Who? A Kangaroo?

    Nature Nick will stop in to the Amagansett Library on Saturday afternoon with a menagerie of a dozen unusual creatures, including a spider monkey, a kangaroo, a snake, and a bird of prey. His program is geared to kids in kindergarten through sixth grade and will offer a chance to see the animals up close and learn something about each one. It begins at 3:30 and is free, but seats should be reserved in advance as space is limited.

Make Paint

    Sue Lichtenstein, an artist and educator, will teach kids 2 and older how to make natural paints from fruits, vegetables, and spices during a painting and printmaking workshop at the Children’s Museum of the East End in Bridgehampton on Saturday. Adults should accompany children to the class, which begins at 10:30 a.m. The cost is $16 including museum admission, or $5 for museum members. Reservations have been suggested.

    Coming up on Friday, Oct. 25, at 4 p.m., the museum will host a Halloween party for kids 6 and under. Entry is $13, free for members.

Eek! College Essays

    For many college-bound high school students, the college essay is much scarier than the ghosts and ghouls of Halloween. Lisa del Favero, a tutor and SAT coach, will help to ease some of those fears in a two-part class on Sunday and Oct. 27 at the John Jermain Memorial Library in Sag Harbor.

    The class will meet from 1:30 to 3 p.m. both days, and participants must commit to both sessions. Because space is limited to 10 students, advance sign-up is required.

More Stories

    Along with the usual weekly offerings, the East Hampton Library will add two story and craft sessions to its schedule this week. One on Saturday from 2 to 2:45 p.m. is for kids 3 and older. A Halloween story time on Tuesday from 4 to 5 p.m. is for kids 4 to 6 with an adult. Sign-up is required for each.

“Frankenstein Follies” Ahead

    Mark your calendars. The young actors of Stages will present “Frankenstein Follies” at the Bay Street Theatre in Sag Harbor from Friday, Oct. 25, through Oct. 27, with evening performances on Friday and Saturday at 7:30 and matinees on Saturday and Sunday at 2. Tickets cost $15, including a party after the show.

    A letter sent out by the Suffolk County School Superintendents Association questioning the wisdom of state testing was unanimously approved for sending by the Montauk School Board on Tuesday.

    With the state this year shifting to the national Common Core standards, which aim to analyze whether students in grades three through eight will be prepared for college and future careers, and assist in that preparation, parents and educators are up in arms about the tests associated with the program. Statewide, fewer than half of all students passed the tests, according to results released by the New York State Education Department.

    In Montauk, school board members, some teachers, and Jack Perna, the district superintendent, said that not enough time had been allotted to prepare for the tests, take them, or train teachers. They claim that the testing hampers teachers’ efforts to focus on education more broadly.

    Some of the questions on the tests were ridiculous, Mr. Perna said — “almost ludicrous.” He said that students in third through fifth grades should not be made to get ready for college at such a young age. “These kids are still growing emotionally and should not be worried about college.”

    The letter that the board approved is long but says that “the Montauk School Board calls on Governor Cuomo, Commissioner [John B.] King, the State Legislature, and the Board of Regents to re-examine public school accountability systems in this state, including the Annual Professional Performance Review, and to develop a system based on multiple forms of assessment, which do not require standardized testing, that more accurately reflects the broad range of student learning, and is used to support students and improve schools.”

    It goes on to say that the “Montauk School Board of Education calls on the U.S. Congress and administration to overhaul the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, also known as the No Child Left Behind Act, to reduce the testing mandates and promote multiple forms of evidence of students’ learning and school quality in accountability.”

    “Doesn’t that feel good,” Lisa Ward, a board member, said after the vote to approve the letter.

    Also at the meeting, the board learned about the school’s participation in Red Ribbon Week. The national social health awareness program, started years ago to warn students about the dangers of drugs, has grown to include a unit on student inspiration, listening, kindness to others, and honesty.

    A video made by Montauk students was shown to the board. It can be viewed online at montaukschool.org. Students have been given red plastic bracelets to wear to show that they pledge to be a positive influence on others, and they will take part in an assembly tomorrow afternoon.

    The school’s participation during the week involved coming up with a program called Are You In? It was created by Jennifer Musser, a physical education teacher, and Chris Mandato, who teaches music. During their presentation to the board they enthused about students’ excitement over the program, reporting that students were walking around the halls asking one another and teachers, “Are you in?” They handed out bracelets to board members.

    “This is incredible,” Diane Hausman, the school board president, said. “We have to show off what they’re doing.”

    The board also approved a resolution hiring Brady Wilkins to teach special education for the rest of the school year.

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.

Young Filmmakers

       Young filmmakers will meet at the East Hampton Library on Sunday from 12:30 to 2 p.m. for a screening of projects some worked on last month and to collaborate on a new project.

       The program is for 6th through 12th graders. Those who attend should take a smartphone, iPad, Flip camera, or other video camera. Advance registration is requested at the library or via e-mail to [email protected].

       Children 7 and older will make their own kaleidoscopes at the library next Thursday from 4 to 5 p.m. Participants are asked to sign up in advance.

About Amaryllis

       Thinking ahead to the holidays, children 5 to 11 can plant amaryllis bulbs with the Horticultural Alliance of the Hamptons next Thursday at the John Jermain Memorial Library in Sag Harbor.

       Participants will learn growing tips during the program, which runs from 3:45 to 4:30 p.m., and will be able to take the plants home with them. Space should be reserved in advance.

Children’s Art Classes

       The Sag Harbor Fine Arts Center will begin two series of children’s art classes on Monday.

       Peggy Leder will teach a class for 3 to 5-year-olds on Mondays from 1:30 to 2:30 p.m. Classes for 6 to 11-year-olds will be offered on Mondays or Saturdays from 3:45 to 4:45 p.m. A six-week session costs $250. Registration is at the center or at [email protected].

Family Craft Time

       Peace is the word, or it will be on Saturday during a story and craft time for families at the Amagansett Library.

       The fun begins at 3:30 p.m. and advance registration has been suggested.

Fall Leaves at CMEE

       The colors of fall will be the inspiration for a watercolor leaf mobile workshop at the Children’s Museum of the East End in Bridgehampton on Saturday.

       Children will listen to a reading of Lois Elhert’s “Red Leaf, Yellow Leaf” and then get to work on their projects. The class begins at 10:30 a.m. and costs $20 including museum admission, or $7 for members.

       With the recent plunge in the temperature, some Springs students and staff members have taken to dressing in layers — indoors as well as out.

       “I’d like to know what’s going on with the heat. Our kids are wearing coats. Teachers are layering up. My room is registering at 50 degrees,” said one teacher during Monday night’s school board meeting. “It’s cold, and we keep being told that they’re working on it. It’s a fair statement to ask to come to work every day and be comfortable.”

       She declined to give her name after the meeting adjourned, saying she feared retaliation, but said students in her class had been shivering and that repeated requests for space heaters had gone unmet.

       John Finello, the district superintendent, said an independent contractor has been working to fix the boilers. In a follow-up conversation on Tuesday, Elizabeth Mendelman, the board president, said a broken circulating pump was actually to blame. She was adamant that the heat would soon be running full force.

       Zachary Cohen, who chairs the East Hampton Town nature preserve committee, spoke about opening up local trails and preserves as shortcuts and safety measures for students traveling to and from the school, while remarking that the idea was not without its challenges.

       “Some of the members of the committee won’t go into the woods anymore,” said Mr. Cohen. “I’ve had Lyme disease three times. Others avoid the woods for six months of the year.”

       But the challenges, said Mr. Cohen, were not insurmountable. He envisioned organizing hikes or bike rides home, with parents participating, and students walking or riding to collect their neighbors.

       And if rehabilitating the trails fails to elicit much enthusiasm and support, Mr. Cohen said that another alternative would be to take some of the 20-acre Springs dog park and construct a loop where children could freely bicycle without fear of cars.

       “When we first met as a team, we said it would be great, instead of having to build concrete sidewalks and curbing, to look at alternate ways of connecting kids to the school,” said Ms. Mendelman, referring to the Safe Routes to School committee. “It’s the beginning of looking at alternate ways of getting people to school, instead of children being on roads with no shoulders and no sidewalks.”

       In other news, Mr. Finello said the school had recently conducted its annual lockdown drill. Eric Casale, the principal, updated the school’s enrollment numbers: Springs now enrolls 724 children in grades pre-K to 8, down two students.

       Thomas Primiano, the treasurer, said the board had accepted the assessed valuation of $24.4 million from the office of the town assessor to establish the tax levy for the 2013-14 school year. The tax levy has been set at $23.3 million.

       During public comments, Dennis Donatuti, a Springs resident and former East Hampton school administrator, cited a New York State Education Department regulation stipulating parent involvement in school-based planning and decision making.

       “I think you need to open up a little bit more. It’s a concept that does not get greeted with a great deal of applause by administrators and board members,” said Mr. Donatuti, who ran unsuccessfully for the school board in 2012. “There’s less and less participation, less and less dialogue from the community. To me, it seems like you’re taking a step back from community involvement.”

       In response, Mr. Casale said the school had recently made an increased effort to correspond with its Latino population, which now numbers more than half. “All of our correspondence and presentations go out in Spanish. Even our e-mail blasts go out in English and in Spanish.”

       But Mr. Donatuti and another parent continued to make a case for a site-based management team, made up of parents who would help make decisions related to conduct policies, textbook selection, and use of technology, among others.

Making Maracas and More

       Sticks, reeds, gourds, and other things found in nature will be the raw materials for a workshop on making musical instruments at the South Fork Natural History Museum on Saturday. Tyler Armstrong will lead kids 7 and older as they create maracas, claves, flutes, and drums from local finds, then play a song. The program begins at 10 a.m. In addition to museum entry, a $3 materials fee will be charged. In a family program that afternoon at 2, Darlene Charneco, an artist, will ask people to remember a special outdoor environment and the experiences they had there, and then have them “map” those memories in “personal, unique works of art.” Ms. Charneco’s own mapping series of artworks “looks at animals, people, plants, homes, and communities as part of a larger organism,” according to the museum’s website. This workshop, too, requires a $3 materials fee. Registration in advance has been requested for both programs.The museum is on the Bridgehampton-Sag Harbor Turnpike in Bridgehampton.

T for Turkey, P for Potpie

       Across the street at the Children’s Museum of the East End on Saturday, youngsters can learn a recipe that will come in handy post-Thanksgiving. After listening to a reading of Tanya Lee Stone’s “T Is for Turkey,” they’ll make their own turkey potpies. The program runs from 10:30 to 11:30 a.m. and costs $25, or $15 for members. Advance registration has been requested.

Autumn Tales, Amaryllis Bulbs

       Robin Bady will lead an autumn folk tale storytelling session for kids of all ages on Saturday at the Montauk Library. Participants will hear stories about fall, winter, and the changing seasons from 3 to 4 p.m.

       Representatives of the Horticultural Alliance of the Hamptons will stop in at the library on Tuesday to help first through third graders plant amaryllis bulbs, which should bloom just in time for Christmas. The program runs from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. Sign-up in advance is required, as only 15 children can be accommodated. Members of the alliance will also pay a visit to the Amagansett Library on Saturday for a bulb-planting session for kids in kindergarten through sixth grade. The start time is 3:30 and reservations are required.

Holiday Cards for Soldiers

       The children’s programs at the East Hampton Library this week will look ahead to the coming holidays. On Sunday, kids in 8th through 12th grades can drop in between 2 and 4 p.m. to make holiday cards for veterans and active-duty soldiers. Not only will participants be working to brighten someone’s day, but they will also be able to earn community service credits for their efforts. Thanksgiving will be the theme of a story and craft time for kids 4 to 6 on Tuesday from 4 to 5 p.m. The library has asked for registration in advance.

       A noche para la familia, or family night, aimed at building a bridge between the Spanish and English-speaking communities in East Hampton, will be held in the East Hampton High School auditorium on Friday, Nov. 22, at 6.

       “There’s no trust between our community and the authorities,” said Oswaldo Palomo, a pastor with the Vida Abundante New York church in Wainscott, who is one of the organizers. “We have to build trust.”

       Organizers plan to honor East Hampton Town Police Chief Eddie Ecker Jr., who will retire at year’s end, and Isabel Sepulveda, a community leader and publisher of Voz Latina, a bilingual newspaper. Mario Castro, a former Costa Rican government auditor who works with Focus on the Family, an evangelical nonprofit, on its outreach in Latin America, will also take to the stage.

       Representatives from the East Hampton Town Police, East Hampton Fire Department, East Hampton Town Ordinance Enforcement Department, MetLife Insurance, and East Hampton High School plan to attend. A panel of speakers will discuss community issues, and there will be food, music, and dancing.

       Though the conference will be conducted in Spanish, portions of it will be translated into English should a considerable portion of English speakers attend, Mr. Palomo said.

       This will be the first of three planned conferences, with the other two taking place early next year. In later months, Mr. Palomo hopes to tackle such issues as bullying and suicide prevention. Issues related to poverty and immigration will also be discussed.

       “The aim is to give them the resources so they can be healthy families,” said Mr. Palomo. “That’s our main goal.”

       “Over-testing” in general, and including what are called field tests — trial questions that may be used on future exams but on which students are nopt graded — continue to concern educators, Eleanor Tritt, the Amagansett School superintendent, told the school board at its meeting Tuesday morning.

       Mentioning a letter from John B. King Jr., the state commissioner of education, and a document from an organization called EngageNY, which helps the state assess reforms, Ms. Tritt said she had significant concern about the state wanting “to eliminate stand-alone field testing” and to further incorporate field-test material in regular tests. “They give the same field-test questions to children at different grades,” she said. “For kids in lower grades, it’s too hard for them, it’s frustrating, it takes time away. They spend an inordinate amount of time, and skip through questions that count.” Furthermore, she said there was no way to determine which field-test questions a child was exposed to.

       “The school is required to adhere to state mandates, and children are required to take state tests,” Ms. Tritt said after the meeting. But the state had adopted the Common Core for standardized tests without involving educators, she said. “Superintendents are asking the state to actually have a plan to implement the process in a way that would be more effective for the children. We all agree that raising standards is always a good thing and are always trying to improve.”

       “The curriculum modules are being released by the state this year, yet they’re not being organized and giving teachers lead time to implement and be trained on modules before they teach it,” she said. “It’s not an educationally  sound way to implement new programs.”

       Ms. Tritt referred to an article in Education Week titled “Demand for Testing Products, Services on the Rise.” Like all school districts, Amagansett is “bombarded with people trying to sell products to prepare children for tests,” she told the board. The commercial aspect of test preparation “is really pushing and lobbying for more of the testing. . . . There’s a tremendous market.”

       The superintendent also referred to another article in Education Week, which emphasized the importance of teaching social problem-solving skills, self-regulation, and honesty. “We should be proud of the character-development program we have, which is infused throughout our program,” she said. Children “are reminded in every way, every day, how important it is to have self-confidence but to be respectful of others.”

       As if to illustrate her point, the meeting had begun with a video presentation featuring students praising the board in song. In recognition of School Board Appreciation Week, members of the board were also treated to gifts presented by Jason Hancock, president of the Amagansett Teachers Association, and Kathy Solomon, the association’s vice president.

       “Everyone really appreciates you being the unsung heroes who devote so much of your time and energy,” Ms. Tritt told the board members. “At the same time, you balance our need to be mindful of the impact on the community. . . . You have to make some really hard decisions, and we appreciate the time and effort you put in. We want to thank you very much.”

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.