say it until you’re blue in the face, that you can destroy your life, but until the frontal lobe develops, the child truly believes they are invincible.”

       Courtney Garneau, a site-based committee member and mother of a sixth-grade student, is similarly in support of the new policy. She said that when students could use their phones during recess and lunchtime, many teachers and staff observed that students preferred to text, send photos, and Instagram their peers, rather than socialize in person.

       With two children at the John M. Marshall Elementary School, Ms. Garneau thinks it’s a policy that should be extended to the district’s younger grades as well.

       Adam Fine, the principal of East Hampton High School, said the high school has had a “no display” policy for many years. However, since September, he has shifted away from the policy, now permitting the devices so that students can use them as Internet-enabled learning tools. Though allowed in the hallways, Mr. Fine said that teachers govern their use during class time.

        “Personally, I would like to expand their instructional use,” Mr. Fine wrote in an e-mail. “I feel we have an untapped resource that can be used to improve teaching and learning.”

       In recent years, several districts around the country have successfully adopted Bring Your Own Device policies, which allow students to bring in smartphones, laptops, and tablets to use during class. Meanwhile, other districts have also adopted 1-to-1 programs, where districts supply each student with his or her own device. At the last school board meeting in early December, members intimated that resources devoted to technology would likely comprise a significant portion of next year’s budget debate.

       So far, neither Ms. Garneau nor Dr. Soriano have received much in the way of pushback. And for parents concerned about being able to contact their children during school hours, Ms. Garneau said that many will simply have to revert to the old way of doing things.

       “If I need to get a hold of him, I will just call the school,” said Ms. Garneau. “Like everyone did before we all had phones.”

       “If people need to call their parents, they can just go down to the office,” said Talia Albukrek, 12, who is in the seventh grade and a member of the student government. Earlier this year, she received an iPhone as a birthday present.

       Though generally in support of the policy, Talia considered one potential downside — not being able to document things happening during the school day, whether through pictures or video.

       Dr. Soriano is the first to concede that his students are digital natives, accustomed to growing up in an interconnected world where devices have always been present. He believes his teaching staff is uniquely tasked with demonstrating acceptable use, and denoting special times when such devices might help to enrich and enhance lessons.

       “We’ll reevaluate at the end of the year and see where we stand,” he said.

Get Out of the House

       Kids who need to get out of the house after the holiday will find plenty to do at local libraries over the next few days.

       At the Hampton Library in Bridgehampton, kids in seventh grade and above can make New Year’s wish fortune cookies today and tomorrow during library hours, or stop by at 2 p.m. tomorrow to create silhouette wall art. Reservations are required for the latter.

       New Year’s Eve will come early at the John Jermain Memorial Library in Sag Harbor, where kids of all ages are invited for games, dancing, treats, and a countdown (to noon, that is) on Saturday at 11:30 a.m. Registration is not required.

       Families can make a pinecone birdfeeder following a story time at the Amagansett Library on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. Advance sign-up is required.

       Salt dough snow families are on the agenda at the East Hampton Library on Monday from 1:30 to 2:30 p.m. during a program for kids 4 and up. Next Thursday, Joyce Raimondo will lead the same age group as they turn the letters of the alphabet into word paintings.

Gustafer at the Goat

       Morgan Taylor will bring his Gustafer Yellowgold multimedia show for kids to the Goat on a Boat Puppet Theatre on Saturday at 11 a.m. and 3 p.m.

       The show is a mix of live music, animated illustrations, and storytelling, focusing on a little yellow “guy from the sun who landed in the Minnesota woods.”

       Tickets cost $12, $10 for members and grandparents, and $8 for siblings and children under 3. Goat on a Boat performs in the parish hall of the Sag Harbor Episcopal Church, Route 114 and East Union Street.

Teen Music Month

       Tomorrow night will mark the beginning of Monster Music Month at the Amagansett Library, a series of free concerts and musical events for teens co-sponsored by Crossroads Music.

       First up in the series, performing from 7 to 8:30 p.m., will be Sara Hartman, a local singer-songwriter who is home on break from the Berklee College of Music. Also performing Saturday are Clark2, the duo of Clark Hamilton and Jackson Clark, playing jazz, R&B, and other favorites on guitar, and the indie rock group Method 2 Madness, featuring Yori Johnson, Rick Nardo, Thomas Bennett, and Jackson Clark. The music will continue each Saturday in January from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Soft drinks will be provided.

       Families can stop in to the library at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday for a snow globe story and craft time. Advance registration has been requested for both programs.

I’m Melting!

       Melted snowman cookies will be on the table during a session for kids 4 and older tomorrow from 1:30 to 2:30 p.m. at the East Hampton Library. Kids will use icing and other sweets to decorate the cookies. Reservations have been requested. Children under 7 should be accompanied by an adult.

Vroom, Vroom

       Ladies and gentlemen, start your engines. A workshop at the Children’s Museum of the East End on Saturday will have kids 6 to 10 planning, building, and racing their own rubber-band-powered cars. The program runs from 10 a.m. to noon and costs $15, $5 for members. Space is limited and advance sign-up is required. The museum is in Bridgehampton.

Making the Grade

       The John Jermain Memorial Library in Sag Harbor is offering general writing and research help to teenagers on Mondays from 6 to 7 p.m. starting this week. Oliver Peterson, a journalist and certified art and English teacher, will help students with writing and research projects across disciplines. Snacks will be provided. Advance registration has been requested.

Strokes of Genius

       Children 7 and older who love to paint can learn different techniques and processes while painting in a variety of mediums during a four-week workshop at the Parrish Art Museum in Water Mill. Lori Colavito will teach the class, which runs from 2 to 4 p.m. on Saturdays this month. The cost is $150, or $120 for Parrish members. Advance registration is a must.

For the Birds

       Why do birds’ beaks come in different shapes and sizes? Melanie Meade will help kids 5 to 7 answer those questions and more during a program on Saturday at 10 a.m. at the South Fork Natural History Museum in Bridgehampton. In the workshop, kids will use simple tools in the same way that birds use their beaks to understand how important this body part is. Advance registration has been requested.

Dance, Dance, Dance

       Girls 8 to 15 with a love of dance will have a chance to develop and direct their own dance theater pieces during an intensive one-day workshop on Jan. 25 with the Neo-Political Cowgirls.

       Held in the John Drew Theater at Guild Hall, the workshop will begin with journaling, then move on to body awareness and creative movement exercises. It is designed for the girl “who loves to be creative or needs to be creative, has a lot to say or could use some inspiration to find the courage to share her ideas,” according to a flier. At its conclusion, participants will present short dance pieces for family and friends.

       The cost is $30 per student. Advance registration is required through Guild Hall.

Dog Arias?

       Springs School fourth graders are hard at work on this year’s opera, “Dogs Don’t Talk,” which they will perform on Guild Hall’s John Drew stage from Jan. 15 to 17.

       The opera program, coordinated by Sue Ellen O’Connor, is in its 17th year. Each year, the production is entirely student run, with the help of parent volunteers. Students are the actors, writers, composers, makeup artists, costumers, and set designers, and even handle their own public relations.

       So mark your calendars, theatergoers. The opening night performance will begin at 7.

       The Wainscott School District has been criticized in a state audit for amassing a budget surplus of $2.4 million, an amount that is 68 percent of its current budget and 17 times more than allowed by law.

       The audit, conducted by the office of the state comptroller, determined that the district had consistently overestimated expenses and underestimated revenues dating back to July 1, 2007, and excoriated it for increasing the property tax levy by an additional $325,000 during that same period. In addition, auditors found fault with the district for failing to develop a multiyear plan to address the problem of its growing surplus.

       On Monday, David Eagan, the school board president and an East Hampton attorney, said the district recognized that some “rebalancing” had to be done, but took issue with the state’s findings, saying that the district does have a five-year plan in place to reduce both the surplus and taxes.

       “This was no conscious effort to hoard money at the expense of the taxpayers,” he said, explaining that Wainscott typically budgets for unexpected increases in the number of students and has seen its enrollment swing with changes in the house rental market.

       Mr. Eagan said the state law that limits the amount of surplus a district can have on hand to no more than 4 percent of its budget was misguided and “arbitrary,” in that it does not suit the needs of a small district like Wainscott.

       The district educates students in kindergarten through third grade in its own school and pays tuition for its older students to the East Hampton schools. Tuition costs range from about $25,000 for the majority of students to upward of $60,000 for those in special-education classes. Because of a fluctuating population, Mr. Eagan said it was difficult to predict how many students to budget for in any given year.

       Under state law, Wainscott would have been allowed to have a surplus of about $140,000 this year, an amount Mr. Eagan said could have been easily exhausted if more than two special-needs students had moved into the district.           

       In a written response to the comptroller’s findings, Mr. Eagan stated, “Based on our unique circumstances, we cannot ascribe to the one-size-fits-all approach that is reflected in the report, and we fundamentally disagree with the report’s characterization of our budget estimates as being ‘unrealistic’ and ‘misleading.’ ”

       On Monday, he said the district would continue managing its finances as it saw fit, noting that for the past two years it has reduced its budget — “the cumulative percentage was the largest we’ve seen on Long Island” — and would continue to do so until it reduced the surplus to a more reasonable level.

       He added that school board members were not worried about the state taking action against the district because typically the punishment comes in the form of a reduction in state aid. Since Wainscott receives less than 1 percent of its budget in aid, any reduction would have a minimal impact, he said.

       Mr. Eagan said the school had recently built an addition and also absorbed a 33-percent hike in East Hampton tuition rates, and still managed to stay within the state-mandated 2-percent tax cap.

       “We don’t have programs and staff to cut like other districts,” he said. “We have a smooth tax rate that is the lowest among the sending districts. I think our taxpayers appreciate what we do.”

Day of the Dead

    At the Hampton Library in Bridgehampton and La Fondita in Amagansett, children can take part in festivities marking the Mexican holiday of the Day of the Dead, a colorful celebration and remembrance of the deceased that takes place the day after Halloween. The library has invited kids 8 to 12 to make sugar skulls, a typical folk art associated with the holiday, tomorrow at 4 p.m. Reservations have been requested.

    On Saturday from 10 to 11:30 a.m. at La Fondita, a Mexican restaurant, kids 5 and older can decorate skulls and play games with instructors from the Golden Eagle art store in East Hampton. Treats from La Fondita’s kitchen will help set the mood. The event costs $10, which will benefit the Springs School’s visiting artists program. Space is limited, so advance reservations with the Golden Eagle at 324-0603 have been strongly suggested.

The Fun Continues

    The C.D.C.H. charter school’s annual fall festival, complete with bounce castles, carnival games, face painting, arts and crafts tables, and more, will be held on Saturday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the school, which is on Stephen Hand’s Path in East Hampton. Tickets cost $5, and those under 2 will get in free.

Goat Reopens

    The Goat on a Boat Puppet Theatre in Sag Harbor, which had its space flooded in September, will reopen on Monday for puppet play groups, a Tot Art program, and a puppet club. Puppet play groups for kids 3 and under are held Mondays at 9:30 a.m. The Tot Art program is for kids 2 to 4 and meets Mondays at 10:45 a.m.

    The puppet club, for 4 to 6-year-olds, is from 3:30 to 5 p.m., also on Mondays. The cost is $200 for nine sessions, during which kids will make puppets and create their own puppet shows. Saturday puppet shows at the theater will resume on Nov. 30.

Parrish in Amagansett

    The Parrish Art Museum of Water Mill will hold a two-part art workshop in collaboration with the Amagansett Library on Saturday and Nov. 9. This week at the library, kids in kindergarten through sixth grade will look at the work of William Merritt Chase, then paint their own watercolor landscapes. The program will begin at 3:30 p.m.

SATs, Apple Pie

    The Hampton Library in Bridgehampton is offering a free two-part SAT/A.C.T. prep program for high school students on Saturday and Nov. 16. Participants will take a practice exam Saturday between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. They will receive their scores and learn test-taking strategies from a Kaplan professional on Nov. 16 from noon to 1:30 p.m. Parents have been invited to the second session.

    Also at the library, 8 to 12-year-olds can fashion rubber band bracelets during a craft program on Wednesday at 4 p.m. Teen chefs will make apple pies on Friday, Nov. 8, at 4 p.m. Advance registration has been requested for all programs.

A Bee, a Flower, Music

    Spelling whizzes in second through fourth grade can learn how to compete in a Scripps-style spelling bee on Tuesday from 4 to 5 p.m. at the East Hampton Library, and then compete for prizes in a practice bee.

    A Music Together music and movement program for toddlers 1 to 3 years old will be held at the library next Thursday from 10:30 to 11:15 a.m. Also that day, from 2 to 3 p.m., kids in kindergarten through third grade can plant amaryllis bulbs with an educator from the Horticultural Alliance of the Hamptons, then learn about how to take care of them as they grow. Sign-up ahead of time has been requested for all.

Parents and teachers interested in the new Common Core curriculum, assessments, teacher evaluations, and student privacy may want to pull up State Senator Kenneth P. LaValle’s website Tuesday, when a forum with the New York State commissioner of education, John B. King, will be live-streamed from 6 to 8 p.m. from the Eastport South Manor Junior-Senior High School in Manorville.

Senator LaValle is soliciting questions and comments from people in his district, which includes 30 school districts. These should be no longer than 2 minutes. Those whose questions or comments are chosen will be notified ahead of time and will have the opportunity to speak at the forum.

The auditorium where the forum will be held seats 1,000 people, with seating made available on a first-come, first-served basis. Should it be necessary, an overflow room will be provided, with proceedings broadcast on a closed-circuit television.

      Voters in the Sag Harbor School District on Nov. 13 approved two bonds, totaling $9 million, for renovations to Pierson High School, its athletic fields, and the Sag Harbor Elementary School.

       A $7.4 million bond earmarked for renovating the Pierson auditorium, adding music instruction rooms, refurbishing shop and technology classrooms, and adding storage space to the elementary school gymnasium passed easily by a margin of 740 votes to 369.

       A $1.6 million bond calling for the installation of a turf athletic field and walking track behind the high school faced a tougher test, passing 585 to 507.

       The work, which will include renovations of the Pierson kitchen, plumbing, electrical and heating upgrades, energy conservation measures, and work on the elementary school parking lots and Pierson bus parking lot, will begin next fall and is expected to be wrapped up by fall 2015.

       John O’Keefe, the district’s business official, said this week that “the district is very excited” that both measures passed.

       If they had not, he said, many of the proposed upgrades would have to be handled in a piecemeal basis with money provided out of the district’s annual operating budget, a prospect, he said, that would have delayed the outcome and likely resulted in higher costs.

       A bond calling for similar upgrades was defeated in 2009.

       District officials have estimated that the two bonds will result in a tax hike of approximately $126 a year for a house valued at $1 million on the East Hampton Town side of the district and about $120 a year for a house of that value on the Southampton Town side.