Education

Fun books and movies just in time for Halloween, plus Spanish and sculpture classes, virtual fun from the Hampton Library, and lots for teens in East Hampton.

Lucia Beeton, a senior at Pierson High School in Sag Harbor, has earned recognition as a "commended student" in the 2021 National Merit Scholarship Program. This honor means she placed among the top 50,000 scorers on the PSAT in her junior year, out of 1.5 million total test-takers.

Laurie Baum has resigned from her post as Sag Harbor School District business administrator, a position she has held since Dec. 17, 2019. Her last day with Sag Harbor will be Dec. 1.

Candidates are being sought for the Student Council officers at the Montauk School in grades five through eight. Sign-up forms and campaign posters are due tomorrow to the club advisers, Shawn Ward and Jennifer Jamet. More information is online at montaukschool.org.

East Hampton School District officials on Tuesday alerted parents to a new case of Covid-19 in a kindergarten student at the John M. Marshall Elementary School.

The Montauk School and the Eleanor Whitmore Early Childhood Center reported cases of Covid-19 over the weekend, and students in one class at each school have been told to quarantine.

According to a statement released on Saturday by District Superintendent Jeff Nichols, the student, who attends Pierson High School, has not been there since Oct. 9.

As Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone continues to blast Washington, D.C., lawmakers for inaction on a Covid-19 assistance plan that could help municipalities, one of the impacts of that lag is that taxpayers in public school districts are already footing the bill for the rising costs of preventing the virus's spread in classrooms and hallways.

The Amagansett School administration has decided to adjust its traditional Halloween and Thanksgiving celebrations in light of Covid-19. There will be no Halloween parade this year, Maria Dorr, the school's principal, said during Tuesday's meeting of the school board.

I-Tri, a program that "fosters self-respect, personal empowerment, self-confidence, positive body image, and healthy lifestyle choices for adolescent girls," kicked off an 11-day fund-raising drive on Sunday with a goal of raising $150,000 by next Thursday.

Interactive art at Guild Hall, family workshops at the Parrish Art Museum, activity kits from the John Jermain Memorial Library, and more.

The Bridgehampton School this week launched a school-spirit clothing sale on the website Fancloth. Fans of the Killer Bees can order T-shirts, sweatshirts, leggings and sweatpants, pajama pants, caps, duffel bags, and other items, all outfitted with the school name and mascot.

The 10 to 16-year-old members of the South Fork Natural History Museum's Young Environmentalists Society are working to be a force for change in their own community and the broader world.

Willie Jenkins says that as a teen, much of what he learned about Black history wasn't taught to him in a classroom at the Bridgehampton School, his alma mater. Rather, he says, a youth group called Unity helped him understand more about his own heritage and connect with a diverse collective of teens in the area.

Saoirse and Adrie Quinn are old enough to remember school before Covid-19 — before home was "school" on some days. Now Saoirse, a Springs School second grader, and Adrie, a fifth grader, are adjusting to a new normal, one that accounts for every moment of the on-site school day, but leaves them and their parents accountable for their remote learning at home.

Science activities, Spanish lessons, a movie screening, and an artistic garden in the clouds.

During Monday's Sag Harbor School Board meeting, district administrators addressed the return of after-school activities. Matt Malone, the Sag Harbor Elementary School principal, said that taking into account the cohort system, returning to co-curriculars would be counterintuitive. Clubs would mean that children from different student groupings intermingle, so Mr. Malone said he decided not to add them back into the schedule to maintain existing safety measures. The same goes for middle school clubs, officials said.

Covid-19 continued this week to wreak havoc in local schools, with cases popping up in Montauk and Springs for the first time and a third instance emerging in East Hampton's John M. Marshall Elementary School.

Project Most will hold a fund-raising toy sale on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the East Hampton Neighborhood House at 92 Three Mile Harbor Road.

Toys for children ages 2 and up, such as dolls, sports equipment, trucks, and video games, will be available for purchase for as little as $2 each.

All proceeds support Project Most, which runs educational programs for children here during the school year, on weekends, and in the summer.

East Hampton High School students who are 16 and have their learner's permit can sign up for virtual driver's education classes for $200 for the fall semester.

The Montauk School will be closed on Wednesday and Thursday after a teacher was identified Tuesday afternoon as having contracted Covid-19.

Another confirmed case of Covid-19 in a student at the John M. Marshall Elementary School in East Hampton was reported late Friday afternoon, the third such case to come to light in the last nine days, and right after that came word of a case at the Springs School.

Beth Doyle, who has served as principal of the John M. Marshall Elementary School for more than seven years, has resigned to accept an assistant superintendent position in the South Country School District.

Coming up for kids: ukulele lessons, cyanoprinting, musical theater readings, and more.

One case of Covid-19 in the first grade at the John M. Marshall Elementary School last week wasn't enough to shut down school in East Hampton, but a second case in second grade, confirmed on Tuesday, led school officials to close the entire district Wednesday. That afternoon, the district informed parents that students who share the classroom with the Covid-positive second grader and that classroom's head teacher will have to quarantine for 14 days.

After being notified of a second confirmed case of Covid-19 in a student at the John M. Marshall Elementary School, the East Hampton School District has decided to close the elementary school, middle school, and high school on Wednesday "out of an abundance of caution," the district said in an email and voice memo sent to parents on Tuesday afternoon.

The East Hampton Library wants teens in grades nine through 12 to make the best of a beautiful season with its Fall Bucket List Challenge.

Here's how it works: capture memorable moments from the library's list in selfies and email them to the young adult librarians. That's it! 

The bucket list includes pumpkin picking, carving a jack o'lantern, hiking, watching a scary movie, navigating a corn maze, and other fun fall activities.

The email address for submissions is [email protected].

The East Hampton School District on Saturday announced that what had been a suspected case of Covid-19 in a student is now a confirmed case at John M. Marshall Elementary School.

A Southampton Elementary School student has contracted Covid-19, according to the School Covid Report Card, a state website that tracks cases in public and private schools and colleges, but the student had not been on campus and classes had not yet begun before the diagnosis.

Charles Soriano, the principal of the East Hampton Middle School, announced this week that after-school clubs will return for in-person meetings starting on Oct. 5. Homework help sessions will also be reinstated. All standard Covid-19 precautions and rules will be in place.

The goal is to "provide social, artistic, and creative stimulation for our youngsters, so critical for this age group," Dr. Soriano said in an announcement. "Restarting our clubs and activities is more important than ever, particularly with the countywide postponement of athletics."