Locust Valley Central School District

The Locust Valley Central School District’s Summer Recreation Program is back at Bayville Primary School, again offering crafts, on-site field trips, themed events, science adventures and sports from June 29 to July 31. Private and public school students who live in the district are eligible to register.

Register here: https://www.parentsquare.com/feeds/82202142?district_id=2462

For more information, go to the Summer Recreation Program page on the district website.

https://www.locustvalleyschools.org/page/summer-recreation-program

The Locust Valley High School Class of 2026 dazzled in beautiful suits and dresses as they continued to count down their high school years at their prom at The Crescent Beach Club in Bayville on June 15. The attendees took in the incredible sunset on the beach and ate, danced and made memories in the ballroom.

The fun isn’t over, as the seniors will have their graduation rehearsal and senior stroll on June 22 before they don their caps and gowns for the real graduation on June 25.

Proposition 1: School Budget

Propuesta 1: Presupuesto Escolar

Yes/ Sí: 1407

No: 874

Polls are now open for the Locust Valley Central School District 2026-27 budget revote. Residents must vote in the election district in which they reside. The polling locations are Ann MacArthur Primary School, Bayville Intermediate School and Brookville Reformed Church. Voting hours are 6 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Residents will be able to vote in the Locust Valley Central School District budget revote tomorrow, June 16, from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m., at Ann MacArthur Primary School, Bayville Intermediate School and Brookville Reformed Church. Voters must cast their ballot in the election district where they reside. Visit the Voter Information page on the district site to learn more.

https://www.locustvalleyschools.org/page/voter-information-revote

This revised budget reduces the tax levy increase from 2.1% to 1.78%, which is the lowest increase of the 14 school districts in the Town of Oyster Bay, without affecting any academic or extracurricular programs for our students. If this budget passes, the district will be able to continue our focus on literacy for K-5 students, give middle school students the opportunity to get high school credits with hands-on classroom activities, and incorporate safety measures recommended to the district by the Nassau County Police Department and U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

Should the revised budget fail, the district will be legally required to adopt a contingency budget, which would implement a 0% tax levy increase from last school year and require $1.6 million in cuts. In addition to these cuts, many programs would not be allowed to continue as they would be deemed noncontingent under New York State law.

Please come out and vote tomorrow!

The Locust Valley High School Chamber Singers delivered a beautiful rendition of “The Star-Spangled Banner” at Citi Field on Wednesday, June 10, ahead of the Mets’ game against the St. Louis Cardinals. Congratulations to Mrs. Blake and the singers on their performance.

Please join us in celebrating Gray Araoz, Max Bamba, Evie Bergman, Johny Bonilla, Rin Chan, Sarang Cheon, Max Cummo, Chris Emmerich, Grace Engel, Stella Fraser, Maya Karagiannakis, Samiyah Michalski, Scarlett Modlin, Gianna Moreano, Adriana Quijije, Alex Rivas, Skylar Seele, Hodavia Tedeschi, Avery Toscano, Julia Velez, Ava Yagudayev and John Zatwarnicki.

Thank you to everyone who came out and supported our students!

Coming off a fantastic 10-3-1 season, the Locust Valley High School varsity flag football team had more to celebrate after taking home several awards at the Section VIII county awards ceremony.

The team boasted the conference offensive and defensive players of the year, won by Morgan Sullivan and Ava Roedel, respectively. But that wasn’t all, as senior Sophia Georgiopoulos took home the Section VIII Unsung Hero Award.

Mia Marcantonio, Ava Roedel and Morgan Sullivan earned all-county designations. Victoria Sansone received an all-county honorable mention designation. Darling Acosta, Angelina Iodice, Melanie Smith and Duran Tchange Mangwa were named all-conference players.

Congratulations to the team and coach Michael Gilbert on a great season!

As we head towards the end of the school year, there are plenty of students and staff members to congratulate on their hard work.

At the high school’s Senior Athlete Recognition Night in partnership with the athletic council, student-athletes were honored for their on- and off-field contributions and leadership. Thank you to all our athletes for wearing our Falcons colors with pride and to our local scholarship presenters for keeping this beautiful tradition going strong. Elliot Aramayo, Andrew Bock, Brian Lorusso, Ben Martinez and Andrew Siegel were honored as coaches of the year for their lifesaving efforts at a basketball practice in November. Wendy Tobin accepted the lifetime achievement award on behalf of her sister Cindy, who the softball field was dedicated to in May.

At the high school’s Senior Academic and Community Awards, members of the Class of 2026 were recognized for their pursuits inside and outside of the classroom. Students were honored by alumni and community organizations for doing all that they could to serve as role models for our younger Falcons.

The high school recently celebrated International Baccalaureate Candidate Recognition Night as well. Each candidate spoke about the teachers who inspired them and the essays and projects they completed along their two-year journey in the program.

The middle school held its awards night recently, showcasing the next generation of Falcons who are ready to take the reins. These students demonstrated their kindness, thoughtfulness and maturity all year long.

Congratulations to all the recognized students and staff members and thank you to our community organizations who helped lift these students up all year.

It’s been a busy and successful year for Locust Valley High School junior Chelsy Arrata. Through Virtual Enterprise conferences, DECA club state and international competitions and essay contests, she and her teammates made history and helped demonstrate the growth of the school’s business programs. Now, she is setting her eyes towards another first for the school, a TEDx Talk.

In March, Arrata and her Locust Valley DECA compatriots traveled up to Rochester to take part in the New York DECA State Career Development Conference. The team earned several accolades, including a top 10 finish for Vito Ricciardi in his role play exercise. Arrata, meanwhile, became the club’s first-ever member to qualify for the DECA International Career Development Conference in Atlanta by placing fifth statewide in the Professional Selling category.

Earlier this spring, Arrata entered the Japan Center Essay Competition through Stony Brook University and took home first place and the International Consulate of Japan Special Award. Her essay centered on her grandfather’s escape from the Cultural Revolution in China, which she connected with Japanese philosophy.

In May, Arrata returned from the international DECA conference, where she competed with thousands of business students from around the globe and earned a 92 overall composition score from an exam and her presentation on professional selling. studied seven days a week while balancing her regular schoolwork for the notoriously difficult ICDC exam.

“It was a lot of work, a lot of time and a lot of stress,” Arrata said. “I’m grateful for the experience because it taught me how to balance academics and an international competition.”

Even while at the conference, Arrata skipped leisure time, including concerts and a trip to Six Flags, opting to utilize as much time as possible to prepare for her 15-minute presentation in front of professors and industry professionals from institutions such as Blackrock, Blackstone and Goldman Sachs. That presentation was a “supped up” version of the one she gave at the New York State DECA competition, which qualified her as the first-ever Locust Valley student to attend the international conference.

As part of her project, Arrata was tasked with finding ways to maintain a nonprofit organization and perform tasks like reducing high turnover rates and increasing and upscaling staff. She went beyond her marketing designation; creating an employee handbook and contract and running through the organization’s finances. Arrata had some real-world practice in this area already that she built off of, as she runs her own districtwide initiative called “Message Matters” focused on helping neurodivergent students express themselves, acts as the business director of a program called “Heroboxes,” which helped raise money for the homeless and she took part in a mission trip down to Jamaica in April to help rebuild homes damaged in storms.

“I really took on the role as if it were a real job, and that took some time and money to make these props,” Arrata said. “But it was really worth it.”

While Arrata was preparing for ICDC and her regular school exams, she received good news about another venture just days before she left for Atlanta. Arrata submitted numerous essays and video applications throughout the school year and received approval from the organization and the district to give a TEDx Talk to Locust Valley High School in August. The talk will be given from the school auditorium and livestreamed to be viewed everywhere online.

Arrata was inspired to fight for all these incredible achievements during a period of her life when she was struggling with health issues. Her TEDx Talk will focus on her belief that fear and hardship do not have to define anyone.

Arrata said her DECA club teacher, Lara Olotka, has been a huge source of support during her time in Locust Valley.

“She knew me when my family was going through a lot of adversity and she never gave up on me,” Arrata said. “She’s never doubted me. She always says, ‘You can do anything.’”
Arrata gave advice to Falcons present and future on how to find both classroom and personal success.

“I’ve failed many times. I’ve submitted for competitions, I’ve auditioned for things, started initiatives and some have failed, but I didn’t give up,” Arrata said. “I always tell my friends when they ask how I balance all this, ‘you have to have the drive. You have to want it.’ If you don’t try, you’ll never know.”

Locust Valley Central School District is taking over Adventureland again! On Wednesday, June 17, the park at 2245 Broadhollow Road in Farmingdale will be open exclusively to district community members from 5:30-9:30 p.m.

Tickets are $45 per person and are available at the link below. Tickets will be sold at the park box office for $65 on the night of the event. Food and beverages will be sold at the park. If the event is canceled due to inclement weather, a park voucher will be offered. The deadline to purchase tickets is Tuesday, June 16, at 2 p.m. Make sure to get your tickets before they sell out!

https://my.cheddarup.com/c/lvcsd-takes-over-adventureland2026/items

If you have any questions, please contact Lorie Minicozzi at lvmspcpresident@gmail.com or (516) 448-7872.

The district encourages our community members to familiarize themselves with the revised budget ahead of the revote on Tuesday, June 16, from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. at Ann MacArthur Primary School, Bayville Intermediate School and Brookville Reformed Church. As a reminder, you must vote in the election district you reside in.

The revised budget has lowered the tax levy increase from 2.10% to 1.78%. This continues the district’s track record of staying below the maximum allowable levy. The revised budget expands our strong educational program, continuing our focus on the humanities, foundational literacy, science and technology. Important security upgrades to our schools’ doors and locks, which were recommended by Nassau County Police Department and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, will also be maintained in this revised budget.

If the budget fails again at the June 16 revote, the district will be legally required to move to a contingency budget, which means the district must operate with a 0% tax levy increase. The district would be legally barred from funding non-contingent items, forcing the immediate removal of many student programs and extracurricular options.

A contingency budget would require $1.6 million in reductions to the second proposed budget. As a result, several programs and practices would not be legally allowed to continue in the 2026-2027 school year. Legally, the district must remove noncontingent items, which includes the elimination of late buses for both public and private schools; field trips not related to the curriculum, including overnight trips and music festival competitions and trips; the high school’s EMT and driver’s education programs; the continuing education program; senior center financial support; the Summer Academic Program; Summer Recreation Program; summer athletics and free use of our athletic fields by external community organizations, among other reductions.

For more information, visit the Budget Information and Voter Information pages on the district website.

Budget Information: https://www.locustvalleyschools.org/page/budget-info

Voter Information: https://www.locustvalleyschools.org/page/voter-information-revote

Celebrations of America’s 250th anniversary occurred throughout the district last week, with exciting and engaging activities for students of all ages. Here are just a few.

Elementary school students and staff members wore costumes depicting American fashion from different decades for Retro Day on Tuesday. Ms. Pawluk’s class at Ann MacArthur Primary School took on the Oregon Trail in a group project where students divided into “families,” chose what supplies to bring on their wagon and problem-solved as they received challenge cards during their journey.

Over at Bayville Intermediate School, students multitasked in their gym glasses with Mr. Kollias, practicing for field day with an obstacle course and discussing the games children may have played in America’s early years.

Middle school students in Mr. Lee’s math class played games of Battleship, learning about the different vessels the United States Navy has utilized throughout history and using graphing grids as the game board. Sixth graders and faculty members got outside in the beautiful June weather to celebrate America’s pastime and show off their arms in the “Can You Throw Faster Than a Sixth Grader?” challenge. Principal Cestaro got in on the action and topped the leaderboards with his throw. Students then took the data from the throws and organized them to find the mean, median, mode and range.

The festivities continue this week with games played during the 1800s during physical education classes and lessons on great American scientific minds.

The Budget Revote edition of the Locust Valley Central School District’s Soundwaves Newsletter is now available digitally and will be mailed to community members this week. Here, you will find more information on the revised budget, which maintains all student programming and reduces the tax levy increase from 2.1% to 1.78%. More information can be found at the district website under the “Budget” tab linked below and in our social media bios.

The revote takes place on Tuesday, June 16, from 6 a.m.-9 p.m. at Ann MacArthur Primary School, Bayville Intermediate School and Brookville Reformed Church.

https://www.locustvalleyschools.org/page/budget-info

With the revised budget adopted, the Locust Valley Central School District Board of Education will hold a public hearing on Monday, June 8, at 7 p.m. in the middle school/high school auditorium. There, community members can learn more about the revised budget, which has brought the tax levy down to 1.78%, and take part in public comment. This meeting will be livestreamed on the Locust Valley Board of Education YouTube page, as usual.

Information on the revised budget, including the newsletter that is being mailed out to the community, is available on the district website homepage under the “Budget” tab, which is also linked below, and on our social media account bios. Keep an eye on those social media accounts and ParentSquare for more information on the revised budget next week. As a reminder, the budget revote will occur on Tuesday, June 16, at Ann MacArthur Primary School, Bayville Intermediate School and Brookville Reformed Church from 6 a.m.-9 p.m.

Budget Information Page: https://www.locustvalleyschools.org/page/budget-info

Board of Education Meeting Livestream: https://www.youtube.com/c/LocustValleyBoardofEducation

Locust Valley High School welcomed United States military veterans to the auditorium on June 3 to honor their sacrifices and celebrate American history as we head towards the 250th anniversary of the nation’s founding this July.

The ceremony, “A Legacy of Service: Celebrating 250 Years of the United States,” gave seniors the opportunity to speak with veterans from all branches of our armed forces. The veterans, many of whom are Falcons alumni, gifted each student a beautiful, tri-folded American flag and imparted wisdom gained from their time in Locust Valley and in service to the country on them. Veterans from Bayville’s American Legion Robert H. Spittel Post 1285 and Locust Valley’s American Legion Post 962 joined the district in once again providing students with an opportunity to learn about and appreciate the work that has gone into building and maintaining our great nation for 250 years.

Keynote speakers, longtime Locust Valley resident and United States Air Force Lieutenant Colonel and flight surgeon, Dr. Khawaja Saddique, and Bayville native, Class of 1984 graduate and highly distinguished United States Navy Commander William Hesse, encouraged students to be the next great generation of Americans by using their unique passions and skills.

“As you prepare and begin the next chapter of your life, remember that success is measured not only in what you achieve for yourself, but also in how we serve,” Dr. Saddique told the seniors. “Service is not limited by age, profession or circumstance. It can be as simple as helping a neighbor, mentoring a young student or in curating your community.”

“You received the symbol of our great country, but what does that flag represent? It represents hope, truth and justice and the dream” Commander Hesse said. “Having been deployed overseas in many countries, I can say many, many populations could only dream of the opportunities you have in front of you.”

As always, the Locust Valley music department showcased its talents, performing patriotic tunes from throughout the years. The band, chamber singers and orchestra perfectly set the mood for the ceremony and expressed the school’s appreciation for the visiting veterans. The Locust Valley High School Parents Council ensured that the stage and decorations were fitting of such a beautiful ceremony.

On May 28, nine Locust Valley High School student-athletes put pen to paper, committing to collegiate programs as part of the school’s College Athlete Signing Day.

Seniors Gavin Boyd, Alyssa Ciminiello, Byron Hafner, Jake Lamb, Stefano Linardos, Ryan Sullivan, Will Summers, Emma Tonner and Dean Wolfe will continue their athletic pursuits far and wide, but they will always be Falcons.

“The opportunity to compete in college athletics is earned through years of dedication, perseverance and hard work,” Athletic Director Danielle Turner Cosci said. “These nine student-athletes have left a lasting mark on our athletic program and school community through their leadership and commitment to excellence. While their journeys will take them to campuses across the country, they will always be part of our Falcon family. We are incredibly proud of their accomplishments and excited to see what they achieve next!”

Kathleen Reilly wore many hats during her 25 years working in the Locust Valley Central School District. She’s taught, helped programs such as driver’s education and the middle school Washington, D.C., trip, supervised and worked the clock at sporting events, written courses at the high school level, and most recently guided Locust Valley Intermediate School students as the principal. She’s seen every level of the district and seen generations of students grow up, find themselves and return to thank her for her enthusiasm and care for them.

Reilly fell in love with history and social studies during her college years, specifically during a semester in London. Surrounded by the many historical sites there, she discovered her passion for learning the stories of how the modern world was built.

“History is always a story,” Reilly said. “It has romance, passion, laws and the ability to look at the present and relate it to the past and hopefully prevent tragedy in the future.”

A member of Locust Valley High School’s Class of 1980, Reilly started her career as an elementary school teacher at a catholic school in Queens before moving onto Floral Park Memorial High School as a grades 7-12 history teacher. In 2001, she returned to her alma mater, excited at the prospect of bringing her passionate teaching style to her social studies classes and her experience to the new Model UN club. She moved to the middle school side of the building in 2013, where she expanded the Model UN program there and coached girls lacrosse. She and then principal Tom Hogan oversaw the first nine years of the annual Washington, D.C., trip, which has helped students better appreciate the freedoms they enjoy and the historical figures who earned them.

“In middle school, mistakes are a natural part of the learning process,” Reilly said. “Educators and school leaders must create opportunities for students to reflect on their actions, take responsibility and use those experiences as valuable lessons for personal growth and future success.”

In 2022, Reilly was named principal at Locust Valley Intermediate School where she quickly endeared herself to students with her energy and excitement. Having worked her way through teaching elementary, middle and high school, Reilly knows the seeds of interest are best planted early, so that students leave the district with a goal or interest they are ready to pursue further.

“I’ve been able to look at all three stages, and realized the same things: interest and exposure,” Reilly said. “How are they going to know what they’re interested in and what they want to get better at if we don’t expose them to it?”

At every step of the way, Reilly and her teachers have tried to bring in a wide array of organizations and speakers, ranging from revolutionary war reenactors to meteorologists, to talk about their areas of expertise and spark curiosity in her students.

As a teacher and administrator, she has sought ways to instill empathy in her students while educating them. In one of her most famous lessons, Reilly would describe an ancient tribe and it’s infatuation with a mysterious item called a “rac,” which was a status symbol that dictated how infrastructure was built. At the end of the lesson, the students could not believe a people would put so much emphasis on the item, and Reilly would reveal that the whole time they were talking about our society and the “rac” was a car.

“Whenever you look at another society or another group of people, remember what you just ridiculed that tribe for,” Reilly said. “You have to be open minded with every group and every society you come in contact with. Hopefully, that gives our kids tolerance of others.”
While she won’t be there to do her quiet hands during an assembly or to high-five them in the hallways, the lessons Principal Reilly taught will stay with her students as they continue to learn and grow.

You’ll see plenty of red, white and blue at our schools throughout June, as the entire district celebrates the 250th anniversary of the nation’s founding this summer. On June 1, our schools kicked off the festivities with assemblies at the elementary schools discussing the origins and evolution of the Stars and Stripes.

Throughout June, students of all ages will partake in America-themed lessons and activities, such as creating quilts with national symbols, playing games and sports of the 1700s and 1800s in gym classes, baking and cooking early American meals and treats, and appreciating the veterans who served and protected the country.

In May, the district and Locust Valley Chamber of Commerce teamed up to display student artwork at many local businesses. Thanks to this partnership, 117 students had their incredible works decorate storefronts that showcased the talent of these artists and the strength of our community.

Thank you to all the businesses who took part in our celebration!

A.A. Baker Design
Accentiques
Andrew Maier Design
Apple Bank
Blush
Buckram Stables Café
Country Plaza Deli
Daniel Gale Realty
Dime Community Bank
Elizabeth Pash
G. Willikers
Interstyle
Karmic Grind
Locust Valley Chemists
Locust Valley Dentistry
Marquis Wines & Spirits
Piazza di Cappa
Piñions
The Finer Things
The Spot Boutique