Locust Valley Middle School

After months of tireless work and rehearsals, the Locust Valley Jesters invite you to experience the enchanting performances of “Once Upon a Mattress,” on March 21, at 7 p.m. and March 22, at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. Come see the dedicated cast and crew bring this classic, medieval tale to life, and see if Prince Dauntless can find his princess. Go to the link below to secure your tickets today or purchase at the door Friday or Saturday! https://cur8.com/39980/project/130518

Juniors and sophomores explored their work interests by speaking with dozens of community members in varying job fields at the career fair on March 12. Volunteers in careers such as audiovisual arts, architecture, business, child care, communications, education, emergency medical services, engineering, fashion and law enforcement gave students a look into what it takes to thrive in their work environments. “It was wonderful to see our students following their passions and starting down the road for their future career paths,” Principal Patrick DiClemente said. “Thank you to all the community members and professionals who are helping our students explore their interests.”

Locust Valley and Bayville schools kicked off a week focused on taking a break from screens and devices on March 10 with a fun-filled Unplugged Night at Locust Valley Intermediate School. Attendees learned various strategies on how to help their children navigate the ever-changing online world through a presentation by Don’t Press Send campaign founder Katie Duffy Schumacher. In the meantime, young students played board games, solved puzzles and participated in exercise activities alongside high school student government members.

The district has switched over its messaging service to the ParentSquare platform. Emails and mobile alerts will be sent out linking back to ParentSquare posts, and users can customize the frequency and language they receive these messages in using the notification settings in the My Account tab. Go to the link below or scan the QR code today to sign up. https://www.parentsquare.com/select_school/new

On March 8 and 9, the middle school’s robotics team, the Falconbots, competed in the FIRST LEGO League Long Island Championships for the first time in five years. The Falconsbots made their mark as a top 30 team in the regional elementary bracket, and brought the Robot Design Award back to the valley. It was an incredible moment for these young students, who spent months working on their robot, tackling missions and learning advanced coding techniques. Congratulations to the team on this achievement!

The IB Art Talks series recently concluded with Maeve Germans and Olivia Babel discussing their styles and themes with their peers. Art classes visited the students at their displays outside of the auditorium and learned about their processes and how the challenging, two-year program works. Germans and Babel showed how their art has progressed and talked about how they hope to continue to express themselves in the future.

In preparation for their collaborative concert with the Hofstra University Chamber Choir, the high school’s chamber singers welcomed the university’s director of choral activities, Dr. David Fryling, on March 7. The singers learned interesting techniques to help them continue to grow as performers. Come out and support these talented groups when they take the stage at the Bayville Intermediate School auditorium on Friday, March 14, at 7:30 p.m. Admission is free!

The Locust Valley High School DECA business class continued to show its growth as it traveled to Rochester to participate in New York DECA’s 65th Annual State Career Conference from March 5-7. The 11 students competed in business role play events in marketing and entrepreneurship, professional selling events in marketing, hospitality and tourism and a business plan event. Vanessa Chan and Ann McAree earned a medal for Top 10 in their Entrepreneurship Team Decision-Making Role Play, and Aman Arora and Adhvaith Sreenivas earned a medal for Top 10 in their Innovation Plan. The DECA students continued to learn more about the business world and develop their professionalism and skills through competition and cooperation with thousands of students from all over the state.

Bayville Intermediate and Bayville Primary schools encouraged students to explore their reading interests during Parents as Reading Partners Week from March 3-7. Both schools had parents/guardians and school staff and administrators take time out of their busy schedules to visit classes and read to students. On March 6, Bayville Intermediate School welcomed New York State Assemblyman Jake Blumencranz, Locust Valley Middle School Principal Mike Cestaro and Coordinator of Pupil Personnel Services Cheryl Whiting to read to students and answer questions about their unique jobs. On March 6 and 7, the Bayville Elementary School Parents Council set up a reading safari at Bayville Primary School where students could pick from the hundreds of books donated by the community and read inside the tent provided by principal Ross Cohen or by the beautiful rain forest displays constructed by the BEPC. On March 7, fifth grade students from Mr. Calandra’s class also made the walk over to read with pre-K students.

Family, friends, students and alumni gathered at the middle/high school cafeteria on March 5 to celebrate the many cultures that make up the community. Attendees set up tables representing 16 countries with displays, desserts, food and games to showcase the beautiful and unique touchstones that make them special. There were also stations where guests made their own Carnevale masks and piñatas, played Kendama and made their own crêpes. Thank you to all who made this event possible!

Locust Valley Intermediate School hosted its popular science fair on March 4. Fifty-eight students made up 36 teams that followed the scientific method to explore exciting topics and conduct experiments. Each group presented their findings and creations and got helpful advice from high school research department students and Louis DeRose, Kim Ferina and Ken Packert. Olivia Contois took home first prize in the third grade division for her research into water pollution and its effects on fish. Omer Cayirli and Aiden Faraday won first prize in the fourth grade division for their contraption “The Detrashinator.” In the fifth grade division, Gracie Thompson earned first place with her “Dye-namic Discoveries” to explore how dyes affect plant growth. Attendees also got to enjoy one last science fair with science lab teacher Caroline McBride, who will be retiring after more than two decades of inspiring our district’s students to explore their scientific curiosities through this wonderful event. Thank you to the Locust Valley Elementary Parents Council and Mrs. McBride for putting together another amazing celebration of student creativity, and to the high school’s robotics team for entertaining students before and after they presented their projects.

Locust Valley High School’s Model U.N. team made a name for itself at the Hofstra University Model United Nations Conference from Feb. 28 to March 2. The team was among the 12 schools and over 200 students in attendance, debating and negotiating solutions on topics such as healthcare, nuclear proliferation, the economy and supply lines, ethics and artificial intelligence use. Durand Tchanga Mangwa took home the best delegate award on the topic of Ethics and A.I. in Journalism. Wyatt Thorgramson and C.J. McKenzie earned outstanding delegate honors, and Oliver Dostalek and Thomas Simon were honorable mentions. The conference served as another opportunity for the bright Model U.N. team to grow and learn about the issues they will face as they grow into the world.

Locust Valley Middle School Italian students spent their class times learning about the brilliant displays of Carnevale parades in cities like Venice and Viareggio, where attendees construct incredible floats and wear ornate masks. Students showed their creativity by designing their own masks using feathers, glitter, markers and pompoms. After each class finished, their masks were added to the display outside the auditorium for all to see their unique interests.

The weather outside may have been frightful, but our students were delightful! Read about some incredible student achievements in the classroom, in extracurriculars and on the fields of play in the winter edition of the district’s Soundwaves newsletter. In the edition, you can learn about the high school valedictorian and salutatorian, the fine arts department trip to Disney World, the elementary school production of “101 Dalmatians” and much more. You can find the new edition in the Newsletters section of the district website at the link below or in our bios. https://locustvalleycsdny.sites.thrillshare.com/page/newsletter

On Feb. 28, Bayville Primary School’s second graders welcomed family and friends to the gymnasium to read biographies they made in class. Students in Ms. Morales’, Ms. Sivacek’s, Ms. Pagan’s and Ms. Coules’ classes used the new Schoolwide literacy program’s non-fiction reading and writing units to write a biography about public or historical figures they were interested such as Albert Einstein, Jane Goodall, Jackie Robinson and Walt Disney. Over the past few weeks, students learned about the components of non-fiction and researched their subjects, taking notes on their graphic organizers. After completing a draft, the students learned how to edit and revise like an author and created their non-fiction books on Book Creator.

As part of the Caught Being Kind program, Locust Valley Middle School honored students Sailor Esteves, Dylan Grieco, Rachel Martin, Ava Reyes, Cora Sostre, Eloise Spurchise, Quinn VanderMass, Dylan Vaughn and Hengrui Xu for helping their peers throughout the school. High school monitor Joan Genova was also commended for her work to assist students and staff. This is the first time an employee has been recognized in the program. All honorees were chosen based on their work to lend a helping hand around the building.

Fourteen Locust Valley High School student artists had their pieces selected for exhibition in the fourth annual Middle and High School Artists Exhibition. Jurors at The Atelier at Flowerfields selected the works of Humnaa Abid, Inshaal Abid, Chloe Arrata, Ava Becker, Amelia Bonterre, Molly Bowden, Emery de Lauzon, Abraham Diaz Gomez, Kali Frazer, Nicoletta Fredrich, Annemie Germans, Angelina Grygoriak, Tobias Lamb and Olivia Wilde for their unique creativity, styles and attention to detail. These works will be on display at The Atelier in St. James from Feb. 27 to March 27. “These students are so talented, and I am glad that The Atelier at Flowerfields acknowledged and selected these wonderful students,” art teacher Melanie Mooney said. “Each of their works tells a story, and every viewer becomes a part of its journey.”

Locust Valley High School will host a career fair on Wednesday, March 12, from 8:30-10:15 a.m. in the gymnasium. The school is seeking professionals in all career and trade fields to attend the fair and share information with sophomores and juniors. Breakfast will be provided at 8 a.m. You can register using the link below before the deadline on the evening of Sunday, March 9. If you have any questions, please contact business teacher Lara Olotka at lolotka@locustvalleyschools.org or 516-277-5100, extension 7167. https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdF6c4_6jX5-PsJ1O4P3CHRDXpzmPnTSqiinB-RrvFb-NhgLg/viewform

In January, Locust Valley High School announced Inshaal Abid and Abigail Maselli as the valedictorian and salutatorian of the Class of 2025, respectively. These standout scholars have been incredible role models for their classmates and the next generation of Falcons in the classroom and in their extracurricular interests. Valedictorian Inshaal Abid achieved a cumulative weighted average of 108.50 across her four years. Through her hard work, Abid earned her place as a member of the AP Scholars, Foreign Language Honor Society for Italian and National Honor Society and achieved numerous commendations such as Advanced Regents Diploma with Honors, IB Diploma Candidate, LVCSD Diploma with Distinction, Mastery in March, Mastery in Science, NYS Seal of Biliteracy and National Merit Commended Student. Abid singled out her art teacher Melanie Mooney as one of her biggest inspirations in the building. The class isn’t one of her 13 IB courses, but Abid feels it is an important chance for her to express herself. “It is kind of shocking for people that my favorite subject is art,” Abid said. “Ms. Mooney has been so supportive throughout high school, and she’s helped me be brave enough to pursue what I am passionate about. Art is a place where I can relax from what’s going on in school and my personal life.” Abid plans to major in psychology after unexpectedly falling in love with the subject during her IB class with John Canavan last year. “He made it a subject that I wanted to know more about,” Abid said. “It was a difficult class, but I never felt burdened by it and it made me want to know why people do the things they do.” Salutatorian Abigail Maselli accumulated a weighted average of 108.22. Maselli is a member of the Foreign Language Honor Society for Italian, the National Art Honor Society and the National Honor Society. She is also an AP Scholar, an IB Diploma Candidate, a NYS Seal of Biliteracy Candidate, a Scholar Athlete for both the field hockey and track teams, and has earned an Advanced Regents Diploma with Honors, an LVCSD Diploma with Distinction, Mastery in Math and Mastery in Science. “I’ve had to balance commitments to sports and theater with my academics, so there have been many late nights of coming back from practices, games or rehearsals and having to go right into studying,” Maselli said. “So, finding out I’d achieved this was a really nice moment to recognize that all the can’t stop, won’t stop work was worth it.” On top of her studies and sports, Maselli is a dedicated writer, director and sometimes actress in film projects with her friends. She plans to go to film school next year, which is not a surprise to any of her classmates or teachers as her works have been huge hits at the high school’s annual festival and have earned her spots in the Long Island International Film Festival and the Long Island Media Arts Festival and the All-American High School Film Festival. Her love of film and theater goes back to elementary school plays and the film club, which she has been a part of since sixth grade. Her dream career is to work in both film and theater as a director or stage manager. She credits her teacher Roger Boucher and drama department mainstay Nicole Stiegelbauer-Montenegro with growing her love for film and theater. “He (Mr. Boucher) has really shown me how to be a critic of my own work in a supportive way,” Maselli said. “He’s also given me that belief and trust in myself that I will bring to college with me.”

Forty-eight Locust Valley High School students and staff members took part in the blood drive for New York Blood Center on Feb. 26. Donators gave 34 pints of blood to New York Blood Center, which estimates that each pint can save up to three lives. Thank you to all who gave, and those who volunteered to run the event. There will be one more blood drive on May 23.