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