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Community Update - Sept. 1, 2023

August 5th, 2023

Community Update - Sept. 1, 2023 August 5th, 2023

Welcome Back!

It’s a new year, and the Friday update is getting a new look. I hope you like it! The page may be prettier, but it’s still just me behind the keyboard (with a little help, of course). I’m excited for the new school year after having a summer that felt a lot more like a return to normal! I cheated and got that first day feeling early by helping with 9th grade orientation at the High School and 6th grade orientation at South Woods. It was great to see our kids back on campus and to greet parents (and older siblings!) dropping them off. I also had the opportunity to welcome back our amazing faculty and administrators - all together for the first time since 2019 - and they had the opportunity to welcome all of the new teachers and principals we’ve hired this year – Syosset’s next generation of excellence.

Back to School Highlights

A couple of notes about the coming school year:

  • You asked, we delivered. All of our elementary schools are now using Pickup Patrol to streamline dismissal procedures and allow parents more flexibility. Please be sure to keep your plan up to date to avoid glitches!!

  • Buses, buses, buses. Syosset High School is returning to its pre-pandemic schedule (dismissal at 2:21 pm). But since traffic patterns have been evolving rapidly during the pandemic, we anticipate some challenges – we just won’t know where until we get rolling (see what I did there?). So please be patient with busing for the first few weeks. We’ll be behind the scenes tracking performance data and tweaking routes to make improvements in on-time performance, I promise. We have a new parent guide to busing here.

  • As I mentioned at the Board of Education meeting, we were delighted to pilot a student-led initiative to add Halal, Kosher, and Vegan menu items to the food service program at the high school. However, participation dropped off over the course of the year, so we’ll be meeting with students early this Fall to get feedback and suggestions for how to make the program better and more appealing. We know parents of younger students are also interested in these options, so we anticipate a parent meeting after we get the student feedback.

  • Elementary schools will be operating on a 6-day cycle. This will provide: more time for English and Physical Education, more cost-efficient use of staff, dedicated time for our new full-time social workers to work proactively with kids, a solution for students being repeatedly pulled for music lessons or special services from the same class, extended time available for special services or enrichment, and a way to avoid Monday classes or services being shortchanged by all the holidays. I know this will be disruptive for staff and parents alike at first, so I appreciate everyone’s patience as we make this change for our kids’ sake.

Summer School Recap

This summer was filled with both fun and enrichment – a perfect combination. We had some new offerings and beloved classic courses that kept our students engaged with an array of activities. Our Basic Skills courses prepared students for their upcoming grade with reading, writing, and math lessons. The Summer School social worker used games and movement activities to teach students important mental wellness skills such as emotion identification, regulation strategies, problem solving, and thought reframing. Enrichment classes like Digital Photos, Computers & Technology, and Arts & Games Around the World allowed students to become proficient digital learners and the ever popular cooking classes, as always, were a hit.

On deck for next summer, developing a music enrichment program, jumpstarting science research, and a program for students transitioning to high school – taught by high school students! But let’s not get too excited yet – we have a whole school year to look forward to first.

Partners in Government

We’ve been asked to share these updates from other government entities.


  • New York State Affordable Connectivity Program – The costs of living in a connected world continue to rise, and access to the Internet is now critical to childhood education. The New York State Department of Education is offering assistance to cut down on the cost of connectivity for families enrolled in the Free and Reduced-Price School Lunch program.
  • Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) Program – This initiative offers free tax return preparation services to qualifying individuals and families, and helps parents of young children and college students understand the tax credits and benefits they may be eligible to claim when they file a tax return.
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NYS Affordable Connectivity Program

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Volunteer Income Tax Assistance

Facilities Update

Special thanks to our facilities team who don’t get much of a break during the summer as they cram a year’s worth of maintenance, construction, and cleaning into two months, preparing our schools and grounds for another busy year. Some of the bigger projects this summer included:

  • An upgraded ventilation system and some new tile for the high school pool.

  • The old tennis courts at the high school grounds were completely refurbished. We had extended the life of the courts as much as we could with patching and painting, so the new courts should be a great way for our boys and girls teams to celebrate the success they have enjoyed of late.

  • Both Middle School gyms have new partitions – for safety, outdated folding walls were replaced with curtains. HBT’s gym floor was also beautifully refinished.

  • And… the fully renovated South Woods library (it finally has windows!!) is ready for the new school year!

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Updated tennis courts

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HBT gym

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South Woods library

Syosset Stars ⭐

Our Syosset Stars continue to shine even when school’s out!

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Not only was our Facilities team working hard the last two months, Senior Ria Mehta spent her summer doing research at the Brookhaven National Laboratory. The High School Research Program is a highly competitive, six-week educational program for students interested in pursuing science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) studies. Alongside Stony Brook undergrad Evelyn Sun, she worked on a project titled Testing of Large Photomultiplier Tubes for the 30-Ton Water-Based Liquid Scintillator. She’s helping BNL improve the hunt for tiny particles known as neutrinos. Way to go, Ria!

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Business Teacher Taylor Keil was named the Marsha Iverson Award winner by the Business Teacher Association of New York State. This award recognized Ms. Keil, who is beginning her third year at Syosset, as an Outstanding New Business Educator. In her short time here, Ms. Keil helped coach the Virtual Enterprise firm Lunch BX all the way to the national semifinals in the National Business Plan Competition. That’s a pretty appetizing start to her career! Congrats, Ms. Keil!
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An update on 2023 graduate Maximus Lu who traveled to Japan to compete as a member of Team USA in the International Mathematics Olympiad (IMO). The IMO is a math competition that brings together the top high school mathematicians from across the globe. More than 300,000 students competed to be chosen as a member of the team. Maximus was one of only six students chosen to compete from across the United States. Team USA achieved second place in the competition, and Maximus won a silver medal. He’s starting college at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). I calculate we’ll be hearing more about him in years to come.

Bright Spot

As I made my last set of rounds this summer, ensuring the buildings would be ready for next Tuesday, I happened upon Syosset’s newest administrator, Principal Clara Kang, holding her introductory staff meeting at Baylis. It was obvious the meeting was already going well when I arrived, but Ms. Kang brought the house down when she read them a letter from 5th grader Adelai Bih, welcoming her new principal and offering some thoughts and suggestions – a perfect example of student agency. Adelai supported her recommendations for our music programs by quoting Finnish composer Jean Sibelius: “Music begins where the possibilities of language end.” Adelai, I give you an A+ for persuasive writing, and an A++ for your kindness to your new principal.


I hope everyone enjoys your last weekend of summer fun. We will see you bright and early Tuesday.


#SyoStarts

Tom Rogers

Syosset Central School District