The Locust Valley Central School District welcomed pre-kindergarten students into Ann MacArthur Primary School and Bayville Primary school on Jan. 9, as the district opened the doors to its new full day universal pre-K program.
Upon arrival on the first day at Ann MacArthur, students and their families were greeted with balloons from the Locust Valley Elementary Parents Council and the smiling faces of staff members. Similarly, at Bayville Primary School, Mrs. Miraglia waved pink pom poms and greeted arriving students as they entered the school for the first time.
“The first day was absolutely spectacular,” Ann MacArthur Principal Kurt Simon said. “We’re so excited to see these new students walk through the doors for the first time. It far exceeded our expectations.”
The program was designed to provide students with play-based, developmentally appropriate learning activities aligned with the Next Generation Early Learning Standards to prepare them for kindergarten. Their days will include calendar activities, center time (dramatic play, blocks and building, creative arts, sensory science and discovery, writing and math), circle time, quiet time, lunch time, small group time, free play time, snack time, and art, music, physical education and library experiences.
The talented young performers of the Locust Valley Middle School drama department will take the stage to perform “Freaky Friday: The Musical” at 6 p.m. on Jan. 27 and 28. The performances will be provided both in person and via a livestream link. No tickets are required for in-person attendees. To access the livestream, please visit: https://www.showtix4u.com/event-details/69664
The Locust Valley Middle School robotics club is preparing for the First Lego League Robotics Competition, which will be held at Huntington High School in February. Every Wednesday for the next month, the team of sixth graders will work on challenges involving coding and robots on a field displaying various types of sustainable energy. In addition, they are charged with developing an innovation project highlighting their ideas for new sustainable energy sources, all the while fine-tuning core presentation skills such as professionalism and public speaking.
Various robotics teams at AMP, LVI and the MS/HS who are enrolled in First Lego League’s robotics have been studying this year’s theme of energy, reimagining the future of sustainable energy.
ATTENTION LVCSD - Registration for September 2023 PreK is now open - click on link below for lottery sign up and registration packet
Visit the Central Registration page for more information https://www.locustvalleyschools.org/page/central-registration-office
Before the holiday break, Locust Valley High School students in Ms. Craven’s Chefs 1 class baked gingerbread houses from scratch. The young chefs baked the dough and created ornate structures and winter scenes outside the houses with a mix of cereals, candies, and snacks. Houses were judged based on a series of criteria, including the construction of the house, design of the roof and overall house, added details, tree design and overall neatness.
After being graded, each house was given to a member of the school staff of the students’ choosing.
Locust Valley High School senior and starting point guard Payton Tini scored her 1,000th point for the Falcons during their game against the visiting Malverne Mules on Jan. 3. She became the fourth member of the undefeated 2020 team to achieve the feat, joining former teammates Lindsay Hogan, Paige O’Brien and Julia Sabatino.
Tini stepped to the free throw line with the team ahead in the third quarter and hit nothing but net for her career milestone. After celebrating with her teammates during a timeout, Tini got back to the court, helping the Falcons secure a 53-39 win with an impressive stat line of 25 points, nine rebounds, six steals and four assists.
Tini is a co-captain, who has played at the varsity level since she was in eighth grade. She was also a starter in every one of the 54 consecutive games the team won from 2020 to 2021, which is a Long Island record. The point guard was an All-County and All-State player last year.
The basketball star also plays soccer and lacrosse for the Falcons and has committed to play lacrosse at Rutgers University in the fall.
Locust Valley’s Bayville Primary School second graders in Ms. Higgins and Mrs. Morales’ class shared their new knowledge of science and literacy with older peers and teachers during the building’s Learning Expo this winter.
During the event, the class welcomed fourth graders from Bayville Intermediate and taught them about subjects such as crabs, spiders and wolves using the digital books and drawings they created after researching various topics.
The event served as a culminating activity to Bayville Primary students’ unit of study on non-fiction reading and writing.
As part of an ELA project, Locust Valley Intermediate School third grade students in Ms. Yanez’s class recalled memorable events in their lives and used those times as the inspiration to create original books. Through the lesson, the students learned how to add dialogue, insert transition words and utilize figurative language to give their writing some additional details. The classmates also peer edited each other’s stories before reading their final versions out loud. Once completed, the students had the chance to read their books to visiting family members in class.
Members of the Locust Valley High School varsity wrestling team brought season’s greetings in December when they caroled in Bayville to raise money for the Olivia Hope and Matthew Fetzer Foundations.
On the day of the event, coach John Brush dressed up as Santa Claus and accompanied the team as they paraded through the neighborhood across from St. Gertrude’s Church. There, the student athletes handed out flyers with information on how to donate to the charities before serenading residents with holiday tunes like “Feliz Navidad,” “Last Christmas” and “Deck the Halls” among others.
The team conceived the event as a way to give back, as the community has been so supportive of them. They are still raising money for the two charities via gofundme.com under the name “Wrestling Against Childhood Cancer.”
Students at Bayville Primary School had some special guests visit their classrooms on Dec. 19. Lucie the Golden Doodle from Therapy Dogs of Long Island and BP teacher Mrs. Maggie Holtz’s certified therapy dog Holly the Golden Retriever came to spread some holiday cheer. Students enjoyed a relaxing moment before the winter break by petting and reading to the dogs.
As a result of their performance on and off the field, 148 Locust Valley High School student-athletes recently received New York State Public High School Athletic Association Fall 2022 Scholar-Athlete Individual Awards. In addition, seven fall teams also attained Scholar-Athlete Team status.
To earn the individual honors, those 148 Falcons maintained GPAs of 90 or higher during their seasons. The team honors were given to the boys cross country and volleyball teams, the girls cross country, tennis, volleyball and field hockey teams and the high school swimming team in recognition of the teams cumulatively maintaining a GPA of 90 or higher.
Twenty-seven Locust Valley Middle School students competed in the school spelling bee in front of their friends and family in the MS/HS auditorium on the morning of Dec. 19. Humnaa Abid took first place, clinching the school title on the word “Leander.” Katelyn DiLorenzo finished in second and will join Abid in the regional level competition the ScholarSkills Long Island Spelling Bee.
Students from sixth to eighth grade qualified by winning their classroom spelling bees and did their classes proud by navigating around a dozen rounds of challenging words.
Abid and DiLorenzo, both eighth graders, will participate in the first round of the Long Island Regional Spelling Bee, which is a written spelling and vocabulary contest administered by ScholarSkills officials via Zoom, in February. Students with the top scores will proceed to the second and final round in March.
Winter Concert season brought the school community together across Locust Valley this past week. Hundreds packed the MS/HS and Locust Valley Intermediate auditoriums from Dec. 12-15 to watch the incredibly talented students and conductors of the chorus, bands and orchestras perform songs they have put months of work into. Students brought holiday cheer with tunes, such as “Carry the Light (Shalom),” “Feliz Navidad,” “Frosty the Snowman,” “Sleigh Ride” and many classics and modern favorites.
The Locust Valley Elementary Parents’ Council hosted its annual Holiday Boutique on Dec. 13 and 14. During the event, students from Ann MacArthur and Locust Valley Intermediate searched for gifts for their families, friends, pets and others. There were many options for the students to choose from, including team pennants, coffee mugs and jewelry. The event reinforced real-world math skills, as the students worked to purchase items within their allotted budgets.
The Locust Valley High School boys varsity soccer team took home several awards at the county awards dinner on Dec. 6. Senior forward Brandon Villanueva was named Nassau County Class B Player of the Year, Conference Offensive Player of the Year and earned All-State Honors, as well.
Falcons Juniors Johnny Guillen and Daniel Ceja received All-County honors and Ceja was also named the County Finals Most Valuable Player. Junior Daniel Green was an All-County Honorable Mention. Gerardo Salinas, Miklos Argyelan, William Guillen and William Jacobs were named All-Conference players.
The Falcons were Class B finalists, managing a 9-3-1 conference mark and 11-3-1 overall record.
This year’s winter concert season commenced on Dec. 8 as Locust Valley Middle School’s sixth grade orchestra, chorus and band took to the stage in the high school auditorium. The talented sixth graders played a variety of classic and modern holiday tunes, including “Frosty the Snowman,” “Santaland Jam” and “Sparklejollytwinklejingley” in front of friends and family.
The holiday spirit continued to shine through as Bayville Intermediate School students performed for Bayville Primary School students on Dec. 12 and during an encore show for friends and family on Dec. 13 in the BI auditorium. During the shows, the school’s orchestra, chorus and band played songs including “A Jamaican Christmas,” “Boogie Woogie Holiday” and “Chanukah Lights & Dreidels.”
The holiday season is in full swing in Locust Valley and Bayville! Students from the high school’s Interact Club made their way over to Bayville Primary on Dec. 8 to help Brittany Fassari’s class create beautiful and sweet gingerbread houses. Ms. Fassari’s students used frosting, M&M’s, gum balls, Froot Loops, candy canes and more to dress up their houses and ice cream cone trees.
Ann MacArthur Primary students got their chance to create ornate gingerbread houses with their parents and volunteers from the high school’s Animals and Environmental Awareness Club on Dec. 9. Members of the club provided bags of candy, hot chocolate, coloring books and stuffed animal “pet pals” to AMP students and assisted them with their gingerbread house designs.
Bayville students flocked to Bayville Primary on Dec. 6 and 7 to grab gifts for their friends, family, pets and others at the Bayville Elementary Parents’ Council Holiday Boutique. The parent council provided candy and gifts like stuffed animals, ornaments, squeaky toys for pets and more on tables at the school’s stage.
The Locust Valley High School stage band and chamber singers brought season’s greetings this week by performing classic Christmas and Hanukkah tunes at the Bayville and Locust Valley tree lightings on Dec. 3 and 6. The band and singers braved the pouring rain on both nights with the help of the Town of Oyster Bay bandshell in Bayville and the gazebo at Thomas Park in LV and introduced Santa riding in on local firetrucks.
It's Winter Concert season in Locust valley and Bayville! LVMS Sixth Grade kicks it off tonight at the MS/HS Auditorium at 7 p.m. Live stream available here: https://www.youtube.com/@locustvalleyhsfilmandtv7373.
