Education

East Hampton’s varsity Academic Team stands unbeaten this year and will next compete in the regional Quiz Bowl finals sometime in April. Having fun, while giving their brains a good workout, is the goal for the whip-smart members of this group, each with their idiosyncratic areas of expertise.

For parents and high school students, there's an online program Wednesday on how Covid has changed the college admissions landscape. Also this week for younger kids: programs on native frogs, STEM workshops, arts and crafts, story times, and more, much of it free.

The Montauk School District is proposing a $21.03 million spending plan for the 2022-23 school year, once again staying well below the state limit on tax-levy increases.

As they struggle to build a 2022-23 budget that stays within New York State’s cap on tax-levy increases, Springs School District administrators said they have now zeroed out their earlier drafts and started over.

The East Hampton School District’s new transportation center on Springs-Fireplace Road is proof that the future of school busing here is much more than bright yellow buses and a place to park them.

As construction on its new 7,000-square-foot building nears completion, the Bridgehampton Child Care and Recreational Center is bumping up against unexpected costs that have left the organization “a couple of hundred thousand dollars” short of its $3 million budget. That’s why every little bit helps, its executive director said this week as she acknowledged a meaningful donation from the Hamptons United Methodist Church in the amount of $25,000.

A teen PechaKucha at the Parrish Art Museum, with rapid-fire presentations by teen artists and high school art teachers, is one of the highlights of this week's South Fork programs for teens and kids.

School district residents who would like to run for school board seats can officially begin submitting their paperwork for the 2022 election cycle.

The Parrish Art Museum in Water Mill has continued its longtime tradition of celebrating student artists with the annual Student Exhibition officially opening Sunday.

With gas prices skyrocketing and inflation impacting bottom lines almost everywhere, the East Hampton and Springs School Districts are feeling the crunch as they put together their spending plans for the 2022-23 school year.

A teen writing competition, a search for the woolly bear caterpillar, and an introduction to ducks are among the things on tap for young people this week.

The playing field at the Pierson Middle High School in Sag Harbor is indeed a quagmire. Or an ice rink, or a sandbox, depending on the time of year. Now, six years after Sag Harbor voters opted for real grass over synthetic turf, the issue is back on the school board's agenda.

The Sag Harbor School District's superintendent, Jeff Nichols, outlined the school’s new Covid-19 protocols relating to contact tracing, close contacts, and "even students returning to school if they test positive."

It’s showtime this weekend at East Hampton High School. “Footloose,” the dance-centric musical based on the 1984 film of the same name, will be staged in the high school auditorium, with performances open to the public.

A new semester of performing arts classes with Our Fabulous Variety Show, puppetry at St. Luke's Episcopal Church, and adventures with the South Fork Natural History Museum are on tap for kids and teens in the coming week.

Face coverings in most South Fork schools are now optional. School districts from Montauk to Southampton confirmed that as of Wednesday masks will no longer be mandatory for students, teachers, administrators, or staff. The mask rollback extends to school buses as well.

Sag Harbor’s Eve Achuthan-Kozar will be among the stars in a high-stress, cutthroat TV cooking competition, part of the storied “MasterChef” franchise, in which the often-terrifying celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay plays host, judge, and tyrant, but in this case, all the contestants are between the ages of 8 and 13.

"My friends, the day has come," Gov. Kathy Hochul said Sunday after announcing that the state would lift its school mask mandate as of Wednesday following consultation with public health officials, teachers, school administrators, and PTA members. Local officials in individual school districts and counties will continue to have the power to impose mask mandates and other restrictive measures based on their needs.

Children in the 3-K (preschool for 3-year-olds) and prekindergarten programs received their own library cards and were given a quick lesson on how to borrow a new book every two weeks.

A Magical Time

The Amagansett Library has invited children in prekindergarten through second grade to a unicorn-themed party on Saturday at 2 p.m. with stories, crafts, and party favors. The contact for registration is Evan Harris at [email protected].

Get Outdoors

East Hampton School District officials on Tuesday announced a commitment to remaining at or under New York State’s cap on tax-levy increases to finance their 2022-23 budget plan.

Staying in town with the kids for the February break? School may be closed, but there's plenty to do, and even more to look forward to in the coming weeks.

Mark Frankel, a former Ross School teacher and principal who has spent the last 12 years as an educator abroad, will return to Ross on July 1 to serve as high school principal.

While not a foregone conclusion just yet, it is possible that the Springs School District may put an above-the-tax-cap budget on the ballot in May for the first time.

A chorus of Springs School parents on Tuesday joined the many loud-and-clear voices calling for a “mask choice” policy, which would enable them to decide whether their children should wear masks.

Valentine's Day fun, art camp, anime club, movies at the library, and a wildlife presentation are on the agenda for kids and teens this week.

Charging that New York State’s indoor mask-wearing mandate has had negative social, emotional, and academic fallout on their children, some 20 Sag Harbor School parents demanded on Monday that administrators and school board members adopt a “mask choice” policy that would allow parents to decide what’s best for their children.

Coming up for kids and teens: a singing master class at Bay Street, a whole lot of hearts, and a library appreciation day.

The Springs School is one of the few remaining East End districts that does not have a full-day prekindergarten program, but that’s about to change. Owing to a $420,000 grant received from New York State specifically for “universal prekindergarten,” there will be a full-day program for families with 4-year-old children starting in September.

A Tennessee school board’s Jan. 10 decision to ban from its curriculum an acclaimed book about the Holocaust has made headlines across the country, and the publicity has seen the 30-year-old title, “Maus,” skyrocket to the top of best-seller lists once again. The ban has piqued an increased interest in the book among people here, too.