Education

After fast-tracking its search for a new superintendent late in 2023, the Springs School Board is poised to hire Nancy Carney as the new chief school administrator.

The East Hampton Education Foundation and the Tyler Project have awarded more than $31,000 awarded to school districts in East Hampton Town, supporting programs in science, physical education, special education, wellness, and more.

Project Most has a new lineup of fresh, fun activities starting this week. Plus: games, movies, arts and crafts, and more coming up this week for kids and teens.

The National Weather Service is seeking college students who are interested in weather-related careers, offering them an up-close volunteer experience at its office in Upton, on the campus of Brookhaven National Laboratory.

Kailey Eberhart of Springs, 14, has kicked off a passion project: starting a local chapter of Whiskey Bravo, a national organization of youth who support military personnel through service projects.

All but two of the 20 students contacted said the pressures of the college application process this year have weighed more heavily than what they experienced as students during the Covid-19 pandemic, describing their state of being as“ Stressed,” “100 percent the most stressful year of my life,” and “So stressed my hair is falling out.”

The next children’s theater workshop at Bay Street Theater in Sag Harbor is an adapation of the classic Disney musical “101 Dalmatians,” kicking off Jan. 20 with a culminating performance on March 16. Plus: kids' movies, video games, sewing club, and more coming up this week.

Each year, only about 220 students from across New York State schools are selected for the New York State School Music Association’s all-state choir to take part in the festival, which culminates in a performance at the historic Eastman Theater in Rochester. To achieve it once is a capital-A Achievement. East Hampton's Nick Cooper did it twice.

More than half of the Springs School’s students are receiving Medicaid or SNAP benefits, allowing the district to qualify for federal financial assistance to provide free breakfast and lunch to all students as well as other grant opportunities for the cash-strapped school district.

A unique collaboration among students, teachers, and parents at the John M. Marshall Elementary School and the Springs School resulted in the sending of 430 handmade holiday cards to active service members of the United States Armed Forces.

For kids in need of winter vacation activities, the South Fork Natural History Museum in Bridgehampton has a lineup of all-ages, nature-oriented programs between Tuesday and Friday, Dec. 29, that promises active, educational fun in Vineyard Field, behind the museum. Plus: arts and crafts, holiday movies, and more for kids and teens.

Harper Davidson, an 11-year-old Springs School student, won first place in the vault event at a recent gymnastics competition.

After working with teaching artists from Shakespeare & Company over the past several weeks, the students of the Hayground School will present the fruits of their labor, a production of “Romeo and Juliet,” today at 1 and 6 p.m. in the Bridgehampton School auditorium. Plus lots more in store for kids and teens.

Springs School’s seventh and eighth-grade students took a field trip to Bay Street Theater in Sag Harbor for the Hamptons Doc Fest recently, and word on the street was that this was one of the best field trips yet.

East Hampton School District officials on Tuesday unveiled a plan to put up a bond referendum in 2025 for significant repairs and upgrades to its facilities. A priority, so far, is a top-to-bottom overhaul of the high school auditorium.

Coming up this week for kids and teens: Anime club, holiday arts-and-crafts, book clubs, community service opportunities, and more.

Many students from Springs School marched in the East Hampton Village holiday parade on Saturday. The seventh and eighth graders in band played their instruments in the parade while other students marched with different organizations.

The curtain rises Friday on Our Fabulous Variety Show's take on the classic "A Christmas Carol" story, starring a character called Jacob Marley McFly, lots of time-travel high jinks and ghosts of 1980s past, "and so much dancing," says one of its directors, Anita Boyer.

After months of hearing the Springs School teaching assistants decry unfairly low wages and mysterious pay cuts — and hearing other faculty members and parents rally around them — the Springs School Board on Nov. 7 approved an across-the-board raise of $6,420.

Sal Lifrieri, a retired New York City police detective who was a member of its hostage negotiation team, and a former security and intelligence director for the city's Office of Emergency Management, will share his knowledge on Wednesday at 6 p.m. in the library at East Hampton High School.

This weekend, the dancers of the Hampton Ballet Theatre School, ranging from tiny tots in tights to pre-professional ballerinas on pointe, will take the stage at Southampton High School once again for their annual production of "The Nutcracker." Also coming up: Gingerbread houses, kids' movies, Legos and crafts, and the return of the Bonac Lights festival at East Hampton High School.

The Amagansett School Board on Nov. 14 approved $190,000 in budget transfers to cover a salary payout to the outgoing district superintendent, Seth Turner, who resigned in October.

Students in the Springs School Journalism Club learned that Alexandra Vecchio, a Springs graduate, recently became a lawyer, and her sister, Sondra Vecchio, who is a science teacher at the school, helped arrange an interview with the club's members.

The Springs School Board received 33 applications for the district superintendent position and conducted preliminary virtual interviews with 11 candidates, the school board president, Barbara Dayton, said during the board's meeting on Tuesday.

The Montauk School Board is looking for a resident of the school district to fill out the time remaining in Tom Flight's board term. Mr. Flight was elected this month to the East Hampton Town Board and will be sworn in by the town clerk in January. His school board term expires June 30, 2024.

Bridgehampton High School seniors and juniors returned Friday from a school-sponsored tour of four upstate college campuses. For many of them, it was the first time they’d ever set foot on a college campus. For all, school officials said, it was an inspirational and eye-opening experience, one that helped them visualize a place for themselves in the world of higher education.

Remember that longtime favorite community event, the Mary’s Marvelous gingerbread-house competition? Project Most is bringing it back this year, with kits available now for families to reserve at $30 apiece. Plus: a Harry Potter movie marathon, arts and crafts, an escape room for teens, story time, and more for kids and teens.

Bonac Lights returns for a third year starting Friday night, illuminating the holidays at East Hampton High School with outdoor displays and activities all to benefit the East Hampton Masons’ scholarship fund.

Public school districts on the South Fork are increasingly turning to retired police officers to fill critical security roles. “These are people who have children in the schools or have gone through the schools themselves, who know the community. They’re familiar faces, and they’re responsive,” said Adam Fine, the East Hampton School District superintendent.

Springs School students report on recent exciting events leading up to Thanksgiving.