Locust Valley Middle School sixth graders spent the day in the school library on Jan. 28, participating in summer camp-themed stations that tested their reading, writing, math and teamwork skills.
Teachers Jodi Irizarry, Ann Monsees, Meredith Prohens, Valerie Russo and librarians Romy Bennett and Deb McKillen created fast-paced lessons that kept students engaged with their regular coursework. Students caught up on their reading of Ulysses in tents by the campfire, created postcards, built forts for shelter, solved math challenges, fished for different parts of speech to write a story and more. After all their hard work, students finished and enjoyed S’mores.
Middle and high school French students celebrated La Chandeleur by baking crepes with their teachers Elizabeth Bressel and Casey DeGori on Feb. 3.
Under the guidance of Bressel and DeGori, each student got the chance to spread the batter, and flip and bake their crepe on stove tops before covering them with bananas, Nutella, whipped cream and more.
La Chandeleur is celebrated 40 days after Christmas and revolves around making crepes because their shape and color represents the sun and the circle of life.
There will be a two-hour delay for all LVCSD schools tomorrow, Feb. 6. Morning SCOPE programs are cancelled. Stay safe!
On Feb. 5, middle school students Dila Agir, Jesus Ceja, Kody Guzman and Jasmine Thomas were highlighted for sharing kindness and charitability with their classmates during January.
From Jan. 27-31, the Bayville and Locust Valley elementary schools participated in The Great Kindness Challenge, a global campaign that encourages students, teachers and families to perform acts of kindness.
In Locust Valley, students completed a kindness checklist and wrote positive letters to their classmates, teachers and school staff. Students also rocked out with award-winning children’s music singer Jared Campbell, who performed his original songs to teach students how to be kind and respectful.
Bayville Intermediate and Bayville Primary School spent the week celebrating their similarities and differences. Both school communities dressed up as their favorite superheroes and athletes and wore workout gear and tie-dye to showcase their diverse interests and learn more about each other.
On Jan. 30, Bayville Primary teachers Michelle Esposito and Brittany Fassari did their part to help students appreciate each other’s interests with a class titled “Together We Learn.” Each grade read “What If We Were All The Same!” by C.M. Harris in class this week and congregated in the multipurpose room. There, they were instructed to congregate by posters of their favorite candy or tape outlines of their favorite colors and shapes to see the differing likes of their classmates.
Get ready to see future Locust Valley Jesters take on Cruella de Vil and her minions in their performances of the Disney classic “101 Dalmatians” at the middle/high school auditorium on Feb. 12 and 13 at 6 p.m. No tickets are required. If you cannot attend, you can watch from home at the link below and in our bio.
https://cur8.com/39980/project/128730
Locust Valley Middle/High School welcomed fifth graders from Bayville Intermediate and Locust Valley Intermediate to the mini-theater for a showcase of Italian culture in the annual “Italiamo” festival on Jan. 24.
The visiting intermediate schoolers molded clay into Italian icons, learned to converse in Italian, created their dream pizza pies with stickers, drew upside down like Michelangelo painting the Sistine Chapel and performed the traditional dance “La Tarantella,” under the guidance of the high school volunteers and teachers Eleonora Aiello, Mariatonia Angelo and Melissa Caravello.
The event gave fifth graders a chance to understand a different culture, familiarize themselves with the building they will move to next year and talk with high school students about the amazing things to look forward to in the next step in their educational journey.
Locust Valley High School Model U.N. students achieved incredible successes at the historic METMUNC 53 conference at Plainview-Old Bethpage High School on Jan. 25 and 26.
The 29 students showcased leadership traits and enjoyed working together with other model U.N. councils to research, debate and resolve some of the most precarious international situations from around the globe. Senior John Hartnett, junior Wyatt Thorgramson and freshman Thomas Simon each earned special recognition for their work.
These successes come on the heels of the team’s participation at United Nations International School’s Model U.N. conference in December, where Thorgramson and Oliver Dostalek won awards.
On Jan. 28, second graders in Jessica Coules’, Carolyn Morales/Taylor Sivacek’s and Jennifer Pagan’s classes spent the day creating dragon puppets and lanterns and writing stories to ring in the year of the snake for Lunar New Year.
Staff members of Locust Valley Middle and High School took to the court for some friendly competition at the annual Volley in the Valley tournament sponsored by the Athletic Council on Jan. 22. The Dig Dawgs, Flamingo Fury and Ivy League duked it out in a round robin with the student body cheering them on. Team Flamingo Fury took home the crown after an exciting final match.
The Locust Valley High School robotics team, Kuiper 8013, participated in two FIRST Long Island qualifying tournaments at Sewanhaka High School on Jan. 18 and 19, winning eight of ten matches, finishing in third and first place and punching its ticket to the championship round.
After five months of working on their contraptions, the team was excited to showcase its innovations and teamwork in the fast-paced event. On Jan. 18, Team Kuiper won three of five matches and ranked 3rd out of 16 teams. On Jan. 19, together with its alliance partner from Portledge High School, the team won the competition. On Jan. 19, Kuiper went undefeated in five matches and ranked 1st out of 18 teams. The team took home the Control Award and Innovated Award.
These incredible showings helped the team advance to the FIRST Long Island Regional Tournament at Hofstra University on March 16. Before that, the team will host the FIRST Tech Challenge at the high school gymnasium on Feb 1 and 2.
Bayville Intermediate School fifth graders in the Locust Valley Central School District learned new skills from National Circus Project instructors all week leading up to an amazing performance in front of friends and family on Jan. 17.
The annual event, organized by the Bayville Elementary Parents Council, helps students discover their ability to achieve incredible feats and coordinate intricate routines with their classmates. Throughout the week of Jan. 13-17, students chose to be a part of the balancing, clowning, hula hooping, diablo stick throwing, juggling or stilting groups and honed their craft with experienced circus clowns Kevin and Krissy during their gym classes.
The students’ hard work culminated in a wonderful event where the community marveled at how quickly the fifth graders could master a new skill.
Locust Valley Middle School invites you to join in Alice’s adventure into Wonderland on Friday, Jan. 24, and Saturday, Jan. 25, at 6 p.m. in the MS/HS Auditorium. No tickets are required. If you cannot attend, you can also livestream the show at the link below or in our bio.
https://cur8.com/39980/project/128659
High school sophomores and juniors and parents/guardians are encouraged to attend College and Career Information Night, Thursday, Jan. 23, from 6-8 p.m. in the mini-theater. Counselors will share important information about the college application process before attendees go to break out sessions led by outside presenters.
Locust Valley Intermediate School students gathered in the auditorium on Jan. 15 to celebrate classmates who have helped to raise up others and shown a commitment to success in the classroom.
At the first-ever Student Recognition Awards for the school, which Principal Reilly hopes to continue seasonally, Alexa Ferraro, Roberto Chavez and Louise Vaugh were named winners of the academic awards, and Khadin Hazratalie, Lucas Peralta and Ryan Vaserstein were named winners of the kindness awards.
Congratulations to these students and thank you for being great role models for your classmates!
Open enrollment kindergarten registration for the 2025-2026 school year begins on Tuesday, Jan. 21. It is recommended that all parents/guardians complete the corresponding packet on the central registration page of the district website by Friday, Feb. 28.
If you have any questions, please email registrar@locustvalleyschools.org.
On Jan. 9, Locust Valley High School’s Virtual Enterprise class attended its first ever in-person trade show at Virtual Enterprise International’s 2025 New York State and Northeast Business Plan Competition, hosted by Long Island University Post.
The young entrepreneurs created and developed a business idea to showcase at the event, presenting their plan to a panel of judges with the goal of advancing to the National Business Plan Competition. Connor Powers, Oliver Dostalek and Giulianna Friedrich led the Locust Valley class as CEO, CFO and COO, respectively, after interviewing with their teachers for the positions at the beginning of the school year.
As part of the project, students got valuable experience in developing a product idea based on consumer wants and needs, researching pricing and materials, seeking financial opportunities, creating a marketing plan, etc. The Locust Valley class created a company called “ChargeGuard” based around chargeable cases for laptops, AirPods and iPhones.
The class is looking forward to its next trade show on March 27.
Ten teams of middle school students showcased their ingenuity and inquisitiveness through projects and experiments at the science fair on Jan. 15. The 19 student scientists excitedly presented their projects to and took questions from high school students in the Science Research Department and teacher Louis DeRose.
Sixth grader Waverly Shenoy took home third place for her experiment to find best ways to remove stains from clothes. In second place was the duo of Emilie Baldwin and Amalia Godoy Moncada for their deep dive into the differences in DNA in various types of berries. And first place went to Aidan Contois, Jason Eisenberg and Liam McGovern for their study into cell phone addiction and how it affects attention spans.
All of these students earned the opportunity to participate in the Long Island Science and Engineering Fair in March.
Now in its fifth year, the fair has continued to grow thanks to the LVMS Parents Council, which organizes the event. The high school robotics team entertained guests and gave the middle school scientists inspiration for their future works by showing off their competition robots.
Don’t be late for these very important dates! Support the middle school drama production of “Alice in Wonderland” on Jan. 24 and 25 at 6 p.m. in the auditorium. No tickets are required. If you cannot attend in person, you can stream the production online at https://cur8.com/39980/project/128659.
There are many exciting summer research opportunities for middle and high school students. Check these options out at the new Summer Research Page in the middle and high school menus of the district website! Information will be updated as it becomes available.
https://locustvalleycsdny.sites.thrillshare.com/o/lvhs/page/summer-research-opportunities
