001Thank you. Welcome back to the January 13, 2026 meeting of the Hopkins Union School District Board of Education. Please rise and join me in the pledge of allegiance. I >> pledge allegiance to the flag of United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, liberty and justice for all. Number [clears throat] four on the agenda, uh 41 is the superintendent's update. Dr. Murphy. >> Thank you, Mr. Bar. Uh it's been uh a bit of a of a delay or uh since we last met for good reason. We had our winter break. Um I just want to welcome everybody back. I hope everybody had a a restful break with uh your your family and and friends. Um just a note before break, I had the the pleasure as
002I do annually of of making the rounds to the buildings. Uh this year uh Hop Fire Department uh provided this the the sleigh uh and of course members of central office are are part of that experience. And truly, there's really nothing like it. Um to see the kids and staff members and throughout the district as uh we're heading into to Christmas break and and the excitement in the air and just the sense of community and camaraderie. Um just a real pleasure. So I I I love to always reflect on it and think about, you know, what does next year look like? And again, I just want to thank Hop Fire Department who were partners in that experience this year. Uh actually last thing on that when we started at the high school first thing in
003the morning uh it was snowing uh for about the first 30 minutes of the day. So it made it that much more special. Um this month uh again we're we're in the thick of it now after the first week back. You know we're it's like we never left. Um uh this month we're celebrating career days and college and career weeks throughout the district. Uh I know that uh I think at at least two of the elementary schools today they're wearing their college gear. Our our staff members, our teachers um and tons of volunteers, many from our own community who come in and present and talk to our kids about different career paths and and uh you know what what what that journey could look like depending on what interests our students. Um along those lines,
004I I had the the pleasure of continuing our new um podcast uh our hometown hero speaker series. We had our third installment of that where I get to uh interview with students uh local heroes uh whether they're police officers or firefighters or veterans. Um so that's on social media right now. kind of a sneak peek of what's coming. And uh the extended video podcast, which uh each of these is about 45 minutes to an hour, um will be available online as well. Um it's really if you have the the time and and and are able, it's it's worth tuning in. Um this last version was with uh Brett and Woods third graders, and they were just uh so excited to ask questions of our of our honored guests. sold. So, look for those uh online,
005please. Um, at the high school, we had uh IB uh alumni or students who came back. This happens every year, but I got to say this year in particular, um we had a panel of students, I mean, it spanned the the entire uh common room of the library. We must have had almost 20 students from various graduating classes 2016 actually through 2025. So some of them were, you know, our young adults who are already in careers. I remembering one student who's a prosecutor in Nassau County. I mean, he still looks like a baby to me, but gosh, he must be 23 years old at this point. Um, and it's just amazing to see the the, you know, these the accomplishments of our alumni panel and and then our current students get to ask questions and
006and interact with uh with students who are in their seats, graduates, um, and learn from them. So, just such a valuable experience. Um, so that's Miss Stebons, Anne Stebins, one of our teachers, our IB coordinator who helps to make that happen. Uh so uh kudos to her. Um high school next week, midterms and regent exams. Uh Alakin and Hannah are thrilled about that news. Um just ask all parents listening, just be sure to review your your students exam schedule with them in advance. Uh just so we can make sure we have a smooth uh testing week for all. Um and then for for those students or those families at the very beginning of their educational journey uh turning five on or before uh December 1st, kindergarten registration is now underway. There's a dedicated kindergarten registration
007page on our website. Uh so with all the information you could possibly need. And then lastly, I just want to uh uh commend one of our students, uh one of our seniors, James Manuso, who organized recently a blood drive uh at the high school for stamp and students. Um he had to uh adjust to on the fly because I think the original date was when we had a 2-hour snow delay. So, we moved the date and um thanks to his efforts, the turnout was was double uh that of previous high school blood drive, the last one we had. So, just tremendous work by James. So, uh he's not here tonight, but if you can join me in in celebrating James and his efforts. Thank you. [applause] I'll now turn it over to our uh student
008board members for an update. Thank you. As previously mentioned by Dr. Murphy, next Tuesday, uh starting next Tuesday, January 20th, begins the official midterm week, which will take place and we'll have morning and afternoon sessions. The buses will be provided. Students should check their schedule that has been previously set out sent out. There will be a 10:00 bus every day and late buses will also be in effect. Also, as a gentle reminder, no phones can be within the testing room. They should be in a locked locker and we recommend leaving them at home. >> This year's curriculum fair will take place on January 28th during lunch periods. Um during the fair, each department will set up a table to showcase their courses and provide information about the opportunities that students can in expect in each
009class. This will allow students to explore all available offerings and make informed decisions about their 2026 2027 schedules. And I heard there will be a raffle for students who visit every table to participate in. >> Hop will be hosting the annual science olympiad competition on January 31st. Students will be participating in several science-based events for the chance to make the state championship. This will be a good opportunity for students in need of community service to work during the event. In addition, student council will also be working concessions throughout the day. >> And lastly, we are exactly one month away today from the annual six uh the 16th annual PS I Love You Day, a movement turned nonprofit organization created by two sisters who lost their dad to suicide. Their mission is to promote mental health
010awareness and suicide prevention. Our high school will offer different ways to take part in showing support each day leading up to Friday, February 13th. Last year, we were fortunate enough to have their founder, Brooke, a close friend of mine, join us for an assembly. I proposed the idea of having her return this year, and Mr. White Course Brooke and I are currently collaborating on making that happen. We look forward to seeing Hop turn purple and reminding every student how much they are loved. Thank you. >> Thank you both. Great update as always. >> 5C on the agenda is adoption of minutes from the business meeting of the board of education December 9th, 2025. Do I have a motion, Mr. Thank you, Miss Collins. Mrs. Collins with the second. Uh, any discussion? Um Paula just the
011numbering of seems to have gotten uh reset in certain instances. So just if you can make those changes I'll show you after uh make those changes but we'll vote on the uh minutes as presented. Um, all those in favor? 6. Questions or comments from the community concerning tonight's agenda? Only consent agenda. Are there any uh matters or any numbers that members would like to have removed from the consent agenda? I'll take a motion to approve the entire consent agenda. I will make the motion. Mr. Screeno seconds. Any discussion? All those in favor? 6. Number 11 on the agenda, new business. Is there any new business from uh any members? >> Yes, Mr. Scr. >> Dr. Murphy, a couple things I noticed in the news uh that certain schools are bringing back like Penmanship and cursive.
012Hop have any of that like on the horizon? We're just going to keep away kids to write. >> No, I'm I'm going to confirm we've we had um that part of our curriculum. I just want to I'm going to ask Dr. McCarthy to confirm parts of that >> and get back to you. Um and then Dr. Murphy I had asked her about the math and science trying to make sure that we uh push our students and our teachers to make sure that we any contests that we can do especially for math and science. I know this year it is America 250 and there's extra contest out there like this special spelling be and all the constitutional words and all that stuff like that and I'm hoping that we can get some hot students um [clears
013throat] we can get them into these things. >> Yeah. So, there's a few contests that that come my way that uh recently I've I've shared. Normally, I share those through Miss Barry, uh, director of social studies. Uh, and and we do have students who participate. Um, I'll say on the science front, I we're seeing um some really good momentum with submissions to some of the more prestigious science contests. So that remains a dream of mine to have one of our students on on the front page of News Day as a as a regeneron. Uh Dr. McCarthy, Dr. Wanko, they they know this. Uh I'm annoying about it. So that remains one of our goals. >> 250 is a lot of >> course. Yep. >> And then the uh last two things, community service, you know,
014nice students mention that. Is there anything for the high school students or do we demand community service from our middle school kids and if not why? >> Um we don't um >> elementary I can understand >> I you know sometimes community service oftent times involves um work outside of this of our schools. So that requires driving and logistics and things like that. So it's not something we can't look. >> I'm sure we could find things to have our middle school students do that would better our community and better them. >> Just >> happy to explore. Yeah, I'd have to unpack that a little bit with Mrs. Okconor, but certainly a conversation I can have. >> And then the last thing, sir, was how is our food pantry going? It's nice that we get in the
015horizons. I just want to make sure that we're fulfilling our needs to help sure that the school has the proper, you know, necessities. >> Any idea about the food pantry? looking at something >> about the food pantry though. >> How's that going? >> Oh, it's great. Yeah, we had we had a lot of community support around the holidays, food drives, things like that. Our social worker was put together for families. We'll have community members fill out a Google form and sign up. >> Okay. >> And they can come and have Rebecca like Jensen Shop Ride or any of the local places. There's tons of food that you know you could probably get donations >> to get donations. >> Um I'm not sure if we've done that but we can certainly reach out. >> Good suggestion.
016>> Thank you. >> Any other new business from board members? >> New business from administration. Dr. Murphy. >> Just not new business but kind of breaking new business. Just an acknowledgement of someone in the audience here who's starting her career in hop and she's one of our own, Miss Salvia, who's here tonight. Bella, congratulations. The board just approved you as a substitute. [applause] Day one is tomorrow, I understand. >> Excellent. We have the utmost confidence in you and best of luck in your career. >> Absolutely. >> Thank you. Any other new business from administration? >> No. questions or comments from the community concerning anything related to the district whatsoever. Very good. With that, I'll uh take a motion for an adjournment. Our next meeting is Tuesday, January 27th. I'll make a motion for the adjournment.
017Mr. Screeno seconds. Any discussion? All those in favor? 6. We are adjourned. God bless Hopog and God bless the United States. Thank you. >> Thank you everybody.