The Ross School has named a new head of school to replace the departing Michele Claeys, who leaves at the end of the school year for a new job as associate head of the Norwood School in Bethesda, Md.

    Dr. Gregg W.M. Maloberti will step in as interim head of school, with a term beginning on July 1 and lasting for two years.

    Dr. Maloberti’s appointment by the Ross Institute Board of Trustees and the Ross School Board of Overseers is the result of a search performed in conjunction with a search committee comprised of faculty, staff, parents, and administrators.

    Currently Dr. Maloberti has been employed at The Lawrenceville School in New Jersey for over a dozen years, where he is the dean of admission and financial aid. He will work closely with Ms. Claeys this spring to assure a smooth transition.

    “We are very pleased that Dr. Maloberti has accepted our offer to join the Ross community as interim head of school,” said Ross’s founder, Courtney Sale Ross, in a release. “His specific areas of expertise — organizational leadership, student recruitment and retention, development, and deep experience with the international community — will insure that Ross continues to be a leader in global education and develops in its next decade as a financially sustainable and highly competitive independent day and boarding school.”

    Monday is the final day for those who are interested in filing their petitions to run for school board seats that are up for grabs in all districts.

    Liz Pucci, who filled in on the East Hampton School Board when Stephen Talmage, a long-time member, stepped down, has announced that she will run to retain her seat. At press time it was unclear whether Laura Anker Grossman, the current school board president, whose term is also up this year, will run again. Both of the seats are for three-year terms.

    In Amagansett, Mary Lownes’s term is over at the end of the school year. In Springs the seat held by John B. Grant, the board’s vice president, is also available. Kelly White’s seat, a five-year term, will be voted on in Montauk. And in Wainscott, the seat vacated by Iris Osborn last month will be filled with someone to see out the rest of the two-year term. David Eagan’s three-year seat on the board is also up for election. In Bridgehampton, there are three three-year terms up for election this year.

    Nominating petitions are available in district offices and must be returned by the end of the day on Monday.

    The elections will be held in conjunction with the school budget votes on May 15.

National Puppet Day

    Puppets get a hand, so to speak, on Saturday, the National Day of Puppetry, and nowhere on the South Fork will they party harder than at the Goat on a Boat Puppet Theatre in Sag Harbor.

    An 11 a.m. show by Nappy’s Puppets will be followed by a parade at noon (audience members have been invited to costume up), a puppet-making workshop, and hot dogs on the upper lawn.

    Goat on a Boat will be taking a break following Saturday’s activities, and reopen on May 7.

    The theater is at 4 Hampton Street, with an entrance to the rear of Christ Episcopal Church.

Winning Logo

    The Southampton Advocates for the Village Environment (S.A.V.E.) have selected a winner from hundreds of entries submitted by Southampton Village students to use on reusable grocery bags. The winner, and finalists, will be awarded prizes by Mayor Mark Epley on April 21.

    Students were asked to design a logo that included the slogan, “B.Y.O. Bag” and “Southampton Village” somewhere in the design. Ten semi-finalists were selected from each of five schools, which were narrowed to six finalists, and then one winner.

    The contest follows Southampton Village’s ban in 2011 on plastic grocery bags.  The artwork from the competition will be on display at the Southampton Cultural Center beginning on Wednesday. The award ceremony, on April 21, will be at the center at 11 a.m.

Board Game Bonanza

    For teens looking for something to do tonight, the East Hampton Library is hosting an evening of board games. Pizza and games will be provided, or attendees can take their own favorite games. The event begins at 5 p.m. Registration is requested.

Bataan and Baldwin

    East Hampton High School will screen a World War II documentary, “Tragedy of Bataan,” on Tuesday in the school library.

    Following the half-hour film, which is narrated by Alec Baldwin, Patti Birks, a Westhampton resident whose father, William Rogers Birks, survived the Bataan death march and three-and-a-half years in a Japanese prison camp, will speak.

    The screening will begin at 6:30 p.m., and is open to students and parents.

    Working with Raymond Fell, a search consultant with the Eastern Suffolk Board of Cooperative Educational Services, the East Hampton School Board has narrowed its choices for the the next school superintendent to just three candidates. They are the interim superintendent, Richard Burns, Sue Naeve, who co-chairs the district’s citizens advisory committee, and Robert Tymann, an assistant superintendent in the Lindenhurst district.

    Initially, Mr. Fell looked at over a dozen candidates. But by the time the interviews with the East Hampton School Board rolled around last weekend, he had narrowed the field to six. One applicants dropped out before the interviews, and the board chose the finalists from the remaining five.

    Mr. Fell said yesterday that he gathered community opinion at a forum in January to help him focus on the qualifications best suited to East Hampton. “Of course they need to be professionally qualified,” he said, “but I also took into consideration how they would fit in.”

    “I think it’s been an excellent process,” Laura Anker Grossman, the school board president, said yesterday.

    “The candidates are very interesting in very different ways,” she said, refusing to say more. She added that she did not want to prejudice the interviews still to be conducted by a committee comprising teachers, PTA members, and residents on April 16. The 24-person committee will split into three groups to interview the  candidates in rotation. “This will give the board additional information about the candidates, which will help them with their decision,” Mr. Fell said.

    Mr. Burns, who has been with the school district since 1990, was the director of pupil personnel services prior to becoming interim superintendent. His five children have all gone to East Hampton and Springs schools. In January, when the forum was held, many of the people who attended came to speak in favor of Mr. Burns.

    Dr. Naeve came to East Hampton from Southern California, where she was a teacher, an assistant principal, and, for 10 years, assistant superintendent in the San Gabriel School District. She has been active on the citizens advisory committee since its formation in early 2011, and was part of the triumvirate, with Ira Bezzoza and Bill Grathwohl, who recently examined possible consolidation solutions.

    Mr. Tymann has a background in English as a second language and has worked in New York City and Levittown as an educator, principal, and assistant principal. The Lindenhurst district, where he is now assistant superintendent, has almost 7,000 students.

    The district is considering a salary of approximately $175,000 to $190,000 a year for the job, well below the reported $265,000 a year that the previous superintendent, Raymond Gualtieri, was earning before he left in July.

    A decision could be reached as early as April 17, although Dr. Grossman said the end of the month was more likely. “We really worked together on this, not just as a school board, but as a community,” she said.

    For parents who are out of ideas for things to do with their young children, there’s a new site in town. Giggles ’n’ Grit, started by a trio of mothers, offers hyper-local ideas to get the ball rolling and creative juices flowing.

    “We want to offer inspiring things to do,” said Kat O’Neill, who lives in East Hampton with her husband and 5-year-old son. The Web site, which is divided into categories of activities like “Fun ’n’ Free” and “Out ’n’ About,” showcases things to do with children that parents might not think up on their own. Many of them have to do with the outdoors, but there are plenty of indoor activities as well.

    Some of the choices include searching for a snowy owl or blue salamander, joining a Lego play group, swabbing different locations inside the house and then letting the resulting bacteria grow in a petri dish, hatching a “sea monster,” cleaning up Main Beach, and various art projects. There are lists worth their weight in gold to moms and dads: child-friendly restaurants, museums, parks, and classes in East Hampton and beyond.

    There are also giggles — like the disturbing origins of nursery rhymes, lifted from Cracked.com — and grit, like the “plastic dilemma,” which can spark a lively discussion among parents.

    “What started as a creative alternative to the dreaded play date has evolved into a library of content that we hope will inspire parents to do more unique things with their children, to really explore the world around them,” Ms. O’Neill said.

    Initially, the group was going to be private, “more like a club, but that was too exclusive.” Instead, “it has created a chance for moms and dads to get together with the kids and socialize. We always try to incorporate some learning into the fun,” she said. “Laugh more, learn more.”

    About 20 parents form the core group, but Ms. O’Neill, who, with Amanda Switzer manages the site, hopes that more will come aboard. The kids range in age from about 2 to 7, she added.

    New content is being added all the time, and the group is open to new ideas, too. “We want to have people join who want to have fun,” Ms. O’Neill said.

    Those with adventurous spirits and young explorers in tow can find the site at gigglesngrit.com.

Spring Break Camp

    East Hampton Town is offering a free spring break recreation program for children in kindergarten through sixth grade from Tuesday through Friday, April 13. The sessions, which run from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. each day, will be held at the John M. Marshall Elementary School in East Hampton and at the Montauk School.

    Registration can be done in advance at the East Hampton Town Parks and Recreation Department or at the Montauk Playhouse. Children can also be registered at John M. Marshall or the Montauk School on Tuesday.

Hispanic Leadership

    Three East Hampton High School seniors — Maryolin Perez, Milton Farez, and Deyvis Avila — were awarded scholarships last weekend at the Angelo del Toro Hispanic Youth Leadership Institute in Albany. Of the 200 students who applied, 25 were granted scholarships, and were chosen by essays and a mock assembly.

    The students also had an opportunity to speak to Assemblyman Fred W. Thiele Jr., the local representative, and Assemblyman Phillip Ramos, who chairs the yearly event.

EAST HAMPTON HIGH SCHOOL

 Parent-teacher conferences are now underway at East Hampton High School.

On Wednesday, Adam Fine, the principal, will host his monthly parent breakfast. It begins at 8 a.m. in the high school's library. Parents are encouraged to take brown-bag breakfasts.

Finally, two theatrical events are in the works. The drama club has scheduled a staged reading of "Spoon River Anthology" for Dec. 10 and 11 and selected a musical, "Once Upon a Mattress," for the spring.

EAST HAMPTON MIDDLE SCHOOL

Picture retakes for students at the East Hampton Middle School are being snapped later today.

Mark your calendars. A PTA meeting and principal's breakfast is planned for next Thursday at 9:30 a.m. A panel of middle school guidance, psychology, and social work staff members will discuss their role in helping kids learn about healthy behaviors. They will also discuss coping strategies when students make poor choices.

Middle school students raised $386 from a recent Halloween costume fund-raiser. The money will help provide Thanksgiving dinners for local families in need. Students will assemble the food baskets the day before Thanksgiving break.

JOHN MARSHALL ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

Students at the John M. Marshall School honored local veterans with songs and special presentations at an all-school meeting on Friday.

Parents of elementary students have been advised to check their child's backpack tomorrow, when report cards will be sent home. Parent-teacher conferences are planned for Tuesday and Nov. 25.

All this month, the activities club is asking that students take in canned goods to help with a forthcoming food drive.

Meanwhile, students are on the hunt for nutrition labels, from items such as granola bars, cereal, frozen pizza, and more. Students will use them during their science lab, as part of Healthy Food for Life, an in-school nutrition program. Parents, who are also welcome to participate, can contact Ginny Reale at the Wellness Foundation, which sponsors the program, for more information.

The fifth grade also took a field trip to the Grace Estate in Northwest Woods on Tuesday for a forest investigation. And this week and next, the first grade will take turns visiting the East Hampton Library.

Lastly, during Native American month, the school's art club is examining the woodland-style art of Norval Morriseau, also known as Copper Thunderbird, a Canadian artist.

BRIDGEHAMPTON SCHOOL

On Friday, students at the Bridgehampton School honored veterans during a special assembly, which featured the school band and several special guests.

Parent-teacher conference day for students in prekindergarten through fifth grade is Nov. 25. As such, prekindergartners will be dismissed at 11 a.m., with other grades dismissed at 11:15 a.m. First quarter report cards will be provided during individual student conferences.

Finally, the school is looking for community members to serve on its wellness and budget advisory committees. Those interested should send a letter to Tammy Cavanaugh, the district clerk, via e-mail, [email protected]. The deadline is Nov. 25.

HAYGROUND SCHOOL

Last week, the Hayground School in Bridgehampton hosted an evening of math, which was facilitated by the school's math consultant, faculty, and students. Parents explored Hayground's approach to math, which utilizes hands-on activities and small-group discussion.

Students in Marybeth Pacilio's class recently read a book called "The Matchbox Diary." The story features a little girl who, while visiting her great-grandfather, discovers a set of matchboxes, with each one containing a memento and a story related to his boyhood journey from Italy to America. The story has inspired a class-wide book project, with each student creating a memoir from cherished objects and images.

    Residents of the Montauk School District would see a 2.1-percent increase in their school taxes if the final budget proposal of $18.5 million presented this week is approved at the next school board meeting on April 17 and okayed by voters on May 15. Jack Perna, the district superintendent, gave out the figures at a board meeting on Tuesday.

    What that means is that an average household would pay an estimated $15 per $1,000 of assessed value of the property, for an estimated $75 increase in school taxes next year. But that number could be lower, Mr. Perna said, depending on the assessed value of the many new buildings in the hamlet.

    It’s been a relatively simple budget process this year. The board has been meeting weekly with Mr. Perna and Maura Mirras, the school treasurer, to comb through it and explain various line items to board members. The budget was tweaked here and there but didn’t change much since the initial proposal was handed out earlier this month.

    There were no big cuts or services slashed, and no new staff members were added. Mr. Perna said from the beginning that for this year, at least, the school will be able to come in under the state’s new 2-percent cap on tax levy increases. “Our core program has remained the same,” he said after the meeting.

    Mr. Perna said that although the tax bill will increase by 2.1 percent, he could have increased it up to 2.4 percent and still remained under the cap, because of various exemptions to the law.

    “As your administrator I was tempted to go to the 2.4 but we didn’t. We have a history here of being very conservative,” he said.

    Robert Lamparter, a retired art teacher who has been following the budget process, asked the board during the public comment period if teacher contracts were still being negotiated, and if so, how will that figure into the budget. He also said the regional cost to educate a student is about $19,000 and wondered why the Montauk School’s cost per pupil is about $34,000, a figure that Mr. Perna said later was fairly accurate.

    “It just seems like a lot of money per student,” Mr. Lamparter said. “I’m not looking to attack,” he added later. “People ask me what’s going on, and I want to be able to explain it to them.”

    Diane Hausman, the board president, said that most of the expenses are out of the board’s control.

    Traditionally, smaller schools incur higher costs, Mr. Perna said.

    When it comes to teacher contract negotiations, which are ongoing, the superintendent said by phone yesterday that an estimated portion of the expected salary increase is already added to the budget. If the costs go over what’s budgeted, he would try to cover it from other areas that have come in under budget. But if the salaries did go over, and the budget needed to be changed, a special referendum would have to be held, with the public voting on whether to approve the additional costs.

    A hearing on the budget proposal will be held on May 2 at 6 p.m. in the school. The budget vote will take place on May 15 from 2 to 8 p.m. in the school gym.

    The East Hampton School Board took a close look at the arts and athletic department budgets on Tuesday night as Larry Roberts, the director of unified arts, and Joe Vasile-Cozzo, the director of athletics, outlined cuts they have made to their proposed 2012-13 spending.

    One issue that raised eyebrows was a $17,000 food budget for the family and consumer science classes.

    “That’s for 200 students,” Mr. Roberts said. “At $88 per student, it breaks down to about $8.80 per student, per month.”

    “It still sounds really high,” said Jackie Lowey, a school board member.

    One of the two middle school plays performed every year was cut from the budget to bring down the costs in the drama department.

    However, a $4,000 lunch for senior citizens that usually precedes the high school play was left in the budget.

    “You will not convince me that the district should be paying for senior citizens to have lunch. We’re cutting a play so people can have lunch,” Ms. Lowey said.

    Laura Anker Grossman, the school board president, and George Aman, a board member, both expressed the importance of catering to the district’s older residents, but agreed that it didn’t have to cost that much.

    A possible solution was laid on the table:  have the family and consumer science students make lunch for the senior citizens, using some of the $17,000 food budget.

    Although there was a unanimous decision that the idea was a good one, it still needed to be discussed with the teachers in the department and was put on hold for now.

    Mr. Vasile-Cozzo, commonly known as Mr. Vas, outlined over $100,000 in cuts his department has made to next year’s athletic budget from the spending plan he had originally proposed for 2012-13. But when mileage paid back to coaches was examined, it was discovered that the district pays 51 cents per mile, when it is only required by law to pay 32 cents per mile.

    Lowering the rate would reduce the $8,000 in mileage reimbursement costs to coaches to approximately $6,000, and have ramifications throughout the district if it was universally applied.

    The board also scrutinized the pros and cons of purchasing of a $17,000 scoreboard to replace the broken one on the field.

    Mr. Vas suggested the possibility of sports camps in the summer to raise money. He said other districts have done this with great success.

    “It’s a 50-50 split,” he said. “The coaches don’t get paid, and half the money goes to lower the materials and supplies cost for that sport, the other half to the district. It could then go toward the scoreboard,” he said.

    The board asked if he would be able to institute this program before the summer, and Mr. Vas said he would look into it in further detail.

    Another budget workshop is scheduled for next Tuesday during the regular school board meeting at 7:30 p.m.

    A triumvirate of teachers live in Sagaponack, and spend their time tirelessly helping children with special needs — whether physical or learning-related — by providing therapy that helps build not only muscles but self-confidence. And they do it all without saying a word.

    The trio — Mosely, Cookie, and Kirolak — are horses that have been specially trained to assist children with special needs, and the program they are part of, the Center for Therapeutic Riding of the East End, or CTREE, sees approximately two dozen kids come every week for a chance to ride, groom, and hug the horses.

    “The relationship that the kids develop with the horses is a partnership,” Karen Bocksel, the managing director of  CTREE, said last week. CTREE is held at the Wolffer Stables on Narrow Lane East behind the vineyards that stretch north from Montauk Highway.

    Ms. Bocksel has an adult son with special needs and it was because of him that she initially became interested in equine therapy.

    Ms. Bocksel is a certified PATH instructor — that’s the Professional Association of Therapeutic Horsemanship International — and said her job is her passion.

    “My heart’s in there. It’s in the ring with the kids,” she said.

    The CTREE program has been growing since it was founded about four years ago. “The horses have been specially trained to tolerate loud noises, sudden movements, tight legs because of cerebral palsy. If a child is cognitive-impaired, they may not hold the reins correctly. The horses understand that it’s okay,” she said. “They’re very gentle.”

    Mosely has occasionally had as many as 20 kids surrounding him for a grooming session. “He’s happy to just stand there,” Ms. Bocksel said with a smile.

    Have there been noticeable changes in the children due to their experiences at CTREE? “One little boy said his first meaningful word while riding,” Ms. Bocksel recalled. “He said ‘Yellow’ and reached for something yellow, and his father burst into tears.”

    One autistic child was overwhelmed by the prospect of riding a horse when he first started. “Now he can stop and steer. It’s really amazing,” Ms. Bocksel said.

    Emma Walton Hamilton, an author who lives in Sag Harbor (and the reporter’s stepsister) has noticed huge changes in her 8-year-old daughter, Hope, who was born with cerebral palsy.

    “When she started two years ago, she had someone leading the horse, a volunteer on each side of her, and she still needed to hold onto my hand, with white knuckles,” Ms. Hamilton said. “Now she trots independently, does figure eights, all by herself. It’s been so incredibly valuable,” she said.

    “Physically it’s straightened her posture,” Ms. Hamilton said. “It’s strengthened her back and her legs. But what is the most important is what it has done for her confidence.”

    Ms. Hamilton’s belief in the importance of the CTREE program has led her to a place on its board of directors. “It’s given Hope a sense of community,” she acknowledged. “She doesn’t feel different anymore.”

    CTREE recently ran a program in conjunction with the Child Development Center of the Hamptons. “The kids came on Mondays from 12 to 2,” Ms. Bocksel said. “They had a full curriculum on how to take care of a horse, learning to ride, learning about different breeds of horses, everything,” she said.

    CTREE also offers private and semi-private lessons in the afternoons. In addition to Ms. Bocksel, there are two certified instructors.

    The program is nonprofit, and holds two fund-raisers a year. “Wolffer Stables has been extremely helpful,” she said. “They have given us a break on our board, and free office space,” she said. “My living room is very happy now.”

    The program has room to grow, but volunteers are needed. “We cannot exist without volunteers,” she said.

    Those who do volunteer do not need to be horse-friendly, at least not at first. They are trained and taken through an orientation. Anyone over 14 is invited to volunteer with CTREE, and community service credits are offered for high school and college students.

    The program also offers scholarships. “No one gets turned away,” Ms. Bocksel said. She looked out into the fields. “The atmosphere here is so spectacular,” she said. “It’s somehow restorative for the students.”