Community Update

It’s hard to believe this is the last week of Summer School! My attempt at a beach vacation unfortunately coincided with the remnants of Hurricane Debby, but it gave me the opportunity to stay inside and watch lots of Olympic volleyball guilt-free. I’ve also spent a lot of time inside our buildings here in the District watching teams of a different kind prepare for another wonderful year of learning.

I want to update you on some important news. For the past year, the Board of Education has been engaged in developing a facilities plan to address structural improvements flagged during architectural inspections and to accommodate our growing student enrollment. The Board finalized the plans at their meeting this past June, and now the date for the community referendum on the facilities improvement bond has been set for Tuesday, October 1st.

Over the next several weeks, we will be sharing details about individual projects within the plan. Click to view the video below to hear more details about what happens next – and how you can be fully informed for October 1st.

And… while I’ve got you, here’s a quick update on what the District has been up to this summer.

While others are away, our facilities team goes into high gear to refurbish and refresh our buildings so they’re ready to welcome students back in September. The project list is long, but some highlights include classroom renovations and office relocations districtwide, upgrades of stage and gym curtains, resurfacing of gym floors and installation of dust collection systems in the Tech rooms at the High School and HBT, a partial roof replacement at South Grove… and more. I’m especially excited for HBT’s students and staff to see their new renovated library this fall – the last of our districtwide library renovations.

U.S. Olympians weren’t the only ones making waves! Our Learn to Swim Program had another successful year. Over 300 students from across our community participated in our “Learn to Swim” program at the High School pool. I love the #SoSyo tradition of Syosset graduates returning as swim instructors! Many of them learned to swim in this very pool and now pass on their love of swimming so the next generation of #SyoSwimmers can make a splash of their own.

The Summer School program wraps up this week. This summer, we welcomed over 800 students from across the district to H.B. Thompson Middle School for a wide range of courses from skills classes to enrichment and Regents review. Each “Fun Friday” had a new theme – my personal favorite was “Powered by Kindness Superhero Day.”

Some exciting course offerings this year included Art Around the World and Code Me a Tune. First and second graders in Art Around the World discovered a new region each week, playing games and exploring music from various cultures. Third through eighth graders in Code Me a Tune designed and built their own digital guitars and xylophones powered by circuits and coding. When I was a kid, an “electric guitar” meant something quite different!

Fall Sports Registration is also open now for Middle and High School students. To sign up, follow this link for details about how to register.

Remember, it’s important to share information via our web portals rather than email in order to protect your child’s personal health data.

It wouldn’t be an update without a Bright Spot! Schools may be closed, but our students never stop making us proud!

The Life Enrichment Center at Oyster Bay has released an anthology entitled “Silver Threads.” It’s a compilation of the life stories and experiences of dozens of its members that celebrates the rich histories and wisdom of local seniors. The project is a culmination of years of work by members, staff, volunteers… and interns, including Rebecca Wang, a rising Syosset senior who was a key player in the book’s creation. She began working as a volunteer back when she was a freshman - serving in several roles. Once the marketing team at Life Enrichment Center were made aware of her editorial talents, they took Rebecca onto their team where she became an integral part of this project.

Rebecca is quoted in the Long Island Herald, saying, “People my age have really only heard about these things in history textbooks in class,” Wang said. “Reading some of these stories, these memoirs, from a first-person perspective was really interesting, and I feel like it really united the seniors here with people from my generation.”

Thank you, Rebecca, for helping retell the stories of the people who built this special community!