Education

The Sag Harbor Learning Center, formerly the Stella Maris Regional School, finally opened this week to prekindergarten and kindergarten students in the Sag Harbor School District, which bought the building from the Catholic Diocese of Rockville Centre in 2016.

Trivia time for teens, circle time for toddlers, and more.

Tim Frazier, the recently retired Southampton Intermediate School principal and the current vice president of the Springs School Board, has stepped in as interim director of the Eleanor Whitmore Early Childhood Center.

New York State's school Covid-19 reporting system is now online. The publicly accessible website allows visitors to look up school districts by name or address.

The system can be accessed at schoolcovidreportcard.health.ny.gov. As of Monday morning, none of the South Fork school districts, from Bridgehampton and Sag Harbor through Montauk, had any cases to report.

Two six-week programs for young thespians through Bay Street Theater will begin on Sept. 26 outdoors on the grounds of the Sag Harbor Whaling and Historical Museum.

Parents and children can expect the experience of riding the school bus to be different in light of Covid-19 -- if, that is, they take the bus at all.

Most South Fork school districts are reporting that bus ridership will be down as more parents choose to drive their children to school themselves. And unlike in the past, when every child who qualified for transportation was automatically assigned a place on a school bus, most districts asked families to specifically opt in to transportation this year.

As of Tuesday, with the daily Covid-19 infection rate on Long Island hovering around 1.5 percent, school sports are still a go starting on Sept. 21. On Wednesday, the New York State Department of Health released further guidelines governing each sport, clarifying that football, volleyball, rugby, and now cheerleading will not start until March 1, 2021.

With mask-wearing mandates in place for every student, except in some cases those with disabilities, many school districts are now banning the use of masks with valves or exhalation vents.

Those "are not recommended, as they can allow exhaled respiratory droplets to reach others," according to the New York State chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics.

The Bridgehampton School and the Sagaponack School are among those that are following that organization's guidelines.

Robert Hagan has resigned from his post as director of instruction and technology for the East Hampton School District. He had been with East Hampton for more than seven years and is leaving to accept an assistant superintendent position closer to home.

During a Sept. 1 school board meeting, Mr. Hagan thanked the school board and district administration for creating a supportive learning environment. "I wish you all the best, and I'm never far if anyone ever needs anything. This place is really a special area that is close to my heart."

Brittany Carriero, who has held leadership roles in the Sag Harbor School District since 2013, is expected to be named the new principal of Pierson Middle and High School on Thursday at a meeting of the Sag Harbor School Board, the district announced Tuesday. Laura Westhoff will be appointed dean of the middle school until a new middle school assistant principal is hired.

New York State school districts must now report confirmed cases of Covid-19 to a state Department of Health website that will be publicly accessible by the start of the school year.

DanceHampton in East Hampton Village, Creative Edge Dance Studio in Montauk, and the Hampton Ballet Theatre School in Bridgehampton are enrolling dancers for fall programs.