Education

It was Christmas in summertime at the Presbyterian Church in East Hampton, where for the last few weeks South Fork Performing Arts’ junior cast has been rehearsing the musical “Elf Jr.” The group of actors, ages 6 to 14, will bring the show to life at Guild Hall on Tuesday at 7 p.m. and Wednesday at 1 p.m.

Free, one-on-one support for high school students working on their college application essays will be offered at the Amagansett Library Friday from 1 to 3 p.m., and again on Aug. 21 and Sept. 19, also from 1 to 3.

Teenagers are working the land in a summer internship program with Share the Harvest Farm and Pitch Your Peers Teen, a youth-led philanthropic and service organization that introduces students to local nonprofits, meaningful volunteer opportunities, and charitable funding.

For young people this week, there’s CMEE’s Family Fair, teen tickets for Ms. Lauryn Hill at the Clubhouse, movies inside and out, a nature and art program in Water Mill, and the Story Pirates at Guild Hall.

The Long Island Basketball Foundation will honor the legendary local basketball coach Ed Petrie on Saturday in Wainscott while also raising money for the Ed Petrie Legacy Scholarship.

East Hampton could be home to a new day program for people with developmental disabilities. On Tuesday, Rise Life Services and People’s Arc of Suffolk will host an open house at East Hampton High School to introduce the concept, which would offer skill-building, community engagement, vocational support, and health and wellness activities.

Just five days after the class of 2026 graduated, the East Hampton School Board was already looking ahead. At its first meeting of the new school year on July 1, the board took up several key items, including extending the contract of Adam Fine, the superintendent, through 2031.

They were hard-working, kind team players with an impressive array of talents. Anyone looking to restore their faith in our future would have found great comfort at the East Hampton High School graduation on June 26, when 226 Bonackers flipped the tassels on their caps from right to left and officially became alumni.

David Cataletto’s passions for education, history, and the environment merge in “Kings of the Coast,” set on the East End in the 1600s and telling a tale of Indigenous tribes and Dutch and English settlers struggling to control the land. 

This month, The Star's teen book columnist considers three novels that she's long had on her to-be-read list: "Little Women," "The Song of Achilles," and "Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow."

“Pomp and Circumstance” will be playing all over town this weekend, with the class of 2026 at both Pierson and East Hampton High Schools receiving their diplomas.

At its summer benefit on Sunday at Moby’s restaurant, Project Most will honor the late Joe O’Connell, an early supporter whose donation helped the nonprofit launch its after-school program at the Springs School 20 years ago. 

The football field at East Hampton High School has a new flagpole, installed in time for the nation’s 250th anniversary, thanks to the generosity of Everit Albert Herter Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 550.

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.