Education

Jeff Nichols, the superintendent of the Sag Harbor School District, spent most of a special meeting of the school board Wednesday offering an explanation and timeline of the school’s actions the day that Cesar Adrian Albarracin Guncay, a sixth grader, died in a rafting accident.

The John M. Marshall Elementary School unveiled its brand-new $1.4 million playground on June 4. Designed by the architect Michael Guido with input from students, parents, and staff, the purple-and-aqua structure is handicapped-accessible, featuring a bridge that accommodates wheelchairs.

More than 90 East Hampton High School seniors were awarded roughly $350,000 on June 4 as part of the school’s local scholarship program, with prizes from every organization imaginable — the fire departments, teachers’ associations, Police Benevolent Association, Lions Club, American Legion, Kiwanis Club, Ladies Village Improvement Society, and local businesses. 

Macarons, chocolate chip cookies, oil changes, and tire repairs — East Hampton High School’s culinary and automotive students have mastered a wide range of skills over the last two years and this week they were part of the second annual graduation for these programs, a celebration of 13 students’ success.

Teachers who rely on the Long Island Rail Road to get to East Hampton for work got an unpleasant surprise last week — a notice that the M.T.A. Police will be closing most of the parking lot at the Westhampton train station from Saturday through June 21 for the U.S. Open Golf Championship at Shinnecock.

The Springs School’s Mystery Art Sale, which shows off 5-by-7-inch works by students and adult artists offered at $20 apiece, will take over Ashawagh Hall from Friday through Sunday.

At its final meeting of the academic year Tuesday, and John Ryan Sr.’s final meeting as a member of the East Hampton School Board, the board agreed to name the new pool at the high school the John J. Ryan Sr. Aquatic Center.

It’s hard for anyone to process last week’s news out of Sag Harbor. A sixth grader heads to the Poconos for a school trip with his classmates and never comes home. The heart of every parent who hears the news skips a beat in empathetic horror. But what about kids, who hear the news through chatter in school hallways, their parents’ whispers on the phone, or headlines on social media?

What's up with all the pink signs with white question marks? Springs School is preparing for the return of its Mystery Art Sale, which will take place at Ashawagh Hall on Friday, June 12, and Saturday, June 13.

The Montauk School’s chorus and jazz band had a sweet time at Hersheypark last weekend, sweeping first place in the Music in the Parks competition and earning excellent ratings for their performances.

What if Robin Hood were a girl? What if he weren’t just any girl, but was actually Maid Marian in disguise? That’s the premise behind “Marian, or the True Tale of Robin Hood: Teen Edition,” a play by Adam Szymkowicz that South Fork Performing Arts is taking on this weekend at Guild Hall.

For young people and families this week, there's an open house at the Watermill Center and a pollinator program at the East Hampton Historical Farm Museum, both on Saturday.

Scholarship, service, leadership, character, and citizenship -- 22 students at the Springs School will now be upholding those pillars, having been part of the school’s first-ever National Junior Honor Society induction on May 20.

John Aldridge and Anthony Sosinski, lifelong friends and commercial fishermen who wrote the book “A Speck in the Sea,” about Mr. Aldridge’s survival after falling off their boat in Montauk back in 2013, spoke at East Hampton High School last week as part of a series aimed at introducing students to the array of interesting people who live here.

Happening for kids this week is a kite-flying event for the Eleanor Whitmore Early Childhood Center at Main Beach, an ice cream social to kick of the East Hampton Library's summer reading club, and a fashion show and exhibition of student photography at The Church in Sag Harbor.

Only 4 percent of Boy Scouts become Eagle Scouts, and Calogero Sferrazza, a junior at Pierson High School, is about to become one of them. As a scout, he has earned almost 21 merit badges, and plans to earn his final credentials with a project honoring veterans in his hometown of Sag Harbor. 

There’s a first time for everything. First words, first steps, and even a first field trip. Springs School prekindergartners got to experience the latter recently.

East Hampton recognized its Suffolk Zone Award winners and News 12 Scholar-Athlete at a school board meeting this week.

A popular unified athlete played the last basketball game of his high school career this week at East Hampton. Jimmy Esposito is turning 22 and will age out of the program.

East Hampton voters came out in support of the 2026-27 school budget and three additional bond proposals that will allow the district to make major upgrades at all three of its school buildings and campuses and add an indoor pool and indoor athletic facility at the high school.

School budgets sailed through this week in Springs, Montauk, Sagaponack, Wainscott, and Sag Harbor, where there were no contested elections and spending plans stayed within the state-imposed cap on tax-levy increases. 

Montauk Mile and the Old Montauk Athletic Club have announced this year’s OMAC East Hampton High School senior scholarship winners. Each will receive $1,000.

Every parking spot on Gingerbread Lane was taken, with cars spilling onto the grass as families arrived for the International Heritage Fair at the John M. Marshall Elementary School.

When voters from Sagaponack to Montauk head to the polls here on Tuesday, no matter what school district they’re in, they’ll find budgets for the 2026-27 academic year that are tax-cap compliant. The districts have managed to preserve all of their programs and services without piercing the cap, which means the budgets need only a simple majority to pass.

In Diane Shoemaker’s business class, Springs students in sixth grade are going outside to garden in the school’s greenhouse. The students are taking care of the garden by planting and watering the beds.

The members of Guild Hall’s Teen Arts Council will host a fashion show on Friday, May 22, featuring sustainable clothing made from repurposed materials.

The East Hampton High School Jazz Band won first prize at Mothers Against Drunk Driving’s 2026 Battle of the High School Jazz Bands last week.

CMEE has an art bar craft for moms and kids on Friday, and a children’s herb garden comes to the East Hampton Historical Farm Museum on Saturday.

In the Springs, Amagansett, and Montauk School Districts incumbents are running unopposed to keep their seats on the school boards.

On May 19, East Hampton School District voters will elect two members to the school board. Two incumbents are running to keep their seats, while a newcomer is hoping to oust one of them.