As elementary school students across town returned to school Tuesday, they found sidewalk-chalk welcome signs, new programs, and expanded opportunities for hands-on learning.
Springs School welcomed students back this fall with a new SOAR store. Named for the school’s values of service, optimism, accountability and respect, the store will be operated by the kids.
“Students will take an active role in running the store and serving their school community, turning everyday interactions into valuable learning experiences,” said Erik Kelt, the principal. “The store will be a permanent part of the school and will provide students with meaningful opportunities to develop leadership, communication, organization, money-management, and business skills.”
The school also has a newly refurbished greenhouse, which will provide hands-on opportunities to learn about gardening, science, sustainability, and environmental stewardship.
“Students will be able to plant, grow and care for a variety of plants while connecting classroom learning to real-world experiences,” Mr. Kelt said. “The greenhouse is another way Springs School is creating engaging opportunities for students to learn by doing.”
Springs is also introducing several new initiatives this year, including No Tech Tuesday.
“On Tuesdays, students will have opportunities to work, write, collaborate, communicate, and create without a laptop or computer screen in front of them,” Mr. Kelt said. “This initiative encourages students to strengthen essential 21st-century skills through meaningful, hands-on learning experiences and face-to-face interactions.”
This school year, the Amagansett School continues to integrate New York State learning standards into its curriculum.
“This year, we have strengthened that work by vertically aligning key standards and skills across grade levels, helping to create a more connected learning experience as students grow and progress through our school,” Maria Dorr, the principal, and Michael Rodgers, the superintendent, said in an email. “We have also expanded the use of the workshop approach across classrooms, providing students with engaging opportunities for focused instruction, small-group learning, independent practice, collaboration, and reflection.”
The Montauk School will celebrate its 100th anniversary in 2027 and is planning a series of student-centered events, including a schoolwide cultural and historical project through its Enrichment for All program. Each grade level will be responsible for a decade and will research Montauk’s place in both local and national history over the last 100 years.
“Students will work with members of our community to research, prepare and present [projects on] an assigned decade of Montauk,” said Joshua Odom, the superintendent. “This will all be prepared and displayed at the art gallery at the Montauk train station. Very cool.”
The school is also preparing for an extensive renovation project after residents approved a 20-year, $34.8 million bond last December. The plans include a new full-size gym, an expanded library, additional classroom space, and more adult bathrooms. The project also calls for removing the portable classrooms outside the gym and expanding the current gym to accommodate arts and music programs, lunches, and assemblies.
“We’re also working in collaboration with our PTA (huge thank-you for all they do!) and art department (superstars!) with Joyce Raimondo from the Pollock-Krasner House on a schoolwide mural to celebrate our centennial. This will be displayed in the new wing of the school once complete,” Mr. Odom said.
Initial campus work is scheduled to start in April.