January 31, 2022

Reaching A National Audience The Middle School Walk & Talk podcast series offers heart, hope, and health to members of middle school communities. Hosts Dr. Phyllis Fagell and our very own Dr. Joe Mazza model wellness as they walk and talk while recording each episode. In their latest episode -- How are kids feeling right now? Let’s ask them! -- two SB students (and two students from the Sheridan School) joined the hosts to talk directly about how they’re feeling, and how they are finding joy at school despite disrupted learning, social media challenges, and other issues facing adolescents today. As usual, they had a lot of insightful things to say about how educators can best support them, and vice versa. Listen HERE (recorded 12/21/21) The Association for Middle Level Education (AMLE) is the only international organization of its kind for middle school educators. With a community more than 35,000 members strong, AMLE is the go-to source for middle level education peer-reviewed research, best practice, and professional development.

DRAFT 2022-23 School Year Calendar The DRAFT 2022-2023 School Year Calendar was presented for Board of Education consideration on January 26, 2022. The Board is currently scheduled to adopt the 2022-2023 School Year Calendar on February 9, 2022. In the meantime, if you have any comments, questions, or concerns, please email them to the Board of Education or Christine Ackerman.

Scholastic Writing Awards Congratulations to the 14 Greeley students who had their original work recognized by the 2022 Hudson-to-Housatonic Writing Region of the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards! A panel of professional novelists, editors, teachers, poets, librarians, journalists and other literary professionals selected 696 titles from the more than 1,900 works submitted this year. Together, Greeley accounted for 8 Gold Keys, 10 Silver Keys and 17 Honorable Mentions. Gold Keys are automatically forwarded for consideration at the national level of the Scholastic Writing Awards. Click HERE for a complete list of student names, titles and awards.

Regeneron STS 2022 Congratulations to HGHS senior Anika Puri! She was named a Top 300 Scholar in the 81^st Regeneron Science Talent Search (STS), selected from 1,804 applications received from 603 high schools across 46 states, Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico and eight other countries. Scholars were chosen based on their exceptional research skills, commitment to academics, innovative thinking and promise as scientists as demonstrated through the submission of their original, independent research projects, essays and teacher recommendations. Her research is entitled, ElSa: A Novel Real-Time Wildlife Poacher Detection Solution Leveraging Machine Learning-Driven Spatio-temporal Analysis of Nighttime UAV Thermal Infrared Videos. “I developed an algorithm using animal and human movement pattern differences over time, such as their turning radius, speed, herd nature, etc., to help significantly improve accuracy in identifying potential poachers,” Anika explains. “Tested on videos collected from four national parks in Africa, this method detected humans with 90.9% accuracy - a 400% improvement over the existing state-of-the-art methods. Furthermore, my low-cost ($300) design prototype ElSa (Elephant-Savior), built with everyday components, eliminates the need for costly high-resolution thermal cameras ($4,800), allowing even resource-constrained parks in Africa and Asia to transform the way they protect their elephant wildlife from rampant illegal poaching.” After Greeley, Anika says she would love to explore the role of technology in solving society’s biggest challenges. She hopes to one day create AI-based applications, devices, and platforms that can affect genuine change in our communities for public health and the environment.

DG students fine tune their digital research habits, noticing personal preferences for database articles vs. video content and digitizing the note taking process.	Cross-curricular connections at RB as students use the Mood Meter to debate levels of unrest during events leading up to the American Revolution.	Inspired by Jeff Koons’ balloon animal sculptures, WO artists use oil pastels and knowledge of highlights and shading to create their own balloon animal dog drawings.
Programming, playwriting, book jacket designing & more. Student choice at BS while raising awareness of social issues.	Innovation on display at SB as students use Sphero robots, drones and cardboard engineering to get a marble across the entire STEAM Center without touching the floor.	BSU students meet with HG faculty to learn more about the new SUNY Race course being offered in 2022-23.

Playground Redesign Challenge Second-grade students at Grafflin connected what they learned about the properties of different construction materials, and then applied that knowledge to a new task. Following the Chappaqua Design Process, students collaborated to develop small-scale models of 1-2 pieces of playground equipment. They then tested their plans, analyzed the data collected about properties of materials to support (or refute) their ideas about what causes playground equipment to function as intended, and then made adjustments based on their findings and peer feedback.

CCSD Comprehensive Equity Audit The Chappaqua Central School District is a community of learners who demonstrate an understanding of, and appreciation for, continual growth in all aspects of education. Our community values equity, celebrates inclusivity and promotes social justice. To support our work in antiracism and social justice education, the District has partnered with Insight Education Group to identify ways to ensure that our programs, practices and outcomes are equitable for all students. The first step in their work with our District was to conduct an equity audit. In addition to reviewing current data, meeting with key focus groups and soliciting anonymous feedback from our staff, they conducted anonymous surveys to gather the thoughts, beliefs and experiences of our families and students in Grades 5-12 in order to further inform this work. The data from the equity audit, including the results of the various surveys, was shared by Insight Education Group at a recent Board of Education meeting. Comprehensive Equity Audit - Final Report (1/12/22) Presentation Slides (12/15/21)

CCSD Comprehensive Special Education Audit In May 2021, the District partnered with Public Consulting Group (PCG) to embark on an external review of the Special Education Department, including its current program offerings, effectiveness of individualized services, continuum of services, monitoring and compliance, related professional development, consistency and articulation between schools, resources and parent relations. Public Consulting Group (PCG) first engaged in reviewing information from the offices of Special Education, Curriculum and Instruction, Business, Human Resources and from our Data Management Systems. Then, five focus groups were held with parents, and parents also shared information via a survey and by email. In addition, educators in the District participated in IEP File Review teams, classroom observations, and survey responses. Interviews have also been conducted with administrators and District leaders. PCG presented their findings to the Board of Education on January 26, 2022. The results of the review will be utilized by the District’s leadership team in order to develop a strategic plan for special education with a focus on how the CCSD can more effectively organize its structures, systems and processes to better support the delivery of services to students with disabilities. Executive Summary (12/2021) Final Report (12/2021) Presentation Slides (1/26/22)

Kindergarten Registration District children who will be 5 years old by December 31^st of this year are eligible to begin kindergarten in the Fall of 2022. Registration packets are being mailed at the end of February to those households that have an eligible child according to District records. Kindergarten Registration for the 2022-2023 School Year will take place during the week of March 14^th-18^th, at which time a completed incoming student packet can be returned directly to the school for which your child is zoned. If you do not receive a packet, please take a moment next week to pre-register your child by contacting Mary Marchionno, the District Registrar, at MaMarchionno@chappaquaschools.org or 238-7200 ext. 1007.

42^nd Annual Young Writers Contest Sponsored by the Friends of the Chappaqua Library, young writers in grades 5-12 are encouraged to submit their work to the 2022 Young Writers Contest. The categories are: FICTION NON-FICTION POETRY ONLINE SUBMISSIONS ONLY! The deadline is Friday, March 25^th at 11:59pm. No late entries will be accepted! The entries will be judged by a panel of professionals in the writing and publishing industries. The judges enjoy reading every entry and will look for creativity, style, originality, persuasiveness, voice, and many other elements of strong writing. Judging is always tough because so much excellent work is submitted. Click HERE for more information and to submit online.

Reaching A National Audience

The Middle School Walk & Talk podcast series offers heart, hope, and health to members of middle school communities. Hosts Dr. Phyllis Fagell and our very own Dr. Joe Mazza model wellness as they walk and talk while recording each episode.

In their latest episode -- How are kids feeling right now? Let’s ask them! -- two SB students (and two students from the Sheridan School) joined the hosts to talk directly about how they’re feeling, and how they are finding joy at school despite disrupted learning, social media challenges, and other issues facing adolescents today. As usual, they had a lot of insightful things to say about how educators can best support them, and vice versa.

Listen HERE (recorded 12/21/21)

The Association for Middle Level Education (AMLE) is the only international organization of its kind for middle school educators. With a community more than 35,000 members strong, AMLE is the go-to source for middle level education peer-reviewed research, best practice, and professional development.

DRAFT 2022-23 School Year Calendar

The DRAFT 2022-2023 School Year Calendar was presented for Board of Education consideration on January 26, 2022.

The Board is currently scheduled to adopt the 2022-2023 School Year Calendar on February 9, 2022.

In the meantime, if you have any comments, questions, or concerns, please email them to the Board of Education or Christine Ackerman.

Scholastic Writing Awards

Congratulations to the 14 Greeley students who had their original work recognized by the 2022 Hudson-to-Housatonic Writing Region of the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards!

A panel of professional novelists, editors, teachers, poets, librarians, journalists and other literary professionals selected 696 titles from the more than 1,900 works submitted this year.

Together, Greeley accounted for 8 Gold Keys, 10 Silver Keys and 17 Honorable Mentions. Gold Keys are automatically forwarded for consideration at the national level of the Scholastic Writing Awards.

Click HERE for a complete list of student names, titles and awards.

Regeneron STS 2022

Congratulations to HGHS senior Anika Puri! She was named a Top 300 Scholar in the 81^st Regeneron Science Talent Search (STS), selected from 1,804 applications received from 603 high schools across 46 states, Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico and eight other countries.

Scholars were chosen based on their exceptional research skills, commitment to academics, innovative thinking and promise as scientists as demonstrated through the submission of their original, independent research projects, essays and teacher recommendations.

Her research is entitled, ElSa: A Novel Real-Time Wildlife Poacher Detection Solution Leveraging Machine Learning-Driven Spatio-temporal Analysis of Nighttime UAV Thermal Infrared Videos. “I developed an algorithm using animal and human movement pattern differences over time, such as their turning radius, speed, herd nature, etc., to help significantly improve accuracy in identifying potential poachers,” Anika explains. “Tested on videos collected from four national parks in Africa, this method detected humans with 90.9% accuracy - a 400% improvement over the existing state-of-the-art methods. Furthermore, my low-cost ($300) design prototype ElSa (Elephant-Savior), built with everyday components, eliminates the need for costly high-resolution thermal cameras ($4,800), allowing even resource-constrained parks in Africa and Asia to transform the way they protect their elephant wildlife from rampant illegal poaching.”

After Greeley, Anika says she would love to explore the role of technology in solving society’s biggest challenges. She hopes to one day create AI-based applications, devices, and platforms that can affect genuine change in our communities for public health and the environment.

Digital Research

DG students fine tune their digital research habits, noticing personal preferences for database articles vs. video content and digitizing the note taking process.

research

Cross-curricular connections at RB as students use the Mood Meter to debate levels of unrest during events leading up to the American Revolution.

Balloons

Inspired by Jeff Koons’ balloon animal sculptures, WO artists use oil pastels and knowledge of highlights and shading to create their own balloon animal dog drawings.

Choice

Programming, playwriting, book jacket designing & more. Student choice at BS while raising awareness of social issues.

Innovation

Innovation on display at SB as students use Sphero robots, drones and cardboard engineering to get a marble across the entire STEAM Center without touching the floor.

HG BSU

BSU students meet with HG faculty to learn more about the new SUNY Race course being offered in 2022-23.

Playground Redesign Challenge

Second-grade students at Grafflin connected what they learned about the properties of different construction materials, and then applied that knowledge to a new task.

Following the Chappaqua Design Process, students collaborated to develop small-scale models of 1-2 pieces of playground equipment. They then tested their plans, analyzed the data collected about properties of materials to support (or refute) their ideas about what causes playground equipment to function as intended, and then made adjustments based on their findings and peer feedback.

CCSD Comprehensive Equity Audit

The Chappaqua Central School District is a community of learners who demonstrate an understanding of, and appreciation for, continual growth in all aspects of education. Our community values equity, celebrates inclusivity and promotes social justice.

To support our work in antiracism and social justice education, the District has partnered with Insight Education Group to identify ways to ensure that our programs, practices and outcomes are equitable for all students.

The first step in their work with our District was to conduct an equity audit. In addition to reviewing current data, meeting with key focus groups and soliciting anonymous feedback from our staff, they conducted anonymous surveys to gather the thoughts, beliefs and experiences of our families and students in Grades 5-12 in order to further inform this work.

The data from the equity audit, including the results of the various surveys, was shared by Insight Education Group at a recent Board of Education meeting.

Comprehensive Equity Audit - Final Report (1/12/22)

Presentation Slides (12/15/21)

CCSD Comprehensive Special Education Audit

In May 2021, the District partnered with Public Consulting Group (PCG) to embark on an external review of the Special Education Department, including its current program offerings, effectiveness of individualized services, continuum of services, monitoring and compliance, related professional development, consistency and articulation between schools, resources and parent relations.

Public Consulting Group (PCG) first engaged in reviewing information from the offices of Special Education, Curriculum and Instruction, Business, Human Resources and from our Data Management Systems.

Then, five focus groups were held with parents, and parents also shared information via a survey and by email. In addition, educators in the District participated in IEP File Review teams, classroom observations, and survey responses. Interviews have also been conducted with administrators and District leaders.

PCG presented their findings to the Board of Education on January 26, 2022. The results of the review will be utilized by the District’s leadership team in order to develop a strategic plan for special education with a focus on how the CCSD can more effectively organize its structures, systems and processes to better support the delivery of services to students with disabilities.

Executive Summary (12/2021)

Final Report (12/2021)

Presentation Slides (1/26/22)

Kindergarten Registration

District children who will be 5 years old by December 31^st of this year are eligible to begin kindergarten in the Fall of 2022.

Registration packets are being mailed at the end of February to those households that have an eligible child according to District records.

Kindergarten Registration for the 2022-2023 School Year will take place during the week of March 14^th-18^th, at which time a completed incoming student packet can be returned directly to the school for which your child is zoned.

If you do not receive a packet, please take a moment next week to pre-register your child by contacting Mary Marchionno, the District Registrar, at MaMarchionno@chappaquaschools.org or 238-7200 ext. 1007.

42^nd Annual Young Writers Contest

Sponsored by the Friends of the Chappaqua Library, young writers in grades 5-12 are encouraged to submit their work to the 2022 Young Writers Contest. The categories are:

FICTION
NON-FICTION
POETRY

ONLINE SUBMISSIONS ONLY!
The deadline is Friday, March 25^th at 11:59pm. No late entries will be accepted!

The entries will be judged by a panel of professionals in the writing and publishing industries. The judges enjoy reading every entry and will look for creativity, style, originality, persuasiveness, voice, and many other elements of strong writing. Judging is always tough because so much excellent work is submitted.

Click HERE for more information and to submit online.