The Nanuet News
January 2024
Letter from the Superintendent
Dear Nanuet School Community,
This month, our Golden Spotlight features the Great Kindness Challenge at George W. Miller Elementary School. We hope you enjoy hearing from the students and staff about the importance of being kind to others in our schools and community. We want our children to embrace and value the meaning of "just be nice." This is an essential lesson for all of us - how we can change the course of someone else's day with a kind word, a smile, an invitation to sit in the cafeteria or being helpful to someone else. Kindness Week is a chance to step back and reflect on the many ways, each day, that we are presented with opportunities to be kind. We hope that you will join our children in this celebration of kindness. It's simple, just like the Golden Rule!
Sincerely,
Lisa Brady, Ed.D.
Superintendent
On January 23, Dr. Brady was appointed by the Board of Education as the Superintendent of the Nanuet Union Free School District. Click here to read more about the appointment.
Golden Spotlight
Welcome to the Golden Spotlight! Every month we focus on something special happening at the Nanuet Union Free School District. For January, we head over to George W. Miller Elementary to check out the "Great Kindness Challenge."
Sportsmanship and Self-Reflection
Youth Art Month
Congratulations to Highview fourth grade student Ella Osuba and her art teacher Eric Stormes! Ella's submission to the New York State Youth Art Month flag contest received an honorable mention distinction in the 2024 contest. Youth Art Month is an annual observance each March to emphasize the value of art education for all children and to encourage support for quality school art programs.
The A, B, C’s of Organization
Music Around the World
The Highview Elementary third grade class took a trip across the globe this month, through song. Led by music teacher Shannon Cokeley, students performed traditional songs from around the world during a concert for their families, friends, teachers and school administrators. Before each number, a group of students detailed the cultural significance of the song and the instruments originally used to to perform it. Click here for photos.
D.A.R.E. Graduation
Congratulations to the D.A.R.E Class of 2024! Fifth graders were recognized this month for successfully completing the Drug Abuse Resistance Education (D.A.R.E.) program. Joined by their families, teachers, administrators, local government officials and law enforcement, students shared essays, poems and words of encouragement. The class also got a visit from the Clarkstown K9 unit earlier in the month.
Science Olympiads
Building towards success. Every Friday after school, our Middle School Science Olympiads are hard at work preparing for their regional competition in Monroe Woodbury this coming March. The New York State Science Olympiad “seeks to engage and challenge students in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) through various levels of team-based, collaborative, and competitive tournaments.” Check out our Instagram post.
Senior All-County Festival
Music to our ears! Forty-four students from Nanuet Senior High School were selected to take part in the Rockland County Music Educators Association (RCMEA) Senior All-County Music Festival held at North Rockland High School earlier in the month. Our student-musicians performed with the band, orchestra and mixed chorus. Find out who in our Facebook post.
Marketing Scavenger Hunt
National Mentoring Month
Big Musicians
Every Thursday, over a dozen Nanuet Senior High Schoolers can be found back at A. MacArthur Barr for music lessons, but not as the students, as the teachers. The sessions are part of “Big Musicans,” which connects music mentors and mentees for additional instruction. Click here for our Facebook post and read more about the program to see why it has been so successful for our students and teachers.
VAASA
Knights of the Round Table
“Knights of the Round Table” is the District’s youth mentoring program made up of varsity athletes from Nanuet Senior High School. The Knights of the Round Table, was introduced to the District by Athletic Director Phil Carbone, who fashioned the program after the mentoring group he was a member of as Nanuet student athlete. Read more here.
Before You Go...
Universal Pre-K Information Night
Families with preschool age children who will be four years old by December 1, 2024 and are interested in the Universal Pre-Kindergarten (UPK) program are encouraged to attend a UPK information night being held Tuesday, February 6 at 7pm at George W. Miller Elementary. We ask those who wish to attend to please RSVP here. The event will include a presentation on the application process, available programs, and UPK curriculum.
Balloons over Blauvelt
George W. Miller Elementary STEM teacher MaryRose Palumbo has been recognized for her "Balloons over Blauvelt" project, which we told you about last month. Terrapin Resources, the company behind the Bee-Bot, has included a write up about the December STEM lesson in the latest edition of their "Bee-Bot Buzz" E-Newsletter.
Navigating the Emotional and Behavioral Health of Children and Adolescents
In case you missed it! "Navigating the Emotional and Behavioral Health of Children and Adolescents: A Panel of Professionals," hosted by the Nanuet Family University is available for streaming our website. The presentation features a collection of experts discussing a variety of topics related to the emotional and behavioral wellbeing of children and adolescents. Click here.