Education

Robotics competitions these days are complex affairs, filled with obstacles to overcome and tasks to complete, and the stakes are higher as teams of students from around the world face off against each other. After a two-year hiatus brought on by the pandemic, South Fork robotics teams eagerly rose to the challenge this month.

Poised to have a surplus of more than $900,000 at the end of the current fiscal year, the Amagansett School District is planning to put much of it toward next year’s budget to offset the rising costs that nearly everyone — municipalities, businesses, consumers — is facing.

Whether new to yoga or already familiar with the practice, teens can breathe in all of its benefits on Saturday at 1 p.m. at Mandala Yoga in Amagansett. And there's so much else for kids and teens to do this week.

High school graduations are about three months away, giving the valedictorians and salutatorians plenty of time to work on their speeches. At East Hampton High School, those speeches will be given by Evan Masi, the valedictorian, and Anika Petruccelli, the salutatorian.

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.

As thousands of young people rallied at Citi Field last week against Florida's Parental Rights in Education bill, which, among other things, prohibits discussions of L.G.B.T.Q.+ identities and issues in kindergarten, first, second, and third-grade classrooms, the Bridgehampton School’s Genders and Sexualities Alliance group staged its own rally on the school’s front lawn.

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.

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.

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.

Provided that Sag Harbor voters agree, the athletic facilities at Mashashimuet Park will be considerably upgraded following several months of joint discussions between Sag school officials and the board of the nonprofit park.

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.

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.