Seniors, if you have not already, please order your caps and gowns online by Tuesday, Oct. 31. Go to https://herffjonesny.wufoo.com/forms/locust-valley-hs-class-of-2024/ to order your graduation package.
Locust Valley High School will host students throughout the district for Safe Halloween on Oct. 26 from 5-6:30 p.m. Attendees can safely trick or treat, play games and decorate pumpkins at different classrooms with high school student government members and volunteers. Pizza, baked goods and Falcons merchandise will be available for purchase.
Come to the track at Locust Valley High School for the first Community Breast Cancer Walk hosted by the Pre-Health club, Cancer Awareness Club and high school senior Gianna Palleschi’s charity Pink Pom Pom on Oct. 21 from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. There will be raffles, baked good and more. All proceeds will benefit the fight against breast cancer. Stay for the football game at 2 p.m. and cheer for the team on senior day.
The Locust Valley Central School District hosted a celebration of the diverse families that make up its Falcon Family at the high school cafeteria for Bilingual Night on Oct. 10.
Attendees brought meals and deserts from their unique cultures for the 165 community members in attendance to savor during the dinner portion of the night. Students in the high school’s Hispanic Heritage Club and parents volunteered to serve the delicious foods and beverages. Before and after dinner, partygoers reconnected with one another and learned more about the district’s course, counseling and athletic offerings at tables with school staff. Families also learned more about local organizations and businesses that also had tables at the event and sponsored gift baskets for the raffle.
District Language Interpreter and Hispanic Heritage Club Advisor Cyndy Ergen has organized Bilingual Night in Locust Valley for the past eight years as a space where families could get important academic information about the district.
“I feel happy and proud when I see families smiling, learning and having fun,” Ergen said. “I will continue to encourage parents to be active and involved and give them a voice.”
Locust Valley High School has earned distinction on the AP School Honor Roll and achieved the AP Access Award for the 2022-2023 school year. This honor is given in recognition of a school’s ability to provide students with access to advanced coursework.
The AP School Honor Roll recognizes schools whose AP programs are delivering results for students while broadening access to those programs. Schools earn this status based on criteria that reflect a commitment to increasing college-going culture, providing opportunities for students to earn college credit and maximizing college readiness.
Schools are reviewed based on their college culture or percent of students in the graduating class who took an AP exam at any point in high school, college credit or percent of students in the graduating class who scored a three or higher on any AP exam in high school and college optimization or percentage of students in the graduating class who took five or more AP classes in high school where at least one exam was taken in ninth or tenth grade.
Locust Valley High School attained a gold rating in college credit and college optimization and a silver rating in college culture.
The high school also received an AP Access Award for encouraging more low-income and underrepresented minority students to take AP courses. The percentage of students in at least one of these categories who took at least one AP exam before graduation is proportional to or above the school’s student population, demonstrating a clear and effective commitment to equitable access to advanced coursework.
“At Locust Valley, our ongoing goal is to provide access to challenging coursework for as many students as possible, broadening their horizons and preparing them for life after graduation,” Director of Guidance and Student Counseling Michelle Villa said.
“The recent recognition reflects students’ earnest efforts with rigorous coursework and the related instructional preparation, work and talents among our staff,” Principal Patrick DiClemente said. We are proud as a school to provide multiple diversified instructional programs including Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate and specialized career training through Nassau BOCES and LIHSA.”
Aimed at helping students prepare for the future and foster strong connections, the district hosted two informational fairs this October.
At Locust Valley High School, students learned about the offerings provided at 57 different colleges and universities as part of the school’s second college mini-fair of the year on Oct. 2. During the event, the building’s juniors and seniors spoke with school representatives and gained further insight on the institutions’ curriculum, campuses and atmosphere.
Knowing the important benefits of staying involved in their school, middle school students browsed club choices at the activity fair after school on Oct. 5 on the blacktop behind the school. Students signed up for extracurriculars including music performing groups, robotics, T.V. studio productions and more.
The Bayville Elementary Parents’ Council invited students to Bayville Primary School on Oct. 6 for a fun fall fair. Fair goers had plenty of activities to take part in such as decorating pumpkins, making scarecrows, dancing and snacking on tasty treats like cotton candy and popcorn.
Locust Valley High School will host students throughout the district for Safe Halloween on Oct. 26 from 5-6:30 p.m. Attendees can safely trick or treat, play games and decorate pumpkins at different classrooms with high school student government members and volunteers. Pizza, baked goods and Falcons merchandise will be available for purchase.
Locust Valley High School seniors Kelsey Neves and Vicente Godoy Moncada have earned 2024 National Merit Scholarship Commended Student and National Hispanic Recognition Scholar status, respectively.
Neves is one of 34,000 commended students out of the approximately 1.5 million entrants who received letters of recognition for their outstanding academic promise. Commended Students do not continue into the competition but are still eligible for special scholarships in March 2024.
“It was cool to be appreciated for my hard work and to have that recognition felt really good,” Neves said.
The commended student is planning to major in English or creative writing in college and was inspired by her past two English teachers Coleen Comerford and Anthony Vitale. She is currently the president of the school’s fashion club, the editor for the art and literature magazine and the mental health awareness club’s newsletter and a member of the Gender-Sexualities Alliance club.
Godoy Moncada is one of 10,000 students nationwide selected by the Hispanic Scholarship Fund, which requires students who are planning to enroll full-time in an accredited four-year university to attain a minimum of a 3.0 grade point average. Vicente and his family moved to the district in 2019, after spending time in Chile, Germany, Austria and St. Kitts and Nevis.
“No place feels the same, even if they are neighboring each other,” Godoy Moncada said. “It makes you appreciative of the world and different cultures.”
Outside of being a Hispanic Scholar, Godoy Moncada is playing volleyball for the first time, is involved in the International Baccalaureate leadership at the school and Odyssey of the Mind. He plans on majoring in architecture in college.
Locust Valley High School will host the first district Bilingual Night of the year in the cafeteria on Oct. 10. Students and parents/guardians will be able to enjoy great food and games and learn more about school activities, parent portal and community events. Please contact Cyndy Ergen at 516-782-6500 or cergen@locustvalleyschools.org if you have any questions.
Five Locust Valley High School students will have their artwork included in the 2024 edition of the Cornell University Cooperative Extension of Nassau County’s annual gardening calendar and guide.
Juniors Molly Bowden, Anhelina Grygoriak, Annemie Germans and Gianna Castiglione and senior Victoria Alesi worked on their bright, fruit-focused pieces for the gardening calendar and guide in Melanie Mooney’s art class throughout the first month of school. Students learned about color theory, color mixing and layering as part of the project.
Ms. Mooney and her students will be in attendance when The Cornell Cooperative Extension displays the selected works as part of its Family Fun Day at East Meadow Farm on Oct. 23 in the “Art in the Garden” exhibit.
“I am honored that their talents are highlighted and celebrated,” Mooney said. “This is an opportunity where the students’ talents can be celebrated in a calendar that is distributed throughout Nassau County.”
Locust Valley High School’s athletic department and booster club Falcon Pride inducted four new members into its hall of fame during a ceremony at the gymnasium on Sept. 22. Local wrestling legends and brothers Alfred and Robert DeStefanis and multisport athletes Rob McGrorty and John Salvi had their plaques added to the gym walls.
Alfred DeStefanis managed records of 17-4-1, 32-3, 27-0 and 20-1 in his four years on the mat for the Falcons, also helping the team to two state titles and its first Nassau County dual meet championship in 1979.
Alfred’s older brother Robert DeStefanis had an incredible junior year, putting together a 34-0-1 record and six individual championships, including a New York State one. As a senior, Robert captured Nassau County and New York State championships and led the team in pins, points and record again.
Rob McGrorty was an accomplished member of the Falcons’ football and baseball teams, attaining three varsity letters and co-captaining for both. In football, he was named All-Division and Most Valuable Lineman in 1977, and on the diamond McGrorty was All-Division in 1975 and 1977 and All-County and Co-MVP in 1977.
John Salvi represented the Falcons in football, wrestling and track and field from 1971 to 1974. Salvi captained the football team from 1972-1974, earning All-Division, All-County and Coaches’ Nassau County team honors. On the wrestling mat, Salvi was the All-Northshore champion with 23 wins in his junior year in 1973. Salvi was also a state champion and double county champion in discus and double county champion in shotput.
Locust Valley High School students got a visit from two therapy dogs on Sept. 28 for a chance to relax in between classes. Luna the chocolate Labrador from Therapy Dogs of Long Island and Walty the Golden-doodle spent time in the library where students came to pet them during their open periods. Therapy dogs have been coming to the school every last Thursday of the month for two years.
“It allows our students a moment of relaxation and a guaranteed serotonin boost,” school social worker Bidania Criscuolo said. “I’m always trying to find different ways to give our students a brain break.”
From curriculum meetings in July to the memorable Remembrance Bowl game, experience the sights and sounds of the Remembrance Project.
Locust Valley High School students got a visit from two therapy dogs on Sept. 28 for a chance to relax in between classes. Luna the chocolate Labrador from Therapy Dogs of Long Island and Walty the golden doodle spent time in the library where students came to pet them during their open periods. Therapy dogs have been coming to the school every last Thursday of the month for two years.
“It allows our students a moment of relaxation and a guaranteed serotonin boost,” school social worker Bidania Criscuolo said. “I’m always trying to find different ways to give our students a brain break.”
Ahead of the Remembrance Bowl, a game meant to honor soldiers who gave their lives in the D-Day invasions at Normandy, the Locust Valley High School Falcons and Cold Spring Harbor High School Seahawks varsity football teams met to sign each other’s gameday jerseys on Sept. 21.
Football players and cheerleaders from each team came to the Locust Valley High School cafeteria for team dinners, then headed to the auditorium where Helen Patton, the daughter of General George Patton, spoke to students about the bravery of Allied troops who liberated Europe.
Patton and the teams then headed to the gymnasium to sign the gameday jerseys that were made specifically for the Remembrance Bowl. Each player from both teams signed every jersey, as well as two jerseys to be sent over to Locust Valley’s sister city, Sainte-Mere-Eglise, France to be displayed at the site where the Remembrance Bowl began in 2018 as a flag football game between the 101st and 82nd Airborne Divisions.
Locust Valley High School students continued to plan their academic future on Sept. 18, as 65 colleges and universities came to the gymnasium for the first college fair of the year. Students walked up and down the rows of tables speaking to representatives of each post-secondary school to get a better idea of what they want in their next school experience.
“We have strong relationships with the college admissions representatives who evaluate our students’ college applications,” Director of Guidance and School Counseling Michelle Villa said. “The benefit to our students is a personal one, where they are given the opportunity to make a first impression and engage in a conversation before their college applications is evaluated.”
Educators in the Locust Valley Central School District spent the week of the Remembrance Bowl teaching age-appropriate lessons on World War II to students from kindergarten to 12th grade.
District teachers worked throughout the summer to prepare a wide array of lessons focusing on the bravery of Allied soldiers who liberated Locust Valley’s sister city Sainte-Mere-Eglise, France nearly 80 years ago. The Remembrance Bowl is a flag football game played between the 101st and 82nd Airborne units in Sainte-Mere-Eglise to honor the Allied soldiers who fought to liberate Europe. The game came to the Locust Valley district through a partnership between Locust Valley’s own Operation Democracy and the Patton Legacy Sports organization.
At Bayville Primary School, Victoria Shishkoff’s first graders learned about paratroopers and got their own paratrooper toys to test out on the playground on Sept. 20.
On the same afternoon over at Locust Valley Intermediate, third, fourth and fifth grade students learned about the evolution of the United States flag, flag code and how to fold a flag during an assembly.
On Sept. 21, Locust Valley Middle School students filled the auditorium to watch a documentary called “Mother of Normandy” about the beloved wife of Sainte-Mere-Eglise’s mayor Simone Renaud. After the film, students participated in a question-and-answer session with director Doug Stebleton and the author of the book of the same name, Jeff Stoffer. Maurice Renaud, the son of Simone, came from France to participate in the week’s events and spoke to students after the film, as well.
Locust Valley staff and students throughout the district wore green on Sept. 26 to show their support for the Farmingdale school community after the tragic bus crash in upstate New York.
Locust Valley staff and students throughout the district wore green on Sept. 26 to show their support for the Farmingdale school community after the tragic bus crash in upstate New York.
