What You Don’t Know About State Mandates Could Be Harming Your Local School
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- Written by Pam Fuehrer
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Take, for example, the recently passed state "tax freeze" law to promote shared school services and/or district mergers. Don't know what this is or what it could mean for the quality of the Scarsdale Schools? Then click here to link to the Scarsdale Parent-Teacher Council Legislation Committee's webpage, where you'll find details of how the new statewide law could affect Scarsdale over the next few years, as well as links to related news articles and research on the supposed vs. actual cost savings to be found in district mergers.
Concerned about the prospect of Scarsdale merging with other districts? Click here for an easy step for all Scarsdalians to take to have their voice heard on this issue.
The State's new "tax freeze" legislation is only the latest in a growing list of Albany imposed challenges to the quality of the Scarsdale Schools. Such is the critical message the PT Council Legislation Committee has been trying to convey to the Scarsdale school community throughout the year, starting with its November presentation at the middle school, "Is New York's 'Race to the Top' Education Plan Dragging Scarsdale Down?" (Click here to watch the Video on Demand.)
To educate the public on how multiple state mandates, including those on student testing, teacher evaluation and new Common Core standards, are increasingly eroding traditional local community control over our schools, the Committee has developed informational webpages on these topics, along with a frequently updated page of suggested Action Steps for all community members to get their voice heard in Albany.
"For Scarsdale parents, it's no longer enough to know what's going on in your child's classroom and school," say co-chairs Nan Berke and Mary Beth Evans. "In order to support your child's learning, you need to be aware of what's been coming at us from Albany and to be willing to stand up for high quality education."
"In fact," the chairs add, "these issues affect and therefore naturally unite all stakeholders in the Scarsdale schools – parents, educators, and taxpayers." They note that a large percentage of the Scarsdale community still needs to be awakened to the growing burden of the State's costly, bureaucratic, one-size-fits-all "reforms" on Scarsdale's ability to maintain local school excellence. "To effectively protect Scarsdale educational quality," they stress, "it's imperative that the entire Scarsdale school community engage in state-level advocacy on behalf of our children." They see the planned restoration of the District's Legislative Advocacy Committee as an important step toward realizing this kind of broad community engagement.
Miracle League Challenges SHS Raiders
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- Written by Joanne Wallenstein
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SHS sophomore Teddy DeLorenzo coaches players from the Miracle of Westchester baseball team, a team that gives students with disabilities the chance to play baseball in league play. The Miracle Players repeatedly asked DeLorenzo if they could challenge the SHS JV Baseball team.
On Sunday May 18th DeLorenzo was able to make it happen ... and the big game was scheduled: The Scarsdale Raiders JV Baseball team accepted the challenge from the Miracle League of Westchester players. The Raiders were nothing short of surprised when the Miracle players held the Raiders scoreless for six innings with Joe "Real Deal" Reale taking the Raiders pitcher Ben Hasson over the fence for a two-run home run.
A great time was had by all including the parents in the stands, the Scarsdale JV team and most of all the Miracle League players on the field.
Scarsdale Varsity Baseball Team Falls to White Plains
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- Written by Megan Shelton
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The Scarsdale Raiders Varsity Baseball Team played against White Plains on Wednesday May 7 and lost by two points; the final score was five to three. This is not the team's first game vs. White Plains they also played them on Monday May 5 and were defeated 15-14 and lost in extra innings.
"It was a long, hardfought game against a team that we are not big fans of as people, and this made the loss all the more bitter and emotionally draining. It was a really tough loss," says junior Jonathan Greenberg who plays the outfield.
The Raiders were practically playing "catch up" the whole game. In the first inning, the Raiders lost four runs. At one point, the Raiders got the score as close as three to four.
The boys knew they had to keep at it and try to score at least just one more run, but the tides changed when White Plains scored yet another run, putting them two points above Scarsdale. After this last run by White Plains, the Raiders could not rally in time and the score remained three to five, with the Raiders trailing.
While the Raiders are undoubtedly disappointed with today's loss, there were a few good aspects of the game. Pitcher Jacob Stein finished the game strong and never let himself slack off, even though he was the only pitcher for seven innings. Senior batter Raj Palekar hit a single in the bottom half of the seventh inning, after which the White Plains pitcher got three straight strikeouts.
So, what do the players have to say about today's game?
"I think we were the better team and we should have won both games," says junior Brian Rauch, who is one of the pitchers for the team. "But I think this loss can only be seen as motivation for this team because we have lost a lot of heartbreakers this season, and we haven't quit yet."
The team now stands at seven and ten with three games to be played.
The baseball team's next few games will be at Horace Greeley High School on Friday the May 9 at 4:15; at Scarsdale High School on Saturday the May 10 against Environmental High School; and on Tuesday May 13 at Scarsdale High School against Salesian High School at 4:30.
In other sports news, the varsity softball team lost their game against Ardsley five to eight on Tuesday the sixth, the varsity boys lacrosse team won their game today against White Plains eleven to ten in overtime, and the varsity boys tennis team had a match against Mamaroneck and won, thus winning the league. Richard Bennett and Zack Shulman were the victors in first doubles, Daniel Markowitz and Alexander Johnson prevailed in second doubles, John Kaspers and Ben Lefkowitz bested Mamaroneck in third doubles and Jacob Eisenstein and Chris Landgrebe beat out their opponents in fourth doubles.
"I'm pumped for tomorrow," exclaims John Kaspers. "Because we won the section, we move on to play the conference championship."
48 Athletes from the JCC of Mid-Westchester Compete in Maccabi Games
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- Written by Joanne Wallenstein
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More than 775 pre-teen athletes (a new record) from 14 JCCs in the Mid-Atlantic Region, gathered at the Owings Mills JCC near Baltimore, Maryland, for one of most incredible Jr. Maccabi games to date. The annual games for Jewish pre-teens, ages 10 to 12, mirror those of the JCC Maccabi Games with the emphasis on camaraderie and enhancing Jewish identity, as well as some healthy competition.
Among the 14 JCCs, Mid-Westchester had 48 athletes, competing in six different sports, including: Boys and Girls Basketball, Soccer, Swim, Tennis, and Table Tennis. The boys took home the Gold Medal in basketball, and the Silver Medal in soccer. Gabrielle Dobkin won an astonishing four Gold Medals in swimming, while Olivia Shpak also won Gold in the same sport. Ethan Berman and Elan Agus took home the Silver and Bronze medals respectively in table tennis.
Summing up the entire Jr. Maccabi experience, Steven Weisbrot, Delegation Head for Mid-Westchester, said: "It was fabulous; the kids had just an amazing time."
For more information, contact Mid-Westchester Maccabi Director Steven Weisbrot at the Jewish Community Center in Scarsdale: 914-472-7642; weisbrots@jccmw.org. The Jewish Community Center of Mid-Westchester, a proud beneficiary of UJA-Federation of New York, is a nonprofit organization dedicated to enriching the community by providing cultural, social, educational and recreational/fitness programs, human services and Jewish identity-building opportunities to people of all ages and backgrounds without regard to race or religion. For more information about the JCC of Mid-Westchester, class schedules, and more, visit www.jccmw.org.
Voila: George Field and Cooper Green Back to Normal
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- Written by Joanne Wallenstein
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(Updated May 2) On Monday May 1 we reported that the seven acre retention pond at George Field Park was put to the test on April 30th when Scarsdale was deluged. Weather forecasters report that five inches of rain fell in Central Park on Wednesday. The retention pond in Greenacres, which is the largest in Westchester County, was built to retain water during storms and release it downstream in a timed fashion. The pond can hold 2,300,000 gallons of water.
Stephen Sherman took this video of George Field and shared it with us. Check out the new lake at Greenacres.
The pond was built to as part of a large storm water retention program that sends water south to Cooper Green, downstream along the Post Road, into Harcourt Woods and eventually drains into the Bronx River. The intention was to eliminate flooding in homes in the Grange, along Greendale, Oxford and Cambridge roads as well as Rugby Lane, Windmill, and Windmill Circle. The project is not yet complete, and there was still flooding at the high school parking lots on Thursday morning, May 1.
The good news is that the retention pond did what it was supposed to do. Twelve hours later, by 7:30 pm on May 1, it was drained of the excess water and pretty much back to its usual state. That is what is supposed to occur. At Cooper Green, oppositie the Public Safety Building, the rain garden was dry after the storm as well. Below find pictures of George Field and Cooper Green on May 2, completely drained of water. It appears to be doing what it is designed to do -- retain heavy rain falls for a slower release downstream.
Photo Credit: Jon Mark
