During the last weeks of May, Locust Valley High School students were honored for their academic, athletic and extracurricular efforts throughout the school year. At the Senior Academic and Community Awards, high school staff and local organizations celebrated students’ acts of service and success in the classroom. The following week at the Senior Athletic Awards Night, our great Falcons coaches and players were lauded for their many accolades and their dedication to their teammates through thick and thin. Finally, 21 International Baccalaureate candidates received their diplomas after two years of tireless research and work culminating in challenging testing and essays.
In early June, Bayville Intermediate School fifth graders spent a day at West Harbor Beach for the annual beach party. The Bayville Elementary Parents Council provided food and ice cream, inflatable basketball and soccer games, and a dunk tank for students as they enjoyed a perfect day to get in the water and have fun in the sand!
Fourteen Locust Valley Middle School students were recognized by staff for their thoughtful acts as part of the May edition of Caught Being Kind on June 6. Students Aleena Asim, James Fox, Jayson Harrison, Kylie Horowitz, Brooke Markowski, Maddie Mazaa, Nancy McDonald, Julia Michalski, Jayden Nicholeau, Baileigh Parsons, Charlize Pierro, Chloe Shen, Tapasya Sreenivas and Charlotte Tucker were seen performing kind acts such as helping classmates with assignments, finding money and bringing it to the middle school office and giving candy to a teacher as appreciation for their efforts throughout the year.
The high school world language department held its third annual volleyball tournament in late May for International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme candidates ahead of their awards night. Teams representing France Italy and Spain took to our beautiful fields for an outdoor tournament to celebrate the completion of the students’ IB language studies.
Team Italy donned tie-dye shirts signed by each other and matching sunglasses on their way to winning the trophy. Afterwards, students enjoyed Italian ices on a perfect spring day.
Five Locust Valley High School students committed to continue their athletic careers on spring signing day on May 29.
Seniors Michael DiLorenzo signed on to play football at Wilkes University, Johnny Guillen and William Guillen committed to play soccer together at SUNY Farmingdale and Michael Hancock and Reily Roberts will play basketball at SUNY Potsdam and SUNY Geneseo, respectively.
“Through your craft, you have inspired your teammates, coaches and community,” Athletic Director Danielle Turner-Cosci told students during a ceremony in the gymnasium. “Your dedication to athletics and academics has helped to raise expectations for our program, and we are grateful for the impact you have had here at Locust Valley.”
Over the past few weeks, Locust Valley and Bayville students showed off the incredible art works they have worked on throughout the school year. Friends and family came to Ann MacArthur Primary School, Bayville Intermediate School, Locust Valley Middle School and Locust Valley High School to see the beautiful exhibits set up by the student artists and staff.
Young performers from the Bayville and Locust Valley intermediate school choruses stepped behind home plate at Fairfield Properties Ballpark in Central Islip and sang “The Star-Spangled Banner” before the Long Island Ducks game on May 25.
Locust Valley High School seniors welcomed veterans and active service members to the school auditorium on May 28 for the annual Flags for Freedom ceremony. The partnership between the district and local organization Operation Democracy, who worked together on September’s Remembrance Bowl football game and curriculum, continued with this celebration of our military heroes.
Veterans from the Bayville American Legion’s Robert H. Spittel Post 1285 and Locust Valley American Legion’s Howard Van Wagner Post 962 served as honored guests, and gifted students with a tri-folded American flag, a copy of the U.S. Constitution and the Declaration of Independence and information about flag code and the origins of the design. The organization Military Blue Star Mothers was also part of the veneration of our veterans.
Army veteran Al Staab, a member of the high school’s athletic hall of fame and a 2006 graduate, was the keynote speaker. Staab gifted the school a flag and an anti-vehicle round that hit the helicopter he served as the gunner for while he served in Iraq.
Flags for Freedom continues the district’s longstanding relationship with Operation Democracy to instill in students the incredible bravery of our service members and the importance of the flag as a symbol of the freedom they have fought for.
Elementary school students from across the district celebrated Memorial Day on May 23 with ceremonies at Ann MacArthur Primary School and Bayville Village Hall. Bands and choruses from Locust Valley Intermediate School and Bayville Intermediate School played patriotic tunes and taps for friends, family and veterans from American Legion Post 962 in Locust Valley and Post 1285 in Bayville.
High School seniors came to the gym wearing their college colors and shared their excitement for the future at the annual Up and Away Day on May 21. Each student met with their counselors to share their college plans and also get a look at their graduation posters, provided by the High School Parents’ Council, lining the walls of the gym.
On May 18, 11 students in the Locust Valley Middle School Model U.N. class were invited to participate in the Syosset Model United Nations Conference sponsored by Syosset High School. Locust Valley was the only outside district invited to attend. Topics included mitigation of space debris, repatriation of artifacts from museums, the plight of climate refugees, and a special crisis committee based on events in the South China Sea.
The delegates from Locust Valley were awarded five of the 12 awards given that day for best delegate and honorable mentions in addition to a special award for “Most Likely to Work on the Actual U.N.” Leo Del Giudice, Maya Karagiannakis, Bella Russo, Thomas Simon and Asher Zito received honors at the event.
Brittany Fassari’s second grade class at Bayville Primary School took to the stage on May 22 to show off their patriotism ahead of Memorial Day. The young stars walked down a red carpet and took to the multipurpose room stage in front of their friends and families and read a book they each wrote on American symbols like bald eagles, the Empire State Building and The White House. Before they departed, students also performed a dance for the crowd with American flags in each hand.
Another spring concert series has come and gone in the Locust Valley Central School District. Hundreds of student-musicians from throughout the district once again showcased their talents for friends and family.
From May 2 to May 16, student-musicians filled the air in the school/middle school’s Howard A. Schmock Memorial Auditorium with beautiful melodies from musical greats ranging from Mozart and Duke Ellington to Paramore and Taylor Swift. Each night, the community packed the auditorium to show their appreciation for the students’ and staff’s efforts.
These concerts, which came just a few weeks after the district was once again named as one of the best communities for music education by the National Association of Music Merchants for the sixth year in a row, once again highlighted the incredible music culture within the community.
Please see below for the 2024-2025 budget results for Locust Valley Central School District.
Proposition 1: School Budget (Passed)
Yes: 904
No: 554
Proposition 2: Capital Reserve Withdrawal (Passed)
Yes: 1,000
No: 415
Proposition 3: Locust Valley Library Tax Levy 2024-2025 (Passed)
Yes: 441
No: 178
Trustee Election (* indicates winners): 3-year terms
Nicholas J. DellaFera: 861*
Michael McGlone: 735
George Vasiliou: 736*
Locust Valley High School athletes put in hard work throughout the spring sports season. Our Falcons continued to balance their academic and athletic pursuits and make us proud on and off the field. As a thank-you to the seniors who donned the Falcon green one more time, teammates, family and friends held senior days for each team to celebrate their leadership efforts. Once a Falcon, always a Falcon.
The annual budget vote and Board of Education election is Tuesday, May 21. Residents must vote in the election district in which they reside. The Bayville Election District residents must vote at the Bayville Intermediate School gymnasium at 50 Mountain Ave., Bayville. Brookville Election district residents must vote at the Community Hall of the Brookville Reformed Church at 2 Brookville Rd., Brookville. Locust Valley Election District residents must vote at the Ann MacArthur Primary School gymnasium at 100 Ryefield Rd., Locust Valley. If you are unsure where to vote, go to https://nb.findmypollplace.com/locustvalleycsd/AmIRegistered or the Board of Education’s Voter Information page of the district website.
Bayville Primary and Intermediate School students took a break from class on May 10 to dance and learn how to respect each other from hip hop choreographer DJ Reggie Williams from RSVP Entertainment. DJ Reggie broke down exciting dance moves into step-by-step instructions while also putting an emphasis on teaching students how to respect the things their teachers and family do for them every day.
Throughout May, students and staff throughout the district have celebrated and supported social and emotional awareness. Students participated in various activities to recognize the importance of emotional maturity. Some activities included dress-up days and classroom lessons from the district’s school counseling team. All students received a green bracelet or a stress ball.
Elementary schools throughout the district celebrated Social Emotional Awareness Spirit Week from May 6-10 by wearing pajamas on Mellow Monday, their favorite thinking caps on Thoughtful Tuesday, exercise clothes on Workout Wednesday, tie-dye for Thursday and green or Falcons gear on Falcon Friday. Students were also encouraged to participate in Screen-Free Week by unplugging from technology to promote physical and emotional wellness and enjoying the company of their friends and family.
As a Falcon Family, we work together to build and promote relationships with all community members.
Locust Valley Middle School students showcased their incredible experiments at last week’s science fair. Each group presented its project to staff members and high school science research students, and then enjoyed pizza and treats provided by the Middle School Parents Council.
Each group did an excellent job of proving their hypotheses and collecting data on project themes covering plant growth, solar eclipses, creating plastic and the effects of protein bars on exercise. Congratulations to sixth graders Aidan Contois, Jason Eisenberg and Liam McGovern for taking home first place for their project, “Dairy Dilemma.”
The Coordinated Parents’ Council will host the 2024 Meet the Candidates Night for the Board of Education on Wednesday, May 15, at 7 p.m. Please note the location has been changed to the HS/MS Auditorium. The event will be moderated by the League of Women Voters of East Nassau and will be livestreamed and recorded on the district's YouTube channel here: Locust Valley Board of Education - YouTube.
