Nassau School Notebook: Plainedge wins 'What's Great in Our State' Award
Plainedge School District has been named the winner in the school district category of New York State's 2020 "What's Great in Our State" Award. Pictured here, students receive a mental health lesson at Plainedge High School. Credit: Plainedge School District
Plainedge School District has received a prestigious state award for its focus on mental health.
The district, which has about 2,700 students, has been named the winner in the school district category of New York State's 2020 "What's Great in Our State" Award. The district was presented with the award last month during a virtual celebration.
Plainedge's efforts include establishing a mental health partnership with Northwell Health that gives "concierge-like" services to students and families and assists them in connecting to on-site services and resources, district officials said. It also provides a school psychiatrist for four hours a week and dedicated mental health professionals who help make referrals that are tailored to each individual's insurance-approved providers, among other things.
"The Plainedge School District is excited to be … recognized for our hard work addressing the mental health needs of our students," said the district's director of special education, Bridget Murphy. "We are now entering a second year of our partnership … and we cannot be more grateful for our ability to address the needs of the Plainedge community during this unique start to the academic year."
During the 2019-20 school year, Plainedge conducted 36 psychiatric evaluations and connected more than 80 families to ongoing mental health support, according to Murphy. Issues ranged from learning disabilities to eating disorders.
"Having a safe stigma-free environment where children can address behavioral health struggles and have direct linkage to services can make a tremendous impact on a child's future success," New York State Office of Mental Health Commissioner Ann Sullivan said of Plainedge.
MERRICK
Glenwood Landing Elementary School students recently engaged in outdoor learning as they listened to the reading of a children's book by art teacher Lauren Moran, who often connects art lessons to literacy as part of her art class. Credit: Shelly Newman
Ribbon-cutting ceremony
The Merrick School District hosted a ribbon-cutting ceremony last month to unveil a 5,800-square-foot addition at Roland A. Chatterton Elementary School. The addition provides a second multipurpose room and a space for the school's academic intervention services.
The school's current multipurpose room is being used as a lunch room and "mask break" area to aid in social-distancing measures, school officials said. The project was approved by voters during a bond referendum in 2016.
"Parents wanted improvements for their children and they made sure the project was successful," Merrick Superintendent Dominick Palma said.
In Merrick, third-graders in Dara Kaplan's class at Norman J. Levy Lakeside School recently traced their hands and outlined their designs with adjectives they felt describe themselves. Credit: Merrick School District
COUNTYWIDE
Fall learning
Many local schools have been hosting fall-themed learning activities to incorporate the changing seasons into the curriculum.
In Massapequa Park, kindergartners at East Lake Elementary School learned about John Chapman, the pioneer nurseryman who became known as "Johnny Appleseed" when he introduced apple trees to several states in the 19th century. They also studied the apple's life cycle.
In North Bellmore, third-graders at Newbridge Road Elementary School ventured outside to observe the weather and wrote acrostic poems using such seasonal words as "acorn," "leaf" and "pumpkin."
In Mineola, Hampton Street Elementary School students participated in an art project in which they collected leaves then traced and drew them on paper.
ISLANDWIDE
Virtual all-state concert
The New York State School Music Association (known as NYSSMA) will hold a virtual music concert and festival for about 900 students selected for its 2020 all-state ensembles. The concerts will consist of the following ensembles: vocal jazz, instrumental jazz, wind, string orchestra, treble chorus, mixed chorus, symphonic band and symphony orchestra.
Students will work with professional music directors preparing the music and record it individually this fall. The recordings will be synthesized using a professional recording company and culminate in a concert of all-state performances in the winter or spring.
"Music lives on in all of us as we continue to strive for excellence in a strange world," said NYSSMA president David M. Brown.
— MICHAEL R. EBERT
Michael R. Ebert is an education researcher and has worked for Newsday in various capacities since 2003. He was part of an 11-person team named as 2008 Pulitzer Prize finalists for investigative coverage of the LIRR's platform safety issues.
