001Good evening everyone and welcome to the monthly meeting of the East Rockaway School Board of Education. I'd like to call this meeting to order at 700 p.m. on Tuesday, October 1st, 2025. Uh at this time, Mr. Lores, can you uh speak about our pledge? >> I'm here to introduce the pledge. So, Grace is a sixth grade student in Mrs. Rice's class at Center Avenue. She is a dedicated learner who always gives her best effort and holds her health to high standards. Each day she brings a positive attitude and a vibrant energy that uplifts the classroom environment. Beyond her academic achievements, Grace is actively actively involved in school activities including student council, KIDS, art club, newscasters, chorus, band, and safety patrol. Outside of school, she enjoys sewing classes, acrobatics, and rollerblading. Her creativity and leadership shine
002through in everything she does. We are proud to have Grace lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance this evening. Grace, please come up. >> And whenever you're ready, do it together. I pledge algiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> Thank you, Grace. [Applause] >> Okay. Uh we have some presentations. Mr. Dtomaso. >> Yes. So, we'll have uh three presentations. Uh I'm going to move something from our um new business to right now and that is the Andrew Stern walk-athon. Uh Andrew um obviously was an alumni who unfortunately passed away in 911. Um he was a valued member of the community. And we have uh brother Michael here who's working here. And Michael
003uh decided to create a walk-athon. And um I'd like to introduce it because it's a new tradition. So I'd like to call Richie Hess uh to the microphone to talk a little bit about the Andrew Stern walkathon. >> Thank you. [Applause] >> Good evening everyone. We organized we organized a fundraiser on Saturday, September 6, 2025, honoring our teammate, brother, and friend Andrew J. Stern from the class of 1978, where Andy was a member of the varsity football and varsity baseball teams. Chris Dramas from the class of 76, Andy's brother, Michael from the class of 81, and myself. Uh, we're just chatting and we just said, you know what? Let's let's try to get some people together and let's let's do a fundraising activity um in in Andy's name. And so I just want to give
004you a little background information on on Andy. Andy was born on June 27th of 1960 to Barbara and Sheldon Stern. He was the oldest of three children with a younger brother, Michael, and a younger sister, Lisa. They grew up on Robertson Road in Lindbrook, right off of Ocean Avenue on a corner, and in adulthood lived in Belmore, New York. After Andy graduated high school here in 1978, he went to Hoffs University and graduated in 1982. He met his sweetheart Katie at the World Trade Center in 1986 where they were both working for Dean Witter Reynolds in the South Tower. He worked as a trader while she was a sales assistant for the firm. They met at the copy machine and 16 years at later they were happily married with two children, Danny and Emma. Andrew
005was a loving and devoted husband and father. He loved going on dates with his wife, playing baseball with his kids. He shared a love of sports with his son Danny. Andrew also coached his soccer and little league teams and was a big fan of the New York Yankees. Andrew was constantly doing on his daughter Emma as well. When at work, he spoke of his wife and kids daily. He enjoyed doing home improvement projects around the house. Loved staying busy. Andrew remained close to his siblings and was a loving, supportive brother and friend to them. When they were younger, Andy wrote in Mike's sixth grade yearbook, I'll always be here for you. He always stayed close with his parents. when his father became ill, was a constant visitor and helper. And on September 8th, 2001, Andy
006and his wife Katie drove to Manhattan to attend a wedding and stayed overnight together at the Roosevelt Hotel. Following morning, September 9th, they walked down Fifth Avenue towards Penn Station, admiring the World Trade Center, where they had first met. Andy was described by his family and friends as thoughtful, kind, energetic, uh, hardworking, and loyal. Andy worked as a municipal bond trader for the Can Fitzgerald Group on the 104th floor of the World Trade Center's North Tower. He excelled at his job and was very happy working there. On the morning of September 11, 2001, Andy was on the 104th floor when flight 11 struck the North Tower, leaving his and all of the canditzgerald offices above the impossible impact zone. Impossible impact zone. None of the firm's attending employees survived, including Andy. Though his life was
007taken on September 11th, Andy's love, accomplishments, and memories made throughout his life will always be cherished and remembered. He will never be forgotten. You know, you always look back and you say, "Well, these older guys always looked uh looked out for the younger guys." And that's what Andy did. He had a great group of friends. And when we were growing up, Mike and I know each other over 50 years. When when we were growing up, those guys always looked out for us. and that just like provided a a real good example and a role model of what we should do when we get to that point in our lives. So, we are honored to make a $2,360 donation in the name of Andrew J. Stern to the following student activities at East Rockway High School.
008$980 to the football grid iron club to head coach Russell Pager, $980 to head coach James Hickey in the baseball account, and $400 to the athletics account for Gary Gregory. All in the name of Andrew J. Stern. Thank you very much. [Applause] Come on. Come on in here, man. >> Yeah. You come in the middle, man. Look good. >> All right. Thank you so much. Thank you. Bye everybody. >> Bye. >> Thank you. Okay, tonight not only is a special night because it's the October board meeting, but it's also board appreciation night. So, how about a nice round of applause for our board of education. [Applause] So, as tradition has it, each building creates a presentation uh for our board of education to thank them for their service. So, this year it is the junior
009senior high school. So, I'd like to call up uh Mr. Richard Schaefer, principal of the high school to start the festivities. [Applause] Okay. >> Yeah. Locked. Good evening. Good evening everyone and thank you for joining us tonight for board appreciation. Tonight we come together to recognize and celebrate the incredible dedication and unwavering support of our board of education. It is because of their commitment that East Rockway Junior Senior High School continues to thrive and excel in so many areas. Our students consistently achieve remarkable success across academics as Mr. Murray will share with you later this evening. And despite our school's smaller size, we're able to provide an extraordinary number of opportunities in the arts, in athletics, and in extracurricular activities that nurture each student's academic and each student's unique talents and passions. This continued growth
010and success would not be possible without the board's steadfast guidance and support. Their vision and leadership create an environment where students can explore, learn, and grow to their fullest potential. Tonight, I am truly privileged to share with you a special video that showcases some of the newest and most exciting additions to our school community. These enhancements reflect our board's ongoing commitment to providing the best possible experiences and resources for our students. And before we begin, I wanted to mention that this video would not have been possible without the support of the board as the enhancements to our video studio has infused new life into our newscasters program and is a direct result uh directly resulted in this video. This has truly been an if you build it, they will come moment and we look forward
011to continued enhancements to this program. So, please join me as we take a moment to celebrate these achievements and the bright future ahead for East Rockway Junior Senior High School. [Music] Good evening, Stro. Welcome to this special prime time episode of the ERS Morning Announcements. >> That's right. This month we're celebrating something very important. Board appreciation month. >> Board appreciation month is a time set aside each year to recognize and honor the hard work and dedication of our school board members. These individuals volunteer their time to make important decisions that shape the future of our schools and community. Exactly. They help set up policies, approve budgets, and support programs that directly impact students education and wellbeing. Their efforts ensure we have a safe, supportive, and enriching learning environment here at East Rockway Junior Senior High
012School. >> East Rockway Junior Senior High School is proud to honor our amazing board of education for all that they do for the students and community of East Rockaway. We begin this episode with a spotlight on a new program at the high school that the board of education supported, Virtual Enterprise, a new business course that allows our seniors to earn college credit through CW Post while gaining real life business experience. Let's hear from our business teacher, Miss Horvath, and some of the students in the class. Virtual Enterprise is a really great course for any student that's interested in learning about business or majoring in business in college. Um, it's a really great opportunity for all of us to come together. We start our own business. Everyone has a job interview. You get placed in a
013job. We have our big positions like CEO and CFO and CMO, but it's a really great learning experience for everyone involved. And it's something that's really fun along the way. >> Uh, my favorite thing about this course so far is that it's very engaging. I feel like out of all the courses I've taken this year, this is the one that has the most like tangible things I can use for like experience in the future. The interview itself that I had last Friday, it wasn't that bad. I enjoyed it a lot actually. I think everyone there was really nice. Um, prepping for it was a little scary though because you never know what you're going to get. You never know what's going to be asked to you and you never know what's going to happen. So,
014the best thing you do is prepare diligently beforehand. >> Yeah. So, um I really appreciate like um all the hands-on experience we got like especially with that interview. Um it's just a good simulation of what I think um an actual job interview would be like which is I don't know good experience to have right now. >> I appreciate the experience of taking V because you're not really a student in that class. You're more so an employee. She told us this in the beginning like the interviews we took showed uh how you're going to f what position you would really want to take and what you would really want to pursue in. And I feel like that's going to help you for the future if you know more about the position you want to take and
015what you want to be in. >> Virtual enterprise has been really valuable because it teaches you a lot of really good real world skills. So, you're actually learning like how to go into an actual job interview, which is something I've never done before, virtual enterprise. So, I think that that's really good experience to have under my belt for when I'm a senior and I'm going to be working sometime soon. >> I took virtual enterprise in the first place because I'm someone that's really passionate, interested in business, and I really wanted to hone into my hone into more real world skills. And I feel like if you're someone that wants to improve your public speaking, learn how to collaborate and connect with other people, this is such an amazing class and I highly highly recommend you
016take it. >> Teaches me things that you don't necessarily learn in school. The proper like job atmosphere you're going to have, interview process. It's a lot of things that you only get like once you go to college. So I think it's very important to learn it at a young age just to be prepared for your future. Um, in terms of I I had an interview with Mr. Schaefer. It was it was great. You know, just being able to kind of get the same kind of environment and kind of vibe as a normal interview is like very valuable to me. >> Okay. be so far has been an insightful experience for me because I feel like I've gained knowledge in many aspects of business and how to work in a business financially and emotionally to ensure
017the the like positive aspects of all of our co like all my co-workers and who I'm going to work with in the future business world. I feel like it helped me gain a lot of insight. >> Turning now to some exciting improvements around the school building. This year, the board of education supported major physical upgrades that have truly transformed our learning environment. First, upgraded lighting was installed throughout the building this past spring. These new lights provide brighter, more energyefficient illumination that not only helps students see better in classrooms and hallways, but also creates a more welcoming and vibrant atmosphere. And that's not all. When students returned to school in September, they were greeted by freshly painted hallways and lockers featuring bold colors that represent East Rockway school spirit and pride. The new color scheme brings
018a fresh, bright, and uniquely er feel to our school, making every hallway a place where students can feel inspired and connected to their community. We want to give a big thank you to the board of education for supporting these enhancements that make our school a better place to learn and grow. Next, we caught up with Board of Education student member Sophia Furkov to get her perspective on what working with our board members has been like. >> As we celebrate board appreciation, I just wanted to thank the whole board. As the first student member, you've truly helped me learn and grow and provided a positive environment for me. Being part of it firsthand, you can really see the dedication that goes into it and the way that they care not only about each other but also
019the school and students well-being and it's really amazing to see that and it's a pleasure to work with you guys and everybody in the future that has opportunity to. I know it'll be amazing. So, thank you guys. Another major programming coming to ERHS next year, thanks to the support of the board of education, is a work-based learning program. We caught up with Mr. Madden and Dr. Crest to learn more about it and what it means for our students. >> Work-based learning is a program where students have the opportunity to earn high school course credit through actually going out and joining the workforce. They learn uh a incredible amount of skills to be successful post high school. and it gives our students um a new opportunity to enjoy learning in uh different environments. So, thank you
020so much for your support. >> Work-based learning is going to be a great opportunity for our students. It's going to be a real good chance for them to get outside of the high school in the real world, getting real world learning experiences. They're going to get to try new things firsthand that they that we wouldn't be able to do here in the high school. So, we're really looking forward to partnering with organizations outside the high school to give our students those experiences for high school credit and possibly get paid while learning. How much better could that be? >> And finally, we end with a special community Q&A segment. At this year's homecoming, we asked the question, what makes East Rockway special? >> Knowing the dedication that our current board members have shown towards our community,
021it is clear that they have played a direct role in shaping everyone's experience here at EHS. >> What makes East Rockway special? so many things, but the small town vibe, family connections, and all of the people around. That's what makes it truly special. It really is amazing. I've lived in East Rockway my whole life, and I'm proud to send my kids here. >> Um, I think East Rockway is special because it's such a small town and everyone knows each other and you make friends really easily. >> Oh, the people, the school. Uh, I loved it here when I worked here. I miss it. It's just a fabulous place, great spirit, and most importantly, the students are just outstanding. >> Great answer. Thank you so actually having recently moved to the town. Uh I think East
022Rockway is so special because you can walk down the street and know like 80% of the people that you see. So I like the thing that makes East Rockway special, I think, is the community here and how everyone really is like family. Like kind of like our slogan says, once a rock, always a rock. >> East Rockway is so special because the community is so supportive of everything we do at this school. Like between club rock and between just every fan being here, this is an incredible feeling. Who would want to be anywhere else? I think that what makes East Straaway really special is that a lot of people are actively trying to make sure everyone is included here and it's a very safe and comfortable space that I think a lot of people are
023able to enjoy like the community. >> I think what makes East Rockway special is how we're all one family and there's never been a crime here because it's the safest town on Nassau. >> See the people and the teachers around the school and even like my friends and like just like everyone in this community makes it special. I think what makes Easter Rockaway special is the community. Everybody always comes together to show support just like today at homecoming. >> The sense of community and all the people here in it. I mean, look at this turnout today. It's amazing. Love being love being part of this town >> that it's such a small town. Everybody knows everyone. I love the camaraderie of all the families that belong to the school. I started here in Center Avenue,
024came over to East Rockway High School. My children did and now my friends grandchildrens do. It's it's a wonderful place to be and every all the teachers are great and and uh we respect. >> What makes East Rockway special to me is uh it's a family. It's been that way for the 40 years that I've been associated with it. >> I think what makes East Shockway special is the tight community that we have. We're all friends. We all know each other and it's really special. >> Special. >> Uh I think it's the hard work and effort that goes into events kind of like today for uh homecoming. There's a lot of people doing a lot of things all at once and you don't really see that many places. special. >> Well, special for me because
025the generations of repeat um graduates. So, my mother was a graduate and then I was lucky enough to go to this school. >> The connections everyone has how close everyone is together. >> So, things like these make East Rockway special and especially Rock Drive, which a lot of schools don't have stuff like that. >> All the students in East Rockway. >> Everyone who comes here. Uh, I feel like everybody is very close because it's a small community and it's different from other places just because of how close everybody is. And >> thank you for joining us in saying thank you to our board of education members. Their dedication truly makes a difference. >> On behalf of the student body of ERHS, please enjoy the Wii Rock t-shirts and know that you inspire us to constantly
026display the traits of wisdom, empathy, respect, optimism, compassion, and kindness. Thank you for tuning in and stay tuned for our regularly scheduled announcements right here tomorrow morning. to load your favorite sites fast so you can browse with ease, fast, safe, yours. >> Okay, so thank you to all the students who were involved. Thank you for all the staff that unknowingly participated in tonight's presentation and thank you for the to the board and there's much more to come from the newscasters and much more to come from the rest of the high school. Thank you. [Applause] Okay. Um each year uh we do curriculum presentations and at the start of the year uh in September I did a strategic plan uh presentation which uh informs the board where we are in terms of our big plans and
027usually around uh October uh November we do a school report card. Um before I introduce Mr. Mari who worked extremely hard on this. What you're about to see uh are different avenues in which we record some data. Uh you'll see some information on our state testing, our I Ready data, some information on our region scores and our AP scores. Uh we're very proud of so many of the things to celebrate and at the same time we realize there are things and areas that we need to work on and improve. So with that being said, I'd like to introduce Mr. Murray, who will be uh reviewing our curriculum presentation and reviewing the school report card. How about a nice hand for Mr. Murray? [Applause] >> Thank you. Though I I do have to say if you
028really want to know what the school report card is, it's what you just watched. I mean, that is what 13 years in this district is able to produce is students that are just intense and responsible and engaged and thoughtful. And so that's really for me the data that I want you to come away with, but you know, there's also some numbers that we'll go through. So, um, bear, you know, buckle up. Um, I always like to start with our mission statement because I do think it's important that we are always using this as sort of our our north star. What we move to is just make sure that we're engaging all of our students, that we're engaging in innovative programming, that we want our students to become self-directed, we want them to be ethical, we
029want them to be creative, they want them to be globally conscious, and all of our work moves towards having graduates that are each of those things. Um, and I I this is a great visual for that. If you look at the four pillars of our strategic plan of connection, innovation, opportunity, and achievement, they all kind of tie into students in some way. And ultimately, when they all work together, it creates the opportunities for students. And those results that that we will go through today are what follow each of those other things. Um, and you know, test results are always a lagging indicator of the work that we're doing. So, some of the work and data that you'll see tonight is not where we want it to be yet. Um, other data is right where we
030want it to be because it's a few years after some of the programming shifts that we've made. The data that aren't there yet, it's because we're in the process of making some programming shifts and those data will catch up. Um but going through that today, we'll talk a little bit about our New York State results, our regent results, our I Ready Diagnostics, um AP exams, and also, you know, where are we going to keep going from here? So, I'll start with our 3 to8 um New York State exam results. I'm going to start with saying we only have about 75% of our students actually sitting for the exams. about 25% of our students are still quote unquote opting out or refusing to take the exams. Um as high as 50% in the eighth grade, um
031lower in the younger grades. So we're hoping that that's a shift towards families realizing that taking these exams actually does give the school some really pertinent and valuable data as far as improving our programming and improving our instruction. Um, it might not be particularly important for any one child, but it is really important for the district as a whole to be able to compare ourselves to the rest of the county and the rest of the state. Um, one of the places that we're we're really proud of last year is the gap that we closed from grade three to grade four. There was a 15% reduction in our gap with the county. So, we may still be below the county, but we're 15% closer than we were last year, which is really fantastic for that group
032of students. Um, and then another piece is that we closed the gap. Our students who went from grade four to five, we closed that gap with the county by 5%. So, while we haven't caught up with the county yet, we are heading in the right direction, and we're proud of those groups. Um, and then you can see down at the bottom the the math results in in seventh grade, and we have our seventh grade math teacher actually here today. Um, and her her students are consistently outperforming the county. So, that's something that we're also very proud of. If we look at our exams on a grade by grade level, you can see where the students are going from one year to the next. So these charts show you in blue is our center avenue results.
033Uh the orange is our frame avenue results and then that peach column is the county. Um and you can see the direction that we're headed in third grade for our ELA results which are on the left. um our students at Center Avenue are actually outperforming the county right now and we have to remember that Rama Avenue does have all of our students with special needs. So that is going to affect those numbers a bit. Um there's definitely a very big difference in our schools. our our students at uh Center Avenue, less than 15% of those students would be students that are considered to have special needs, but over 28% of the students at Ray Avenue are students that would be considered to have special needs. So, that is always going to play a part in
034these tests, which are not designed for students with special needs, but they're designed for kids who come to school and are able to learn without much help. Um, and you can see our math results. We are not caught up with the county yet, but we are definitely heading in the right direction and that's something that we're proud of, too. Um, now this is a little bit of a different chart. You can see that there are those thick arrows on top of the skinny lines. So, I'm going to just explain that um quickly. It's a little a bit of a tricky piece with tracking data. So, the skinny lines show what last year's fourth grade did in versus the I'm sorry, two years ago, fourth grade did in 2024 and last year's fourth grade did in
0352025. So, that's different kids. It's the fourth grade, but different kids. The thick arrows track the same cohort of kids. So those thick arrows show what the third grade did in 2024 and now moved up to fourth grade and what they did in 2025. So you can see especially over in math um those arrows those third graders moving into fourth grade there was tremendous growth from third grade to fourth grade with those students. So, while we haven't reached the mountain top yet, um you can see that our slope there is definitely going in the right direction and something that we're proud of. Um fifth grade is, you know, you can see that we have results that are definitely stronger in ELA than in math. Um and that's something that we we struggle with from time
036to time. Also, sometimes we focus on one thing and the other thing gets a little bit left behind. So that's one way for us to remind ourselves that we have to really be focusing on two things at once, but it is really nice to see those trajectories moving forward. Um, now another report that we use at the building level, it's a little bit wonky for for those of you listening in at home. Um, but these are what are called halflevel change reports. So it's one thing the if you go back to these slides, um, these slides just show proficiency. So these slides show students who earned a three or four on the state exams. These slides instead tell us which students moved up by at least half a level. So if you went from a
037low two to a high two, you're going in the right direction. A high two to a low three, a low three to a high three, those gaps on those levels are pretty wide. So a kid could grow a lot and still not move up in the proficiency level. But if they're moving up a half level, they're moving in the right direction. Um, so these charts help us see that a little bit better. Um, a the top charts show what East Rockaway students are doing and the bottom charts show what the county is doing as a whole. And just for example, if you look at our fourth grade math, um, over 50% of the students in East Rockaway gained at least half a level. um and over 30% of those students were flat. Whereas, if you
038looked at the county, fewer than 45% of students made that kind of growth. So, we are growing faster than the county, which also is a way of us closing those gaps with the county. Now, ELA doesn't have quite those same results, but like I showed you with the fifth grade math, we see we're focusing on one thing. We did a lot of focus on fourth grade math. we have to bring that focus back to the ELA to make sure that both of those charts look like they're going in the same direction. Um here's a few other examples of of areas that we're really proud of. Um more than 63% of our students in the fifth grade were um improved by at least a half a level on their ELA exam. So that's from fourth grade
039to fifth grade. That's the growth that they did. So, that's fantastic, especially when you look at under 45% of the county making that same kind of growth. Um, and if you look at our seventh grade math, um, I mentioned it before, it's it's always a bright spot, but almost three quarters of the students in our seventh grade grew at least a half a level from sixth grade to seventh grade, and just about half of the students in the county meet that same kind of growth. So, um, we're really, really proud of some of the work going on here. Um, but we also recognize there's more to do. Uh there's another test that a subset of our students takes each year and that's the NISLAT. The NISSLAT is the New York State um English as a
040second language exam. So these are for our students who are English language learners. Um you know whether they come from families that don't speak English at home or they maybe are recent immigrants. Um but these are students who are coming to our schools without having a strong background in English. And we were I was at a meeting of all the assistant superintendents a couple of weeks ago and they were all complaining about how few of their students got moved up out of um ENL services, how few of their students grew from one level to the sitting there saying that's not what happened in East Rockaway. Our results were actually fantastic. Over 60% of our students improved from one year to the next. And you have to understand that that test is not easy. And these
041are students who have sometimes no English language experience before they step foot in our schools. Um, and in fact, uh, a fifth of our students graduated out of ENL services last year. Um, so these results here, you can see all of those nice bright blue numbers over there. Um, when you look at our numbers, the numbers of our students who made it to the top three levels of the ENL chart are way over the county and the number of students who were in the bottom two levels are way below the county. So, so this is information where our ENL team is really doing a fantastic job. Um, now another uh assessment that we give is our I Ready Diagnostics. So, all of our students in grades K to 8 take the I Ready Diagnostic Assessment
042three times a year. Um, this is our universal screener and universal screener in addition to being required by federal education law. Um, it's also an important part of our um, MTSS, our multi-tered system of support and our response to intervention programs um to help us make sure that no students are falling through the cracks. So, um, I'm not going to go through all of the grades results because that would take this whole evening to do and and we don't need to do that. Um, but I do want to highlight a couple of examples of where we're doing really well and we're really proud and a couple of examples of where we know we have some work to do because I think it's important that when we're sharing this information, um, we share what we're proud
043of, but we share what we acknowledge needs some work. Um, and if you look at this chart, this is our kindergarten from the beginning of the year to the end of the year. So, this is last year's kindergarteners. These these kids are in first grade now. But if you look at the start of the year, um, only about a quarter of the students came in in what would be considered at or above grade level. These are probably the students who had a lot of experiences at home with parents reading to them or um, older siblings who may be reading to them. they're coming from a print-rich environment. These are some of the students who came to kindergarten kind of already ready for kindergarten. Um, but by the end of the year, we had 94% of
044our students at that level. Um, so that just goes to show at how much work our kindergarten team is doing in early literacy with phenemic awareness, with phonics, um, print, letter recognition, putting those sounds together to take three letters and turn them from three letters to a word. Um, and this this is what shows that. So, that's something that we're really proud of. And when you look at that six% number on the bottom, sometimes percents are kind of funny in this district. A percent is actually um like like one kid can be a a percent and a half. So, that 6% is only five students. So, only five students in the entire kindergarten made it to the end of the year, what would be considered below grade level. And you have to remember we have
045students who are brand new to the country, have never spoken English before they step foot into kindergarten. We have students with some really significant learning um needs and differences. And even with all of that, only five of our students didn't do what they needed to do in kindergarten. Um if we look at our our math results in first grade, uh it's something that we're similarly proud of. If you look at the number of students who were well below grade level, that number fell to almost nothing. Um, by the end of first grade, only two students were at what would be considered well below grade level. And again, these are all of our students. This this data is not just our general education students. This data is every single child in the East Rockway School District
046is represented here. Um, so it just goes to show the amount of work that's going on from the beginning of the year to the end of the year um to help our students grow and learn. Um, now fourth grade reading, you'll see this is someplace where the results are moving in the right direction, but not as far as we want them to be. Um, you can see that over half of our students were at or above grade level by the end of the year. And the number of students that were well below grade level dropped by half. And so that's really incredible work. Um, but obviously as parents, as a community, we certainly want way more than half of our students at or above grade level at the end of the grade. So that's some
047work that we're still that we still need to do. And and I'll talk about some of the work that we're doing to address um those needs at the end of the presentation. Our fourth grade math, you know, similarly similar results where we we did a lot of growth in the number of students at or above grade level. um and we dropped by at least half the number of students well below grade level. So those students who struggle are getting the help that they need. But obviously we are not content with having 57% of our students at or above grade level. We want that number to be to be much higher. Um fifth grade reading looks very similar to fourth grade reading. Just so you have a sense of what that looks like because as you
048get into those older grades, those gaps do become harder to close. It's just a function of students getting older. Um it's just the the amount of work that students need to do in order to close the gaps that have formed as they get older. It just becomes harder to do. Um it's not an excuse, but it is something that again we are making adjustments to how we work with our students to try to have more of those students at or above grade level. Um and then here's another example, our our seventh grade math. Again, it's it's it's a real highlight where just about threearters of our students are at above grade level by the end of seventh grade. So, you know, we're doing some really incredible in learning in this school district. Uh we want
049to make sure that all of that incredible learning is happening in every classroom. So, we're definitely tapping into those teachers that are really successful um and sharing what they're doing well out to the rest of the teachers in the district so we all can look just as successful. Um, and again, if you look at the bottom chart, only 10% of the students in seventh grade were considered well below grade level by the end of the year. And that includes the students that are in our small uh and special classes up at the high school. So, you know, we're doing really good work in helping our students uh grow. So, this is a little bit of a different way of looking at the data. So, that data that you just looked at was from the beginning
050of the year to the end of the year last year. Um, this is a little different. This is following the same kids and their level of growth. So, it's a little um complicated, but when this is posted up on the website, it'll have a an explanation attached to it. Um, but if you look at the black bars, which go um in different directions, the black bars show the number of students that are at or above grade level compared to that same group the year prior. And the number the orange bars are the students that are um below grade level from that same year, the same group of kids. So if you look right here, this bar here shows that this year's the third graders compared to what they did in second grade, fewer of them
051are at or above grade level than they were in second grade. That's not the trajectory we want. But if we look over here to eighth grade, you can see many more students are at or above grade level than went below grade level. So there's a grade where we're heading in the right direction from one cohort to the next. Um, so that's our spring to spring change for reading. And this is our spring to spring change for math. And you can see we're doing more of the right thing in math. So, we have to take what we're doing in math and start applying those same strategies and structures to reading because you can see most of our grades, we have more students at or above grade level the next year than they were in the prior
052year. So, this is a chart that we're really happy about and and seeing, you know, if we look at our fourth grade here, you know, we have a big jump in the number of students at or above grade level. And if we look again, I I can't I have to keep harping on the seventh grade math over here. We have the number of students going ab above grade level increasing from the year prior and the number of students below grade level decreasing from the year prior. So, so this is stuff we're really really proud of. Um so moving on to the high school. So that was all of our K to8 or elementary that's our foundational data. Um and then in high school our students start taking those regent exams. Um, and you may have
053heard in the news things about regions exams changing, not needed for graduation. Um, I was at two different uh, state report um, meetings recently with people from Albany who assured us in no uncertain terms, the regions are not going away. The only thing that's going to be changing in the coming years is that the regents will not be the only way students demonstrate learning to be able to graduate high school. The regents will be a way for students to demonstrate learning. The regent's exams will still have to be taken because federal law requires uh testing in English, science, and math at the high school level. Um the only change is that they're not going to necessarily have to be passed to graduate high school. That's the only thing that's changing about the regent exams. Um
054but you can see from this chart that our results were up in earth science, in physics, in US history. um our teams, our chairpersons and our director and their teachers, they go through item analysis. So they actually look at the exam and figure out which questions most of our students got right versus which of our questions a lot of students got wrong. They make adjustments to their planning and their lessons for the next year based on that information. And this past year and this coming year, our earth science teachers are actually partnering with teachers from other districts in order to create a more cohesive curriculum aligned with the new test. The state has changed the regions exams in um this in earth science and and biology. Um they're changing them in chemistry and physics. And
055so we know we can't do that alone. and we're partnering with other districts to help make sure that our teachers have the right tools and materials so their students are learning what they need to learn. Um, and what's also really nice, if you look down at the bottom of the chart, you can see that the gap between our students and the county is getting smaller for our English and our social studies region. So, we're really doing a fabulous job with with getting closer to the county average in a lot of these exams. not all of them, uh, but many of them. Um, so that's proficiency, that's passing, that's the the bottommost bar. But again, here in East Rockaway, we're looking for more than that. So, we also want to look at our mastery level. So,
056a mastery score is 85 or higher on a regent exam. And it's one of the indicators of college readiness. uh when those regent exams are designed, basically the state tells us if you're scoring an 85 or higher on a regent exam, you're demonstrating college readiness for that subject area. Um and what's really nice or proud for for me on this um chart over here is if you go all the way to the far right, you see all of these green pieces here. Um that green shows where our results closed the gap with the county. So in other words, the difference between East Rockway and the county got smaller in all of those exams. And in fact, for a couple of those exams, if you if you look down um for example down here, our global
057history, we are outperforming the county in in that exam. So that's something where our teachers did a lot of work with the curriculum in global studies over the last two years. They made a lot of changes to that curriculum. Um how they map the course, how they teach the course, the kinds of materials that they're using and we're seeing the results. So again, it is a lagging indicator. That curriculum work happened two years ago and now we're seeing the results. So sometimes you have to be a little bit patient with having the test results line up with the work that we've done. Um, and so that's that's just showing our mastery results. So that's one way of showing college readiness. Another way that a lot of students in East Rockaway show college readiness is through
058AP exams last year. And this is so this is May of 2025. AP exams were taken here at East Rockaway High School. Um when you consider the small number of students that are actually in East Rockaway High School, the fact that we're giving 307 exams is incredible. Um and it's especially if you look at how many exams we gave only three years ago. So in 2022 there were 217 exams given. Last year 307 exams given. Now you might say, okay, so we're having more students take the exam, but are they really ready for it? Well, actually, our students are even more ready for it the more students who take them. So, if you look at the number of students who scored what would be considered a quality test by the College Board, a three or
059higher, and in most of our state schools and in many private schools, earning a three on an AP exam is equivalent to a semester of college credit. you get three college credits for that AP exam in most Sunnis um and many private schools around the country. Um so in 2023 57.6% of our students scored a three or higher. Okay, last year over 80% of the students scored a three or higher. So, we have more students taking the exam by a lot and a lot more of them are getting threes and higher. Um, in fact, last year we were equal with the county average as far as the number of students who got a three or higher and that's the whole county. So, that's including places like Jericho, like Great Neck, like Manhasset. Um, those numbers
060are all in that average and we're right up there. So, we're we're very proud of the work that's going on um in the high school. And again, um, I am responsible for supervising summer curriculum writing projects. And a number of the curriculum writing projects over the last few years have been with the AP classes and they've been working to change what they teach and how they teach. And we can see it in the results. Just a couple of examples of of places where we've done really spectacularly on AP exams. Computer science moved from 65. This is again the number of students who got a three or higher. So students who got a quality score. We went from 65% to to 78% in only a year. And you can see in the small numbers there only
06168.7% of all the students in Nassau County received a three or higher. So we're outperforming the county there. English English language that ex there's there's a lot of the kids call it AP lang versus AP lit but it's the AP English language exam. We went from a third to almost everybody scoring a three or higher. And again, that came down to a lot of curriculum redesign that our teachers in the English department did in order to make sure that what they were teaching matched what was expected of the students. Um, and you can see again we're outpacing the county by over 10 points there. Uh, English lit. Um, we were already doing okay there, but we're doing spectacularly now. a 30 point increase and outperforming the county. Um, so you can just I don't need
062to to read the whole chart to you, but you can really see some of the areas where we've made adjustments to curriculum. A year or two later, you really see the results in in the test exams based on those changes. Um, and then if you go down to the individual student level, last year we had 80 57 students who were uh deemed AP scholars. Again, another school record. So each year of the last three years, we've broken our own records, which is fantastic. And 24 of those students earned AP scholar with distinction. So that's a function of having a three or higher on multiple exams in order to get those distinctions. And and it's and I for the AP scholar with distinction, how many exams is that? It's it's a it's quite a few. Yeah,
063it's at least five AP exams that they have to score a quality score on. So you know, these are students who are really doing well. not just in a class or two, but in many classes. Um, and then we're finishing up year we finished up year two of our capstone diploma program. Uh, 12 of our students have already earned the distinction. Um, and another five earned the a seminar research certificate. So, in order to earn the AP Capstone Diploma, not only do you need to take AP Seminar and AP Research and score a three or higher on both of those exams, but you have to take another four AP exams and pass another four AP exams to get that diploma. So, so these are some of our students who are really pushing um the envelope
064with with their skills and their capacity and and they're doing it. So, that's one way of measuring success. And there's another metric of success that we're really proud of. We have our seals of biiteracy and our seal of civic readiness. The seal of biiteracy is an indication that a student is truly fluent and literate in more than one language. So it's not just that they can speak English and speak Spanish. They need to be able to read, write, speak, and listen at a very high level in both of those languages as demonstrated by not only exam results but also interviews with a committee of teachers. So we had 21 students or a quarter of the graduating class last year earn that seal of biliteracy. Three of our students actually earned a seal of triliteracy where
065they had a different language at home and they took Spanish or Italian here and English. So these are some of our students who are really they're ready to go work for the United Nations or or any place around the world. Um, and as of today, we have 47 of our seniors who are currently eligible for the seal of biiteracy by the end of the year if they keep up the trajectory that that they're on. Seal of civic readiness is a little different. It's not purely based on performance. So, the seal of civic readiness, in order to earn that, a student does have to perform well on multiple social studies regions exams. They have to also take advanced college level coursework in the social studies and they need to do um some civics related or community
066service related work over a number of years from middle school through high school. Um so these are students who are going out into the world truly understanding what it means to be an American citizen, what it means to contribute to society as a whole when they graduate. Um and last year 36 students earned that distinction which was a third of our graduating class. Um and we only just started offering this seal um last the year before. So this is a very quick jump in the number of students earning that seal. Um and as of today 45 of our seniors are are eligible for that seal if they continue on the trajectory that they're on. Um we'll have 45 students which is close to half of our graduates earning that seal which is really fantastic. So
067just another metric of of success when I look at the school report card as a whole. Um so where are we going from here? So again, a lot of the information I share with you today, we're really proud of the work we've done and we're proud of the direction we're going, but we also recognize that there are some more things that we need to do. Um so in some of the things that are happening in grades three to eight um we've restructured the leadership team at the district level and we've added a director of humanities um to replace what was formerly the chairperson of humanities in just the high school. So this person is going to have a K12 portfolio to really be able to focus on literacy across the district with our principles with
068our literacy coach with our teachers um to put all the things that we're working together and have another set of hands to support the work happening in our classrooms. Um we're continuing our work with I Ready through professional development. Um, we've committed to three full days of professional development for our teachers this year in how to better use the information I Ready provides to create small groupoup and targeted instruction. Um, we have updated our literacy framework so it is fully aligned with the science of reading. Um, we have added phonics and what's called morphology resources in our upper level elementary classrooms. Morphology is breaking the words into their pieces. So if you have like the Greek root and a suffix, that's morphology. And if our students have more awareness of Greek and Latin roots, what
069different suffixes mean, they're able to read much more complex work because they can break those words into pieces. And we have a formal program for that this year for the first time. So we're going to, you know, we're really um very hopeful about the results we're going to see with that. Um, and another program that we're looking at this year are we have a committee of teachers that are going to be exploring new math resources for the elementary school. Uh, the math program we're using now, we've had for for over a dozen years. Um, and it's been working, but it is definitely time for us to see if there's something better out there. So, we're going to have a committee look at those things this year. Um, here's a perfect example of of the specific
070work that we're doing in response to the data that we get from I Ready. And this is work that our literacy coach, Miss Schneider, is doing with all of our teachers. If you look at the left, that is a report that teachers are able to run out of I Ready. And it doesn't just give an overall level of a student like the data I showed you earlier does. It actually shows an individual students levels on different parts of literacy. So you can look at a student and you can say, "Wow, they're really strong at this, but they're not so strong at that." And I can create interventions and small group instruction targeted to the specific areas that they need work on and I can enrich the specific areas that they're already uh doing well with.
071And on the right, you'll see a chart there. Um, I actually was fortunate enough to sit in with with several of these meetings at the beginning of the year, but every single child in every single elementary classroom in our district is in one of those columns on that chart for their teacher. So, every student is grouped into an area that they need to to work in. So, teachers work with the literacy coach. They took the data from the chart on the left. They grouped students based on common needs in the chart on the right, created their small groups, and now Miss Schneider is also helping the teachers with very specific targeted interventions for each of those areas of need. So, that's some work that that is different than we've done in the past. And again,
072it might take a little while to see the results, but definitely stuff that that we're really excited about. um at the high school again that director of humanities is going to have a very different role than the chairperson of humanities did. She because she does not have classroom responsibilities also she's able to be much more handson with the teachers with planning in the classrooms supporting professional learning and development supporting curriculum improvements. Um so that's something where where we're really excited about the work that that restructure can do. Um, we're going to continue with our professional development with our science teachers with the new regent exams and the changes that they're happening. We're we're already partnered with uh other districts to to work together and teachers in those departments have already gone out to islandwide conferences
073um to support their their professional growth. Um, we're also going to again focus on teaching mastery. Like I had shown that chart between proficiency and mastery. The work we're doing with our teachers is making sure when they're teaching, they're not settling for passing scores, but they're aiming for those mastery scores because that's really what we want. And if we aim for mastery and we happen upon passing, great. But if we aim for passing, then we're kind of giving up the idea of getting to mastery. So, we don't want that to happen. Um, and the final thing that we're doing is expanding the use of project-based learning at the high school. So, as of this coming November, every single teacher in East Rockaway will have gotten three full days of training with PBL Works, the PBL
074101 course. And if you look at those departments that have been improving, if you look at the English and social studies, that's the group that got the PBL two years ago. Science and math are getting it this year. So, we certainly anticipate that shift to project-based learning is in and of itself mastery based learning. Um, and we fully anticipate seeing the results in those other departments that we've already started to see in our humanities departments. So, the big picture, our goal is not test scores. Um, but test scores help tell us where we're going and what direction we're going. Are we going in the right direction or the wrong direction for our students? Our goal is the big picture. We want to graduate students that are college andor career ready. We want to graduate students
075that did that newscast and can go out to college or can go out to NBC or can go out to uh News12 and do that work already because they've had those experiences. Um, we're going to keep increasing our project-based learning approaches in the classroom which go to problem solving, which go to cooperative work, which go to really deeper understanding of what's happening in our in in those content areas. Um, and you saw in the uh newscast, we're working this year on developing a work-based learning program, which we'll be able to tell you a lot more about uh next year. Um, so with all of that being said, are there any questions from the board? >> Well, I apologize to everyone else for the length of that, but I hope that you got a really full
076understanding of all the incredible work that our teachers are doing to make sure the students here in East Rockaway are some of the best students in all of Nassau County, if not the island and the state. So, thank you very much. [Applause] All right, Mr. Murray, thank you. Um, at this time, we're going to go on to new business. Mr. >> Okay. I'd like to take this opportunity to express thank you for the following donations and grants. Uh the ED Foundation uh just recently granted $2,261 for headphones, coding, robots, and Holocaust remembrance assembly. And also uh I believe it was last week we had a don't press send assembly which was uh informing our students about the dangers of uh social media. Center Avenue sixth grade uh PTA like to thank them uh for donating
077$1,550 to the uh grade activities and for $500 $52 for field trips. So a big shout out to the Center Avenue PTA. um our very own social worker, Miss uh Kristen Mednik, uh who donated a game table, which uh I think the kids are getting great use out of in uh Junior Senior High School. And we had an anonymous donor that I'd like to thank. The anonymous donor uh had $250 and 19 breast cancer awareness t-shirts for the JV uh girls volleyball team. So, thank you very much for that. In addition to new business, um, out of the district office, we're creating a new newsletter, uh, that I'd like to, uh, alert, uh, the community and the teachers. Uh, the newsletter is basically going to going to come out monthly in which we'll sh share
078different celebrations and different happenings that are, uh, going on on the district level. Uh, so be on the lookout this uh, month for that. So, the district uh newsletter will be uh going out monthly. And last but not least, I'd like to uh read an important announcement uh about a district realignment plan. Uh I want to emphasize that this is a in the discussion and exploration stages. No final decisions have been made, but I feel it's fair that I share this information with the community uh and uh share some recent updates uh that uh have happened with the board of education. So, I carefully prepared a statement. So, I'd like to read it to you tonight. So last week, the board of education approved the district's exploration of a possible realignment of the elementary schools
079into a K through3 primary building and a 4 through six intermediate building. This format is commonly commonly referred to as the Princeton plan structure which has been adopted by several other districts throughout our region and in particular uh districts of our size. I want to be clear that no decisions have been made. This is in the beginning of a careful, open, and collaborative conversation that will unfold over the coming months with great input from our teachers and support staff as well as the community. As I shared with them, the district will be forming a committee of educators to share ideas, review proposals, and gather input to explore the possibility of this transition. Again, I'm saying possibility. Additionally, this committee will explore how such a transition might impact instruction operations, potentially start and end times to
080a few of our buildings and our overall learning environment. As we move forward, community participation will be essential. The community's perceptions, ideas, and questions will help guide our discussions and ensure that any decision made reflect is what's best for our students and families. So, what those discussions will look like once we meet with the teachers and our committee information is received from them. I will have town hall uh meetings for the community for them to share their concerns, their questions, and any any any um thing that they would like to ask. Now, a change of this magnitude requires thoughtful planning, transparent dialogue, and broad input. While our administrative team has been studying this topic for a while, we will not move forward without the voices of our community. Together, we can examine whether this model
081has the potential to enhance student learning, strengthen collaboration among staff, and maintain fiscal responsibility to our taxpayers, all while putting kids first. Thank you for keeping an open mind. I'll say thank you in advance as we begin this important discussion. We will keep you informed of opportunities to offer input over the coming months. I look forward to engaging with you and continuing the strong partnership that defines our district. So, so how I could describe it is we had the okay from the board. Our central office and administrative team have been working on a draft. uh we will share that information with our teachers and staff and anyone who wants to participate in that committee. If we move forward after that, that's when we will form our town hall committee meetings uh sometime after the new
082year. So sometime in January and February, uh we will be visiting each school. We most likely will have a town hall meeting. We will record it and we will put out surveys uh for the community to share all their concerns. So this is going to be a transparent process. Uh this is something uh we talked about improving results and and and uh giving the best education to our students. Uh this is a big structural change but we feel uh it's worth looking at. And that is it for new business. >> Okay. Thank you Mr. Damaso. Uh at this time, old business, >> just like uh as mentioned at our last work session, the district-wide safety emergency plans have been updated. Uh they are on the website. So if anybody should have any questions about that,
083please feel free to reach out to me. And in addition, I'd like to uh congratulate uh Mr. Michael Van Wart and Miss Ellen Blumline. uh we had our external audit at our last meeting and our financials are completely accurate and we are in strong fiscal position for two years in a row. So uh that is no easy task. So I'd like to thank uh Mr. Van Wart and Mrs. Bluntline for all their hard work and for keeping the district in a sound financial position. And that is it for old business. >> All right. Thank you Mr. Gaso. Uh next we have a report from our student board member Sophia Furkoff. All right, my student report today is going to share events that have been going on in our school under our four pillars. To start
084with achievement in the high school, Eva Lamb is a National Merit Scholar Scholarship Commended student. Eva is being recognized for her exceptional academic promise demonstrated by her outstanding performance on the 2024 preliminary SAT and National Merit Scholarship qualify test last October. Sean Smith and Valerie Cersa were each named NYSA HPERD Outstanding Physical Education Student of the Year and will be honored on December 9th at the inn at New Hide Park. Under opportunity, a new game club at RAM begins this week, which was created by SSAC. Over 90 students enrolled and students are having a lot of fun while learning about sportsmanship, teamwork, and turn taking in our high school. It's also October uh is bullying prevention month. District schools are showing that we stand together against bullying. United for Kindness, Acceptance, and Inclusion Cumulating with
085Unity Day October 22nd and Red Ribbon Week October 27th through the 30th. Under innovation within Miss Healey's STEAM classes, students engaged in true scientific method innovation. Students tested their hypothesis by deciding which paper propeller plane would stay in the air the longest dependent on the design of the propellers. Students worked as a team to time the air time and make conclusions based on their data collection. Under connection at Center Avenue, they conducted their annual fire prevention assembly with friends at the East Rockway Fire Department. Students participated in an informative assembly on fire safety and how they can use those tips to support their families in their homes. After the presentation, students had the opportunity to use the fire hose and take a tour of a fire truck and ambulance. This is always an amazing experience
086for the students as these memories last a lifetime. Also, families across the district participated in the don't press assembly with Katie Schumer. families and students participated in the presentation about navigating social media and how we can be more informed. A special thank you to the East Rockaway Education Foundation for funding these presentations. The Whisfit Challenge fundraiser and basketball game was a huge success at RAM. Thank you to the PTA and everyone who came out to support our students. And lastly, under connection, uh this quarter I created a student survey to give high school students a space to share what matters most to them, what they'd like to improve, and how they'd like to get involved. It encourages participation in the student cabinet, a program which will be coming back next month where students can bring
087ideas to the table for our school community. That's all. Thank you. >> Thank you, Sophia. Um, next is public comments on agenda items. Um, at this time, are there any comments regarding tonight's agenda items? Anyone? Okay. Uh, moving on. Approval of minutes. Are there any questions regarding the minutes from the special meeting on September 9th and the regular meeting on September 15th, 2025? >> No. >> All right. Can I have a motion to approve the minutes of agenda items 1H? >> Motion uh by Mrs. Doyle. Second. >> Second by Mrs. Salufo. All in favor? >> Opposed? Abstain. Motion approved. >> Um, okay. Uh, acknowledgement of monthly reports and correspondence. Uh, July and August 2025. We received five emails. Um, uh, next. Can I have a motion to create a consent agenda with the following items?
088Recommendation of superintendent personnel schedules, items 4 A through G. items uh other items 5A through J approval of CSSE and CPSSE recommendation 6A and budget transfers 7A can I have a motion motion >> motion by Mrs. Salufo second >> second by Mr. Lores all in favor >> opposed abstain motion approved uh now can I have a motion to accept the items on the consent agenda >> motion uh by Mr. Lores second >> second by Mrs. Doyle. All in favor? >> I opposed. Abstain. Motion approved. >> Uh, next. Let's see. Okay. Um, next policy subcommittee report. >> Yeah. >> Oh, I got um Okay. Uh, the following policies are uh for review pending adoption. Uh, policies 011 and 011-E, title 9, sexual harassment. Policy 6410, authorized signatures. Policy 6830 6830R expense reimbursement and regulation and policy
0891500500R and 1500-E2 public use of school facilities regulations and exhibits. Uh we have four policies listed on tonight's agenda. Uh next superintendent report, Mr. Dtomaso. >> Yes. Thank you. Uh before I start highlighting uh the exciting happenings in the district uh which are related to the strategic plan, I want to take a minute uh to thank the board of education. Board of Education advocates for the beliefs and values of the community in educating its children. Board members generously volunteer their time. Say it again. will volunteer their time to set policies, develop budget priorities, and ensure that administration of the school district aligns with the community's beliefs and values. And the best part is they do it for free. Uh this is uh a receptive and responsive board that listens to concerns, supports our programs and
090staff, and consistently puts kids first. Their commitment makes it easy for our administration and staff to be a great team and focus on what matters most to our students. So you will see on the deis here uh small tokens of appreciation uh from us uh from the building uh administration and uh from uh different venues to thank you uh for the job that you've been doing. So I just before I got into my report I just wanted to uh formally announce a thank you and uh let's continue some great work. >> Thank you very much. >> Okay. In the area of achievement, reading and math data meetings held at Center Avenue and RAM Avenue schools. Teachers had deep conversations regarding student achievement and created concrete plans to support students in tiered services. Students in seventh
091and eighth grade ELA and seventh grade math have concluded their I Ready as uh Mr. Murray had mentioned the beginning of the year assessments and testing and have begun this year with uh their individual lessons. Uh the boys varsity soccer team. I went to the game today. It was the first time in I don't know how many years they made the playoffs. They were playing at Carry High School. They lost one nothing at the end of the game. We put pressure on and had six shots at the end. But uh very proud of the team. Didn't end the way they wanted, but they uh put up a great fight. So uh congratulations to the boys varsity soccer team. In the area of opportunity at Center Avenue, uh, Miss Picolo, uh, Miss Mlesca and Miss Bowl
092are kicking off a red ribbon week, initiating with a spirit week, as well as collaborating activities with Miss Brody. Students engaging in ways to keep a healthy lifestyle. Students will be asked to trace their hands on an orange construction paper and write their names inside. This activity will be done in class. These activities symbolize our schoolwide pledge to stand united against bullying and to show kindness, acceptance, and inclusion. Uh the business department proudly kicked off new classes. I think you saw it in uh Mr. um Schaefer's presentation, our virtual enterprise, by conducting student interviews for various positions. I had the opportunity to interview two students and they were fantastic. As a matter of fact, one of them I said, "I'd hire you tomorrow, but uh you need to get your certification first." Uh but they
093uh really did a fantastic job and uh I'm proud of the direction where the uh virtual enterprise program is going. Uh Miss Petra Antonio super psychology class has started their class research project. Ex exploring this is very interesting the increase in the use of subtitles when watching TVs, movies, and videos. I don't know about you, but when I'm watching on Netflix, I actually put the subtitles on, too. I don't know why, but apparently this is a phenomena that they'll be studying. Uh the science uh research students have launched the growing beyond planet Earth partnership. Uh these students will be exploring factors that influence how plants grow in outer space and in the international space station. Uh, Coach Poland and uh, Coach Ren uh, fresh from their leadership conference met with the student leaders to show
094how they can better serve the students of our athletic programs. They are looking forward to coordinating Memphis sessions with junior high school teams beginning in the spring. Uh, Mathletes is running with 14 members this year. The first in-house competition was scheduled today. I need to find out how they did. But uh this is part of the Nassau County Interscolastic Math League. Uh in the counseling department, they took juniors to tour Mercy uh Mercy University, exposing them to college campuses andformational sessions. Also, the counseling department completed its first its future uh Friday collaboration with the English department on Friday, October 17th. I had a chance to observe that in action and it was fantastic. The students were um uh preparing their essays, getting uh feedback from their English teacher. The guidance counselors were circulating in the
095classes, helping the students with their applications, and I really felt like we were giving our students uh a real leg up in the college application process. So, uh thank you to uh Mr. Madden and the guidance counselors for doing that. Um Dr. Dr. Nancy Kaplan and Lamar Lee provided workshop to all our fifth, seventh, and ninth grade students entitled The Power of Language, Words Matter. Uh, this interactive workshop will help students understand the power of language and how words we use can bring people closer together or further divide us. The workshops were wellreceived and targeted to age groups where it would help the most impact on improving social interactions and shaping appropriate behavior. Uh in the area of innovation, students in Mr. Howard's uh introduction to engineering classes have begun constructing tower cranes. Uh they
096are tasked with building cranes that are almost three feet in height to simulate real construction cranes that are used to build skyscrapers. You have to invite me in when they're done. I'm anxious to see that. Uh in Mrs. is Mia's graphic design class. Students are learning how to use Adobe Photoshop and the clipping mask technique. A clipping mask is a technique that allows you to control the visibility of one layer based on the content of another layer. Students will use this skill to pro um to develop promotional posters and flyers. In the area of connection, uh chemistry week October 19th through the 25th. This week is meant to highlight how chemistry interacts with our everyday lives and I saw some pretty cool um interactions on the announcements today. Uh one of our chemistry teachers was
097doing a live well not a live a recorded experiment uh that is going very well and I know it's uh exciting students. Um, so with that being said, they are sponsored by the American Chemical Society and the theme this year is the nature of spices. In collaboration with the World Language Department, East Rockway High School is wrapping up National Hispanic Heritage Month. Students engaged in a number of cultural relevant learning experiences within their Spanish classes, making connections to Spanish speaking world. On the morning announcements, all the students at East Rockaway High School learned Spanish expressions of the week, learned about influential Spanish-speaking people, and also got to hear some popular Spanish songs. East Rockaway community came together for an exciting exciting Harlem Wizards night hosted at the gymnasium and sponsored by the RM Avenue PTA.
098And our very own I think Mr. Bixhorn sitting over there had a few three-point shots. It looked pretty good. Not too bad. Uh families filled the stands and the joy on the students faces really reflected an evening full of laughter, excitement, and school spirit. I want to extend a special thank you uh to the high school PTA for coordinating the snacks and sales. And most importantly, all the teachers who volunteered to play in the game against the Wizards. I'm sure we have a few sore hamstrings and backs today, but I think we're doing okay. And again, I'd like to uh it was a really memorable experience. not only for me because I enjoyed it, but you know the joy on the parents and students faces. It was really a fun night. Um the school counseling
099department has running new student groups and connecting them to friends, peer leaders, and staffs within East Rockway High School. This group serves to help acclimate new students and set them up for success in their new uh environment. So far this year, juniors and seniors have had the opportunity to connect with 50 colleges, trade schools, and employment organizations during a school day. More are scheduled in the student center through November 12th. So, keep up the good work. I think that's very valuable work for our students. And last but not least, the coaching staff and Mr. Gregory reached out to the support of Club Rock during its reemergence of the on the ER scene. together they decided to create two liaison positions, a veteran coach along with a new coach. So, I'd like to thank uh Mr.
100Paul Collins, I'm assuming he's the veteran coach, and Miss Brook Deulio who stepped up to take uh the plate to take on these new positions. So, uh thank you to Mr. Gregory and the coaches and uh the members of Club Rock. And that's it for my report. >> All right. Uh thank you, Mr. Dtomaso. Uh next is good and welfare. Condolences to Joyce Kenny and family on the passing of her mother, Moren Kenny. Uh, at this time, public comments. Are there any public comments? Any? No. Okay. Um, all right. Board member comments. Who wants to go? >> I'll I'll just start and say, uh, appreciate everything here tonight. Um, you honoring the board. It's not why we do it for these t-shirts, but they're nice. Uh, and uh, Mr. Murray, the presentation was very informing
101today. Sophia, you did a great job as always, and I thought Grace did a great job with the the pledge, and just thank you all for being here. That's all for me. >> Um, I'm I spoke to Grace a little bit before she did the Pledge of Allegiance, and I can see her maybe sitting in your seat one day. She's really a sweet kid. Um, >> and you'll be sitting in this seat. Yes. Um, Mr. Murray, thank you for the presentation. Every question that I was going to ask you answered >> and um, the presentation uh, from the junior senior high school was very creative and captivating and I really enjoyed it and um, I love being up here with this group. Thank you for um, acknowledging us. Um, and I want to reiterate everything
102that these guys said. Thank you for the gifts and the newscasters present presentation was adorable. And um I I do want to just point out that I'm the seventh grade math is the performance is outstanding and the AP exam results. I'm very impressed. Um, and it could give a lot of the uh students a head start um if if they're attending college. So, and the Andrew Stern Walkathon as a uh resident of Robertson Road on the same block he grew up on and I know the family is uh thank you for the donations to the school. >> That's >> I just want to say I'm truly privileged to not only work with you guys but also get to know you and you've truly been so welcoming and helpful and like I really do appreciate it.
103>> But we appreciate you hear that. >> Thank you. That's it. Um, I just want to second what everyone said. Um, it is nice to be uh recognized, but um, like like Joe said, that's not why we're here. We just want to um, we're here for the community. We want to we want to be able to represent the community the best way we can. And the best way for us to do that is to listen to the community and the community's concerns and what they want, what they don't want, what they like, what they don't like. So in that way, we can do our job best. Um, and Mr. Murray, great presentation tonight. Very informative. I thought Moren was gonna have more questions, but that's okay. No, >> great job. >> Excellent presentation. And um
104Sophia, like like you said, for us it's a pleasure to have you to get a student perspective and we've been saying it for a long time that there should be a student member on the board and we're glad it's you. So thanks for being here. All right, we're done. We're good. Um All right. This concludes tonight's board meeting. Can I have a motion to adjourn this meeting at 8:25 p.m.? >> Motion by Mrs. Doyle. Second. >> Second. Second by Mrs. Salupo. All in favor? >> I. >> One more announcement. I'd like to thank uh the high school PTA who provided some refreshments. Uh so take a minute to stop, have a cupcake, have a drink, socialize. We have it out in the back right in the lobby over there. So, thank you to the high
105school PTA. Have a great night, everyone. >> Motion approved. Good night, everyone.