Construction
Corner
Our grand opening on
November 22, 2008 was
very successful. Everyone in attendance expressed their satisfaction and appreciation
for a job well done. As
promised, we are holding all contractors and
professional service providers to a high degree
of accountability. Completion of the project did
not, in all cases, meet our
expectations of quality.
Final payments to a few
of the service providers
have been withheld until
we are totally satisfied.
We recently received the results of the 2008-2009 5th grade State Social
Studies test. We are very pleased to report that 100% of our 5th grade students scored in levels 3 & 4 with 75% scoring in level 4.
Chris Ingrao, senior at T.H.S., was this year’s recipient of the Anthony
Pope Scholarship. Chris faced a high level of competition from applicants
throughout Westchester County. This award recognizes academic achievement, community work and character. Chris received a check for $50,000.
Lisa Raho, senior at T.H.S., was this year’s winner of the Westchester County Cheerleading Scholarship. This award is given to a cheerleader with high
academic achievement, community involvement and athletic ability. Lisa
competed against cheerleaders from around the county.
We were very honored to have three students representing T.H.S. this year
in the New York Area All State Festival held at SUNY Purchase on November
13, 2008. Christopher Ingrao, Margaret McNamara and Katie Byrne were
among the best of the top High School Choral singers represented there.
These students were part of a highly competitive audition process held last
May 2008 through the NYSSMA foundation. Over 4,000 students from all
over NYS competed for a spot in the annual festival where only 800 singers
are chosen for four select Choruses throughout New York State.
The following middle school students were chosen to represent Tuckahoe
at the All-County Choral Festival on March 21, 2009. These students were
part of a rigorous audition process and were selected out of more than 60
children who tried out. They are: Alexis Coleman, Ellys Holding-Coleman,
Billy Burke, Amber Cannale, Kelly Raho and Andres Olivo. These students
are representing the 6th, 7th and 8th grades.
Did You Know?
Classical Music at TMS
On Thursday, October 23, 2008, renowned International Russian Classical
Pianist extraordinaire Katya Grineva performed a concert for our students
in our auditorium. Ms. Grineva has performed throughout the world for
presidents and dignitaries and recently played a record tenth solo performance at Carnegie Hall. Throughout her performance, Ms. Grineva shared
historical insights about her musical selections and offered anecdotal stories
about great musical composers, such as, Chopin, Schubert, Liszt, Beethoven,
and more.
Did You Know? - continued on page 2
Where to find information about the Tuckahoe Schools:
Website: www.TuckahoeSchools.org
Our website provides information about each
of our schools as well as contact information,
procedures, upcoming events, etc.
Office of Communications
Contact Dr. Michael Yazurlo at 337-6600, ext.
251 or
email: supe@tuckahoe.lhric.org
Channel 77 (Cablevision) and Channel 27
(Verizon) Tuckahoe Educational Access Cable
programming highlights our school events
(concerts, presentations, sports, graduations,
Board of Education meetings.)
Other contacts:
To reach the Board of Education, contact the
District Clerk, 337-6600, ext. 262 or to send
comments or questions, email our District
webmaster: donnellyc@tuckahoe.lhric.org
HOW TO SIGN ON TO K-12 ALERTS – EMERGENCY NOTIFICATION SYSTEM. Please log on to our web
site: www.tuckahoeschools.org and click on K-12 ALERTS to register for email and text to cell alerts 24/7.
Tuckahoe Board of Education News
Academic Highlights
November 2008-January 2009 A NEWSLETTER FROM THE TUCKAHOE BOE
Did You Know?- cont’d.
Page 2
Cooking for a Cause
Special Invitation
Fourteen of our sophomores: Megan Byrne,
Alexandria Castracucco, Dana Cirillo, Jonni
Lynn DiGiacomo, Helena Honkaniemi, Jenny
Jacobs, Zack Leone, Alexandra Lopez-Djuravic, Robert Mora, Natalie
Nisca, Diana Ottamanelli, Stephanie Pollizzi,
Mark Sarno and Stephanie Scalzo, participated
in “Cooking for a Cause”
at MacMenamin’s Grill.
The cooking activities
provided harvest treats
for the My Sisters’ Place
domestic violence shelters which provide safety
and services for women
and their children seeking freedom from family
violence.
Katie Ferrone, 7th grade student, was invited to attend the Presidential Inauguration. Katie represented Tuckahoe this past summer at the prestigious Junior National Young Leaders Conference in Washington, D.C.
Concert at T.H.S.
On Thursday, December 18th, during 4th period, selected students of the THS Music
Department participated in the mini concert workshop for the Westchester School
for Special Students. The students are ages 16 – 21 and enjoyed the opportunity to
hear a live concert. This was their second time visiting Tuckahoe and we are looking
forward to their next visit. Members of the THS band and chorus included:
Bellantoni, Louis
Chen, Kevin
Manias, Christina
Bellotti, Christopher
Conkling, Christopher
Melendez, Alex
Ehring, Marleen
Costa, Peter
Evans, Kerry
Hooper, Kateri
McNamara, Conor
Mora, Robert
Iandolo, Domenico
Schaad, Christian
Passeri, Dalton
Ingrao, Chris
Crimmins, John
Rosas, Justin
Lestch, Jeremy
Cucino, Matt
Said, Adam
Manias, Nicholas
DiLago, Michael
Valenti, Giovanni
McGuinness, Megan
Freire, Tyler
Manias, Christina
McNamara, Margaret
Fiankor, Christian
Mora, Robert
McNamara, Thomas
Griffiths, Shaquille
Porpora, William
Murphy, Kimberly
Harbeson, Rebecca
Palucci, Meghan
Griffiths, Xavier
Phone Cards for Troops
Reed, Jeremy
Jubilee, Jonathan
On Sunday, December 7,
2008, from 12 – 3 p.m.,
the middle school student government representatives conducted
a fundraising event,
“Phone Cards for U.S.
Troops”, to raise money
to send phone cards to
the U.S. troops stationed
in Iraq for the holidays.
The students set up a
stand in front of the
Generoso Pope Foundation building in Depot
Square during Tuckahoe’s popular Winterfest
celebration and distributed American flag pins
with yellow ribbons to
those community members who decided to support the cause. All the
money that was raised
was donated through
Camp Bucca, a non-profit organization that distributed the phone cards
directly to the U.S. soldiers.
Romano, Christine
McKeon, Brian
Sarno, Mark
Moroney, Tim
Sears, Lauren
Meyer, Jeff
New Program at TMS-THS
The T.H.S. Student Mentor Program is a new after school program designed to assist middle school and high school instrumental students who need extra help with
their current instrument or who would like to learn a new instrument and eventually play in one of the school bands. The program is overseen by Mr. Garufi and
all help is administered by the student mentors. There are two mentor studios that
can be scheduled five days a week after school from 2:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. We have
ten high school students who have signed up and met the criteria for mentoring.
We have seven students currently taking advantage of this program and four more
starting after the first of the year. This is a great opportunity for the students to
further their musical education and make new friends. Our high school mentors
are: Thomas McNamara, Maggie McNamara, Conor McNamara, Lauren Sears, Tim
Moroney, Catherine Joseph, Danny Wolfe, Faith Taylor and Aaron Traeger.
Cottle has a Heart
According to Mr. DiCarlo, Principal of the Cottle Elementary School, our elementary school has just received honors as the number one new Jump Rope For Heart
school in the Northeast and the state of New York for 2007-2008. They also ranked
third among New York State Jump Rope For Heart schools with enrollments between
350 and 500 students. The Jump Rope For Heart, an American Heart Association
program teaching students jump rope skills and philanthropy, celebrated its 30th
anniversary. The program promotes community service by raising money for the
American Heart Association’s fight against heart disease and stroke, while teaching physical fitness to students across the country. This past year, more than 113
schools in Westchester County participated in the program. Special thanks to Bart
Dapolito, physical education teacher at Cottle, for his annual support and supervision of this most worthwhile cause.
Did You Know? - continued on page 3
November 2008-January 2009 A NEWSLETTER FROM THE TUCKAHOE BOE
Did You Know?- cont’d.
Page 3
Mayor for the Day
Tuckahoe Athletics
The sixth grade students were afforded a wonderful opportunity to complete a writing assignment in which
they explained what they would do
as “Mayor for the Day”. While the
students have a unique perspective
of what improvements can be made
in the community, it is their voice
which drove this project. The students included what they value about
the community, what improvements
they believe could be made and how
they planned to accomplish their
task. The letters were sent to Mayor
Fitzpatrick for his review.
As always, our students continue to distinguish themselves
both on and off the athletic fields. The following students and
teams were recognized for their achievements during the fall
of 2008:
Cancer Research Donation
Throughout the school year, the Middle School holds several bake sales to
raise funds to supplement the cost of
field trips and end of the year celebrations. This year, the student government felt that there were people who
needed help and they unanimously
decided to donate 100% of the profits
from the October bake sale to a Breast
Cancer Research Institute. Several
middle school students have had
close encounters with breast cancer
in their families and felt that it was
a very worthy cause. The students
created a pink theme for the bake
sale and raised $200. The donation
was made to the Ashikari Breast Center, which is a community hospital
in Dobbs Ferry that has been providing quality health care for the communities of Westchester. The middle school students are constantly
looking for ways to help community
members and reach out to those in
need. They are an extremely caring,
generous and hard-working group
of students.
Soccer
Honorable Mention All Section
John Mulhearn
Dominick Villano
All League
John Mulhearn
Dominick Villano
Girls’ Soccer
All League
Tess Meyer
Olivia Fox
Diana Ottamanelli
Gabby Severiano
Lauren Mitchell
Honorable Mention All League
Jeffrey Meyer
Mark Sarno
Volleyball
Tennis
Super 70
Trenna Seney
All League
Katie Raymond
Amber Cannale
Kelly Raho
All League
Trenna Seney
Noelia Soto
Honorable Mention All League
Dina Moss
Christina Manias
Football
Section One Class D Champions, Regional Champions,
New York State Semi-Finalists
All League
Stephen Walsh
Jarett Sommer
Anthony Gentile
P.J. Castracucco
Michael Workman
Honorable Mention All League
Joshua Guthrie
Alex Melendez
Kevin Chen
Sectional Game: Anthony Gentile MVP
Regional Game: Joshua Guthrie
Carlos Carerro
Most Valuable Offensive Player
Most Valuable Defensive Player
Semi-Final Game: Jarett Sommer
Gary Jennings
Most Valuable Offensive Player
Most Valuable Defensive Player
Section One Class D Coach of the Year: John D’Arco,Sr.
Cheerleading
Lisa Raho -
Westchester Cheerleading Scholarship ($1600)
All Section
Anthony Gentile -
Super 70 Volleyball
Trenna Seney -
Football
Volleyball
Honorable Mention All Section
John Mulhearn Dominick Villano -
Soccer
Soccer
November 2008-January 2009 A NEWSLETTER FROM THE TUCKAHOE BOE
Budget News
Please be reminded
that discussion of
the 2009-2010 budget will take place
at every Board of
Education meeting
from now through
May 2009. We invite you to attend
or send your comments by email/letter to Dr. Yazurlo
or Christina Howe.
We value your input.
Page 4
We are in the process of reviewing every line item on the 2008-2009 budget
and how it will translate to our 2009-2010 budget. Our goal is to maintain
and build on the success we have enjoyed while taking advantage of every
possible cost saving measure. The initial run of State Aid numbers indicates that we stand to lose approximately $135,000 of State Aid while the
annual cost of operation continues to rise. The principals have presented
their projected staffing needs and we are evaluating other requests, such as,
textbooks, supplies and equipment.
For more information, please
view our District website:
www.tuckahoeschools.org
Tuckahoe Union Free School District
29 Elm Street
Tuckahoe, NY 10707
Board of Education
Anthony Buonocore, President
Rev. Frank Coleman Jr., Vice President
Patrick Gallo, Trustee
Sheree Raho, Trustee
James Oliverio, Trustee
Michael V. Yazurlo, Ed.D.
Superintendent of Schools
(914) 337-6600, ext. 250 (914) 337-3072, Fax
2008-2009 New Staff
High School
Alyse Fane – Special Education
Michael Rattner – Physics/Science
Teaching Assistants
Gina Pullano
Michael Egan
Jamie Farez
Amanda Donohue
Paul Buonocore
Security
Joel Abrams
Dave Roberson
Middle School
Gravity Goldberg – Reading Specialist
John Heller – Spanish
Anne Palmieri – English
Eric Solivan – Psychologist/Evaluator
Teaching Assistants
Lisa Benedetti
Judith Scott
Claire O’Connor
Wm. E. Cottle School
Kristen Crudden – Remedial Reading
Deirdre Madden – Occupational Therapist
Traci Traeger – Speech and Language
Teaching Assistant
Roberta Martin
District Office
Victor Karlsson – District Treasurer
www.tuckahoeschools.org
Custodial
Anthony Falsetti
A Promise To Prepare For Tomorrow