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Stories:

• Remembering Martin Luther King
• Professional Development Day
• First Day of School
• A Welcome for New Staff
• Board Elects Officers for New Year
• Change at the Top
• College Acceptance Rate Remains High
• Elementary Schools Will No Longer Be Polling Places

Remembering Dr. King

JAN 13, 2010 –The Roslyn school district hosted the annual community program to commemorate the life of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. on January 13 at the Roslyn Middle School. The program featured readings and performances by Roslyn middle and high school students. The guest speaker was the Rev. Roger C. Williams of the First Baptist Church in Glen Cove, who addressed his inspirational remarks mainly to the young people in the audience, encouraging them to be on the side of justice throughout their lives.

The annual event is sponsored by the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Scholarship Fund, which, with the support of Roslyn residents, has helped nearly 250 local students attend college over the last quarter century.

Misstresses of Ceremonies Shanice Harris and Elyse Diaz.	Guest Speaker Rev. Roger C. Williams of Glen Cove's First Baptist Church.
Roslyn Middle School students read from the writings and speeches of Dr. King.	Members of the Roslyn High School Step Team performed.

Service to Youth Honored at Annual Dinner

NOV 5, 2009 –The Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Scholarship Committee held its 20th annual dinner in support of the 2nd-Year Scholarship Fund on Wednesday, November 4 at the Swan Club. Three members of the Roslyn community — Roslyn Rotary Co-President Deborah Gottlieb, Sid Jacobson JCC Assistant Executive Director Paul Isserles and Harbor Hill School Principal Mary Liguori — were honored for their work on behalf of the youth of the community over the course of many years.

The annual Achievement Award was given to Rahsmia Zatar, a 1995 Roslyn High School graduate who has successfully earned several degrees and pursued a career working with troubled youth on Long Island. Also receiving special recognition was Barry Silberzweig, a Roslyn alumnus who has made an extraordinary contribution for college scholarships to Roslyn students in each of the last two years.

Vera Trenchfield, a Roslyn graduate, scholarship recipient and now a faculty member, presented the annual Achievement Award to Rahsmia Zatar, a 1995 RHS graduate who has dedicated her career to helping troubled youth.

Barry Silberzweig, who received a special recognition for his exceptional financial support of the scholarship fund, with his mother and Martin Luther King Committee founding member Arlene Silberzweig.

Deborah Gottlieb, Rotary Club Co-President and long-time special education advocate, was introduced by the school district's Director of Community Relations, Barry Edelson.

Paul Isserles (right), Assistant Executive Director of the Sid Jacobson JCC, was introduced by fellow JCC director and past Martin Luther King honoree Stuart Botwinick.

Mary Liguori (right), Principal of the Harbor Hill School, was introduced by the school's assistant principal, Maureen Berman.

A Day for Staff Learning

NOV 4, 2009 –November 3 was Professional Development Day, when the entire faculty and staff of the school district attend workshops and programs designed to help them enhance their professional skills. More than 30 activities were scheduled in-district, as well as at other locations, for our employees. These programs provided learning opportunities for administrators, teachers, teacher assistants, secretaries, nurses, custodians, bus drivers, monitors and cafeteria staff.

Click here to go to "Curriculum Corner" for Dr. Frank Banta's more in-depth description of the day's programs.

Parents joined faculty and staff at the middle school for a seminar on social and emotional learning.	Teachers at the Heights School discuss the kindergarten progress memorandum (report card).
Custodians at Harbor Hill in a workshop on cleaning terrazzo floors.	Teacher assistants attend a workshop on teaching literacy at East Hills led by Special Education teacher Victoria Schnittger.
Foreign language teachers train in the Language Lab at Roslyn High School.	RHS Social Worker Dot McHugh leads a workshop on bullying for the clerical staff.

This is How We Start Our Year

SEP 2, 2009 – The new school year began on Wednesday, September 2 for Roslyn's students. Some images below from our five schools.

The new superintendent of schools, Dr. Dan Brenner, greeted the faculty and staff a day earlier with an address about the importance of having high expectations both for our students and ourselves. Read Dr. Brenner's message.

Photos: (top row) The first Pledge of Allegiance of the year at Harbor Hill. Students on the move between periods at the middle school. (middle row) Choosing books in the East Hills Library. First graders at work in Ms. Murphy's class at Heights. (bottom row) High school soccer players warming up before practice.

A Welcome for New Staff Members

AUG 25, 2009 – The Roslyn Public Schools is pleased to welcome three members to its administrative team for 2009-10:

Dr. Frank Banta (left), who was Roslyn High School's interim principal in 2004-05, has returned to the district as Interim Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction.

The position of assistant superintendent became vacant when the Board of Education appointed Dr. Dan Brenner as Superintendent of Schools in June. In July, Dr. Brenner and the Board of Education called upon Dr. Banta to fill the position on an interim basis.

"I'm thrilled that Dr. Banta was available and that he's agreed to fill this critical job," Dr. Brenner said. "Not only is he eminently qualified, but he is already familiar with Roslyn and will therefore be in a strong position to advance a busy agenda in the areas of curriculum and instruction."

Dr. Banta was the Superintendent of the Oyster Bay-East Norwich schools from 1991-1998. He had previously served as assistant superintendent in the Massapequa school district, and before that as principal of Schreiber High School in Port Washington. Since his year in Roslyn, he has held positions as principal of Garden City High School and North Shore High School.

Joanna Commander (right) has been appointed as Interim Director of Physical Education, Athletics and Recreation, succeeding Dr. Mira Martincich who retired at the end of June.

Ms. Commander was the director for athletics and physical education in the Lynbrook schools from 1986 to 1999 and subsequently held the same position in the Harborfields schools until her retirement in 2003. She began her career as a physical education teacher at Elmont High School, during which time she was also an assistant basketball coach at Queens College. Since her retirement, she has been an adjunct professor at Adelphi University and Hofstra University, where she was also the coordinator for student teachers of physical education. Ms. Commander is not a stranger to Roslyn, as she worked here as a consultant in 2003-04 to assist with the expansion of the athletics program.

"Dr. Martincich left the program in exceptionally good shape – everything is very well organized," Ms. Commander said. "I hope I can help the program grow and will do my best to uphold the high standards that she established."

Joshua Cabat (left) has been appointed as Roslyn's new English Department Chairperson. As a teacher at Roslyn High School since 2000, he has been engaged in the development and implementation of a number of courses, including the interdisciplinary Seminar in Issues and Literature, Writing Enrichment Research and Senior Honors Thesis program. He was the founder of the Roslyn Film Society, and as both the club's advisor and teacher of Film and Literature, he has actively developed students' appreciation of film as a literary genre as well as their talents as aspiring filmmakers.

Prior to coming to Roslyn, Mr. Cabat taught in New York City, including six years at the High School for Leadership and Public Service where he taught AP English, among other classes. He also founded and co-directed the New York City Student Shakespeare Festival, and has had a number of articles published in Shakespeare Magazine and other publications. Mr. Cabat is a graduate of Columbia University in English Language and Literature, with a master’s degree from the University of Chicago. He succeeds Barbara Arnold, who retired as chairperson in June.

Roslyn is also pleased to welcome new faculty for the 2009-10 school year. These members of the "class of 2009" attended a New Staff Institute during the week before school. They are:

Heights
Melissa Grucci, Psychologist

East Hills
Deborah Cooper, Special Education

Harbor Hill
Amy Kula, Nurse

Roslyn Middle School
Sergio DiBenedetto, Special Ed.
Cara Fellner, Foreign Language
Daniel Freeman, Special Education
Gabriella Gizzi, Math
Laura Hutt, Guidance
Kathleen O'Keeffe, Math
Susan Tietje, Home & Careers

Roslyn High School
Mark Carman, Math
Marc Edelman, Math
Lisa Spyridon, Science

Board Elects Officers for New Year

Ben-Levy Will Be President, Saffron Vice President for 2009-10; Haber Takes His Seat

Meryl Waxman Ben-Levy

Cliff Saffron

Adam Haber

Dani Kline

David Seinfeld

JUL 10, 2009 – The Board of Education elected officers for 2009-10 and welcomed its newest member at the annual reorganization meeting on July 9.

Meryl Waxman Ben-Levy was elected President of the Board and Cliff Saffron was elected Vice President for the upcoming year. Adam Haber took the oath of office as he begins his first term as a board trustee, while Dani Kline and David Seinfeld began new terms following their re-election at the annual vote in May.

School districts are required by the state to hold a reorganization meeting at the beginning of the new fiscal year in order to make appointments and review procedures concerning many legal, financial and administrative functions of the district.

Change at the Top

Dr. Richman Will Retire at the End of June; Dr. Brenner Will Be the New Superintendent

JUN 19, 2009 – Dr. John A. Richman will retire as Superintendent of Schools at the end of June, it was announced at the Board of Education meeting on June 18. Dr. Dan Brenner, who has been the district's Assistant Superintendent for Instruction since 2005, was appointed by the Board as his successor.

In a farewell letter, Dr. Richman thanks the community and staff for their support and wishes the school district and Dr. Brenner well in the future.

The Board appointment of Dr. Brenner as Superintendent of Schools was unanimous. He will assume his new post on July 1, upon the retirement of Dr. Richman.

"This is an extraordinary opportunity, and I am very grateful to the Board for placing their confidence in me," Dr. Brenner said. "I have deep respect for Dr. Richman's commitment and leadership on so many important issues, and I hope to keep the district focused on always doing what is in the best interests of children."

Dr. Dan Brenner

Dr. Brenner joined Roslyn Public Schools in 2005 as Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction. During those four years, he has overseen the implementation of numerous educational initiatives, including programs in elementary literacy, expansion of secondary foreign language offerings, and enhancements in the middle school math program. He also led efforts to increase opportunities for professional development and to introduce differentiated instruction at all levels. He brought his vision and experience as the former principal of Great Neck's Village School to the creation of an alternative program at Roslyn High School; the Hilltop Academy is just now completing a very successful first year of operation.

Prior to coming to Roslyn, Dr. Brenner had been the principal of Yorktown High School in Westchester County. He began his educational career as a school psychologist in the Great Neck public schools, becoming principal of the Village School in 1995. During the course of his career, he has been a crisis team leader, a girls varsity basketball coach and a mentor for colleagues and students. He has also continued to work as a clinical psychologist specializing in adolescents and their families, is a trustee of a non-profit agency serving developmentally disabled adults, and has been a presenter at conferences about childhood development and other educational issues.

Dr. Brenner is a graduate of Tufts University, where he earned a Bachelor of Science cum laude in 1981. He earned a Master of Science degree in 1982 and a Doctor of Philosophy from Hofstra University in 1987.

Where Are They Headed?

Roslyn Graduates Compete Strongly in College Applications

JUN 19, 2009 – College acceptances for the Class of 2009 continued a pattern of success, indicating that Roslyn graduates remain highly competitive with their peers when applying to the top colleges and universities. Acceptance into Ivy League schools were even better than usual in 2009, with six accepted into Penn, two into Harvard, three each into Brown, Princeton and Yale, and an amazing 21 into Cornell. In all, 22 members of the class plan to go to the Ivy League.

Among other top schools, 29 seniors were accepted into Michigan, 19 into NYU, 6 into Northwestern, 11 into Emory, 6 into Tufts, 10 into GW, 7 into Vanderbilt an 6 into Washington U. Graduates' acceptances into "Roslyn favorite" schools is even more remarkable: 24 into Boston U, 25 into Delaware, 29 into Hofstra, 34 into Indiana, 25 into Maryland, 23 into UMass, 23 into Penn State, 22 into Pitt, 30 into Syracuse and 21 into Tulane. Some 45 graduates will attend a dozen different New York State schools.

Roslyn High School graduates of the class of 2009 are planning to attend these colleges and universities:

Polling Places Removed From Elementary Schools

SUCCESSFUL LOBBYING EFFORT WILL IMPROVE SAFETY & SECURITY

OCT 16, 2008 – Beginning with the national election on November 4, voting will no longer take place in the Heights and Harbor Hill Elementary Schools. This long-sought change in polling places was the result of a concerted lobbying effort by school officials, Roslyn residents and other elected representatives.

For many years, the school district has been concerned about its ability to maintain security in the elementary schools when general and primary elections took place while school was in session. The practical inability to isolate voting from regular school activity raised deep concerns about the safety of children and staff. It also placed the district in direct contravention of New York State laws and regulations concerning school security that have been tightened over the years in response to violent incidents in schools.

"Our educational environment will not be disrupted and our children will be safer," said Board of Education Vice President Meryl Waxman Ben-Levy, who chairs the Board's Legislative Affairs Committee. "We thank the Board of Elections and our elected representatives in particular Assemblyman Charles Lavine for recognizing the issues and helping to bring about this very important change."

Official notice has been sent by the Board of Elections to voters who are impacted by the changes. The Board of Elections has indicated that workers will be present to redirect anyone who may come to vote at the schools in error.

Please note the following changes in Town of North Hempstead Election Districts that impact the Roslyn elementary schools:

ED NH 13/16
Changed from HH School 3 GC Rd EH to Village Hall-Roslyn Harbor 500 Motts Cove Rd South, Roslyn Harbor

ED NH 13/4
13/5
13/6
Changed from HH School 3 GC Rd EH to East Hills Village Hall 209 Harbor Hill Road, East Hills

ED NH 13/3
16/97
16/98
Changed from Heights School Willow Street Roslyn Heights to Gayle Community Center 53 Orchard Street, Roslyn Heights

Roslyn High School will remain a polling place for general and primary elections. Voters should check the official notice from the Board of Elections to confirm their polling location.