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New Paltz schools cut pre-kindergarten, group forms to save middle school clubs

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School Activities Are Vital to Education (SAVE) is a New Paltz Middle School organization made up of teachers, students, parents and community members that are trying to raise $7,060 to reinstate all middle school clubs that are being eliminated from the budget. Pictured above are New Paltz Middle School students working on material for their upcoming fundraisers. Photo by Lauren Thomas

It turns out pre-kindergarten, not JV sports or class sizes, got pruned back in New Paltz’s final school budget. At last Wednesday’s meeting, Board of Education members agreed to a $50.12 million plan that would delete junior varsity sports from existence, merging them with the high school’s varsity program. But at an emergency meeting held on Tuesday morning, the board voted 5-1-1 to delete the Pre-K program, reinstate JV sports and an almost full-time elementary library media specialist position that was on the chopping block.

“We decided to hold an emergency meeting because there was a lot of controversy [about what to cut from the budget] at the last board meeting,” said Superintendent of Schools Maria Rice following Tuesday’s meeting. “Every board member was there to vote [on Tuesday] and they looked at opportunities for children within the education program, as well as a well-rounded extra-curricular program. We reinstated JV sports because it spoke to the largest number of students in regard to after-school activities, of which there are hundreds of children involved. I’m saddened in one sense about the elimination of the Pre-K program, but it provides greater opportunities for others.”

The Pre-K program comprises 16 students in one classroom. Rice said that eliminating Pre-K also allowed the district to reinstate an elementary library media specialist, which will keep library programming in the 21st century. “Our library offers students amazing programs, such as virtual field trips, which would have had to be significantly reduced if we had to share one librarian between two buildings,” Rice said. “Now we are able to reinstate the majority of those programs.”

The $50.12 million budget will raise the tax levy by 3.4 percent. That budget only requires 50 percent voter approval to pass, since it conforms to the tax cap law. Voters can weigh in on the budget during June 12’s public hearing to be held at 6 p.m. at New Paltz High School. Voting will take place on June 19 from noon to 9 p.m. in the gym at New Paltz Central High School.

 

How the Pre-K discussion went down last week

 

During last week’s meeting, school board members could not come to a decision on whether or not Pre-K should be cut in the budget voters will see in the ballot box. A vote to cut Pre-K failed with 3-3 split. Trustee Bob Rich — the tie-breaking vote — was absent from the meeting due to illness.

However, because Pre-K was included in Superintendent Maria Rice’s proposal, the program stayed in the budget by default. That’s something that really irked board Vice President KT Tobin.

“Wow. That would be so rude to call it on a technicality,” Tobin said. “Can we just keep talking and try to find something?”


New Paltz High School graduates 178

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New Paltz grads perform musical selections at the ceremony accompanied by their underclassmen. (photo by Lauren Thomas)

With the New Paltz High School chorus singing a sweet version of “In My Life” — the Beatles poetic paean to remembrance — the noble seniors of 2012 marched forth to claim their independence this past Friday at the Larry Johnson Gym. It seemed to be the theme running through speeches by salutatorian Melanie Schmidt, valedictorian Charlton Tsai and guest commencement speaker, New Paltz teacher Albert Cook. The idea that the future is out there, yes, and it should be faced and commenced with, but each warned of difficulties ahead, noting, as Schmidt did, “that the world is not an easy thing to live in.”

Schmidt’s speech, filled with some sardonic humor, began with her congratulating her classmates “the last class to graduate from New Paltz…ever,” alluding to the Maya calendar prediction that the year 2012 could be our last. “Our final adieu to New Paltz.” Adding, “there is no guarantee to get jobs, payoff our college debt…giving us the feeling we are going to fail.” But then, reverting to the ever-present optimistic remembrances of young adulthood, she reflected on her time at New Paltz. “It will be amazing to go off into the world, but I love New Paltz High School. The people are special; the teachers actually care about us.” She praised her classmates for their industriousness, “with no non-willing slackers among us. We are destined to succeed…we can get through hardships…there are great changes going on,” and she mentioned social-networking opening up the world to all. “It will be harder out there than at New Paltz High School, but we can make the world what we want it to be.”

School board vice-president KT Tobin then told the gathering that “we are creating citizens of the world, ready for the challenges ahead…New Paltz has provided the means to do that, the rest is up to you.” Tobin then quoted Ralph Waldo Emerson: “Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm.”

A theme if not picked up by, then at least delivered with that requisite amount of enthusiasm by New Paltz valedictorian Charlton Tsai. Looking as comfortable as could be addressing his classmates, Tsai mixed in some pointed ideas (and ideals) along with some humorous reminiscences, things like “diversity has been our unity”, “despite our differences we have collective strength”, “we live life like we want to”, “we need to act now to address the serious issues facing our world”, and then quoting Renaissance poet John Donne, added that “No man is an island.” Tsai’s winning humor got a great reception from his classmates, and as he added a personal note at the end of his speech regarding his opportunity to skip ahead a grade after first grade, which he turned down to stay with his beloved classmates — now graduating with him — an audible “Ahhhhhhhh”, filled the gym. “You only live once,” said Tsai, “so stay true to yourself.”

Guest speaker, New Paltz history teacher Albert Cook after congratulating the seniors for making it through to this moment, said, “It is no small thing what you have accomplished. With struggles along the way, some heart-wrenching…but you made it! This is your moment of triumph” — then asked the graduates to think about three ideas, “three pieces of advice I could give you,” enumerating philosophically the ideas of potential, success and wisdom. Seeing potential as common to all people, Cook told the seniors to maximize that potential, “make a habit of it.” With success, Cook asked how we measure it, to not be short-sighted in our pursuit of it, that it is not just material success that matters, but “love and service, an unquantifiable satisfaction.” And for wisdom…”seek it”…know what to do with knowledge, the right and wrong way of doing things. And quoting English philosopher Thomas More: “Education is not the piling on of learning, it is the making visible what has been hidden…like a seed.”

The graduates then received their well-deserved diplomas, ending the 80th annual New Paltz High School graduation to the strains of “Sine Nomine” by Vaughan Williams.

New Paltz School Board brings back Rod Dressel Jr. as its vice president

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Pictured left to right: Rod Dressel Jr., Patrick Rausch, Brian Cournoyer and Ruth Quinn. (photo by Lauren Thomas)

Ever since Bob Rich announced his resignation just before May’s New Paltz School Board election, the question of who might replace him has been up in the air. So too has the question of who’d replace KT Tobin as school board vice president.

It turns out the answer to both of those questions shares the same name: Rod Dressel Jr. School board members appointed Dressel, a former president of the New Paltz Board of Education, to fill out the next year of Rich’s term. They also elected him as vice president.

Dressel has been off the school board since 2009, when he decided not to run for re-election.

Current board president Patrick Rausch, who was re-elected as president unanimously during July 11’s meeting, joked about why Dressel had returned.

“He was begged,” said Rausch, with a laugh and a smile.

Dressel himself put it a little more plainly. “I saw that a previous board member had to resign early from the board — so there was a vacancy. And I was called and asked if … I would be able to come back and serve for one year,” he said.

While the New Paltz Board of Education has made a practice of bringing back former board members as appointees — Barbara Carroll is an example — it is rare for an appointee to be suddenly elevated to the rank of vice president.

Part of that has to do with number of newcomers currently on the board. Stephen Bagley has just closed out the first year of his term; Ruth Quinn, Dominick Profaci and Brian Cournoyer all just became board members. Only Rausch and Edgar Rodriguez have more than one year of experience.

Typically, a school board vice president serves for two years before graduating to president. Rodriguez has never held an officer position on the board. Getting Dressel back on the board installs a seasoned veteran with presidential and vice presidential experience.

Even so, Dressel said he wasn’t using the appointment as a steppingstone to a 2013 re-election campaign. “My intentions are just to serve for one year,” he said.

Quinn, Profaci and Cournoyer all ran on a platform friendly to preserving school programs — a position made difficult by the potency of the state’s 2 percent tax levy cap. While Profaci, as the highest vote getter, was sworn in directly following the election, Quinn and Cournoyer were sworn in during last week’s meeting.

The two new board members admitted they’re trying to lead during difficult times.

“There’s no secret about the fact that we’re in very challenging fiscal times, and so my goal is to make sure that we maintain the integrity of our programs and keep the cuts as far away from our kids as possible,” Quinn said.

Quinn, Cournoyer and Profaci will serve terms lasting until 2015. Dressel’s seat is back up for re-election in 2013.

Outside of swearing in the newbies and electing officers, the school board also took care of a number of housekeeping items during their meeting — including setting the pay rates for substitute teachers and selecting official banks to be used during the year.

Changes await students and teachers in Highland, New Paltz

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The buses were ready to roll for the first day of school. (photo by Mookie Forcella)

This week, students in Highland and New Paltz return to the classrooms for another year of lessons, textbooks and tests. But 2012-2013 will be a year of many changes — teachers and principals will get new performance evaluations, and students will learn in a different way with the implementation of the federal Common Core standards.

Despite the challenges, our public schools’ superintendents are also hopeful about the year — that the worst, most painful cuts might soon be behind them and that the work of educating children can continue.

 

Highland’s situation

Parents and students probably won’t notice much different with the actual school buildings in Highland this year — no new building projects or renovations occurred. Highland Superintendent Deborah Haab said that she and the staff were looking forward to the students returning.

Students who can expect the most changes will be those attending Highland Middle School and Highland High School. Some small adjustments were made to the start and end times for both schools as well.

“They can also expect to see some new faces — at the middle school and high school we have newly hired staff and also staff that will be teaching in both the middle school and the high school this year,” Haab said.

Parents curious about when the buses will run should check out the district calendar, which was recently mailed out to houses in the district.

Despite budget cuts that were necessary to get to a 2 percent tax levy budget, Highland’s students will have some new opportunities this year. Teachers are looking to enhance the student experience with the resources at hand and to improve learning.

Highland high schoolers will have a chance to learn about a whole different way of life. “We are working on a partnership with a high school in China, which we anticipate will lead to new learning opportunities,” she said.

Challenges in the Highland Central School District are similar to the ones facing schools throughout New York State. Worries about the budget — and what funding Albany will actually provide to students — still continues. With finances tight for taxpayers, any fluctuation at the capital can bring uncertainty at home.

“Considering the current economic climate, the level of concern in this area has reached new heights,” Haab said.

For Highland, the implementation of the Common Core standards and the new teacher and principal reviews are a challenge — albeit one the superintendent thinks they can handle.

Annual Professional Performance Reviews — the new teacher and principal evaluations — were designed to hold educators accountable, but are seen by some as an unfunded mandate. Principals now have the added burden of conducting teacher reviews. Assistant superintendents have the added burden of reviewing principals.

Superintendent Haab said she hopes the worst is behind the district. “During the budget process for this current school year our efforts were focused on retaining existing programs,” she said. “We are hopeful that resources for program restoration and growth will be available in the 2013-2014 school year.”

Haab said her goals for this year will be to successfully implement the new APPR system, to continue working with the staff to provide high-quality education for all students, and to continue working with our struggling students. She also would like to see the school board revisit and review long-term goals for the district.

As for where the district might need to do better this year, Haab said she’d thought they could spend more time addressing infrastructure needs at the schools. She also wants to push to close “the achievement gap for our students with disabilities.”

 

Navigating education in New Paltz

Students in New Paltz — in all grades but first and kindergarten — will now have larger classrooms with more students per class. While no changes to the buildings were made, New Paltz’s schools have upgraded their technology over the summer by increasing wireless Internet access in all four buildings and updating the operating systems on all the computers.

Superintendent Maria Rice said she thought much what students and parents would notice is the change in lessons mandated by the Common Core standards. This year all students, from kindergarten to senior year, can expect a totally reworked literacy and English language curriculum — as well as a new take on math.

What those changed lessons won’t alter is how New Paltz teachers teach, Rice said.

“We will continue to teach for understanding as our major way in which we will prepare our students for the new state assessments,” she said. “Our students will be taught to gather information from disparate sources and make sense of it by understanding and objectively evaluating that information.”

Now that every school building has its own garden, New Paltz’s students can expect to spend more time outdoors learning the lessons that come from nature itself. Also technology at the schools continues to expand — even beyond that wireless Net upgrade. Students will begin to transition to digital textbooks.

New Paltz’s smartest and most motivated high schoolers will also get some extra opportunities as well.

“We are slowly expanding our high school program to include more internships for seniors, attendance at local community colleges to fulfill dual credit (college and high school) and maintained a significant number of advanced placement opportunities,” she said.

As for what hopeful signs 2012-2013 holds, Rice pointed to the dedication and volunteerism of the many groups who’ve held fundraisers to bring back special programs meant to be cut.

“Many of the extra-curricular activities that were cut from the district budget have been reinstated through the generosity of community members, parents and staff,” Rice said. For instance, at the middle school alone parents helped restore the Rock & Soul Club, Art Club, the student literary magazine Reflections, and the All-County Band and Chorus.

Like Haab, Rice too hopes that the economic picture will brighten. “We are hoping that the fiscal situation will improve and that we will not have to continue to reduce our staff and cut our programs.”

Those teacher-principal professional reviews and the Common Core standards will also be a challenge for New Paltz, along with finances. However, the superintendent said that, despite the mandates, she wanted to keep the focus who New Paltz is as a school system and what they do best.

“Understanding is not so much a destination as it is a point along a continuum. The ability to memorize facts doesn’t necessarily imply understanding of a concept,” she said. “For example, students can memorize geometry formulas, but they may not be able to apply them to the real world.”

One goal for the year is to complete a comprehensive facilities plan, which will spell out what will happen with the school buildings into the future. Doing so will mean answering hard questions — like if the district will keep all four school buildings and fix them.

Superintendent Rice said that the district could improve its performance by continuing its focus on educational programs and seeking out “more cost-effective ways to provide a true 21st century education for our students.”

NPASA looks to expand, reinstate after-school programs

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Members of the New Paltz Arts in the Schools Association pictured with their children: Steve Casa with daughter Olivia, Karen Edelman with daughter Eliza, Kathy Preston with daughter Nora, Jennifer Castle with daughter Sadie, Eric Schwartz with daughter Ella and Kim Sturgis. (photo by Lauren Thomas)

Somehow, despite the odds, many of the extra-curricular clubs slated to be cut at New Paltz Middle School have survived. This might come as a surprise to people without younger kids — because the budget approved by voters eliminated them.

So what saved them? It turns out to be a wellspring of charity. Behind the scenes, a number of individuals — including kids, teachers, parents and local businesses — have toiled to scrounge up donations and hold fundraisers to save arts programs for kids.

The SAVE Campaign at the middle school wanted to raise $7,060 to restore those clubs. It ended up raising nearly $8,500.

“We just started showing up,” explained Kim Sturgis, who helped organize SAVE with some of her fellow middle school teachers. “We had a talent show at the middle school, and we sold concessions. Once parents knew exactly what we were doing, they were donating money.”

In large part, SAVE — which stands for School Activities Are Vital to Education — got started because of students.

Earlier this year, New Paltz Central School District officials talked very candidly about the cuts they’d have to make. In the long run, they had trouble winning over a supermajority of voters to break the state tax cap with a $50.31 million budget. The May 15 vote failed by a scant 18 votes — with 1,726 yeses and 1,180 noes. June’s budget eventually did pass, leaving the schools with $50.12 million.

Last school year, that tension leading up to May’s vote left an indelible impression on middle schoolers. Bad news filtered out of the Board of Education meetings and into the classrooms.

“I run the Art Club, because I teach art here at the middle school — and this was while my club was going on,” Sturgis said. “And my kids were like, ‘What do you mean we’re not going to have Art Club? My parents were at a board meeting, and they told me Art Club’s cut.’”

Choir, art, magazine writing and instrumental band opportunities for the middle schoolers were all slated to vanish. Once kids and parents got involved, the turnaround was dramatic.

“We had one boy donate $300 of his own bar mitzvah money — and another boy donate $200 of his own money to save All-County Band and All-County Chorus,” Sturgis said. “I mean, these are things they’re passionate about. It was really incredible.”

Kristen Conrad, another SAVE organizer and a reading teacher at the school, noted that kids were coming up with as many ideas as they could.

“They were offering to make lemonade stands, for $0.25 a cup, and save the money,” Conrad said.

Parents already involved in campaigning to pass the supermajority budget also took notice. They took to Facebook and social media sites to promote SAVE and other fundraisers.

Art Club, the student magazine Reflections, All-County Chorus and All-County Band at the middle school were saved by SAVE’s $8,480. The middle school’s Rock & Soul Club was saved through a $3,800 donation from parents Doug and Teresa Thompson.

Others stepped forward to give. A few people gave the difference of they would have paid in taxes had the $50.31 million budget went through. The New Paltz Central School District Foundation for Student Enhancement gave $267 to support the high school’s Field Project.

Readers of this paper probably have noticed that Superintendent Maria Rice has heaped praise on the people who’ve made donations.

“Parents, staff and community members have rallied to fill the gaps left by cutbacks through their generous donations and fundraisers,” Rice wrote in a recent letter to the editor. “We are extremely grateful for your outpouring of support.”

Altogether the story of the people who gave to restore programs has been one of success. But there’s just one thing: they’re not done yet.

“We’re going to create a New Paltz Arts in the Schools Association, with a new fundraising goal of trying to save all of the fine and performing arts clubs that were cut throughout the district,” Sturgis said.

 

Creating NPASA for the road ahead

This summer, a new group modeled after an athletics association came into the picture. New Paltz Arts in the Schools Association — or NPASA — absorbed the old SAVE Campaign, bringing those people onboard and widening the focus.

Instead of just restoring middle school arts programs, they’re doing everything. Restoring those programs cut at Lenape Elementary School and New Paltz Central High School will take about $13,800 more.

Steve Casa, a parent who helped organize NPASA, said he felt that forming the group was a no-brainer.

“There’s no way to not form it,” Casa said. “The after-school arts programs that our kids have access to are as critical as any after-school program that we have in the district.”

For kids who aren’t ready to play basketball or get out on the sports field, art and music can be their only extra-curricular alternative. College-bound kids know that universities will look favorably on those extra activities.

“By not having them available to the kids, not only do we hurt the kids but we hurt our school district’s reputation,” he said. “Think about it. So you’re the admissions officer at Princeton, and you’ve got three kids: a kid from Cornwall, a kid from Red Hook and a kid from New Paltz. And the Cornwall and the Red Hook kid, they’ve got these arts programs after school. The New Paltz kid doesn’t. Who’re you taking?”

Casa said he felt that strong after-school programs were also key in attracting new families into the district. Parents who see a dearth of arts in the district might think twice about moving here.

A former school board vice president, KT Tobin, is also involved in the group. She admitted that budget cuts will make it difficult to keep these programs going.

“I’m acknowledging this means nothing for next year, but if these kids can have this one last year let’s make it happen,” Tobin said.

However, Casa noted that NPASA’s next mission after restoring those currently cut programs would be to start saving for future years.

“Everybody’s kind of in the same boat — we all recognize that there are these issues. The thing about NPASA is we’re trying to reinstate programs that were eliminated,” he said. “Once we reach that, once we’re able to do that the whole goal of our organization is to create sustainability in these programs. Because the next year they’re not going to be in the budget — and there’s probably going to be more cuts.”

Right now, NPASA has a relationship with an existing charity, the New Paltz Community Foundation. The foundation will hold all of NPASA’s money, which will give donors an immediate ability to write off what they give as a tax deduction.

The group has already raised some money — $1,233.22 to be exact. Musicians Seth Davis and Rhett Miller — who are also parents of students in the New Paltz schools — gave free concerts benefitting NPASA.

In the future, there will be more to come. Look for NPASA fundraising at the Celebration of the Arts on Oct. 6. Check them out online by searching for them on Facebook. You can also e-mail directly at npasafund@gmail.com.

Drama Club performs original stage production based onpersonal accounts of World War II

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Pictured are some of the cast members of the upcoming New Paltz High School production of “Shades of War.” Back row (left to right): Sasha Williams, Brendan Woolsey, Zynab Makki, Liz Corey and Ashley Mazzei. Front row (left to right): Christina Tortorici, Ari Raskin and Valerie Jensen. (photo by Lauren Thomas)

The Drama Club at New Paltz High School is mounting an exciting, original stage production this weekend that is unlike anything that it has ever presented before: a pastiche compiled from new interviews, old writings, period songs and pop culture showing the World War II era from nearly every imaginable perspective, titled Shades of War. And it almost didn’t happen, because the financially strapped New Paltz School District completely cut the traditional fall dramatic production from the club’s budget, leaving only enough funds to put on the spring musical.

But Drama Club advisor Nancy Owen is not a woman easily deterred, and she loves working with the high school kids enough to go ahead with the fall drama, even though she’s not getting paid for it this time (unless the efforts of a parent volunteer committee succeed in raising enough funds via car washes and the like to fill the gap). She got the idea for Shades of War a couple of years ago while taking a local memoir-writing class, when another member of the group, Denise Springer, read an account of her life under Nazi occupation as a 14-year-old girl in Vichy France. Owen enlisted a Drama Club member, Allison Albrecht, to record an interview with Springer. And this weekend, Albrecht, a senior, will be performing a first-person account of Springer’s story in Shades of War.

“Denise got a very good view of how the Nazis were, because her parents owned a hotel and had 200 to 300 Germans living there,” Albrecht reports. “She felt torn between compassion for these Nazis and hating them.” Denise and other French children would “follow the Germans at night, trip them and throw stones.” But the girl also saw how miserable the young German soldiers were, how much they missed their families; two hanged themselves in their hotel rooms rather than be sent to the Russian front. When she moved to this country in her 20s, Denise was disgusted by the way that Americans seemed to glorify and romanticize war without ever having lived with it in their own communities.

Springer’s ambivalent narrative inspired Owen to assemble an educational stage production that would throw light on all the nuances of World War II — not just patriotic puffery. Act One is mostly upbeat, interspersing excerpts from nostalgic letters between American soldiers and their families with Swing Era song-and-dance numbers as performed by acts like the Andrews Sisters. But in Act Two, jitterbug jive and Rosie the Riveter give way to the darker side of the war.

The next local World War II survivor whom Owen wanted the Drama Club students to interview was her husband’s aunt, Dorothy Maroon, who had served as an Army nurse right after high school. Unfortunately, Maroon had Alzheimer’s disease by that point, and her wartime experience had to be assembled from her diaries, photos and mementos. “It’s such an amazing story, but it deserves to be told. It’s horrific, but it’s priceless,” says junior Liz Corey, who undertook the research project and will personify Dorothy in Shades of War.

Assigned to the 131st Evacuation Unit, Dorothy was among the American nurses sent in to rescue survivors of the Mauthausen-Gusen concentration camp upon its liberation by the Allies at the end of the war. “The conditions were horrible,” with “bodies stacked like firewood,” reports Corey. “Dorothy had albums filled with pictures. She really did hide behind her camera.”

Senior citizens gather for Thanksgiving at local elementary schools

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Duzine second-grader Sofia Loyer serves dessert to 90-year-old Oliver Fisher, who was born in Highland and has lived in New Paltz all his life. It is a tradition for New Paltz’s Duzine and Lenape Elementary Schools to invite local seniors to a Thanksgiving lunch each year. (photo by Lauren Thomas)

Local senior citizens enjoyed a Thanksgiving feast of turkey and all the trimmings during the New Paltz School District’s annual Thanksgiving holiday meal. The event took place last Wednesday at Lenape and Duzine elementary schools. Other than the food, the seniors also enjoyed artwork and entertainment provided by the students. “It’s a wonderful opportunity for seniors to get to know and see the youngsters in our schools, as well as enjoy a delightful meal,” said Michael Robinson, the Food Service Director. The school’s food service staff prepared the meal and Duzine and Lenape students helped serve it.

New Paltz High School Winter Concert entertains a packed house

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At last Thursday evening's Winter Concert at the New Paltz High School, the mixed choir performed the whimsical "Good King Kong Looked Out" in addition to an eclectic mix of lyrical pieces under the guidance of choir director Nicole Ferrante. (photo by Lauren Thomas)

At last Thursday evening’s Winter Concert at the New Paltz High School, the mixed choir performed the whimsical “Good King Kong Looked Out” in addition to an eclectic mix of lyrical pieces under the guidance of choir director Nicole Ferrante. (photo by Lauren Thomas)

The New Paltz High School auditorium was transformed into a jazz-infused, musically inspired Winter Concert this past Thursday.

Led by band director Ralph Schroer, the Jazz Ensemble wowed the crowd with sizzling renditions of “Peg,” followed by “Josie” and ending with “Kid Charlemagne,” all by Walter Becker and Donald Fagen of Steely Dan. Tal Schwartz performed a solo on the trumpet, as did the über-talented Sergio Nazaire on piano.

After the Jazz Ensemble got the crowd into a sweet groove, it was followed by the Mixed Choir, directed by Nicole Ferrante. The choir began with an upbeat Nigerian folksong, “Dide ta Deo,” accompanied by Athalie Brutus, Alexis Kane, William Kay and Zynab Makki on African percussion. The choir continued in a spiritual vein, but at a more somber tempo with “Homeward Bound” by Marta Keen. Isabelle Terón and Paul Knoth both enchanted the standing-room-only audience with their powerful solos; Nazaire accompanied them on the piano.

Ferrante then told the audience in somber terms that this “next song has come to mean a lot to our choir. We hope you will find the deep meaning in it that we do. Listen closely to the words.” The song turned out to be a hysterical rendition of Peter Schickele’s “Good King Kong Looked Out,” complete with choruses on big feet, operatic squishing sounds and all the members of the entire choir busting out their kazoos! The set ended on a happy note with the late, great Marvin Gaye’s “Dancing in the Street.”

Then the Brass Quintet took the stage, including Schwartz and Jackson Beveridge on trumpet, Emily Beecher on French horn, Noah Pomerselig on bass trombone and Eric Lawson on trombone. This incredibly talented group of jazz musicians, led by Schroer, performed some beautiful yet technically challenging pieces such as the Rondeau by Jean Joseph Mouret (familiar as the theme from Masterpiece Theatre), the Largo from Xerxes by Handel and Farandole by Georges Bizet.

There was a quick change of scene when the smoky feel of the jazz quintet exited the stage and the Glee Choir entered with a music-and-dance performance blending two hit songs by Adele, “Rumor Has It” and “Someone like You.” Sarah Stamberg and Samantha Reiss performed powerful solos

The ensemble followed up that number with a rendition of Taylor Swift’s “Mean” that had some gutsy solos by Giannina Crocitto and Olivia Cea. The performance had the entire audience swaying, and there was even one couple dancing in the aisles. The amount of musical talent in that room electrified the air and at the end they received a well-deserved standing ovation.


New Paltz parents still looking to ban vacation homework

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(Photo by Lauren Thomas)

(Photo by Lauren Thomas)

After receiving a lot of media attention and some recognition from school officials, the parents in New Paltz who started a petition to ban homework during holidays and breaks still believe they can make a change.

Last week, parents met with principals Barbara Clinton and Richard Wiesenthal to see if vacation homework could end.

Following that meeting, Superintendent Maria Rice said that she was told by the principals that there are no teachers that assign homework the Thursday or Friday before a holiday, but there may be an assignment that a teacher had assigned that takes several weeks to complete and the deadline may have been after the holiday. “I was told by the principals that they expressed that they were not in favor of changing the policy, but felt it appropriate to speak with their staff about homework assignments over a holiday. They also explained that they had control over the implementation of policy, creating procedures and protocols, but not the creation of policy.”

Rice said that she was against changing the present policy, “as it provides the flexibility in allowing the professional educators to determine relevant and meaningful activities that enhance learning. I understand the concern of the parents who would like the time over a holiday to spend with family and without the pressure of school. I believe the principals explained that this can be achieved without a policy. All parents have to do is speak to the teacher, if indeed the teacher has an assignment with a deadline after a holiday.”

Alice Andrews — the mom who started the petition in the first place — sees some hope. “I’m optimistic that something is going to change,” Andrews said.

While Andrews and Ami Fixler posted the petition more than a month ago, news of parents looking to end homework for kids first broke last month.

New Paltz High School stages spring musical “Grease”

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Last weekend the New Paltz High School Drama Club performed selections from their upcoming musical "Grease" at Woodland Pond. The production, under the direction of Nancy Owen, will be performed at the New Paltz High School from March 21-23. (photo by Lauren Thomas)

Last weekend the New Paltz High School Drama Club performed selections from their upcoming musical “Grease” at Woodland Pond. The production, under the direction of Nancy Owen, will be performed at the New Paltz High School from March 21-23. (photo by Lauren Thomas)

With a 53-member cast filled with talented actors/actresses, singers and dancers, the New Paltz High School (NPHS)’s spring musical theatre production, Grease, is poised to have the audience laughing and dancing in the aisles.

According to longtime NPHS musical director Nancy Owen, Grease was selected by NPHS choir director Nicole Ferrante. “Nicole has been doing the musicals with me for three years, and I chose the last two, so I thought it was only fair to let her choose this year,” said Owen. “Grease is one of her favorite musicals, and the kids are crazy about it. They absolutely love it!”

Asked what makes the 1972 musical by Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey — turned into a blockbuster film in 1978 starring John Travolta, Olivia Newton-John and Stockard Channing — so enduring and popular today, Owen said, “It’s that 1950s era! Some of the characters are rough, some are exaggerated; but they’re endearing. I think our cast gets to unleash a part of themselves in these characters. We were even joking the other day at rehearsal that many of them are becoming their characters!”

The musical, set in 1959 at the fictional Rydell High School, follows several working-class and upper-class children who are trying to navigate their way through the complexities of adolescence and love. It tackles many subjects including gang violence, friendship, teenage rebellion and class-consciousness and all centered around a love story between “greaser” Danny Zucco and good-girl Sandy Olsen.

Owen said that they chose not to utilize the high school rendition of the play because it “had some incredibly corny dialogue, eliminated one of Rizzo’s great songs and just watered it down too much.” That said, she and Ferrante did make changes where there was foul language and inappropriate innuendos.

Asked what the audience will enjoy about this particular musical performance, Owen responded, “That it’s such a strong, talented cast. Of all the casts I’ve had the pleasure of directing, this is among the most talented. Their enthusiasm is incredible, their singing ability so strong, and they’re going to carry people away.” Part of the cast did a preview of the play at Woodland Pond this past Friday, and Owen said that the “response was amazing.”

Those playing some of the lead roles include senior Seth Roberts, who will star as Danny Zucco, along with senior Allison Albrecht, who will play Sandy. Junior Elaziah Pollard will play the coveted role of Rizzo and junior Kole Brownstein will be T-Bird Kenickie. Senior Aliyah Cohn will play the beauty-school dropout Frenchy and Gabe Gaston will portray Sonny. Junior Liz Corey will play Jan and ninth-grader Jeremy Brownstein will be Roger. Senior Evan Pallor will portray the nerdy valedictorian Eugene.

In addition to the 53-member cast, there are at least another dozen students who are working on scenery and lighting, and still more who will come in to help do hair and makeup and run the concession. “Everyone really comes together to ensure that we have the best production possible,” she said.

Ferrante is the musical director, Kate Weston is the choreographer and Karen Morehouse is Owen’s assistant director.

The play will open on Thursday evening, March 21, with 7:30 showings that Friday and Saturday, March 22 and 23. There will also be a matinee performance at 2 p.m. on Saturday. General admission tickets cost $12. Tickets for seniors and students will cost $10, except for opening night and the matinee, when those tickets will go for $8. To make reservations, call the box office at 256-4111.

New Paltz Teen Photo Contest winners are announced

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This Marcelina Martynek work took first prize in the Open Category of the teen photo contest.

This Marcelina Martynek work took first prize in the Open Category of the teen photo contest.

Six New Paltz high school and middle school students were awarded prizes in the third annual New Paltz Teen Photo Contest at a reception April 9 hosted by the Elting Memorial Library. Local photographers G. Steve Jordan, Matt Petricone and Lauren Thomas had the unenviable task of choosing the winners among 54 entries submitted by students in Kim Sturgis’ art classes at the middle school and Judi Esmond’s photography class at the high school.

“There’s a lot of talent here,” said Thomas, noting that the three judges did not always see eye to eye. “We have different sensibilities, we like different things,” she said.

Speaking to the assembled contestants, parents, teachers, library staff and community members about the art of photography, Thomas pointed out details of a number of the entries on display on the library’s walls. “Look at these that use multiple images. A lot of work went into them, and they came out very beautiful,” Thomas said. “They make me want to make up a story in my head about what happened in the image.” Thomas praised others for the students’ experimentation with varying depths of field or for their darkroom technique.

Elting Library director John Giralico did the honors of announcing the contest winners in three categories.

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Lia Kucera took first prize in the portrait category for her color digital self-portrait.

Lia Kucera took first prize in the portrait category for her color digital self-portrait that appears to be shot through a layer of moving water. Iszy Szemcsak won an honorable mention in the portrait category for Trials of the Past, a moody shot of a girl standing in front of the old Mohonk Gatehouse at dusk in winter in which only the girl’s face catches the day’s fading light.

In the landscape category, first place went to Gillian Toman’s classic profile of Skytop backed by burnt orange-and-slate-blue clouds. “This is my first year of doing this. I was inspired by the sunsets on the mountains,” said eighth-grader Toman. “It’s definitely a hobby that I want to keep up.” In fact, she has begun selling her images on merchandise such as greeting cards, available on her mother’s Etsy site.

Also in the landscape category, Danielle Schmalz was awarded honorable mention for her vertiginous photo looking up a cluster of tree trunks with a woman’s face in the foreground; it was shot with a pinhole camera.

In the third category, simply called “other,” Marcelina Martynek took first prize for a dynamic black-and-white shot of a child in midair, jumping on a bed. “She’s really motivated, this girl,” said Judi Esmond proudly of her student. Martynek had been disappointed at not being allowed to enter the winning photo in a contest sponsored by the Arts Society of Kingston, having already entered two others. “So I suggested that she enter it in this one instead, and look! It won a prize.”

Honorable mention in the category went to Lorenzo Canadilla for Childhood, a photo depicting the splash created when a baby block is thrown into a puddle.

The competing photographs were on display at the library through April 14. The winners received modest cash prizes – plus something to brag about in their résumés when applying for college admission.

Newcomers flock to fill vacant New Paltz School Board seats

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Max Maurer, Julie Tresco and Tim Rogers. (photos by Lauren Thomas)

Max Maurer, Julie Tresco and Tim Rogers. (photos by Lauren Thomas)

In a year when familiar faces decided not to run for re-election, three hopeful newcomers will try to win two open seats on the New Paltz Board of Education.

Board Vice President Rod Dressel and long-time member Edgar Rodriguez decided against running this year. In their place, computer data analyst Max Maurer, current New Paltz Town Planning Board member Tim Rogers, and Julie Tresco, who is former nutritionist now studying to become a nurse, have all decided to seek a board seat.

Each candidate brings something different to the table, and each call a different part of the New Paltz Central School District home. Maurer is from Gardiner, Rogers from New Paltz and Tresco from West Park. All three candidates were pretty concerned with the district’s long-term building improvement plan and would like to see it done right.

Still looking to move on from 2010’s failed middle school renovation vote, board members are currently considering a number of options — including the creation of a combined middle-high school at the high school’s current lot on South Putt Corners Road.

Voters who hope to cast a ballot in school elections need to be at least 18 years old and have lived in the district a month prior to May 21’s vote.

The proposed $52.2 million budget also up for a vote that day raises the tax levy by 4.4 percent — New Paltz’s legal limit under the tax cap law — and would only require a simple majority to pass.

On average, taxpayers can figure out what that’ll mean for their bill by multiplying their previous year’s tax bill by that 4.4 percent. So a house or business that pays $10,000 in school taxes would pay $440 more a year if the budget passes — someone with a $6,000 bill would pay $264 more.

Parents and taxpayers worried about school security after the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School will also have an opportunity to opt for $500,000 worth of “Health & Safety” upgrades to the schools. The bond initiative would also include upgrades like emergency lighting at the high school and Duzine Elementary School and fire-suppression equipment at the middle school.

Winning school board candidates will serve a term lasting until 2016.

Here’s what the candidates had to say about why they’re running and what they stand for:

 

Julie Tresco

Why did you decide to run for school board?

I have two daughters — I have one that’ll be in kindergarten next year, and I have one that’ll be in third grade next year. And I just really feel like, in these next few years, a lot of decisions are going to be made within the school district that are going to impact our future in the schools. So I wanted to be a part of that decision making.

 

What experiences, skills or positions will make you a competent board member?

As you know, I ran unsuccessfully for the board last year, which really exposed me to a lot more information and people that I really needed to know. And I also serve on the Health Advisory Committee for the New Paltz schools, and I’m on the wellness subcommittee. So I’m quite familiar with the happenings of the school. I think that will be beneficial.

 

What do you see as the greatest challenge facing the school district right now?

Obviously, it’s the lack of funding by New York State. But more on the home front, it really seems to be the condition of our schools — and what we do about the schools moving forward.

 

Scavenger Hunt/Race benefits New Paltz United Teachers’ Scholarship Fund

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A scavenger hunt to benefit the New Paltz United Teachers’ scholarship fund will be held on May 18 in New Paltz. (photo by Lauren Thomas)

A scavenger hunt to benefit the New Paltz United Teachers’ scholarship fund will be held on May 18 in New Paltz. (photo by Lauren Thomas)

The New Paltz United Teachers are hosting a Scavenger Hunt/Race this Saturday, May 18. The event will kick off at the New Paltz Middle School at 10 a.m. and end at Upstairs on 9 Café at the New Paltz Golf Course off Huguenot Street.

According to Meri Lederer, the race will consist of teams with two to four people “solving clues, finding objects, taking pictures, doing zany activities and having a great time throughout New Paltz!” The first-place team who scores the most points in the least amount of time will win the Grand Prize of $250.

The cost of entering the event is $30, which will yield a fun-filled afternoon as well as a tee-shirt and lunch at the Café. At least one member of the team will need to have a digital or cell-phone camera. Although kids can participate, each team, according to Lederer, must have at least one adult over the age of 18.

“This event is generously being sponsored by four local businesses,” she said, “including McGillicuddy’s, Main Street Bistro, P&G’s and the Law Offices of Robert F. Rich Jr.” All of the proceeds go to the New Paltz United Teachers’ Scholarship Fund, from which selected New Paltz High School graduates will receive an award in June.

To register, call Lederer at 256-4304 or e-mail her at merilederer@mac.com.

New Paltz voters OK $52.2M school budget, $500K safety project

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Max Maurer, Julie Tresco and Tim Rogers. (photos by Lauren Thomas)

Max Maurer, Julie Tresco and Tim Rogers. (photos by Lauren Thomas)

New Paltz’s $52.2 million school budget passed handily, nabbing almost 70 percent voter approval  tonight. A second proposition asking voters if they’d support using $500,000 from the capital reserve funds to help pay for needed repairs to district’s four school buildings also passed.

On the budget, 1,316 voters said yes and 579 said no. That 69.45 percent approval is well beyond the 50 percent required under the state tax cap law.

For the school safety proposal, 1,227 voters said yes and 620 said no. It passed with 66.4 percent approval.

This year’s race for school board for two open seats was fielded by three candidates. Voters elected Town of New Paltz Planning Board member Tim Rogers and Julie Tresco, of Esopus, to the Board of Education.

For board members, the votes broke down this way: Rogers got 1,100 votes, Tresco got 1,098 and their rival Max Maurer, of Gardiner, got 746 votes.

Tresco had run for the board last year, but ultimately failed to pick up enough votes in a crowded, six-person race. She said she was glad for the support the community gave her this year, and she was pleased the community approved the school budget and the $500,000 proposition.

“I’m excited,” she said, “and I’m looking forward to starting my term.”

Tim Rogers will be sworn in this week as the highest vote getter. He’s replacing Rod Dressel, who was an appointee filling out Bob Rich’s term. In July, Rogers and Tresco will be sworn into their full terms, which will last until 2016.

Superintendent Maria Rice said she was thrilled with the results and looked forward to working with the two new Board of Education members.

“I just think that we have a very generous and dedicated community to our educational system,” Rice said. “And I thank them for not just passing the budget, but also our capital project – though not large – which will address some of our security and safety needs.”

District officials will use that $500,000 in capital reserve funding, in part, to respond to the school safety climate post Sandy Hook. Some of that money will go to install security buzz-in systems at the front doors of Lenape Elementary School and New Paltz Middle School. The rest is going to needed repairs at the buildings.

A total of 1,932 voters cast a ballot in this year’s school election.

All told, New Paltz Central School District did not have as dramatic a budget vote as it did in 2012. Last year, the Board of Education decided to ask voters if they’d like to exceed the state tax cap. They ended up missing their needed 60 percent supermajority by a scant 18 votes. Ultimately, voters approved a lesser $50.47 million 2012-2013 budget in a second vote that June.

This year’s budget, by contrast, complies with the requirements of the cap. The $52.2 million spending plan will raise the tax levy by 4.4 percent – New Paltz’s legal limit under state law.

School district administrative offices are now at the Lenape School

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The New Paltz Central School District Offices have recently moved into available space at Lenape School on Eugene L. Brown Drive. (photo by Lauren Thomas)

The New Paltz Central School District Offices have recently moved into available space at Lenape School on Eugene L. Brown Drive. (photo by Lauren Thomas)

After six years and at least one failed attempt to move, the New Paltz school district has left its location on Henry W. Dubois Road for good. Staffers and equipment have made the move to the new location at Lenape Elementary School, although not everything is unpacked.

Schools Superintendent Maria Rice seemed please with the relocation. “You can tell we’re not done yet – putting everything up,” Rice said as she gave a tour of the new digs.

Not many walls have come down or gone up to facilitate the new office use. Old furniture has been retained. Many of the new offices in Lenape still have telltale signs of the classrooms they once were. Some rooms have sinks where kids used to wash up after messy projects. Others have distinctly classroom-sized floor plans. New carpeting and new paint were the most many rooms got.

“It’s just a classroom with paint,” the superintendent said, referring to her office. “We did as little as possible.”

New Paltz’s district office isn’t evicting grade schoolers from their classrooms. The space now occupied by the office had once been used by Ulster BOCES for courses. School officials in New Paltz wanted to relocate the office because they were paying rent at 1 Henry W. Dubois Road. Superintendent Rice, the assistant superintendents and their staff had moved into that rented office back in early 2008. Previously, they’d used that old blue house in front of the New Paltz Middle School as an office.

Over the course of the lease, the public schools paid their landlord about $600,000 for the space, according to Assistant Superintendent Richard Linden. Getting out of that costly lease has been a priority. Back in 2009 and 2010, district officials thought they had solved the problem with the $50 million renovation to the middle school, which would have brought the district office into that building. After the voters overwhelming rejected that plan in February 2010, the school district went back to the drawing board.

Another reason for the unpacked nature of the office in Lenape is that the district office could potentially move again. Right now, the school board is considering five options to upgrade or potentially close two school buildings. In two of the options, the district office is slotted to move to the high school on South Putt Corners. If the board opts for either of those two plans, Rice noted, they’ll have to pack again.

Renovations to Lenape cost about $600,000. Roughly half of that went to upgrade the heating and air-conditioning equipment to make for better air quality. “We went as inexpensively as possible,” Rice said. “The key is that we did as little as possible. But the expense went into HVAC, which needs to be done through the whole building.”

Both Lenape and the high school host summer classes and events year-round. Rice said she’d eventually see air quality and HVAC improvements to those two buildings.

Parents interested in the new offices can stop by Lenape at 1 Eugene L. Brown Drive in New Paltz to check it out. Signs will direct visitors away from the school’s main entrance toward the west side of the building, where the offices are. District office staff and adult visitors will use that separate entryway, and they’ll be sequestered from children by locked doors.

As of press time, some of those security door locks still needed to be installed. In the interim, the district has a check-in entry desk for people coming into the district office.


Local high schools welcome freshmen, transfer students

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Freshmen and transfer students were welcomed into the fold last week at New Paltz High School. (photos by Rich Corozine)

Freshmen and transfer students were welcomed into the fold last week at New Paltz High School. (photos by Rich Corozine)

Freshmen and transfer students were welcomed into the fold last week at New Paltz and Highland high schools. Both the Huskies and the Huguenots held orientation sessions to help the newbies get adjusted to their new environs.

Parents in New Paltz gathered in the high school auditorium with their high schoolers for a special presentation on Aug. 28. Principal Barbara Clinton fielded questions, introduced key staff members and a screening of last year’s student life video was shown.

New Paltz High School principal Barbara Clinton.

New Paltz High School principal Barbara Clinton.

The video — by and large a comedy — started with an action chase scene through the woods, but ended up essentially showing students partying in every classroom. The principal stressed that the video was intended as a joke, but she said it also captures some of the emotion of high school.

“We do everything we can to make sure your child is, in fact, college or career ready — but that they have fun. You have to have fun to do this. It’s a lot of work. If you don’t have fun at your job — your job, my job — then that’s not going to make for a pleasant day,” Clinton said. “What you saw in the student life video really demonstrates what New Paltz High School is all about.”

Older students guided transfer students and freshmen around the halls, offering them insight about what they would face in the coming year. Parents hung back in the auditorium for inside information with the principal.

One of the most important things Clinton stressed to her audience was her availability to hear out parents with concerns about their child. The principal urged parents of new students to call — not wait for a meeting or a parent-teacher conference — if they had a concern.

“You know your child. Your child’s been with you for however many years — 13, 14 years — or older if they’re a new student coming in at 11th or 12th grade,” she said. “You know — you have that gut feeling — you know when things are not right.”

Another point of adjustment in New Paltz, Highland and most of the U.S. is the switch to the federal Common Core Standards. Parents should also ask questions if something about that newer, more rigorous system doesn’t make sense to them.

Overall, the principal wanted new students and parents to feel welcome.

“I live in the district. My daughter graduated from the high school. This is a great place to be,” Clinton said. “It’s a great place to live. It’s a great place to work. It’s a great place to have your child receive their education.”

New Paltz welcomed approximately 200 new freshman and transfer students from other districts during the Aug. 28 event. The event concluded with a barbecue dinner.

Highland’s orientation event took place on Aug. 27. However, their event was more morning-themed and featured a hot breakfast.

First day of school for both districts is the same day – Friday, Sept. 6.

Parents in New Paltz who still have questions are invited to a one-on-one meeting with Principal Clinton at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 17. For more details, call the high school at 256-4100.

NPHS Drama Club stages “The Curious Savage”

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Pictured are members of the New Paltz High School cast of "The Curious Savage" (L-R): Adam Joyner as Hannibal, Jenny Rich as Mrs. Savage,  Liz Corey as Florence, Ari Raskin as Fairy and Amanda Katz as Mrs. Paddy.

Pictured are members of the New Paltz High School cast of “The Curious Savage” (L-R): Adam Joyner as Hannibal, Jenny Rich as Mrs. Savage, Liz Corey as Florence, Ari Raskin as Fairy and Amanda Katz as Mrs. Paddy.

The New Paltz High School Drama Club is set to tackle The Curious Savage, a comedy written by John Patrick, this coming weekend. According to veteran Drama Club director Nancy Owen, she knew that her theater enthusiasts were eager for a comedy to perform this fall. “The difficulty with comedies is that they often have a very small cast,” she said. “I was reading dozens of scripts but decided to call my brother, who is an artistic director for a theater company, to ask his thoughts.”

He recommended The Curious Savage, which Owen read and “fell in love with!” Although the cast is larger than most theatrical comedies, it still has only five male parts and six female roles to cast. “The great thing is that our entire club is participating, even though there are only 11 roles,” she said. “We have 20 people working tech and others are doing costumes, make-up, ushering, everything. They’re excited about the play and are fully invested.”

The Curious Savage is set in the late 1940s and revolves around a young widow, Mrs. Savage, who married young to an older man who already had three children. She was left with $10 million by her husband, but despite her best efforts to use that money for philanthropic causes, her three “savage” stepchildren are ready to behead each other and their stepmother to get to the money. Because the kids can’t get hold of the money, which Mrs. Savage has invested into bonds, they come together to commit her to a “sanatorium” — or in the vernacular of the time, the “cloisters” — to bring her to her senses. Once inside the cloisters and exposed to the extraordinary and eccentric patients, doctors and nurses, Mrs. Savage is even more convinced that the money left to her should be put in a fund to help others realize their hopes and dreams.

The play focuses on the many characters inside the sanatorium, including the patients, doctor, nurses and Savage herself. “These are sweet, fragile people who ooze compassion for one another,” said Owen. “They have their eccentricities and differences, which we all have. But remember, this was written in the late 1940s. Things were so different then and anyone who was perceived to have a ‘difference’ was cloistered away.”

She said that it was a great learning opportunity for her Drama Club students to understand the line of embracing the eccentricities of their characters without making fun of them. “What’s amazing is what compassion and love each of my students have for their character. When I was growing up, they put anyone who had a learning disability or a special need away. Difference was, I guess, frightening then. But now, we’re all blended in and we understand that each and every one of us has differences and eccentricities.” Inside the sanatorium are the most lovable, precious human beings, with whom Mrs. Savage and the audience fall in love.

Some of the starring roles include Jenny Rich playing Mrs. Savage; Megan Grant as Ms. Willie, the nurse who works with the patients and serves as the conduit between them and the outside world; and Liz Corey as Florence, one of the patients. Ari Raskin plays Fairy, another patient, who Owen said is “so hysterically funny!” Adam Joiner plays the character Hannibal, a patient in the sanatorium who believes that he is a violin virtuoso, but in reality can only play two notes on the violin — which he does with extreme gusto.

Matt Eriole plays a patient who is a World War II survivor. “His plane went down and he was the only one to hit the eject button, so all of his comrades died and he survived,” explained Owen. “He’s left with intense psychological scars, but in his mind they’re physical scars and he’s obsessed with cuts on his face that aren’t really there. An amazing individual.”

The dominant mood is high comedy, with the audience appreciating the neglected virtues of kindness and affection, while dismissing the more modern trend of a world motivated solely by greed and dishonesty.

The play will take place on Nov. 14, 15 and 16, 7:30 p.m., at the New Paltz High School auditorium. On Thursday night all tickets will be at a bargain price for $7 a person, with a special presentation of the Arts Community Glee Club during intermission, as well as the announcement of the high school’s planned spring musical. The rest of the shows will cost $8 for seniors and students and $10 general admission. Don’t miss it!

Student testing will be rolled back in New Paltz

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homework HZTTesting under the new Common Core federal education standards hasn’t thrilled New Paltz parents. It turns out that it also hasn’t thrilled Superintendent Maria Rice either. “What did the Common Core learning standards and implementation, and the Student Learning Objectives, and the Annual Professional Performance Review look like to our students, our parents and our community? I believe that what it looked like was over-testing our children,” Rice said, during her State of the District annual report last week. “We were mandated to do so.”

State and federal mandates on education have prompted local parents — and parents statewide — to action.

In a follow-up interview, Rice elaborated on why the district is rolling back some of the tests. For instance, instead of giving both a final exam and a Regents exam at the high school, students will just take the Regents.

“Testing for testing’s sake doesn’t make any sense to us. And when you attach teachers’ quality standards with testing, sometimes there are unintended outcomes,” the superintendent said. “We truly believe that when you’re assessing a child’s learning, the purpose should be to inform the kind of instruction you’re going to do — to take a measure of where the child is.”

Several parents in the New Paltz Central School District are involved with the group Re-thinking Testing, which lobbied the state to change its testing policies on “high stakes testing” by sending back test scores to the state education commissioner.

“A lot of our parents are very concerned about the over-testing — as is our board, our staff and the administration,” she said.

Commissioner John B. King Jr. announced in late October that New York would allow for fewer standardized tests. That’s something that surprised Superintendent Rice.

“They were holding tight for so long — until the parents started revolting and started saying, ‘enough is enough.’ They were not listening to what the educators were saying,” she said. “So I think they’re starting to rethink what they’re doing.”

Rice added that she didn’t think Common Core in itself was a problem. The new learning standards raise the bar for all students nationwide. “It’s just the rate in which they were trying to enforce this to happen. I mean, we needed time to start to understand what was in there.”

According to the superintendent, one reason for duplicate testing was the requirement to stage “Student Learning Objectives” or SLOs throughout the year.

“So instead of having a pre-test and a post-test on the SLO, we’re able to use a metric from the state assessments,” she said. “So that will eliminate some of those tests.”

Lenape students participate in world record event

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Lenape Elementary School students participate in sport stacking.

Lenape Elementary School students participate in sport stacking.

Guinness World Records Day for physical education students at Lenape Elementary School took place on Thursday, Nov. 14. For the second year in a row, students participated in sport stacking, which involved stacking plastic cups in different formations for at least 30 minutes. Sport stacking helps with concentration, left and right directionality and bilateral coordination (using both the right hand and the left hand independently). A new Guinness World Record was set with 555,932 people in “Most People Sport Stacking at Multiple Locations in One Day.” The event was coordinated by physical education teachers Suzanne Wirth and Dal Veeder.

New Paltz High School announces its first-quarter honors

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huguenots SQPrincipal’s List, Grade 12

Sophie Madeline Andrews, Benjamin Apuzzo, Reminy Bacon, Marygrace Bauer-Gluckmann, Michael Benenati, Amy Bishop, Anthony Bonilla, Marissa Bravo, Kayla Brill, Kole Ethan Brownstein, Athalie Brutus, Honour Butler, Natasha Bynum, Hudson Carroll, Madison Carroll, Verenice Castellanos, Deja Clement, Elizabeth M Corey, Jayne Cosh, Morgan DeSimone, Angelica Dickerson, Brynn Eckert, Kyle Eckert, Miranda Fariello, Aodhan Fogarty, John Vincent Fullam, Gabriel H. Henderson Gaston, Kathryn Gaudette, Anna-Grace Nicole Gerber, Liana Glaser, Adin Gold, Megan Grant, Austin Hekking, Emma Hoffmann, Elizabeth Jobson, Doaa Khalifa, Colden Everett Kimber, Cameron Otto Kucera, Kevin Le, Alice Lee, Bernice Lee, Rebecca Malinowski, Kayleigh Marshall, Marcelina Martynek, Claire Nicole McAllister, Katelyn Messina, Jenna Moranski, Emma Murphy, Sergio Alexander Nazaire, Magdalena Maria Pankowska, Elazia Pollard, Ari Raskin, Dylan Rauch, Dakota Reinike, Alexis Ricci, Max Gatewood Satter, Danielle Schmalz, Tal Schwartz, Zachary Schwarz, Benjamin Mitchell Smith, Courtney Smith, Layla Cybele Stover, Lindsey Takacs, Julia C Vogt, Kelly Wingfield.

 

Principal’s List, Grade 11

Michele Amado, Lauren Elizabeth Apuzzo, Ruby Anna Forest Bard, Richard Matthew Berger, Fiona Torrone Bohan, James Creedon Boyd, Christian John Burke, Kenrick Cai, Joseph Clark Ciccone, Mikayla Iris Cochrane, Ariela Tova Cohen, Julia Anne Cohen, Sean William Copeland, Rees Curtin-DeTar, Katherine Amy Curtis, Martin James Desmery, Taylor A Digilio, Claire Factor, Matthew Louis Gottstine, Sara Cathleen Hanrahan, Ally Brown Hartmayer, Jared Mitchel Hinson, Mason Erich Hooper, Lea Elena Jones, Josh Andrew Joseph, Frank (Franco) Julia-Wise, Matthew (Mateo) Julia-Wise, Juna Keehn, Emile-Victor Kuyl, Eric Lawson, Karl Harry Linneman, Ryan Marschall Macaluso, Megan Ashley Mastro, Kara Astrid Mattsen, Lorenzo Roberto Mazzuca, James Kiernan McColgan, Nathan Paul McPherson, Mark Milhaven, Lauren Ashley Mullady, Louis Gerardo Navarro, Anaise Nicolas, James John O’Connor, John Edward O’Connor, Samantha Rose Olarsch, McKenzie Wilson Osborne, Timothy James Otis, Sebastian Leandro Pannuto, Megan Nicole Phelan, Danielle Margaret Read, Jenny Christine Rich, Brenn Richards, Alanna Catherine Rose, Kyle Joseph Scagnelli, Chloe Siegel, Stephanie Silva, Perpetua S Smith, Teague Francis Capner Stover, M Cosmo Sweeney, Georjon Tanzi, Harrison Zraly.

 

Principal’s List, Grade 10

Isabella Marie Alvarez, Jasper Liam Baur, Tyler Black, Christopher Bravo, Cecilia Marie Brill, Courtney Brill, Jeremy Paul Brownstein, Cierra Catherine Bruck, Joseph William Brunning, Caitlyn M Callahan, Whitman Bay Carroll, Danny Carubia, Theodore D Chazkel, Jessica Cohen, Morgan Cozzolino, Adriana Lucia Crimi, William Michael Cymbal, Maya Caproni del Rosario, Katelynn Demskie, Chloe Driscoll, Meldies Estrella, Madeline Kate Finnegan, DigVijay Ravindra Ghule, Madison Leigh Giuliani, Rachel Goland, Clara Griffin, Alexandra Hekking, Alexandra Jacone, Kyle Jansen, Adam Joyner, Matthew Kanan, Alexa Kane, Samantha Bryce Kaplan, William Kay, Michael Kenney, Mohammed T Khan, Michael Krebs, Eric Louis Lasko, Lillian Lawrence-Paine, Kayla M Ludwig, Sara Lutz, Eric Joseph Macaluso, Kira Zhixiao Magnani, Lia Miao Miao Magnani, Alessandro Antunez De Mayolo Mauceri, Ariana Antunez De Mayolo Mauceri, Isabella Antunez De Mayolo Mauceri, Meaghan Kathleen McElroy, Jessica Rosemary Merten, Daniel Morabito, Caroline Murphy, Cinthia Navarro, Michael Paino, Sydney Alexa Pece, Lauren Marie Penzato, Brandi Nicole Peters, Olivia Profaci, Tiana Ramic, Mitchell Rigano, Kristina Marie Rivera, Sophia Eulalia Romano-Clinton, Sarah Catherine Rubin, Samantha Ann Schmalz, Maya M Seyler-Wetzel, Ryan Austin Smith, Shoshana Rose Smith, Luke Sturgis, Hannah Takacs, Alisha Alyona Tamarchenko, Darren Tsai, Patrick Joseph Varuzza, Kelly Rene Vinett, Brendan Woolsey.

 

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