Locust Valley High School alumna Julia Sabatino, Class of 2020, helped the SUNY New Paltz Hawks to the State University of New York Athletic Conference tournament crown on Feb. 24. The former Falcon guard put up 10 points, five rebounds and three assists in the 52-47 championship win over SUNY Geneseo.
During her Falcons career, Sabatino was named All-County and Defensive Player of the Year in 2019 and 2020, while serving as co-captain of the undefeated Nassau County Class A champions. She is one of the few players to score more than 1,000 career points.
Sabatino has been a star off the court, too, attaining a spot on the conference’s Commissioner’s Academic Honor Roll in 2020-2021 and 2022-2023 and the team honor roll in fall 2021 and 2022.
Locust Valley Middle School and High School encourage community members to sign up to represent their countries at the International Night on Wednesday, March 6, from 6-8 p.m. in the school cafeteria.
If you would like to bring food or memorabilia or would like to dance, sing or perform in any fashion, please register using the QR code. Money raised from the event will go towards the school’s next Habitat for Humanity student build.
If you have any questions, please contact Bidania Criscuolo at bcrsicuolo@locustvalleyschools.org.
Middle School parents can start to prepare for next year at the Incoming Parent Orientations on Thursday, March 7, at the MS/HS auditorium. The Incoming Grade 7 Orientation begins at 6 p.m. and the Grade 8 Orientation starts at 7:15 p.m. All parents/guardians in attendance will be given a copy of their children’s course recommendations for next year. Course recommendations will also be posted in the parent portal.
Locust Valley Middle School wrestler Finn O’Brien placed third in his weight class at the 2024 New York State Championships in Albany on Feb. 24. After a defeat in the second match, O’Brien won six straight matches to climb his way up to third place. The eighth grader put together a 39-2 record this season.
Locust Valley High School’s Hispanic Heritage Club and Greek Club presented a check for $410 to the Moreano World Medical Mission on Feb. 16 after a bake sale earlier in the month. The bake sale saw students produce creative treats like s’more cupcakes, brownies, cookies and cupcakes with a beach scene, umbrella and gummy bears.
The Moreano World Medical Mission has provided free reconstructive surgeries to children born with deformities or have suffered from trauma or burns since 1999. Dr. Edwin Moreano, whose daughter Gianna attends LVHS, travels to Latin America each year to provide care for those in desperate need.
Seven Locust Valley High School students recently helped paint the interior of a new home in the community as part of Habitat for Humanity.
Students learned about the application process and work that goes into building, furnishing and customizing a new home. The seven volunteers then spent the day painting the entire interior of the home. After painting the walls, ceiling and adding trim where needed, the student volunteers and their adviser Farrah Tringas stopped to enjoy pizza and discuss how they got involved in the project.
“Everything went smoothly and everyone enjoyed giving back to the community,” Tringas said. “We look forward to the next build.”
The students have a fundraising goal of $400 for another building project that they hope to hit while selling t-shirts, magnets, keychains and handmade baskets at the Locust Valley Central School District’s International Night on March 6.
Locust Valley High School wrestlers Robbie Burns, Justin Dvorak, C.J. Kelly, Dylan Mueller, Finn O’Brien and Thomas Rutherford all qualified for the New York State boys wrestling individual championships during the county tournament at Cold Spring Harbor High School on Feb. 9 and 10.
Burns, Kelly and O’Brien became county champions at the tournament, while Mueller finished second in his weight class and Dvorak and Rutherford finished third in theirs.
“I can’t say how incredibly proud of this group I am,” coach Brush said. “It was definitely not an easy road for any of them, but despite any challenges they pushed through and kept fighting and I know they will continue to upstate.”
All six students will head up to Albany to represent the Falcons on Feb. 23 and 24 with hopes of becoming state champions.
Elementary school students throughout the district looked grown up on Feb. 12, as the schools celebrated 100 days of school by dressing up as if they were 100 years old. Each Bayville Primary student received a $100 Bayville Buck when they got to class, went on a scavenger hunt for 100 hearts hidden around the school, and had a sing along and dance party to celebrate the day. Ann MacArthur students had their own dance party, and each had a laminated number to help count to 100. Bayville Intermediate students showed love for their school with Instagram cut outs.
Fifth graders at Bayville Intermediate School spent a week learning circus acts from professional performers during their gym classes, culminating in a memorable performance on Feb. 9 in front of friends and family.
Students chose activities from balancing, juggling, walking on stilts to diablo sticks and putting on physical comedy sketches as clowns and spent the week honing that skill for the annual performance on Friday. The National Circus Project continued its partnership with the school and the Bayville Elementary Parent Council to give every student an opportunity to showcase their focus, timing and coordination, as well as their teamwork, confidence and communication skills.
Eight Locust Valley Middle School students were recognized for their random acts of kindness in January. Students Jason Eisenberg, Hailey Jankowski, Liam McGovern, Joseph Mercario, Timothy Sheehan, Coralinda Sostre, Jasmine Thomas and Simon Zaikowski performed acts of kindness for their classmates that were observed by staff.
Acts of kindness included helping a new student around the school, trying to get a lost school project back to its owner and staying after school to help decorate their classroom door with their teacher.
Due to inclement weather, all LVCSD schools will have a traditional snow day on Tuesday, Feb. 13. There will be no online instruction. Please stay safe and enjoy the day.
Debido al clima inclemente, todas las escuelas de LVCSD tendrán un día tradicional de nieve el martes 13 de febrero. No habrá instrucción en línea. Por favor manténganse a salvo y disfruten del día.
Locust Valley Intermediate School and Bayville Intermediate School student actors will take the stage in the High School/Middle School auditorium on Feb. 12 and 13 to perform Roald Dahl’s “Willy Wonka Jr.” as part of the Mainstages program. Doors open to the public at 5:45 p.m. and the show begins at 6 p.m. Tickets are not required.
Locust Valley High School/Middle School welcomed more than a dozen robotics teams to its school gym for the FIRST Long Island Robotics Competition qualifying tournament on Feb. 3 and 4.
Locust Valley teachers and student volunteers along with FIRST staff helped turn the school gymnasium into an arena with two grids for the robot matches and a pit area for teams to test and adjust their creations as needed.
Two Locust Valley teams, the ninth grade FalconBots and 10-12th grade Team Kuiper, competed against and formed alliances with 14 teams on Feb. 3 and another 21 teams on Feb. 4. Each team spent the last few months of the school year building its bots to navigate obstacle courses, shoot paper planes as far and they can and stack plastic pieces on a board.
The FalconBots and Team Kuiper finished first and second, respectively, in the qualifying rounds on and formed an alliance that won in the finals. As the winning alliance, both teams advanced to the Long Island Championships in Mineola on March 2.
Throughout January, four Locust Valley High School art students held International Baccalaureate Art Talks to showcase their works and inspire their peers.
Seniors Kyle Brown, Ana Cordero, William Koch and Isabella Uber each set up some of their favorite pieces they created for the IB program and explained the inspirations and processes of putting them together to classes throughout the day.
Works varied from drawings and paintings to clay sculptures and clothing items. Each art talk also gave the students an opportunity to prepare for their gallery, which they will prepare the for end of year IB project.
“It is always to wonderful when I see the IB Visual Arts students showcasing their artwork, research and hard work,” art teacher Melanie Mooney said. “The student becomes the teacher and they describe their process, journey and storytelling of their artwork. I am extremely proud of these students who metamorphosized into thought-provoking and forward-thinking artists.”
Thirty-six musicians and vocalists from the Locust Valley Central School District participated in All-County festivals over the first two weekends of January.
Once again, music educators and students in the district showed their incredible dedication and talent. Throughout the school year, the bands, orchestras and singers continually improve through hours and practice and their seasonal concerts.
Students were nominated by their teachers and selected in the fall by the Nassau Music Educators Association to perform in rehearsals at the Tilles Center for the Performing Arts on the Long Island University campus with an opportunity to attain All-County status. A committee of music educators selects the students who will perform in the various groups.
“We could not be prouder of these exceptional music students and their talents that were showcased at the NMEA All-County Music Festival,” the district’s Coordinator of Instructional Technology and Fine and Applied Arts AnnMarie Buonaspina said. “Their passion for music will continue to inspire and resonate with all who hear it.”
Locust Valley high school and middle school French students baked crepes and covered them with tasty sides in celebration of the holiday – La Chandeleur – on Feb. 2.
High school teacher Casey Degori and middle school teacher Elizabeth Bressel helped the students spread, bake and flip the crepe with a coin in their left hands for good luck, as is tradition. Students from grades 6-12 brought treats such as bananas, strawberries, ice cream, whipped cream and chocolate syrup to cover their crepes.
The holiday, which is also known as Candlemas, is celebrated 40 days after Christmas and revolves around making crepes because their round shape represents the sun and the circle of life.
Locust Valley High School and Middle School students filled the gymnasium on Jan. 24 to cheer on their administrators, staff and teachers as they competed in the annual Volley in the Valley tournament. The event is organized by the Athletic Council as a way to raise school spirit.
Five teams took to the court coached by student representatives, with the “Serv-ivors” taking home the crown.
Locust Valley High School students Humnaa Abid, Katelyn DiLorenzo and Mateo Santoro and Locust Valley Middle School students Christian DiPaolo and Gabriela Terrones-Abanto were named winners in the visual arts category of the 2023 National Reflections program at the SEPTA level in January.
Judges, art teachers and staff from Nassau County BOCES selected their works for their originality and creativity. The students created their art pieces based on the theme “I am hopeful because…” and expressed themselves in their unique ways. The students have had their pieces entered into the next phase of the program, which is the Nassau County region level.
Robotics teams from Locust Valley Middle School and Locust Valley Intermediate School took home awards from the First Lego League qualifying event at Mineola in January.
Competing with more than 20 teams from across Long Island, the middle school team, “Falconbots,” finished first finalist in the robot design category and the intermediate school team, the “Techno Talons,” won the Rising All-Stars Award. Each team had time in the practice area to work out the kinks with their robot to make sure it ran through the obstacle course as efficiently as possible.
The students spent months coding and running their robots through obstacle courses to prepare for events like these. Both teams continued to grow in their cooperation and problem-solving skills and are excited to continue their robotics pursuits in the future.
Elementary schools in the Locust Valley Central School District took part in The Great Kindness Challenge from Jan. 22-26 by learning about love and respect inside and outside of the classroom.
The Great Kindness Challenge provides participating schools with a list of small acts of kindness for students to do with their friends and family, including sharing snacks with a friend, volunteering in their communities and complimenting classmates.
On Jan. 22 and 23, each school welcomed award-winning singer/songwriter Jared Campbell to spread his message of treating people with love and respect. Throughout the week, each school also had themed days that gave students a chance to dress up in superhero, sports, crazy socks and tie-dye to give them a chance to express themselves.
