January 2008--From the Office of Public Information, Mamaroneck Union Free School District/ 914-220-3070 
BOARD BRIEFS
Topics included below:
High School Student Report
Private donations to the district
Staff Honors
Student Music Honors
Student Athletic Honors
Student Art Honors
Report from Dr. Fried
Future Meeting Dates

§         MHS Student Report by Jodi Miller and Charlotte Gardiner: Students are preparing for mid-terms next week. The schedule is on the website. In entertainment news, PACE Soundscapes is this week which for the first time features student written and directed pieces. The Music Honors Recital was last week. Thanks to a Schools Foundation grant, Student Council is hosting an event for high school families featuring Tom DeLuca, the country’s foremost hypnotist, on 2/8. Fifteen lucky students and five teachers, including Dr. Orfinger, will be hypnotized! Battle of the Bands last week was enjoyed by many. A Slam Poetry Club is being started by Elise Sjostedt. Seniors in National Honor Society are tutoring students through the Tiger Learning Lounge. Seniors have begun preparations for graduation, getting measured for caps and gowns and forming a prom committee. Juniors will have their prom very early this year—on March 28. Many MHS teachers are leaving or coming back from maternity leave and the students wish them all the best of luck! 

§         The board expressed its thanks for two donations: $2500 from the Cross Ridge Foundation for the Artist Enrichment Initiative for the MHS Band Program; and $5000 from Mary Lou Staropoli for the Joseph J. Staropoli Scholarship to be awarded to a male or female student athlete. Mr. Staropoli graduated from MHS in 1946 and was an active participant in athletics during his high school years. 

§         Staff Honors: Bob Sweeney, MHS guidance counselor, was featured in an article in the Education Life section of the Sunday New York Times on January 6, 2008. 

§         Student Music Honors: These MHS students participated in the Area All-State Music Festival at SUNY Purchase in November in the Band and Orchestra: Michael Levy, Kate Rainey, Benjamin Cruikshank, Joshua Zambardino, Joshua Kogan, Edan Soroker, Jeremy Forsyth, Sarabeth Mairs, Daniel Mizrachi, Daniel Smith, Nicole Glotzer, Katherine Harwood, Edward Rosen-Wallberg, Carla Staffaroni, Joseph Vanderpool, Julia Bilbao, Juan Galan, Jonathan Williams, Jocelyn Baumgarten, Mason Lee, William Moore, and Charles Greenwald. Ten MHS students were selected to play in the All-County Jazz Festival to be held this year at MHS on Friday, March 14 at 8pm in McLain Auditorium Only thirty–three students from the over 100 who auditioned were chosen. Congratulations to: Edan Soroker, Alex Lubben, Daniel Garfield, Charles Greenwald, Mike Vanderperre, Jeremy Forsyth, Jacob Forsyth, James Rohman, Daniel Mizrachi and Andrew Katzenstein. Jeffrey Dobronyi was selected as an alternate.  

§         Student Athletic Honors: These teams won the NYS Scholar Athlete Award completing the Fall season with a combined grade point average of 90 or above: Girls Swimming, Boys and Girls Cross Country, Boys Soccer Girls Soccer, and Girls Tennis. 

§         Student Art Honors: Forty-seven students were chosen to represent Mamaroneck High School in the “Young Artists On the Rise” exhibition, hosted by the Mamaroneck Artists’ Guild and featuring the work of students from MHS and New Rochelle High School.  The exhibit runs through January 19. Our talented students are:  Lily Primamore, Joep Hiemstra, Matthew Beck, Jennifer Brown, Yumi Masuda, Amy Kirkham, Anne Giles, Susanne Congress, Matt Fishman, Trevor Miles, Christiane Creixell, Isabelle Gedigk, Keri Taub, Daniel Crowe, Maria Stepanchak, Chelsea Gibbs, Nicole Peters, Dillon Coyne, Morgan Seedor, Cory McCrum, Abigail Hall, Julie Spielvogel, Hannah Fleischmann, Audrey Wachs, Sami Walters, Ashley Monter, Shauna Keating, Elise McNally, Rebecca Tennenbaum, William Herrmann, Emma Berger-Kovacs, Audrey Lorberfeld, Megan McGuire, Ari Finard, Harry Brookstein, Samuel Lore, Christopher Dearwester, Lena Landegger, Julian Berman, Julia Hattem, Stephanie Velez, Lauren DiBiccari, Dana Dotti, Dylan Negri, Taraneh Moussapour, Luke Glaser, and Michael Schole. 

§         Report from Dr. Fried:  Since the winter break, the School Board has been at the schools talking about the capital plan and field improvements and asking for feedback from the community before it makes a decision to proceed. Several more meetings are scheduled and all are invited to attend:
Monday, 1/28 at 7:30pm at MHS; Wednesday, 1/30 at 9am at Chatsworth: Wednesday, 1/30 at 7:30pm at Central.
Our students across the district have been busy taking the state ELA tests -- last week in the elementary schools and this week at the Hommocks. The board and administrators have been working on the issue of parking and dismissal at Central School since the entrance from the Village Square parking lot was closed over the winter break on very short notice. Dr. Fried thanked the Central School principal, Carol Houseknecht, and assistant principal, Edgar McIntosh, as well as teacher aides and many parent volunteers who have worked together to make the new dismissal process run smoothly and be safe for the children. The district appreciates everyone’s cooperation as we had to put this procedure into place very quickly. The district is continuing to examine the Central School property for alternatives. A meeting for parents will be held on January 23 at 7:30pm. Parents are encouraged to attend. 

§         Future Meeting Dates:
Tuesday, February 5 at 7:30pm—Study Session re MHS Safety and Security, presentation and District Update; Review of MHS Code of Conduct/MHS Library Classroom
Tuesday, February 12 at 7:30pm- Regular Meeting including Special Education Report /MHS Tiered Classroom