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
The Locust Valley Universal Pre-K Lottery will livestream on the LV Public Relations YouTube Channel on Thursday, Jan. 16, at 5 p.m. The results will be posted on the Universal Pre-K Registration page on the district website shortly afterward.
Through hard work and dedication, Locust Valley administration and staff have helped students thrive in the 2024-2025 school year. Whether it be implementing a new cell phone policy to help students focus and socialize better or bringing in gifted speakers to impart advice to students on how to maintain emotional wellness, the staff is working to make this another amazing school year.
To view the newsletter, you can go to https://locustvalleycsdny.sites.thrillshare.com/page/newsletter.
Throughout December and early January Locust Valley High School’s annual IB Art Talks series kicked off, allowing student artists to teach their classmates about their artistic inspirations and processes.
Each Wednesday from December to March, International Baccalaureate Art students in Melanie Mooney’s class decorate a display case in the hallways with their favorite works and spend the day explaining their works and the two-year IB course curriculum to interested peers. The talks give the students a chance to prepare for a gallery they present near the end of the school year and work on their public speaking skills.
Since Dec. 11, Abraham Diaz Gomez, Anhelina Grygoriak and Kai Hoy have each spent a day explaining their themes and favorite projects, which ranged from dioramas of cartoon supervillains to paintings relating to their heritage and gothic dresses.
“The students have freedom to set up their display case as their vision, which shows their strengths, weaknesses and vulnerabilities,” Mooney said. “I am proud of their maturity, bravery, talents and their ability to explain their thoughts, ideas, brainstorms and visual expressions and share them with the community.”
On Jan. 8, middle school students Jack Capobianco, Jesus Ceja, Daniela Cruz, Andrew DeNatale, Emma Fiorentino, Daniella Mejia, Sunny Mencaccini, Kosly Ronquillo, Charlie Ruotolo-Jampol and Elisa Tan were recognized in the Caught Being Kind program for the month of December. Each student was observed performing acts of kindness throughout the school by faculty members.
Fifty-two middle school students took part in the spelling bee on Dec. 18. After an incredible display by the spellers throughout 24 rounds, eighth grader Zhuha Abid won the competition on the word “rookery.” Abid will now move on to the online round of the Scripps National Spelling Bee.
In December, fifteen Locust Valley High School students competed in the regional competition for the Distributive Education Clubs of America (DECA) club. The students participated in business role plays and were judged alongside over 1,000 students from Nassau County in different industry categories.
During the competition, the club members had their problem-solving skills tested through business role play scenarios where they had to think on their feet and present a solution to a judge. These scenarios varied based on what industry or career cluster the student chose to compete in, and included business management and administration, marketing, finance, entrepreneurship and hospitality and tourism.
Locust Valley club members Vanessa Chan, Lizzy Jouravlev, Ann McAree and Vito Ricciardi qualified for the state competition to be held in Rochester, New York in March.
Prior to the winter recess, Locust Valley Intermediate School fifth graders in Ms. Levasseur and Ms. Singer-Weingast’s class wrapped up their biography unit with a writing celebration during which students were invited to read books written by their classmates and give feedback. Students wrote about loved ones, their idols, and district staff and administrators such as art teacher Donna Chaplin, principal Reilly, Dr. Sampino and Dr. Turnow.
Prior to winter break, students throughout the district celebrated the holiday season with unique and fun events.
As they walked through the hallways at the middle and high school, students were met with the beautiful melodies of Christmas and Hanukkah classics performed by their classmates and members of the music department. The high school chamber singers and orchestra caroled and played at several different spots in the building to help make spirits bright before the holidays.
Over at Bayville Intermediate School, the Bayville Elementary Parents Council provided hot cocoa and candy for students. Bayville Intermediate and Bayville Primary music staff members Richard O’Flanagan, Tiffany Ruffo-Scott and Marc Yavoski, students and faculty kept the sing-along tradition going and were paid a visit by Santa himself.
Students throughout the district shared their love of the holidays and their traditions during the final week of school for 2024. On Dec. 18, members of the high school’s Interact Club paid a visit to Erica Parshley’s class at Bayville Primary to help them create imaginative gingerbread houses to take home to their families. Ann MacArthur Primary students in Ms. Pawluk’s class also created their own gingerbread houses throughout the week.
Throughout the week, Bayville Primary schoolers also welcomed their loved ones to the cafeteria to show their classmates the traditions they enjoy during the holiday season. Each student got their first classroom experience in typing by creating brochures to help guide their classmates through their traditions. Students took in unique traditions like Christmas empanadas, Hanukkah cookies, and ornament making.
Students in Ms. Craven’s chefs and baking classes also tried their hand at making gingerbread houses, with incredibly colorful and creative results.
