The Scarsdale Forum Invites You to a Conversation about Schools
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- Written by Joanne Wallenstein
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The Scarsdale Forum's Education Committee invites you to a conversation about Scarsdale schools at an event to be held Thursday, September 7, 2017, at 7:30 pm in Rutherford Hall of the Scarsdale Village Hall, 1001 Post Road. This back-to-school event will include a live poll providing current Scarsdale students, Scarsdale alumni, parents, empty nesters and the community at large the opportunity to answer a variety of questions about Scarsdale schools. Responses will be shown in real time on a screen visible to both audience members and home viewers. Those who plan to attend the event should bring an electronic device (such as a smartphone, tablet, or laptop) to participate in the polling. There will also be a public comment portion of the evening so that audience members can discuss the live poll's questions and answers. The qualitative and quantitative information collected during the live polling will be used in reports and articles that the Education Committee plans to issue during 2017-2018. The reports and articles will be made publicly available.
The Scarsdale Forum is actively gathering data that can be used to inform residents, as well as school and Village decision-makers about relevant topics in our community. During May-June 2017, the Forum's Education Committee conducted a village-wide online survey soliciting Scarsdale residents' opinions on topics the Education Committee should research and report upon during 2017-2018. Respondents from all five neighborhoods ranked 12 topics in order of priority: "Need for a Long-Term Financial Plan" and "Program Evaluation Process and Metrics" ranked first and second, respectively. Tied for third place were "Financial Literacy" and "Community Design Initiative: Involving All Stakeholder in Designing Education Goals."
Additionally, the online survey revealed five issues respondents wanted addressed: better communication with the school district, a clear framework to compare Scarsdale schools with other school districts, facilities renovation, more math and science in the elementary schools, and more foreign language instruction.
According to Education Committee Co-Chair Mayra Kirkendall-Rodríguez: "Now that we have these school topics ranked, we would like to deepen our engagement with the Scarsdale community to really understand what educational priorities exist. Also, we need to probe how residents feel about how much we want to spend to continue including innovative programs in our schools."
The September 7 event will provide the Education Committee the opportunity to explore the Scarsdale community's educational values and priorities in more depth. Co-Chair Carlos Ramírez said: "We encourage residents of Scarsdale and the Mamaroneck Strip to attend the event and have their voices heard. As a community, we are empowered to participate in important discussions about our schools and to insure stakeholder involvement happens."
High School Sweethearts Wed in Connecticut
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Sarah Bushin and Ethan Carey, SHS '11, were married on Saturday August 5th at the Lake Waramaug Club in New Preston, CT. Sarah is the daughter of Rose Mary and Howard Bushin and Ethan is the son of Lauri and David Carey, both from Scarsdale. The couple met at Scarsdale Middle School through SMS student government where Anna Carey (Ethan's twin sister) was the president, Ethan, the vice president and Sarah, the secretary. The girls were friends first, then early in high school, Sarah and Ethan connected and the rest is history. They have been together, non-stop since tenth grade, with Sarah attending Maryland Institute College of Art and getting a Masters in Art Teaching, and Ethan graduating with a Masters in Accounting from George Washington University. They now live in the East Village. Sarah is an art teacher, starting at the Solomon Schechter School in Hartsdale this fall, and Ethan is in the audit department of the accounting firm Deloitte.
Send Your Photos To Scarsdale10583
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Attention readers and photographers: If you see something fun, interesting or strange as you travel around the 'Dale, please stop and take a photo and share it with us. Or if you have notable photos from Scarsdale's history, send us those as well. You can email them to us at scarsdalecomments@gmail.com or tag us on facebook and twitter @Scarsdale10583 or on instagram @Scarsdale.10583.
We will feature the best photographs, new or old, that are of Scarsdale or related to Scarsdale on the site.
Check us out at twitter, instagram, and facebook to keep up with all things Scarsdale!
Visiting Day Smiles and Fun
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Many Scarsdale children spend seven weeks of the summer playing sports, making friends, and sitting around the campfire at sleepaway camp. But campers and their families alike look forward to the special day that falls in the middle of the 2 months of fun: Visiting Day. Parents travel on Visiting Day to their child's "home away from home" to spend a few precious hours with their camper. The reunited families chat, eat, and get a peek into what life at camp is really like. Below are photos of Scarsdale campers and their families on Visiting Day.
Do you have a visiting day photo to share? Please email it to scarsdalecomments@gmail.com and we'll include it here.
School Board Issues Note on Next Steps for Facilities Planning
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(This letter was sent to the community by School Board President Lee Maude and School Board V.P. Bill Natboony on June 27, 2017)
Board of Education Message:
Facilities and Bond Planning Update
To the Scarsdale Community:
On behalf of your Scarsdale Board of Education, we write to advise you of the status of ongoing discussions regarding facilities needs and planning for the District's schools, and to advise of next steps, including a meeting of the Board where facilities plans will be discussed on July 6, 2017 in Rooms 170-72 of the Scarsdale High School, beginning at approximately 9:00 A.M.
As you likely know, the Board of Education has for several years been engaged in various analyses and reviews of the facilities needs for the schools in our District. While much public and Board discussion has centered around how to address facilities issues at the Greenacres Elementary School, the District Administration and various consultants have recently completed a comprehensive review of all of the District's facilities (including Greenacres) and a prioritization of needed work. While the District's annual budget does allocate resources towards maintenance and some facilities projects, the current and future facilities needs of the District are extensive and, it appears, cannot be funded without bond financing. With repayment of certain long term bond debt for the District to be completed in 2019, the Board has been discussing a referendum for new bond issuance to fund major facilities work.
The District Administration is preparing a recommendation for the Board on how to address the District's facilities needs moving forward, including necessary facilities work relating to Greenacres. The Administration has indicated the recommendation will be based upon numerous factors, including the educational goals of the District, information from the District's architects (past and present), consultants and experts, Building Committees, significant community input, and the Board members' recent statements about the desired size of any bond and the relevance of the concept of tax neutrality.
At the July 6, 2017 Board meeting, BBS, the District's architects, will provide certain updates and additional analysis regarding its recent work, and the Administration is expected to provide details and an underlying explanation of its recommendations concerning the work to be financed by an upcoming bond. The Board is expected to discuss the Administration's recommendation, including the recommendation on how to proceed with work relating to Greenacres, and whether, and to what extent, the Board is in a position to give guidance to the Administration on how to proceed.
The Board has, over an extended period of time, received extensive comments on the facilities issues, and in particular Greenacres, from many members of the Scarsdale community, including many members of the Greenacres community. These comments are appreciated. To the extent you can or wish to, the Board would welcome any additional comments prior to its July 6, 2017 meeting. There will also be the opportunity at the July 6, 2017 meeting for any member of the public or community group to comment on facilities issues prior to the Board's discussion that morning.
The Board agenda for July 6, 2017 will include the Board reviewing and discussing the Administration's recommendations and, to the extent the Board believes it appropriate based on the information before it, giving guidance to the Administration on how to proceed. The Board's discussions at that time will inform whether, and to what extent, the Board will attempt to schedule additional meetings over the summer. If you are interested in information regarding District facilities issues, we urge you to review the District website, and in particular the Facilities sections, which contain information concerning the process so far. As more information becomes available, it will be posted on the District's website, along with the Board's meeting agendas.
Sincerely,
Leila S. Maude
President, Scarsdale Board of Education
William J. Natbony
Vice-President, Scarsdale Board of Education
