Scardale Inquirer Back To School 2011 by The Scarsdale Inquirer

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A Special Section of The Scarsdale Inquirer

August 19, 2011

Page 2A/The scarsdale Inquirer

Back to School

Friday, August 19, 2011

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The scarsdale Inquirer

Back to School

Friday, August 19, 2011/ Page 3A

Inside

Parent’s Guide to Back to School 4A Parents and homework: To help or not to help? 6A Detecting and correcting reading lags 8A Moving Up: The mission for a smooth transition 11A Decision-making 101: How major is a major on

A special section of

The Scarsdale Inquirer P.O. Box 418, Scarsdale, NY 10583 914-725-2500 www.scarsdalenews.com

SECTION EDITOR Todd Sliss

your college application?

1 2A Navigating the student loan maze 14A The disconnect between colleges and applicants 14A Teaching financial literacy 15A Technology gives kids competitive edge 31A BTS Fashion: Kids have options

from head to toe

35A 60A

Studying abroad: what to plan, pack

61A

End Paper: Back to school after all these years

PUBLISHER Deborah G. White

Smart (and fun) ways to stop summer brain drain

ART DIRECTOR Ann Marie Rezen ADVERTISING DESIGN Katherine Potter ADVERTISING SALES Thomas O’Halloran, Barbara Yeaker Marilyn Petrosa Francesca Lynch

School Reports

BTS Notes 16A 36A

Student Services

40A 51A

News Notes

Health and Wellness Arts & Enrichment

61A Arts & Enrichment

20A Scarsdale Schools:

31A

46A 48A

a transformative education

22A Scarsdale BOE provides

50A

Music Education: Hoff-Barthelson has programs for all ages

24A Edgemont Schools

providing best for students despite budget

JCC kicks off year with day of Chesed

Creativity counts: Why kids need the arts

excellent education despite challenges

48A

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Back to School

Friday, August 19, 2011

Parents and homework:

To help or not to help?

By LAURIE SULLIVAN

hould parents give their kids help with homework? The answer: homework help can have both a positive and negative impact on kids and their education. If it sounds like a conundrum, it is. Homework help has long been a thorny issue for parents and educators. So what’s a parent to do? To find the answers, we talked to two educators and a speech and language therapist, with some enlightening results. On the elementary school level, Jennifer Allen, principal of the Greenville Elementary School in Edgemont, expressed her views on homework help. She said children need to make a “good faith” effort to complete their work on their own, then reach out to their parents to check what the assignment is, to check answers or to clarify. “There may be language on a question to help them with the assignment,” she said. “Well-intentioned parents can contribute more for their child and they do more than they should,” Allen said. “Teachers are pretty skilled in determining when there’s been too much assistance from parents.” Allen explained that ultimately kids lose out because they don’t get the benefits from learning the assignment. She suggested that parents put a note on the assignment and ex-

plain that their child really had trouble with the assignment and ask the teacher to help him. “Children can get dependent on help, which prevents them from doing the work on their own if too much work is done by someone else,” Allen said. “The goal of the parents should be mindful to have children who are independent learners.” Allen, who was previously the assistant principal in Edgemont’s middle school, knows from experience that the older children get, the more important it is to do the work on their own and learn to ask the teacher for help. She said that when students move into the middle school and high school, they will be expected to do the work on their own.

Middle school: hands-off help Bill Barrett, the middle school division head and upper school dean at Rippowam Cisqua School in Chappaqua, agreed with

Allen, stressing the importance that homework be done by the child as much as possible. “When we give a child homework, it’s meaningful, not new learning,” Barrett said. At the middle school level, which at Rippowam starts in fifth grade, parents need to know what the child is expected to do and try to engage the child in discussing their assignments. Parents should understand what the optimal learning environment is for their child and provide it; for example a quiet space or perhaps listening to quiet music while doing their work. But “every child is different.” Barrett explained that work that is done independently at home creates another opportunity “for us to assess how they’re doing at that time … if the student receives too much help at home, it can hamper the teacher’s ability to judge where the student is at that

Children can get dependent on help, which prevents them from doing the work on their own if too much work is done by someone else.” — Jennifer A llen, principal of the Greenville Elementary School

Continued on the next page

prepared Parents are key to back-to-school success

ith summer coming to a close, perhaps your child is resisting trading in his or her fun, leisurely schedule for the school routine. “End of summer is bittersweet for some children, while others are much more fearful about going back to the classroom,” said Thamara Thirri of the Scarsdale Huntington Learning Center. “No matter what your child’s demeanor, it is beneficial for parents to prepare children for the change.” Huntington offers these six tips to get your child ready to head back to school:

Take your child back-to-school shopping. Spending a day together buying school supplies and maybe a new outfit. Shopping is a fun way to get into the school mode and a good opportunity to let your child tell you the things he or she thinks will help make him or her successful. It’s also a

Plan on getting extra help. For students who struggled in the previous school year, the idea of going back to school may be especially stressful. Summer is a great time to build skills and improve weaker areas, but if your summer was focused on other things, now is a great time to investigate supplemental education services for your child. Talk to his or her teacher in advance about problem areas and how the two of you can work together to get your child off on the right foot. good chance for parents to have one-on-one conversations with their children about any goals they have for the year.

I ntroduce your child ahead of time to another classmate or two. A few weeks before the first day of school, reconnect with friends from last year who will be in your child’s new class. If your child is new to the school, look around your neighborhood to find other children of the same age.

Set an optimistic tone. As a parent, you have a lot of influence on your child’s attitude toward school. Show him or her through your actions that learning is fun and a part of everyday life. Teach your child to value effort and hard work.

B e prepared. Many schools have an orientation a month or so before school starts, which gives parents the information they need about school supplies,

dress code, required forms, transportation and more. Being organized and on top of all school requirements will minimize firstweek stresses for both you and your child.

Meet the teacher. Your school may host a meet your teacher day, which is a great opportunity for your child to get to know his or her new teacher before the first day. Get familiar with the school layout and other school resources (like guidance counselor and speech therapist) that will help your child. The beginning of a new school year is full of excitement and promise, and parents can set the tone at home so that their children see it that way, too. “Let your child know that he or she has a strong support system in you and his or her teacher,” Thirri said. “And remember that when it comes to going back to school, a little preparation and a good attitude can go a long way.”n

The scarsdale Inquirer Continued from the previous page

particular time.” However good teachers know where the kids are, he said, and they do assess them daily. And if kids ask parents for help, what should be the appropriate response? Barrett said if a child is writing an essay or report and asks a parent to read it to see if they’re on the right track, it is appropriate. “If the parent is correcting their work, I think the work should be the student’s,” he said. “I know there are always shades of gray,” he added. “The line between where a child’s work ended and where the parents began, then it becomes murky.” Some parents have a hard time not helping, however well-intentioned, when they think a child is asked to do too much and want to support them. “If a parent is giving help every night,” Barrett said, “we’d love to hear from that parent.” He advises that if kids are having trouble on a particular assignment parents should encourage their child to self advocate and talk to their teacher so they can “hone in on what’s needed.” Barrett approves of parents and tutors coaching at home for teaching time management and other skills, which can be helpful, but not doing the actual work. He said it is neither helpful nor appropriate: “If parents help too much, the child will lose confidence.”

Special help Dorothy Leone, a speech and language therapist and owner of Little Wonders Therapeutics in Dobbs Ferry, said the parent “is always a part of the process” in her work with children. “Sometimes there is a disconnect between schools and home,” Leone said. Working as consultants, her company can observe a child either for parents or the

Back to School

school district. Leone, who is a full-time professor in speech communications at Iona College, said there are many “pieces of parent involvement” in the therapy and learning process. Sometimes she has a parent sit in on an appointment and sometimes it’s hard for parents not to answer questions for the child, but it is important for the child to share information with her. She said she encourages parents to be involved “appropriately” and suggests cooking or baking with their child at home. Some parents need help creating ways to communicate with them at home, she explained, and others need to know what the optimal learning environment should be for their child. For Leone, the biggest benefit for parental help is to have the parent “on board with you” in providing opportunities for the child. “Appropriate parent involvement is the key to success … parental help at home cuts down on the amount of time they need help in school,” Leone said. As an example, she said that if a child is working on narratives (telling stories), a parent should help them at home. “It shouldn’t end in the classroom or in a therapy session,” she explained. “Give them language.” Parents can help by asking a related question when asking “What did you do in school today?” or the work they may be doing with Leone, to encourage more than one-word answers. One of the challenges for kids that have been getting her help for years is to help them become more independent learners. “One goal builds on top of another goal — a child should be able to do more work on their own over time,” Leone said. “Once a child can master a goal, take away [that] help and move to the next one.” n

Friday, August 19, 2011/ Page 5A

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Reading

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Back to School

Friday, August 19, 2011

Detecting and correcting reading lags

By MARY LEGRAND

ut simply, it’s impossible to overemphasize the importance of a student’s ability to read and comprehend what he or she reads. The two skills go hand in hand as the most important building blocks on the road to success in school. What happens, then, if a student — no matter the age — is found to have a problem that keeps him or her behind in class? Tutoring may sometimes be the answer. Lags in reading skills typically are suspected in the early elementary grades, particularly in first grade, when many, if not most, Westchester County school district teachers and administrators, expect their youngest students to be able to read independently by the end of the year. Students who don’t meet those standards may be tested for any number of problems. Some problems are simple; others, not so much. “You can see signs that there might be a lag as early as kindergarten, when the kids are introduced to sounds and they can’t make the connection between sounds and letter awareness,” said Linda Salomon, owner of Elite Tutors in Yorktown Heights, a firm that assigns tutors throughout Westchester County. Oftentimes a child’s teacher picks up the problem before a parent does, but not always. “A parent absolutely should call the school for intervention,” Salomon said. “If the school agrees with the parents in seeing the issues parents are describing, the district would go forth with testing. At Elite Tutors we always do an assessment, and there are a number of programs we use in preventing academic failure, including ones used at Windward School and also in the White Plains public schools.” Patricia Wagner of Katonah Tutoring Club

agrees that parents often know best. But she takes it one step further. “The moms always know there’s a problem,” Wagner said. “They may not have the right label for it, but they see it. The only time it’s a little hard is if it’s the first child. Parents don’t have the barometer they do when there’s more than one child in the family.” Public schools in Westchester would like children’s reading to be about six months ahead of grade level, according to Wagner, who has a doctorate in education and is also a child psychologist. For Wagner and others, the statistics are somewhat sobering. She cites “Preventing Early Reading Failure,” by Dr. Joseph Torgesen, director of the Florida Center for Reading Research, who writes that “children who are poor readers at the end of first grade almost never acquire average-level reading skills by the end of elementary school.” “Reading is a foundation you build early,” Wagner said. “I can’t impress upon parents how important that is. Everything else becomes building a house on a foundation of quicksand. By the time they’re in third and fourth grades, you have to keep their heads above water. That’s particularly difficult as they get into middle school.” But Wagner

stresses that it’s never too late to get help. By waiting, “it just becomes a bigger problem. People wait too long to get help. It’s the old scenario of the stomachache becoming the appendicitis.” Karla Hopf, operations manager at Huntington Learning Center, with sites in Scarsdale and Yorktown, agreed, saying a core philosophy of her firm is that “it’s never too late to learn reading skills, the fundamental foundation to lifelong learning.” With undergraduate and graduate degrees in secondary education, Hopf emphasized that it’s not just young children who can have problems. Continued on the next page

Help to turn your child into a better reader

Reading is the most important skill that children need to master to be successful in school and life. However, kids increasingly are struggling with this most basic of academic abilities. The United States currently has one of the lowest literacy rates in the developed world. According to the National Report Card, the country is experiencing a literacy crisis, with 68 percent of fourth-graders and 69 percent of eighth-graders testing below grade level in reading. When children have difficulty reading, they quickly can fall behind their peers. Luckily, there are ways to improve almost any child’s reading proficiency. “Telling children to try harder is not the key to developing better readers. Rather, students need to be taught the building blocks of words: phonograms and spelling rules,” said Denise Eide, a teacher and author of the new book, “Uncovering the Logic of English.” There are many things parents can do to help: • Explain writing is code. Many students guess wildly while reading because they have never realized words are made of individual sounds blended together. Show them how letters and groups of letters represent sounds. Then practice blending the sounds to form words. • Teach all the sounds. Many letters say more than one sound. For example, the letter “S” sounds different in the word “sad” than the word “is.” Many students misread simple words, because they don’t know all the sounds. • Make it fun. Learning the basics doesn’t need to

be boring. Engage young children through play. Practice the phonograms with games, large motor activities and art projects. • Cover pictures. Many young students struggle with the left to right eye movement of reading. Allow students to look at the pictures then cover them with a blank sheet of paper while reading. Covering pictures makes it easier to focus on text. • Teach all nine ‘Silent E’ rules. Many students know only one reason for a silent final “e” — the vowel says its name because of the “E.” This explains words like “game” and “ripe,” but leaves many kids struggling to read “have” and “give.” Learning the nine reasons, including that English words do not end in “v,” prevents students from needing to memorize thousands of exceptions. • Find answers. Too often we answer questions about reading with “that is an exception.” This frustrates many bright students and discourages them from reading. Rather than dismissing words as exceptions, look for answers and explanations. English is more logical than most Americans think. Answers to questions about English reading and spelling can be found in “Uncovering the Logic of English” and by visiting www.logicofenglish.com. “Many students complain English spelling appears inconsistent, especially highly logical children who may grow up to be scientists or mathematicians,” Eide said. “By teaching students how English works you will improve their reading abilities and encourage them to read.” n — StatePoint

Continued from the previous page

“Students in the upper grades compensate for lack of basic reading skills by memorizing and cramming,” she said. “The first step for parents is to determine why their child, no matter the age, has these poor reading skills. The first thing is to listen to their child of any age read something — books, articles, Internet mail, even an article from a teen magazine. Then parents should ask the child to tell a bit about what he or she has read, so the parents can see if there are comprehension issues.” Paying attention to a child’s “desire for reading and determining how the child deals with frustration when he or she is reading” are also important, Hopf continued. “Also, has there been a fluctuation in grades, whether it be in academic courses or standardized test scores? Have the scores dropped down or gone up?” In performing its initial student assessment, Katonah Tutoring Club “goes back to the beginning reading program,” Wagner said. “We will zip through what a student knows, and find out if there’s something in there that she’s not connecting.” Elite Tutors performs individual assessments as well, and provides one-on-one tutoring in children’s homes. “Scheduling is flexible,” Salomon said. “Lots of times with the children who are just beginning to read, in first and second grades where reading skills get noticed, we schedule to meet the needs of that age group. If it’s in the summer, tutors go to homes before camp, 7:30 or 7:45 a.m. During the school year, it’s right after a student gets home from school.” “One thing I can tell you is that at Huntington we take the guesswork out of the

S Schechter 4.833x6.667 B&W_Layout 1 Back to School

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More Than an Education. A Foundation for Life.

testing,” said Hopf. “We provide a fulllength academic evaluation, which provides for parents a complete road map of all the skills a child would possess or need. The parent then knows if the child is meeting expectations in all the skill areas most important for academic success.” Abilities at the time of testing vary wildly. “We have seventh-graders who can’t read at all past the third-grade level, and others who can read beautifully but don’t understand a thing they’re reading,” Hopf said. Parents and teachers aren’t the only ones who realize there’s a problem — the children can as well. “I can just say that kids know they are struggling,” Salomon said. “Their faces light up when they realize they’ve read a whole sentence for the first time. It’s exciting when they know they’ve just read something and understood it, rather than just struggling to read the words properly. Finally, it all makes sense; they understand it.” Salomon used the analogy of learning to ride a bike, when “you fall off a million times” before getting the knack of it. “We feel good as tutors because of the strategies we use in teaching reading skills,” she said. “Once that kick-in clicks, the sounds and letters, they read everything. They’re like sponges, they want to learn everything.” Positive experiences in something as simple as reading can breed positive, lifelong relationships with school. “Parents just have peace of mind to know that a child is functioning at grade level and has the tools to function appropriately at their age and beyond,” Salomon said. n

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Back to School

Friday, August 19, 2011

Moving up

themission for a Smooth

Transition By LAURIE SULLIVAN

ids don’t always welcome change, especially when transitioning from one school to another. It can be downright scary for some younger students moving into middle school. Parents worry too how their children will fare in a new environment with older students and more demanding work. Kids worry, “Will I be able to find my locker?” “Will I be on time for class?” “Will the kids like me?” Even kids who roll well might have pause for concern. That first day, even the first few weeks in middle school or high school, can be an anxious time for both parent and child. The schools in our area help allay some of that anxiety before school starts and prepare

students as they make the leap between schools. Schools are ready to help smooth away the bumps that may pop up along the way and help prepare students for what’s ahead. Some schools have formal programs built into their curriculums. Here’s a sampling of how area schools help pave the way to an easier transition and advice from two therapists.

Normal anxiety or a red flag? Dale Karp, a child and family therapist with offices in Scarsdale and New York City who has been involved in school programs that help kids transition, works with preschool age through high school children, but mostly 10- to 12-year-olds and adolescents. She said she doesn’t see students specifically about transition, but sometimes the issue comes up. “There can be a family dynamic that’s go-

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ing on when it looks like there’s a problem,” Karp explained. “There can be a certain level of anxiety if the family is going through a divorce, there’s sibling rivalry — it could be a million things — all these things can heighten anxiety. If a kid doesn’t do things in an easy way, that’s a red flag. “Very anxious children may feel anxious when changing from a small comfortable environment to a larger one. For more confident ones it’s not such a big deal.” Karp added that when schools make a lot of effort to bring the children in, let them visit, perhaps have a buddy system of peers who can take them around, it adds to their comfort level. “When schools don’t do this until September they worry all summer that they won’t find their way around,” Karp said.

“It’s much more effective if they do this in June. Some schools let the kids spend the whole day and let them feel like they’re already there … it’s very effective.” She noted that older kids have a greater ability to cope with change.

Clear expectations At Rippowam Cisqua School in Bedford, Bill Barrett is the middle school division head and the upper school dean. The lower campus is comprised of pre-k through fourth grades, while middle school is fifthninth grades. (Rippowam Cisqua has no high school.) To make transition more comfortable for students moving from the lower school into the middle or upper school, RipContinued on the next page

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powam has several supports and programs in place built into the curriculum. Middle school faculty regularly visits the lower school and the lower school goes up to the middle school on a regular basis. “We set up many opportunities for lower school students to get to know what it’s like at the middle school,” Barrett said. Students get to meet the teachers and attend middle school plays. Cast members visit the lower school and students participate in a dress rehearsal of the middle school play. Barrett said that this past year for the first time they brought fourth-graders up to the middle school for field day, an event the students will be involved in when they get to the middle school campus.

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Back to School

The ninth-graders, the school’s seniors, visit the lower school on a regular basis, while and the entire lower school visits the middle school. The school has a formal buddy program for fourth-graders that takes place in the spring. Barrett said the school has lots of conversations with parents about what life is like at the middle school. “For us it’s really about setting expectations, that kind of clarity helps a lot in transition,” he said. Barrett and the school psychologist talk to parents about what they expect from the kids and what parents should expect. “I tell parents that students will struggle with going from concrete thinking to more abstract thinking,” Barrett said.

Parent to parent It’s helpful for parents to talk to other parents whose kids are also going through transition to compare notes and with parents of older kids who can share their experiences. Barrett stressed that keeping the lines of communication open is very important, especially when a student is not transitioning well. He noted that that’s where the partnership between parents and the school becomes critical. “If we’re all working together it helps the child make a better transition,” he said. Children need to know that the ups and downs they’re feeling are normal. When they feel comfortable with themselves, they’re willing to take more risks and try new things. “I think children at this age want to feel known, have success, feel confident with who they are,” Barrett said. “They want to know what is expected of them. Parents and school need to help communicate that … the school needs to provide clear expectations on a daily basis.”

Formal programs at SHS Sue Peppers, the assistant principal for student life at Scarsdale High School, described the two formal programs the school offers that students can opt into which help them “adjust to the challenges of freshman year.” In the spring of eighth grade, students can opt into Civ Ed, which requires extra scheduling because it’s given twice a week for an entire year. Ninth-graders in Civ Ed are assigned to a team made up of an English and social studies teacher and their dean for a weekly community meeting; once a week they meet as a small group with their peer leader, an upperclassman who has been trained as an advisory counselor by an outreach worker. Students who opt for Freshman Seminar meet with an adviser and their dean once a week for a semester, which is built into their schedules. Peppers said that all students have a mandatory two-day orientation program before classes start in the fall. In eighth grade, students come up to the high school in June and meet with their deans, plus there are eighth-grade and parent orientations. And what are the most daunting issues for kids transitioning into the high school? Peppers said the high school is a bigger space than the houses at middle school, which divides the kids into smaller groups and for the first time they will all be together. “It takes a while to get used to the high school,” Pepper said. “Most students will have more unscheduled time during the week than they’re used to… they have more freedom.”

The challenges of transition Dorrie Bernstein, an educational psychologist in private practice in Hastings and a

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Friday, August 19, 2011/ Page 9A

former school psychologist in a Westchester school district, offered her insights on transition. She explained that in many districts, students go from a classroom with a single teacher they are familiar with in elementary school to a departmentalized day in middle school with different teachers for each subject. Students have to get used to different teacher personalities and styles of learning than what they were used to in elementary school. Students move from the safety of elementary school, “a school they’ve grown up in where they are the oldest kids and move to a new building where they are the youngest.” The curriculum is more advanced and tests are more frequent. “Students may have concerns about being ready for the academic challenges,” Bernstein said. Hastings Middle School begins in fifth grade, but classes are not departmentalized until sixth grade. But, Bernstein said, it gives students a chance to get used to the building “one challenge at a time.” For districts that allow students to accelerate in eighth grade in math and/or science, “They’ve had some experience with high school level classes, so high school can feel less scary for them,” she said. Bernstein said when students go from middle school to high school, “They like the block scheduling, they feel grown up, but they may have the same issues if they are going to a new school.” They are very aware that their grades count — the college process has started and it can be “scary.”

3 houses merge into one Steve Marcisz, the guidance chairman and middle/high school guidance coordiContinued on page 10A

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Transition Continued from page 9A

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nator at Fox Lane in Bedford, referred to the transition program as “pretty elaborate.” The Fox Lane campus has a middle school for sixth through eighth grades, which draw kids from five elementary schools in the district, and has a house system like Scarsdale’s. Each house gives kids a small school experience with the same teachers who meet weekly to discuss the kids. Teachers may change from year to year, but their guidance counselor remains the same for their three years in the middle school. Like Rippowam Cisqua, middle school teachers visit the elementary schools and talk to teachers about the kids, learn their strengths, personalities and any issues. Counselors also visit teachers to get the scoop on the kids to find out what red flags there may be and what support they may need in the middle school. In the spring, kids and their parents are invited to an open house to learn about the school, its facilities and the guidance counselors to learn about what support is available to them. Kids are bused over for a walking tour of the middle school, so they know “what they’re walking into” and learn about the school’s student government. Marcisz said that most kids are anxious when going to a new school. Some kids have more anxiety than others when meeting new kids. “It could be that guidance counselors or psychologists are already alert to that,” he said. “[They] might assign a guidance counselor or psychologist

Friday, August 19, 2011

to them if they’re really anxious.” Transitioning from middle school to the high school, “which they can see up on the hill,” the students are going from a comfortable environment, “to one [that’s] kind of a mysterious experience.” The school tries to make the transition as smooth as possible. Guidance counselors meet with eighth-graders in their second semester to discuss what courses they will be taking, get an overview of high school transition and the sports available to them. Students are taken to the high school, where they meet social workers and psychologists and get more familiar with the campus, learn what electives they can take and meet with teachers. At a parents’ night in January, parents meet the administration and learn about all the courses. There’s also a Q&A session with a panel of ninth-grade students. “A lot of parents are very, very nervous,” said Marcisz. “They find it helpful to them.” This past year Peer Power, a recent grad’s idea, was introduced, where upperclassmen are assigned to incoming freshmen. “Sometimes it’s the first friend they meet … hopefully it’s someone they can depend on for support,” Marcisz said. Similar to Scarsdale, there is an orientation before school starts. They meet their teachers and other staff and enjoy a social event — “It could be a BBQ” — which serves as the culmination of Fox Lane’s eight-month transition program. Despite all the programs the school has in place, issues with small daily routines, like working their lockers and other uncertainties happen. Marcisz said, “Most students can adjust to that, but it does come up the first week of school.” n

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Friday, August 19, 2011/ Page 11A

Decision-making 101

How major is a major on your college application? By JACKIE LUPO You’re sailing through your college application when the next question stops you in your tracks: the one that asks you for your intended major. If you’re like the majority of college-bound students, you’re not sure what you intend to major in. But when you’re confronted with a long list of potential majors, checking off that forlorn-looking “undecided” at the end of the list looks so, well, forlorn. So indecisive. Or does it? How does checking off “undecided” affect the way colleges look at applicants? And how does indicating a probable major affect your chances for admission? We talked to local college consultants who are experts on application strategy to help you decide what to do about the “undecided” question.

Liberal arts: don’t know? No problem “College admissions people don’t necessarily expect 17-year-old young people to know what they want to major in,” said Carol Gill, founder of Carol Gill Associates, a college consultancy based in Dobbs Ferry. “If a student is applying to a college of arts and sciences, then going undeclared is perfectly OK.”

All our experts agree that for a liberal arts college or liberal arts division of a major university, undecided is a perfectly valid declaration. “If you truly don’t know what you want to study, colleges are OK with that,” said Betsy Woolf, owner of Woolf College Counseling of Mamaroneck. Statistically speaking, she said, colleges know that students, on average, change their majors just under three times. In the liberal arts environment, where students are usually required to take classes across a broad spectrum of humanities, social sciences and math/science subjects, it’s not surprising that students often find themselves graduating with a major they never even considered when they were applying to college. After all, that’s what a liberal arts education is supposed to be about: exposing students to a range of subjects; opening their eyes, and their minds, to new possibilities. The student who loads up on science courses during freshman year because he always assumed he’d be a biology major may take an elective in philosophy and end up 10 years later as a bioethicist. A high school poet may end up digging for dinosaur bones. But what if you do know what you want to major in? Can declaring that interest on

your application help? It can — especially if you can back it up by your experiences so far. According to Leslie Berkovitz, a partner at the Scarsdale-based college advisory Collegistics, “If you have the background to support a particular major, it would be to your advantage to mention activities and work you’ve done to support your application. On the Common App, you’re required to expand on a work or extracurricular experience that is significant to you. If one of these supports a particular major, shows that you have a passion, this makes your application unique. It says, ‘I really know what I’m saying when I’m committing to a major.’” The experts agree that indicating a major works best if you have something to say about why you’re interested in the subject.

Have you taken (and excelled in) related courses, done outside reading, had an internship or job related to your interest? “If you have a passion, it makes sense, but if you indicate interest without the backup, admissions officers don’t know whether, after three months you won’t be interested in something else,” said Berkovitz. When admissions officers look at applications, they’re not only looking for students who satisfy some performance standard as measured by grades and test scores — they’re also in the process of assembling a freshman class. In essence, they are creating a community of, ideally, individuals with diverse talents and enthusiasms. That’s where it can help to promote that special something about yourself that makes you interesting. Are you premed? Fine. A preContinued on page 13A

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Friday, August 19, 2011

Parent Guide

College

Navigating the student loan maze College costs aren’t limited to just tuition. You need to consider room and board, books, meals, transportation and more. After you’ve applied for scholarships, grants and federal loans, it’s not uncommon to need additional funding for a complete college education. This is where a private student loan can help. If you’re exploring what private loan is right for you, here are some important questions to ask so you can make the right decision for today and your financial future. You must decide if you want a fixed-rate loan or a variable-rate loan. A fixed-rate loan will typically have a higher interest rate, but the rate will not fluctuate over the life of the loan, so you’re protected from large interest rate swings. For example, U.S. Bank offers two types of student loans. The fixed-rate student loan option offers an interest rate of 7.99 percent (7.80-8.46 percent APR) for approved applicants. This provides security because the interest rate will never change. The variable loan rate option has no fees and can range anywhere from a 3.45 percent to a 10.95 percent interest rate (3.39-10.22 percent APR). This rate and APR may increase after consummation and can change over the life of the loan. All applications are subject to normal credit approval. It’s important to weigh your options to determine what is right for you. Because eligibility, interest rates and reserve fees for private loans are based on your credit, a co-signer may help you get the loan you need at the rates you want. This is

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particularly true for younger students who may not have an established credit history. A co-signer may be a parent, guardian or close relative who has an established credit history and stable income. It’s important for any co-signer to understand that if the student borrower cannot pay the loan for any reason, the co-signer is then responsible for any remaining loan obligations. It can be difficult to predict the future, but one way to help determine what amount you should borrow is to estimate your future earnings. It’s wise to be conservative in your estimates. For help determining average earnings for specific careers, visit the U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics website. A good general rule to follow is your monthly student loan payment should not be more than 8 percent of your monthly salary. Remember that if you borrow too much and have late or missed payments, this will be reflected on your credit history (and any co-signer’s credit history). Every loan has different terms and it’s important to understand all the details before you sign the paperwork. Any time you take out a college loan, only take out as much money as you need for education-related expenses. Start by learning your options when you apply at www.usbank.com/student-loans; an application takes five minutes or less. Once you find the right loan for you, you’ll be able to get the degree you want and set yourself up for financial success in the future. n — ARA Content

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College major Continued from page 11A

med major who also plays the harp? That’s much more interesting (assuming you really do). By letting colleges visualize you on campus, “It can be really significant in letting them know who you are,” said Jane Hoffman, founder of College Advice 101 in Larchmont. “Colleges are looking for fit.” That being said, sometimes looking for fit may not be the way to make admissions officers salivate over your application. At schools such as Kenyon or Bard, applicants who were high school poets, literary magazine editors, and writers are a dime a dozen. It could be that such a school would even come up with some merit scholarship

If you truly don’t know what you want to study, colleges are OK with that.” Students, on average, change their majors just under three times. – Betsy Woolf, Woolf College Counseling

Back to School

money for a science major. Hoffman noted that such a “contrarian approach” can help you get into a school that is looking for applicants to support the faculty of an undersubscribed department, such as, say, the art history department of a college that is known as a science school. But taking a contrarian approach is something to consider only if you feel that the college is a good fit for you in other ways. How do you know what majors colleges are looking for? “This question really depends on the major you’re interested in and the college you’re applying to,” Gill said. “For example, at many schools, there are premed quotas, so it may be a disadvantage to declare premed as opposed to biological sciences. This is research that we at Carol Gill Associates do for students and it can change from year to year. It varies: some colleges are eager to develop their engineering department, or, let’s say, eager to develop and grow a specific department, so then it would be an advantage to declare.”

Keeping your options open A declaration of a probable major on your application is not binding. But applicants to large universities usually don’t find the process as open-ended as do applicants to liberal arts schools. “If you’re applying to a small liberal arts college, there’s a lot of fluidity,” said Woolf. “But if you’re applying to a major university, in some cases you need to indicate your intent at the get-go if you’re applying to a particular school at the university. Some programs you can’t really transfer into later on.” For example, specific “schools” or majors at large universities, engineering schools and business schools often must be applied

to directly. They have different criteria for applicants (for example, engineering schools generally expect higher math test scores and may be more forgiving of lower verbal scores than a liberal arts school) and different curricula. For example, at some business and engineering schools, the required business or engineering-related courses begin in freshman year, making it difficult, or impossible, to transfer into later on. Those who do transfer in later may not graduate in four years because they have to backtrack to fulfill prerequisites. “If you’re a student who is truly not 100 percent sure, investigate how easy it is to transfer between schools,” said Berkovitz. She noted that at some universities, transferring between schools is much easier than at others. A tip off that this is the case is whether all candidates for a bachelor’s degree, re-

Friday, August 19, 2011/ Page 13A

gardless of school or major, are required to take a certain number of liberal arts courses. The more that this is the case, the easier it may be to transfer from, say, the college of arts and sciences to the school of business, or vice versa. Research, say the experts, is the most important step you can take before you decide where to apply. Then, make sure your application will really let colleges get to know you. “There are many ways to promote oneself, but it should be something that has been a strength and a demonstrated interest. Otherwise, it just comes off as a marketing ploy,” said Gill. “Admissions people are savvy. They can read right through something that is not sincere. I certainly am the first one to say colleges play games themselves, but the best thing is to be honest about who you are, and express that.” n

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Friday, August 19, 2011

The disconnect between colleges and applicants By JANE C. HOFFMAN, MBA Too often there is a disconnect between what families and colleges understand to be important in college admissions. I want to inform families about the college’s point of view and its impact in the review of applications and determination of admission decisions. I also think it is wrong to place blame with parents or families who, themselves, are in part reacting to all the noise, news and unknowns out there. Confusion stems from the fact that there are many different stakeholders and players in the college admissions process. Each views things from its own vantage point and paradigm and is not positioned or inclined to consider impacts beyond its own purview. Each has its own agenda and unwittingly places its own demands on the process without consideration or understanding of the impact on each other, students and families, society and the bigger picture. Confusion for students and families trying to understand and consider the opportunities for an education, the student’s needs and interests, and the differences between colleges too often ensues. (Stakeholders include colleges, the College Board, the Common Application, high school guidance counselors, educational consultants, the news media, publications like U.S. News and World Report, the test prep and tutoring industry, students, parents and others. Furthermore, one can consider that the stakeholders of “colleges” could be represented variously by admissions representatives, admissions directors, vice presidents of enrollment, presidents and boards of directors.) I think that a huge source of the stress experienced by families, parents and students

alike is the result of the marketplace dynamic at play in college admission. Partly in the name of chasing after rankings and in what has been referred to as an “arms race,” colleges are going to great lengths to attract and appeal to a broad range of applicants. Students and parents often think that admissions decisions are based primarily on assessment of the qualifications of the applicant. Families are unaware of the institutional imperatives and objectives that must be realized and that may supersede the review of individual applications. Little do families understand how hard colleges work to enroll a full class and how deeply they worry about yield. Families don’t know about the impact of ability to pay, what “need sensitive” means and that early decision plans are advantageous to institutions since they enable them

to increase their yield and control enrollment and are a critical part of their enrollment management strategies. Families don’t always know the importance of “demonstrated interest” and that visiting a campus can be interpreted by the college as a proxy for “likely to enroll” if admitted. Families mistakenly conclude that the marketing materials that may fill their email and mailboxes are signs of colleges’ targeted and informed interest in the student. And students and their parents worry incessantly about whether another 50 points on a standardized test or a different phrase on a college essay will render a completely different admissions decision. Families are also unaware of the counseling role that good college admissions representatives play and often do not understand how available college representatives are to serve as resources. Students often don’t know that they can enter into a dialogue, pose questions and expect to receive informed and enlightening responses. I encourage colleges to more fully consider the perspective of students and families who are trying to make sense of the myriad opportunities for an education and the differences between colleges. That would do a lot to relieve some of the stress they experience and that too often defines and clouds the college search and application process. And I encourage students and parents to become well informed, recognize what they have control over, and focus on educational values, the student’s needs and finding the best college for the student. Jane C. Hoffman of College Advice 101 is a member of IECA, NACAC, NYSACAC, HECA and WPRCA. Visit www.CollegeAdvice-101.com. n

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It’s never too early to teach your kids about money.

Teaching kids financial literacy Money matters, and money management skills are even more important — at any age. With the help of parents, friends and teachers, children can develop essential financial skills that will be an asset throughout life. Nearly half of parents believe that schools should teach their children financial literacy, according to the 2010 Intuit Town Hall Money Matters Consumer Survey. “Today’s economic crisis underscores the need for financial education and the importance of budgeting and planning ahead — life skills that are not necessarily included in the standard American school curriculum,” said Aaron Forth, Vice President and General Manager for Intuit Personal Finance Group. Continued on the next page

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Some basic money skills will help your child develop financial literacy and be responsible adults. If kids don’t have control of money before adulthood, they learn that money will always be provided for them, and tend to then spend liberally when they do have their own money. To avoid this, give your child some control over the household budget now. If you allot $125 a month for toys and entertainment, let them have complete say in how $30 of it is spent. They’ll probably end up buying $30 worth of junk in the first week, but eventually they’ll gain an understanding of what’s worth buying and how to make money last longer. Goals and games are great — for adults and kids. They bring out the competitive nature in all of us, even if we’re just competing against ourselves. For example, the free personal finance Website Mint.com has capitalized on children’s love of games by teaming up with Scholastic to create a financial literacy game called “Quest for Money.” Children can choose from a variety of savings goals (a new bike, concert tickets, etc.) and roll the dice to see if they can make wise financial decisions that let them reach their goals. By controlling impulse buying, you teach your kids that patience is the key to good judgment when it comes to financial planning. Establish a 30-day wait rule for all big purchases. Or have your children make a list of items they need and keep it in their wallets. Then let them purchase anything on that list when it goes on sale. For more tips on teaching children financial literacy, visit www.mint.com. And remember to practice what you preach — a good example is the best teacher when it comes to money management. n — StatePoint

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New technology gives kids a competitive edge All parents want to give their kids a competitive edge in school and in the real world. With this in mind, many parents increasingly are turning to new media technologies to make sure their children have the skills to succeed. While some are concerned about children accessing inappropriate content online, many educators and parents know that combining traditional and digital learning skills is crucial in today’s wired world. “Digital learning lets students learn at a pace they’re comfortable with and enables teachers to gain insight into their students’ achievements and problems more quickly and accurately,” said Bethlam Forsa, executive vice president of content development for Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, a leading provider of educational solutions and developer of digital learning tools. Unlike previous generations, today’s youth has a host of information at their fingertips, allowing them more freedom to explore interests and hobbies, as well as to learn. But with so much information available, it’s important children learn to discern credible information from questionable content. Consider exposing children to age-appropriate Websites from accredited institutions. For example, the Smithsonian is making educational research easier through online resources like smithsonianeducation.org. Digital learning can also make the classroom more fun and help supplement what kids read in books and hear from teachers. For instance, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt’s new iPad app, “HMH Fuse,” combines online help with in-class learning. Students

can receive feedback on practice questions, write and save notes, receive guided instruction, access video lessons and more. The app provides a year-long Algebra 1 course with classroom materials and resources. Its comprehension tracking tools let teachers receive real-time feedback on each student. To learn more, visit hmheducation.com/fuse. Since the late 1970s, educators have sought to combine gaming with learning and today’s new technologies are making this easier. Ironically, some of the games many parents once enjoyed, like “Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego” and “Oregon Trail,” are also favorites with today’s students. These games let children improve math and critical thinking skills while learn-

ing about the world. You can learn more at thelearningcompany.com. Digital learning also can enable kids to become virtual tourists. Museums like the Louvre in Paris and the American Museum of Natural History in New York offer online tours through their Websites. And Project Gutenberg lets you download more than 36,000 free e-books — from “The Bible” to “Huckleberry Finn.” This can be especially handy if your child has misplaced a book before a major exam or paper. The internet and digital tools can be productive for kids — it’s all in how they are used. Students just need parents to help give them the edge they need to be tomorrow’s leaders. n — StatePoint

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BTS

Student Services

New therapy options for special needs kids Donna Klein & Associates, a leading provider of therapy for children in Westchester County, continues to expand its options for parents to get quality services. Complementing their existing individualized options of occupational therapy and physical therapy in the convenience of your home or in Donna Klein & Associates provides services in various settings. their dynamic therapy gym, Donna Klein & Associates is “maximizing a child’s potential, hearing now offering groups. what’s important to a parent and providWith social skills, handwriting, yoga ing topnotch intervention” are the essence and personal training groups among others of better-quality therapy. available, Klein said children are “able to “We’ve long been thought of as some of gain skill and self-esteem in the company the best therapy services available in our of new friends.” area” Klein said. “This allows children to build self esIn addition to group therapy, Donna teem through new friendships while gain- Klein & Associates continues to provide ining competence,” Klein said. dividualized service for sensory integrative Groups combine their high quality ther- disorders, children on the autism spectrum, apy with the concept of children motivat- fine motor/gross motor incoordination, ing children. Not only does each therapist children with learning disabilities and chiltailor a group’s goals to each child’s indi- dren with ADD/ADHD and neuromuscuvidual needs, but also each child can find lar disabilities, as well as auditory-based inand be a “mentor” for their new friends. terventions such as interactive metronome. For over 20 years, Donna Klein & AsVisit www.donnakleintherapy.com or sociates has provided therapy services visit Facebook for at home therapeutic tips to Westchester children. Klein believes and strategies. n

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Language for Living welcomes newcomers Language for Living was voted the best language school in Westchester by Westchester Magazine. Language for Living is a school specializing in teaching English as a Second Language, offering individual and small group classes to both children and adults at the school or in the student’s home. Every teacher has a master’s degree in teaching English as a Second Language and New York State certification in that field. For 18 years, the school has been located at the Greenville Community Church at 270 Ardsley Road in Scarsdale. There are eight classrooms, a kitchen for cooking activities and a library of DVDs for video lessons. Over 50 computer programs and a library of audiotapes are also available to help students learn English. Language for Living’s main goal is to help students be able to communicate in English. Therefore, conversation and listening skills are stressed. Along with traditional grammar, students learn how to have phone conversations, make “small talk,” open and close a conversation, introduce and develop new topics, and make complaints, among other communication skills. To further facilitate students’ progress, many different methods are used. Videotapes, jazz chants, cooking, audiotapes and computer programs are used to help make English more interesting and vital. For

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Students benefit from Language for Living’s program.

adults, they use a newspaper written especially for people who are learning English so that students can develop their English in relation to real events that are important in the world. Language for Living also provides support for students in their academic studies. Specialists are available for tutoring social studies, science, English and math. TOEFL and SAT preparation are available in both group and individual classes. Every summer there is an intensive program in July and the first two weeks of August. This is especially valuable for newcomers and for students preparing for academic classes. The teachers are eager to help their students to adjust to life in the United States as quickly as possible. They provide information about American customs, holidays,

schools, camps, local food stores, and even good sales in the department stores. Visit www.languageforliving.net or call director Barbara Fitzhugh at 948-6588.

Dynamic Kids helps children reach potential Dynamic Kids is a premier pediatric therapy center in White Plains with a longstanding reputation of exemplary services for children and their families. They offer occupational, physical and speech therapy for children birth through teens in their office, schools and homes throughout Westchester County and the surrounding areas. Common issues addressed include poor motor coordination, sensory process-

ing disorder, gross and fine motor problems, language deficits, diminished social skills and handwriting delays. Through play and one-on-one therapy, children can build the foundations necessary to reach their potential. Dynamic Kids is owned and directed by Robbie Levy, MA, OTR/L, who has been an occupational therapist and educator for 30 years. She has amassed an inventory of the latest technological and sensory equipment, a staff of talented and dedicated therapists and a knowledge base that allows creative and educationally relevant interventions to enhance the child’s experience at Dynamic Kids. The newest program Dynamic Kids is excited to offer is the creation of small groups to focus on fine motor and handwriting skills. Kindergarten and prekindergarten students work with a licensed OT and assistants in a supportive, therapeutic and fun environment for 10 weeks. Enrollment for fall sessions is open now. The staff of Dynamic Kids fosters relationships with parents, teachers and other team professionals. They believe partnering with families and schools will provide for the best possible outcome for their children. For example, sensory diets that specifically outline activities to be carried out throughout the day are developed and discussed. It is their goal to empower parents so that a continuum of care can be provided for their child. In an effort to service the community, Dynamic Kids has begun to work with parContinued on page 18A

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Continued from page 17A

ents in accepting some insurance payments and working out payment plans for those children who come to the office privately. They recognize the hardship that some parents face during these tough financial times coupled with their desire to get their children all the help they need. Dynamic Kids believes all children have the right to needed intervention and will work hard to help every child reach their full potential. Dynamic Kids can be reached at 428-5151 or visit www.dynamickidsny.com.

MultiFlex helping students excel MultiFlex Tutoring, a subsidiary of Bowman Educational Services Inc., recently opened a branch in Chappaqua, adding to its growing list of branches across the country. Although the new office is located in Chappaqua, the group is offering in-home tutoring services across all of Westchester County and surrounding areas. MultiFlex Tutoring offers a systematic, multisensory approach to teaching reading, writing and spelling to children with dyslexia, dysgraphia, reading/spelling deficits and ADHD. Fran Bowman, director of MultiFlex Tutoring, explained that MultiFlex is very different from traditional tutoring companies: “We try to be very specific in our treatment, aiming to coordinate our tutorial programs with instruction that is

Friday, August 19, 2011

taking place at the child’s public, parochial or private school. We have served 6,000 students over the years and find that we are able to help students really change their skills sets, so that they are able to reach their highest possible degree of academic functioning.” Unlike most tutoring services existing today, MultiFlex Tutoring utilizes the research-based Orton-Gillingham method, as well as other multisensory approaches. Orton-Gillingham is a multisensory, structured, sequential and cumulative approach to reading, writing and spelling. This mul-

tisensory approach to literacy produces highly effective results. All of the tutors at MultiFlex Tutoring receive 60 hours of training in this approach, following the standards of the Academy of OrtonGillingham Practitioners and Educators. MultiFlex Tutoring also offers multisensory support in math and written language. They also provide organizational (executive function) coaching services to help students to manage their time, organize their school materials, and use appropriate, individualized approaches to studying for tests. MultiFlex Tutoring, led by Bowman,

already has branches existing in Columbia and Baltimore, Md., McLean, Va., and Los Angeles, Calif. She is happy to bring her services to Westchester County, where a group of trained and certified tutors have been helping children of all ages since January. They work closely with Dr. Marta Flaum, a clinical psychologist, who has been doing in-depth psychological evaluations and providing counseling services in Chappaqua for the last 20 years. “I am so excited to see the expansion of MultiFlex Tutoring,” Dr. Flaum said. “Not only are the tutors highly trained, they are also warm and engaging. They are encouraged to work closely as a team with the family, the school and any other professionals who are treating the child.” MultiFlex strongly believes in serving the “whole child,” recognizing that a deeper understanding of a child’s strengths, as well as their needs, will help them to overcome their academic difficulties and improve their self-esteem. Bowman is a Fellow in the Academy of Orton-Gillingham Practitioners and Educators with over 37 years of experience in teaching, testing and guiding families of children with learning differences. She is the author of Bowman’s Orton-Gillingham “Plus” Guidebook. She has taught courses in all areas of special education to graduate education students at six different colleges. She is a former president of the Maryland branch of the International Dyslexia Association. Bowman is also a recipient of the prestigious R.M.N. Crosby Award, a Continued on the next page

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Friday, August 19, 2011/ Page 19A

Student Services

Continued from the previous page

lifetime achievement award, given each year by the Learning Disabilities Association and the International Dyslexia Association, to one distinguished educator in Maryland. She is a member of the Excellence in Government Group, which investigates accommodations for dyslexic adults who are working in governmental agencies. In addition to her professional career, Bowman is also currently a doctoral candidate at Seton Hall University. Visit www.bowmaneducationalservices. com, call (410) 868-4781 or email bowmanedu@aol.com.

Zoffness SAT Prep personalizes approach The SAT is one of the most important components of your child’s college application. For over 22 years, Zoffness SAT Prep’s personalized approach has helped Westchester students maximize their academic potential. Located in Larchmont, the program has become a local favorite, enjoying extraordinary success for over two decades, offering 13 comprehensive 2.5-hour instructional sessions, supplying the most up-to-date materials andproviding essential test-taking strategies The course also offers full-length SAT exams which are scored and reviewed with students. The course instructors are experienced and committed to their students. These students consistently walk

into their college entrance exams with the highest degree of confidence and get excellent results. One proud Scarsdale parent said, “The Zoffness SAT Prep approach to teaching not only dramatically increased my daughter’s SAT scores, but more importantly taught her how to approach testtaking, studying and time management. I highly recommend this course.” In addition to the SAT Prep course, students may elect to receive private instruction for the SAT I, SAT II and ACT. Another parent said, “We recommend the Zoffness program for parents who want to know their child is getting high quality tutoring and for any student who wants to enter the SAT test center prepared and confident.” Space is limited and classes fill up quickly. To learn more about Zoffness SAT Prep’s strategies, competitive rates or to register for a class, call 835-0036 or visit www.ZoffnessSATprep.com. n

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Friday, August 19, 2011

School Reports Scarsdale schools: a transformative education By DR. MICHAEL V. MCGILL Scarsdale Schools Superintendent

n the year just past, our Singapore math initiative continued to attract attention from other local districts, which sent teachers and administrators to learn about our approach to teaching mathematics. The local attention grew into national coverage when The New York Times, and later, ABC News Nightline, picked up the story of our success. Students demonstrated a commitment to service, and a strong desire to express themselves creatively through music and art. Technology continued to enhance teaching and learning and allowed students to connect to others beyond classroom walls and across the globe. Students continued project-based activities in science and math. And teachers continued to enhance their craft through committee work, professional development workshops, conference days and Scarsdale Teachers Institute courses. Less transparent to public view were many of the initiatives that are transforming the way we teach and the way students learn. These efforts are the reason for the title of

Need

this year’s annual report: “A Transformative Education,” words that also remind us that the Scarsdale Public Schools’ larger mission is to change lives and empower tomorrow’s citizens to transform their world for the better. Several years ago, the board of education specifically charged the schools to prepare graduates to meet the rising challenges of a global community. Equally, trustees emphasized the importance of fostering a lifelong

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interest in learning and the spirit of service that are essential to success and contribution, especially in an environment as complex and fluid as that of today and tomorrow. The document, “A Scarsdale Education for the Future” is our roadmap. It leads through land that’s often terra incognita as we journey toward these goals. It identifies four areas of learning, the “domains” in which we work: academic content

and basic skills, critical and creative thinking, dispositions and qualities of character, technological capacity. Learning in the four domains is interconnected. For example, we can’t learn to think well about nothing. We need to engage with important content, which means we must also master basic skills. Good thinking also depends on certain qualities of personality, like perseverance. And unless it’s grounded in an ethical sense, intellectual facility can too easily become precious and essentially hollow. Whether you visit Scarsdale classrooms, sit in on faculty discussions about teaching methods or explore how our schools’ organization and culture are changing, you’ll see transformations in what and how students are learning in each domain. In one way or another, most if not all of these activities are helping us to teach critical and creative thinking more effectively. And that’s where I want to focus attention for the rest of this report. In May, faculty from each school showcased their latest efforts to advance the teaching of critical and creative thinking, as well as their search for evidence of student progress. For example, Spanish teachers reported on discussions of bullfighting that engaged students in debates about cultural relativism and animal cruelty. Geology teachers described a project that called on students to create an

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energy policy for the United States, considering economic, political and environmental concerns. Over two days, more than 80 teachers described their endeavors to panels that consisted of district program leaders and outside experts like Dennie Palmer Wolfe, who taught for many years at Harvard and Brown and is now heading up the Lincoln Center Institute’s creative thinking research project. The entire faculty then gathered for a plenary session at which we reviewed and summarized our collective undertakings. These kinds of efforts were possible only because of the continuously evolving learning culture that exists in the Scarsdale Schools. When we talk about a learning culture, we’re describing the flow of ideas and human development that occur, among other things, when: • More than 80 percent of teachers take courses through the STI • Tenured teachers do individual action research as part of their annual performance evaluations • More than 60 percent of the faculty work each summer to strengthen programs and curriculum • And all of us are increasingly involved in ongoing discussions about how to improve teaching and learning. Recently, for instance, more teachers and administrators have become involved in structured programs of clinical training. We know that instruction is most likely to improve when teachers collaboratively plan and one or more executes, while the rest observe and critique their efforts. The process is similar to what happens when a hitting coach helps a player correct his swing. Some examples include Lesson Study and collaborative analyses of student work in which teachers

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use assessment protocols. At least as important, however, professional staff have become more immersed in exchanges about ideas and practice that are creating an evolution of thinking and teaching. This broad, organic development has gained momentum because more teachers are seeing each other teach and sharing information about teaching methods and their students’ progress. They are in contact through traditional structures like grade, department and faculty meetings, as well as through new structures like the high school’s work group on interdisciplinary learning. Increasingly, also, Scarsdale is changing as a result of its national and international leadership in developing students’ higher order thinking. • Colleagues from other New York, Connecticut and New Jersey districts were eager to participate in last spring’s Tri-State Consortium accreditation visit because they wanted to know how Scarsdale was approaching the challenges of teaching critical and creative thinking, a central concern for many high-performance districts across the country today. • In 2010-11, we also hosted visitors from more than 20 districts in the United States, as well as from Canada, China and Singapore, all interested in learning from our initiatives. • We continue in partnership with the Hotchkiss School. In June, representatives from Scarsdale and Hotchkiss co-hosted a two-day colloquium in which the independent school and the district explore new developments in international learning. Also involved were the former Director General of the International Baccalaureate Program and the academic director for the international Aga Khan schools. • And we’re also continuing our research relationship with Lincoln Center’s research

program and our Columbia University research effort, which is currently leading to the creation of a Global Learning Network of high performance schools in Australia, Canada, Finland, Singapore and the U.S. that are establishing and working toward a high international standard of learning.

What have we learned? First, about Instruction: From our own efforts and from the research we’re conducting in the U.S. and abroad, we’re increasingly clear about what we mean by “critical and creative thinking” and how to teach them. First, although we’ve resisted hard and fast definitions of these terms, we’ve identified certain qualities that seem to indicate their presence. For instance: • A creative thinker is one who can offer new or non-traditional ideas, apply metaphors, be open to shifts in direction. • A critical thinker can understand, embrace and be comfortable with ambiguity; find and use information to address a complex question; appreciate and consider divergent views. Further, critical and creative thinking are interconnected. They aren’t discrete and they don’t occur in isolation. They transcend organizational and disciplinary boundaries, a fact that makes them harder to “teach” in an organized, systematic way. Also, critical and creative thinking appear to be associated with certain kinds of activities. For example, those where people: • Initiate their own learning in response to their own questions • Construct their own understandings and knowledge • Do authentic projects • Demonstrate their learning • Reflect on their learning. Finally, teachers seem most apt to promote

Friday, August 19, 2011/ Page 21A

critical and creative thinking when they: • Use lesson study and other collaborative practices • Focus on real-world problem-solving and authentic project-based learning • Sequence essential concepts across grades and tie them to quality assessments. What have we learned about our Organization? Historically, Scarsdale has encouraged individual teachers and smaller groups to innovate and teach from their passions. Meanwhile, the whole institution has been relatively conservative about broad, systemic change. Over the last decade, however, we’ve seen a transition in which the culture of the whole has become more dynamic and accepting of common initiatives and collective change. There are many reasons for this transition, including an increasingly invasive national and state school reform movement that threatens a Scarsdale education and that’s causing faculty and administrators to pull together to defend the traditional strength of our program and teaching. Also, we’ve created new structures that have improved internal communication and that have generated considerable enthusiasm about new modes of collaboration. Among these are our strategic planning process, district and school leadership teams, principals, department and elementary planning groups and curriculum committees. And, we’ve forged or built on external links that have opened what a more closed system to new ideas and subjected local practice to close external review. Among these are some I’ve mentioned, such as the Lincoln Center Institute, The Tri-State Consortium and the emerging Global Learning Network, as well as some I haven’t, such as the Visiting Professor program that’s validated and enhanced Continued on page 26A

Teach your children well (and yourself, too!) Teach your children well (and yourself, too!)

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is a warm, caring Reform Jewish community filled with a diverse and vibrant is a warm, caring Reform Jewish community filled with a diverse and vibrant is a warm, caring Reform Jewish community filled with a diverse and vibrant membership (including singles, couples, singleͲparent households, interfaith families, xx membership (including singles, couples, singleͲparent households, interfaith families, membership (including singles, couples, singleͲparent households, interfaith families, GLBT families and more). We offer multiple entry points into a journey of Jewish GLBT families and more). We offer multiple entry points into a journey of Jewish GLBT families and more). We offer multiple entry points into a journey of Jewish xx discovery, commitment and connection and invite you to visit, meet our members, discovery, commitment and connection and invite you to visit, meet our members, xx discovery, commitment and connection and invite you to visit, meet our members, learn about us and experience our community. learn about us and experience our community. learn about us and experience our community.

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Caring for our congregants throughout the life cycle Caring for our congregants throughout the life cycle x Caring for our congregants throughout the life cycle Feeding those in need with the United Interfaith Food Pantry Feeding those in need with the United Interfaith Food Pantry x Feeding those in need with the United Interfaith Food Pantry Mitzvah Day Mitzvah Day x Mitzvah Day Sharing with the Bronx Jewish Community Center Sharing with the Bronx Jewish Community Center x Sharing with the Bronx Jewish Community Center

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Kids and Teens for Grades Pre K through 12 Kids and Teens for Grades Pre K through 12 Kids and Teens for Grades Pre K through 12 Vibrant Youth groups & creative programming xx Vibrant Youth groups & creative programming x Vibrant Youth groups & creative programming (Meet our new fullͲtime Youth Director) (Meet our new fullͲtime Youth Director) (Meet our new fullͲtime Youth Director) Innovative and engaging experiential education units xx Innovative and engaging experiential education units x Innovative and engaging experiential education units A true commitment to meeting the needs of each child xx A true commitment to meeting the needs of each child x A true commitment to meeting the needs of each child

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Hinenu: We are here creating a covenant 2 Ogden Road, Scarsdale, New York 10583 Hinenu: We are here creating a covenant 2 Ogden Road, Scarsdale, New York 10583 Hinenu: We are here creating a covenant 2 Ogden Road, Scarsdale, New York 10583 community of shared lives and real relationships. 914Ͳ725Ͳ5175 www.sstte.org community of shared lives and real relationships. 914Ͳ725Ͳ5175 www.sstte.org community of shared lives and real relationships. 914Ͳ725Ͳ5175 www.sstte.org

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Friday, August 19, 2011

School Reports

Board provides excellent education, despite challenges By JILL SPIELER Scarsdale Board of Education President

carsdale School District administrators, teachers and building staff have been hard at work all summer improving the educational curriculum and preparing our buildings and grounds. As a result, we will be more than ready to welcome children back on Sept. 6 to a year filled with great potential. Scarsdale Education for the Future will move forward with implementing the district’s objective of enhancing our students’ critical and creative thinking: every student should be in a classroom where investigating, questioning and discovering are inherently part of the curriculum. Over the summer, work has proceeded on strategic initiatives: developing k-5 writing rubrics, world language benchmarks, math, science and ecosystems studies. At the middle school focus has been on grade level assessments, and end-of-year eighthgrade projects, as well as math, science, social studies, writing skills and world language in the sixth and seventh grades. At the high school the district will introduce Mandarin Chinese instruction and continue to develop academic support in all interdisciplinary subjects. Throughout the district we will continue

to develop effective and rigorous assessments to evaluate students’ progress and to assure they meet a high standard of learning. At the same time, the faculty will continue to provide a deep, rich education and let the state scores take care of themselves. This doesn’t mean we ignore the scores; but they should be considered as one source of information among many. While the faculty concentrates on providing our children an excellent education, the board will be facing unusual challenges. Naturally, we’re trying to identify unusual, creative ways of dealing with them. We are confident they can be addressed. It is important to keep them in perspective while we continue to build on the district’s educational goals. While we want to respond to emerging economic and regulatory pressures, I think the assumption of most Scarsdale residents is that we have to stay on track and keep on working methodically at what we’ve been doing: protecting and preserving, enhancing where possible, and looking for evolutionary, creative solutions to the challenges we face. Our first educational responsibility is to provide our students an ever-more excellent education, to prepare them for college and the larger world. Scarsdale is exerting national and international leadership as it shapes an education for the future. Their education will center on the personal encounter between teacher and student, as always. But its form will also continue to

We are united by the same goal: to provide the finest learning experience possible for our children in the finest learning community possible. evolve through the use of technology, its focus on thinking and problem-solving, and its emphasis on skills and dispositions that are increasingly important in a global context: the capacity to collaborate, an ability to persevere and withstand ambiguity, and an appreciation and empathy for human similarities and differences. In cooperation with Columbia University, Scarsdale has initiated an international benchmarking initiative that involves high performance schools in the high-performing nations of Australia, Canada, China, Finland and Singapore, as well as top-performance public schools in the U.S. and the highly selective Hotchkiss School in Connecticut. In this connection, among other things, we’re engaged in a long-term effort to evaluate and enhance our students’ critical and creative thinking, as well as their ability to solve the kinds of nonstandard problems they’ll encounter later on in life. This work is just one part of our broader

commitment to being “national schools in a global theater.” It’s not going to be easy to continue to grow and improve in our current environment. We’ve already created significant budget economies and cut back in many areas. Going forward, furthermore, we face the challenge of the state tax cap that recently passed. New state legislation imposing a property tax cap of the lesser of 2 percent or the inflation rate beginning with the budget for the 2012-13 school year threatens to cause severe reductions in staff and essential education programs. The board and administration will have to work carefully to construct and explain a budget that will reap not just a majority, but instead a 60 percent super-majority of positive votes in May 2012, in order to override the statutory tax cap. The alternative will have a traumatic effect on Scarsdale Schools. Also, the New York State Education Department recently issued new regulations for teacher evaluations. The new APPR (Annual Professional Performance Review) regulations are intended to improve teacher accountability, but we’re concerned that instead, they may promote more teaching to standardized tests and make it harder to create the education for the future our students will need for success after they leave us. The board will work collaboratively with the administration to maintain sucContinued on the next page

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cessful, proven results. With a tax cap artificially affecting budget growth, we face among other things the prospect of seriously underfunding our buildings and grounds. The result could ultimately lead to building integrity concerns. In the current environment, we’re also unlikely to see any discretionary educational improvements to our facilities unless we develop long-term plans that have broad community support. We therefore plan to inventory our capital needs and develop a strategy to protect the buildings and grounds where our children learn. Although funds for facilities were significantly curtailed in the 2011-12, several plant improvement projects did go forward this summer. These include exterior painting at Edgewood, Fox Meadow and Greenacres, along with the full lead abatement now required by federal regulations; replacing the Fox Meadow gymnasium ventilation system and fixing water main and floor drainage problems; undertaking Heathcote bathroom renovations postponed from last year; removing vinyl asbestos floor tile in the middle school auditorium and several offices, also adding a booster pump to address low water pressure during peak water usage times; and renovating the outdated women’s bathroom near the nurse’s office at the high school. I am pleased to report that over the summer the board appointed a steering committee to consider and potentially create an educational foundation in Scarsdale. We are fortunate to live in a vibrant, engaged community that’s committed to education, one in which people share ideas, experiences and opinions on almost every issue.

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This is a significant resource that we will continue to draw upon. The board remains committed to listening to and considering residents’ concerns, to deliberating openly, and to sharing our reasoning as we make decisions. Community support for the 2011 budget was evident in a 70 percent favorable vote last spring. This result conveys Scarsdale’s willingness to continue to invest in the excellence of the schools. We are united by the same goal: to provide the finest learning experience possible for our children in the finest learning community possible. We look forward once again to working together with you and with our excellent professional staff in a collaborative, trustful way, to ensure our children receive, and our community realizes the benefits of, a high-quality Scarsdale education. Finally, please stay informed and connected to the board of education. We invite you to attend business meetings, held twice monthly during the school year, rotated among the school buildings. Throughout the year the administration updates the board and community on relevant educational initiatives. In addition, there are opportunities for members of the community to speak at each of these meetings. The meetings are broadcast live and shown on Cable 77 regularly. The public information office provides school information through “Insight,” a periodic newsletter. We encourage you to visit our website, www.scarsdaleschools.org, for a wide variety of background and up-to-the-minute information. We welcome you to contact us in writing at 2 Brewster Road or email us at boardofed@scarsdaleschools.org. n

Friday, August 19, 2011/ Page 23A

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Friday, August 19, 2011

School Reports

Edgemont providing best for students despite budgets By NANCY TADDIKEN Edgemont Schools Superintendent and GERALD STOUGHTON Board of Education President

s promised during the very difficult budget season this year, the Edgemont Board of Education and administration began immediately after the May vote to plan both for next year and for years to come, given the lingering effects of the recession, the continued erosion of Edgemont’s tax base and dwindling state aid, endless mandates — and now a tax cap of 2 percent or the CPI, whichever is lower — unless 60 percent of the community overrides it. The district is also dealing with the effects of getting this year’s tax increase down through a retirement incentive that was accepted by 12 veteran faculty and administrators, trimming at every level. What we have going for us is what we have had for many years: an incredibly supportive and generous community, whose gifts of time and money have allowed the school district to continue to provide programs and equipment beyond what would be possible through the operating budget alone, especially in these difficult economic times.

Edgemont passed its school budget this year by the third highest percentage in the county, reflecting the community’s continued strong support for the school system that lies at its heart. And an “Edgemont education” is still the heart of this community. Our objectives, as we approach the 2011-12 academic year, are, as always, to maintain and enhance that educational quality, meeting the needs of as broad a segment of students as possible given the evermore stringent constraints of a small public school system facing increasing pressures from outside the system, including mandates that force spending combined with a tax cap that limits how much money we can raise and a property tax system that is chipping away at our revenue base. Yet we remain committed to our small class size, topnotch faculty, and a wide enough variety of curricular and extracurricular choices so that our varied student population can stay engaged and grow as they progress through the grades, and the technology to support our educators in the classroom. As we do every year, the administration and board of ed have agreed on a number of areas on which to focus extra time and attention this year. Our faculty has been busy over the summer working on a number of curricular initiatives: first and foremost the implementation of our new k-5 math program, Math in Focus, an American version of Singapore Math. Teachers began training in the new curriculum and in the tech-

We are committed to our small class size, top-notch faculty, and a wide variety of curricular and extracurricular choices. nology to teach it last year, while parents are looking forward to the web-based component that will give them access to curriculum materials at home. Sixth-graders will begin the second year of what was a very well-reviewed new program last year, helping them bridge from the elementary to the middle and high school math curriculum. This year we will be evaluating our science curriculum using the Tri-States model, since science is next up for peer review by our fellow Tri-States schools. We will be focusing on grades 5-12 since teachers in the lower grades will be busy with the new math curriculum. It is in large part our preparation as a district that makes these peer reviews so useful: reviewing and reflecting on what is best about our programs and focusing our attention on how to preserve those features, while making room for improvements based on new educational research and best practices from

comparable school districts. Foreign language is next in line after science, so we will begin to prepare for that as well. We are preparing to implement new Annual Professional Performance Review (APPR) regulations for classroom teachers and building principals as adopted by New York State’s Board of Regents this past May, and are working on getting ready our K-4 Response to Intervention (RTI) reading plan, due by July 2012. RTI is a new model for identifying and assisting struggling students in the early elementary years, in the hope of catching and addressing problems earlier. In the RTI model, systematic screening in a variety of school-related areas — reading, math, behavior (anything related to school) — compares students not to state or national norms, but to students in the same school system. Edgemont, like all districts in New York State, will be required to have an RTI plan in the area of reading in place for grades k-4 by July 2012. This summer has seen a lot of work on upgrading our infrastructure: replacing outdated software and servers and increasing bandwidth and Internet speed, all of which will enable us to make full use of the generous technology gifts from the Edgemont School Foundation and our PTA and PTSA over the past few years. Another major area of focus over the summer is integrated instruction, which has become increasingly important to the

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WHY DIFFERENT WHY IS IS THIS THIS YEAR YEAR DIFFERENT Why is this year different FROM YEARS? FROM ALL OTHER YEARS? fromALL allOTHER other years?

Continued on the next page

The scarsdale Inquirer Continued from the previous page

way the district approaches special education. An integrated classroom is teamtaught by one special educator and one regular-education teacher, both of whom are always present, teaching the same material in a regular classroom to a combination of regular- and special-education students. The approach not only offers special-ed students a vibrant “least-restrictive learning environment,” but it benefits students of all abilities, whether they are classified as regular- or special-education. The key to the success of the model is “differentiated instruction,” through which teachers tailor the strategies and materials they use to deliver the same material to the varied members of the class in order to enhance learning for all students. During the coming year, we are pursuing new ways for experienced co-teaching teams to share best practices with newer teams. Our special services department is also gearing up for a new in-district k-1 special class, which will begin this fall. In another area of summer curriculum work, psychologists from all three schools have been continuing their work to develop districtwide practices and protocols for identifying and responding to bullying and at-risk behavior in students grades k-12. Social-emotional learning (SEL) now takes place in grades k-12 through a variety of programs which help prevent the problem; these protocols will supplement those preventive measures. A major project going forward will be to create an administrative succession plan and to restructure the k-12 administrative configuration to address educational and financial needs, particularly in the wake of

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Friday, August 19, 2011/ Page 25A

the passage of the tax-cap legislation. And we will continue to attend to our most valuable asset: Edgemont’s dedicated teaching professionals. With the loss of some of our veterans and a redistribution of administrative duties, we have many nontenured staff to supervise. Look for profiles of new teachers in the fall issue of the district’s print newsletter. And there are the ever-present housekeeping details: continuing to comply with state-mandated risk assessment and auditing requirements, and maintaining our buildings as outlined in our latest capital plan (available at www.edgemont.org). Edgemont runs on community volunteer power as well as community financial support. To find out what’s going on, visit www.edgemont.org and look around. Join us at board of ed meetings, generally held twice a month on Tuesday evenings. All meetings are in the LGI (Large Group Instruction room) in the library building at the junior-senior high school; agendas and minutes are posted at www.edgemont.org. So are summaries of board of ed meetings (under District Newsletter), where you can find details on all of the topics touched on in this article; and a tentative schedule of topics for the coming year. In the meantime, please contact us if you have any questions or concerns. Our numbers are in the Blue Book (your new one should arrive in the mail any day), or you can reach us at boe@edgemont.org. Also in the Blue Book is a listing of the many committees and Edgemont organizations you can become a part of as you look for a way to make your own contribution to this wonderful community. We wish you a happy, healthy and productive year. n

Is ReadIng a stRuggle? school is about to begin. does your child have the visual skills needed to meet his or her future academic demands? Passing a school screening or seeing 20/20 does nOt mean your child has perfect vision. this is only the tip of the iceberg! eye teaming, eye focusing, and eye movement control are among the visual skills critically involved with reading and writing. a checklist of signs/symptoms of a vision problem includes but is not limited to:

• Distractibility • Poor concentration • Inconsistent performance • Slow reading speed • Poor reading comprehension • Frequent loss of place • Avoidance of reading/homework • Frequent copying errors

If your child’s academic performance is marked by one or more of these problems, it is imperative that you schedule a developmental vision examination immediately. the changes that can be brought about through this form of treatment are life changing.

BernSteIn Center For VISuAl PerFormAnCe Ira J. Bernstein, O.D., F.A.A.O., F.C.O.V.D. Paul R. Bernstein, O.D., F.C.O.V.D.

701 Westchester Avenue White Plains, nY 10604 (914) 682-8886

www.bernsteincenterforvisualperformance.com

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Scarsdale Schools Continued from page 21A

both Advanced Topics and standard classes and teaching.

Where are we headed? The principles I’ve mentioned lead us toward: • Teaching that encourages more studentinitiated inquiry in and across disciplines • Teaching that helps students develop stronger, more complex questions • Lessons with authentic purposes and audiences — persuasive essays, newscasts, presentations to panels or authorities that make a case for a course of action • Teaching that more clearly identifies the big ideas and essential questions that run through and across disciplines • More collaborative teaching and learning • More opportunities for students to reflect on what they’re learning and to offer feedback about it. As we go forward, we need to build on this past year’s examination of student work so that we are clearer about our targets: the quality of the critical and creative thinking we want our students to do. As a result, this summer and in the coming months, teachers have taken and will take a first cut at building and field-testing comprehensive — by grade, by subject — assessments of higher order thinking. These measures will help us and our students understand what we want them to learn and how well they’re learning it. By evaluating the results we get from these evaluations, we’ll be better-positioned to design instruction that elicits higher order thinking. Related is the Global Learning Network.

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Our Columbia research colleagues have gathered information about the quality of average and strongest student work in some of the strongest schools in the world’s high performing nations. They’ve also taped and analyzed classes, gathered curriculum materials and spoken with teachers about how they work with their students to perform at this level. In the coming year, we’ll continue to develop our partnership with colleagues in these schools and others in the U.S. We plan to initiate real and virtual discussions that will help us understand what a high international standard actually looks like in practice and how schools help students reach it. Internationally, this is a groundbreaking initiative that’s energizing our efforts. In addition, however, the external perspective will help us be accountable to a meaningful, rigorous international standard. We’ll share more results after the Columbia research team has completed its review of the data it’s collected. Of course, we continue to discover that our inquiries lead not only to tentative answers, but to more questions. For example: • How do we develop or assess capacities like creative thinking that may not be evident from the language a student uses — either because she may not have the language to express the ideas or because language can’t express what she’s thinking? • To what degree can we develop critical and creative thinking by breaking them down into constituent parts and teaching them directly? To what degree do these capacities defy direct instruction because they’re integrated, irreducible and ultimately mysterious? • How can we best diffuse knowledge about the teaching of thinking from some of us to all of us so that we all use it systematically, with a minimum of unhelpful variation?

This work would be mind-bending even with the support and encouragement of our state and federal governments. Instead, we’re being required to adopt new systems that just reinforce traditional practices and forms: standardized testing, course requirements, the structure of the school day, and so on. In this connection, I was recently reading Malcolm Gladwell’s New Yorker piece about Gary Starkweather, an optical engineer whose story Gladwell describes as an example of the “imaginative poverty of Xerox management.” In the late 1960’s Starkweather came up with the idea of photocopying by using a laser to turn a Xerox machine into a printer. His supervisor told him his idea was “the most brain dead” he’d ever heard. Starkweather went ahead anyway, but literally had to hide his work behind a curtain. Then when he finally proved the idea was viable, Xerox kept blocking efforts to market the product. Gladwell says Starkweather was a curmudgeon, someone who marched more than a little bit to his own drummer in his struggle with what he called “a bunch of spreadsheet experts.” “They thought you could decide every product based on metrics,” Starkweather said. “Unfortunately, creativity wasn’t on a metric.” We in Scarsdale are trying to transform education for the 20th century into education for the 21st in an increasingly reductive No Child Left Behind, Race to the Top environment. In the process, we’re finding it increasingly easy to identify with Gary Starkweather. We face the sorts of obstacles that always confront those who venture out into unexplored territory. But we’re also confronting those a well-intentioned, yet unheeding and inflexible, bureaucracy continues to place in our way.

Friday, August 19, 2011

We continue our efforts to educate officials about ways they can achieve their broader goals for education and also help improve districts that are successful in traditional terms. Going forward, our challenge is to continue the work we’ve been given to do for those we serve here in Scarsdale. But not only for Scarsdale. Our endeavors are of significant interest to many of our colleagues in the TriState area, to public and independent schools across the nation and to our growing number of friends in nations like Australia, England, Canada, China and Singapore, overseas. We recently received an email from Tao Huang, one of the several Cantonese educators who came to Scarsdale this past December through funding by the Chinese government and who stayed until May. Ironically, they were here to learn how they can teach their students to think critically and creatively instead of emphasizing tests, as their system historically has done. “I cannot forget Scarsdale,” he writes, “You are doing so great a job…” The other is from Columbia professor and department chair Sheridan Blau, who was involved with last year’s Tri-State visit and who’s part of the Global Learning Network. He says, “I have never seen a school district engaged in such groundbreaking work: setting an audacious vision; realizing it through self-study and collaboration; opening up its frame of reference to the larger world; and modeling throughout this process the very 21st Century practices it hopes to instill in its students. This what all schools should be doing. In a sea of woefully unimaginative approaches to preparing our students for full participation in the world, Scarsdale’s work is a model for us all.” The work continues. Our tradition endures. n

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Task force promotes important programming The Scarsdale Task Force on Drugs and Alcohol is a community action group comprised of parents, students, teachers, school administrators and representatives from village groups, civic organizations and religious institutions. Since its founding in 1984, the task force has worked in the community to educate youth and adults about drugs and alcohol, promote drug-free attitudes and behaviors, and identify resources for those whose lives are affected by drug and alcohol misuse and dependency. The task force sponsors programs and events based on input from a diverse steering committee. Highlights of task force activities in the past year include: • A program for teens and parents on the effects of alcohol and other drugs on the teenage body. A panel of local experts in adolescent medicine, sports medicine, pediatric emergency medicine and addiction counseling spoke to and answered questions from the audience; • A presentation from a recovering prescription-drug addict who received treatment through the Caron Foundation; • Coordination with the Westchester County Police to have a drunk-driving simulator at the Scarsdale High School campus for students; • Placement on the SHS campus of a wrecked car from an alcohol-related accident, accompanied by educational information; • Collaboration with the teen center to sponsor a speaker who was jailed for vehicular manslaughter as a result of drunk driving with his friends during a spring break vacation. In addition to these programs, the task force continued its long-running, successful series of parent discussion groups about teen use of drugs and alcohol. These parent “coffees” are facilitated by youth outreach workers from the Scarsdale-Edgemont Counseling Service. Through these groups, hundreds of Scarsdale parents engaged in meaningful dialogue about difficult parenting issues. In these small group settings, parents are able to discuss concerns about substance-related issues. This year the task force reissued alcohol poisoning fact cards to SHS students, coordinating with the curriculum for each grade. Using information provided by MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving), these laminated wallet cards help kids recognize signs of alcohol poisoning and follow safe steps to help an impaired person. For parents, the task force reprinted and redistributed the “Parent’s Guide for the Prevention of Alcohol, Tobacco and Other Drug Use.” This booklet is a handy reference guide developed by the Community of Concern, a group of parents and administrators from Georgetown Prep in Washington, D.C. As in prior years, the task force mailed this booklet to all families with current sixth- or ninth-graders. This staggered distribution is intended to cost-effectively provide this important reference material to families across the community. Finally, the task force also underwrote and supported the efforts of other groups in the community to provide drug- and alcoholfree experiences for kids. This included contributing to alcohol-free SHS homecoming events, prom buses, teen center events and supporting the Scarsdale § Edgemont Family Counseling Service. In the upcoming school year, the task force will continue to provide parent education opportunities and support programs that

promote enjoyable and substance-free social activities for our teens. The task force does, however, rely on community support. Residents’ contributions will help fund the many continuing projects and will help foster new initiatives to reduce alcohol and drug use and misuse. Visit www.scarsdaleschools.org/datf for more information. If you have questions or suggestions, e-mail task force co-chairmen Susan Ross and Joy Brownstein at scarsdaletaskforce@gmail.com. n

Friday, August 19, 2011/ Page 27A

ARDSLEY ORTHODONTICS GREGG FADER, D.M.D. Services Include: Braces for children and adults • Tooth colored braces Invisalign braces • Behind the teeth braces Free Consultation

914-358-4139 1075 CENTRAL AVENUE • SUITE #201 • SCARSDALE, NY 10583 (Apple Bank building)

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Friday, August 19, 2011

Things Every Parent Should Know Before Choosing a Dance Studio

S S

ince most dance studios seem to have qualified,

friendly teachers who are experienced with teaching children, and a big reci tal at t he end of t he year, aren't they all pretty much t he same? Does it really matter w hich school you decide to enroll at? Absolutely. There are five important factors that ca n make a huge difference in the quality of instruct ion your child receives. By considering t hese five basic g uidlines, you will b e able to choose a dance studio t hat will give you and your child a satisfying and enjoyable experience. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __

What type of dance floor is used?

The best way to practice a sa fe physical activi ty is by choosing a studio wi th a professional "floating floor." A floating fl oor rests on a system of high-density foam to absorb the shock of jumping. Th e top layer is a vinyl composite "Marley路 fl oor, which is re<og nized worldwide as t he best surface layer for dancers. A high-density foam base is superior to a sprung floor, which usually conSists of a wood struct ure built on top of the reg ular floor. Very few studios use these floors due to the expense, but Studio B has professional floating floors in all four spacious dance stu dios.

What is the size ofthe class?

If the dance class has a limited number of students in it each child wi ll receive more personal attention, learn more, and have more fun. With smaller classes, teachers can closely supervise the cl ass, carefully explain the concepts and instructions, and make cer tain that students are developing good habits and proper tech nique. At Studio B, we limit al l of our classes to a maxi mum of just fourteen students. Our pre-ballet for ages 2 and 3 is limited to only twelve. With teachers focused on individual student skills, no fundamental concepts are being missed. All of our classes are taught by professional instructors; many classes have assistant teachers.

What type of music is used in class?

Many studios employ . cu rrent popular music th at studen ts hear on the radio. Dancing to only ' popular" music in class does not give your child exposure to a variety of music experiences. Our philosophy is to select age-appropri ate music to engage the child's creative sp irit and to offer a large range of

musical genres. Our wide range of music (both vocal and instrumental) encourages dancers to express themselves through the art of dance and to learn how to count music rather than just dance to specific lyrics.

How much class time is spent on recital dances?

Can I get immediate assistance and custo mer service?

Many studios have classes in which stu dents spend most of the ye(lr le(lrning two or more recital sumes most of the child's class time an d they end the year lacking important dance skills, vocabulary and technique. Althoug h we take great pride in our ninety minute creative themed performances, we do not pu t a great deal of emphasis on learning dance steps for the sole purpose of a recital; nor do we make it mandatory that any child participates in the show. Studio B's well balanced program combines learning choreography and reci tal dances while developing strong tech nique and improving coordin(ltion (lnd locomotive skills.

In many studios, th e teacher or the stud io owner cond ucts class and does the administration. The cl ass may suffer if the teacher is trying to do two jobs at once, such as using class time for customer service issues. To have a good dance experience, it is importan t to choose a studio that can assist you with details like costumes or schedules, even when a teacher's occupied in class. Studio 8's knowledgeable office staff is on hand during all class times so that you can re<eive immediate attention.

375 White Plain s Road Eastchester, NY 10709

914 .793.2799 da nceat stud iob.i nfo

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Friday, August 19, 2011/ Page 29A

Why Choose

Studio B? S

ince 1996, thousands of students have taken dance lessons under the guidance of our highly talented and nurturing teachers. Our state-of-art facility is magnificent place where the tiniest ballerina and the trendiest teen dancers feel at home. No matter which style of dance your child chooses, a pattern of enjoying healthy exercise in a dance class can become the foundation for a lifetime of energetic physical activity.

375 White Plains Road Eastchester, NY 10709 914.793.2799 danceatstudiob.info

Here's why Studio B Dance Center is the right choice. We invite you to compare Small class sizes - Maximum of 12 students for age 2 + 3, and a maximum of 14 per class for ages 4 and up

STUDIO

OTHER STUDIOS

As a parent, you have a choice among several different dance schools, but all studios are not the same. At Studio B, we constantly upgrade and improve our facilities and curriculum to ensure that we always provide our students and parents with the best experience possible.

Mirrors that start at floor level so that dancers can see their feet from any place on the dance floor

Today, as in 1996, there are a number of studios to choose from. We invite you to compare studio features on our checklist to the left. You’ll see why Studio B is chosen more often than any other dance school in the area.

TV monitor that allows you to observe your child's progress without class interruptions

What our students and parents are saying:

All studio rooms equipped with floating Marley dance floors which help reduce the risk of injuries and fatigue Choice of more than one teacher for each dance program to fit your child's personality and learning style

Desk staff available to assist you during all teaching hours, every day Unlimited free parking Parent-friendly ready-to-wear recital costumes that include all accessories and tights Students and parents never required to fund raise for studio events Convenient sibling scheduling that enables parents to bring two or more siblings to dance class at the same time Large variety of classes and choice times designed according to students' and parents' requests Staff of professional teachers and choreographers with college or masters degrees and extensive teaching experience Hassle free, 90-minute recitals in a pleasant, air-conditioned local facility

“

Studio B has become like my second family. I have made many new friends who are always there to help me out. We all work hard together, but it is always fun. We may see each other once a week, but we all have one thing in common. We love to dance. Nina, age 13

“

If I didn’t dance there would be something missing from who I am. When I dance I feel beatutiful, powerful, and most of all free. Ellen, age 14

“

I think the rooms are magical because I do things there I can’t do the same anywhere else. Kathleen, age 7

“

Studio B is a great place to take classes because it stimulates a child’s intelligence and emotional development. The teacher’s approach is totally child centered, innovative, enthusiastic, organized and refreshingly age appropriate. Your classes have been a great boost to our daughter’s self esteem. Paige’s mom

“

Our show is better than ‘American Idol.’ Mackensee, age 5

“

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C TY CENTER DANCE 914-328-1881

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Friday, August 19, 2011

Backpack safety tips for kids School may be a figurative pain in the neck for many children, but what about a literal pain in the neck — and back? These days, the answer is yes, and backpacks are to blame. Or more specifically, the improper use of backpacks. “The average child carries a backpack that would be the equivalent of a 39-pound burden for a 176-pound man, or a 29-pound load for a 132-pound woman,” said Dr. Rick McMichael, president of the American Chiropractic Association (ACA). “Growing children should only be carrying 10-20 percent of their body weight.” Heavy backpacks can negatively affect your child’s health by pulling on ligaments and muscles that cause neck and back pain and can possibly cause deformity of the spine, according to the ACA. Parents who want to protect their children from these painful injuries can follow these tips: • Choose a backpack with wide, padded shoulder straps and a padded back. They should be adjustable so the backpack can be fitted to your child’s body. • Encourage your child to use both straps. Lugging the backpack around by one strap can cause a disproportionate shift of weight to one side, leading to neck and back spasms. • Pack light or at least smart. A backpack with individualized compartments helps in positioning the contents most effectively, keeping pointy objects away from the back. • Check to see if your children’s textbooks are available on e-readers — it’ll save their backs, as well as paper. • Learn some back-strengthening exercises to build up muscles. Sit-ups are great since

strong abdominal muscles can share the load and take the strain off back muscles. • Encourage your child or teenager to tell you about any pain or discomfort he or she may experience. Do not ignore any back pain in children or teenagers simply because they seem too young. If you or your child experiences any pain or discomfort resulting from backpack use, call your doctor of chiropractic, who is licensed and trained to diagnose and treat patients of all ages. You can find more backpack safety tips and learn about treatment for back pain at www.acatoday.org/patients. n

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Friday, August 19, 2011/ Page 31A

FAshion

BTS Fashion

Kids have options from head to toe By MARY LEGRAND

he 2011-12 school year might not begin for another few weeks, but that doesn’t keep fashion-savvy students — and their moms — from heading to the stores now for their back-to-school shopping. Trends shoppers are seeing so far are wide-ranging, including everything from skinny jeans for all ages to faux fur trims on just about everything and surf- or sportsthemed shirts and hoodies for boys. Certain colors are bigger than ever this year, even on fabrics where they don’t usually appear, such as denim. Trends may change from season to season, but for Jane Sims, owner of Acadia on Main in Mount Kisco, usability and durability are still key. “First of all, because of the economy, people are looking for clothing they can be active in as well as be cute, fashionable and current,” Sims said. “We look for brands that do both.” Continued on page 32A

At Bubble and Tweet in Bedford Village: Savannah is wearing a Local cashmere sweater and Free People skinny jeans.

Explore your gifts. Challenge your strengths.

Share your passion.

O penings for the 2011–12 school year for students entering grades 7, 9, 11

260 Jay Street, Katonah, NY 10536 • 914.232.3161 admissions@harveyschool.org • www.harveyschool.org Harvey is a coeducational college preparatory school enrolling students in grades 6–12 for day and in grades 9–12 for five-day boarding.

Page 32A/The scarsdale Inquirer

Back to School

Friday, August 19, 2011

Back to School fashion 2011

1 Continued from page 31A

It’s helpful to purchase clothing and outerwear that can take kids and teens from school to afterschool activities, Sims said, and this year what she called “retro-fashion” is affecting the outdoor and active wear world. “There’s a resurgence in classic looks,” she said. “Patagonia has brought back Polartec fleece in retro colors — berry, burgundy, blue, turquoise, black and gray. This warm, technical piece is slim-fitting and protects the body’s core temperature. It also wicks moisture and dries quickly.” The old-school look continues at Acadia on Main with footwear, including Merrell hiking boots and Sorel’s Joan of Arctic faux-fur-lined boots, which Sims called a modern classic. “Another footwear option comes from The North Face,” she added. “Its Back to Berkeley boot harkens back to 1968 and combines an old-school look with new-school tech.” Marilyn Werner, director of marketing for Lester’s, with locations in Rye and Manhattan, said that this year’s back-to-school fashion trends “do seem to cross all age barriers. One of these trends is faux fur, which this year is really going to be an important element — on vests and boots, trimmed on knits and hats, even motorcycle jackets for little girls and boys.” Another big hit in the boys’ department is from Volcom — its lines of Ninja and Peepers zippered sweatshirts for boys come complete with hoods that zip all the way up, covering the whole head with the exception of the eyes. Quiksilver’s Gutless zippered sweatshirts for boys, also at Lester’s, take fur trim to new heights, with mohawk-style stripes right down the middle of the hood. Back-to-school shopping is fun for many students and their parents. At Butterflies & Zebras in Ridgefield, Conn., owner Shari Horowitz ca-

ters to girls in middle to high school, as well as their fashionable mothers, who enjoy shopping together. “Oftentimes the daughter is approving what the mom wears and vice versa,” Horowitz said. “We started to bring in more items for moms after we saw the mothers browsing while the kids were shopping.” Cropped tops continue to be popular. Butterflies & Zebra’s initial supply of fall sweaters sold out the first weekend they went on display. Cropped sweaters may be short, but that doesn’t mean a child has to look under-dressed. The store’s private label seamless tanks to wear underneath cropped tops “have become the uniform for girls,” Horowitz said. “We carry them in 20 colors, and we’ve found the girls are wearing them under everything. They layer them two at a time in different colors. We emphasize to the moms that everything we sell is age-appropriate, so their daughters’ bodies are covered. Even though the sweater may be short, we provide a tank top to go under it.” Skirts and dresses are popular at Butterflies & Zebras too. “We’re seeing a lot of influence from ‘Gossip Girls,’” Horowitz said, citing “pretty tweedy, flirty skirts a la Blake Lively.” Preppy tartan plaid skirts, “flowy in a heavier fabric,” are going to be big this year. As the mother of 12- and 17-year-old daughters, Horowitz knows what that age group is looking for, and special-occasion dresses are important for weekends off from school. “It’s hard to find dresses that are appropriate for 13-yearolds,” she said. “We try to find lines that are ageappropriate and not revealing. Once girls get into high school they want a dress that fits closer to the body.”

High-schoolers and college students flock to Churchills of Mount Kisco for the latest looks. Denim has stood the test of time. “The last two years in jeans have been all about the comfort,” said Lori Land. “It’s the comfort of a boyfriend style, but slim in the legs. They’re often paired with oversized, off-the-shoulder sweaters.” Colored jeans are back again. “We’re seeing a lot of green denim,” said Land, “and leather pants are huge again, with leather leggings continuing because they look so great with the oversized cardigan, turtleneck or v-neck.” Other color choices include brown — chocolate and caramel — being among the most popular. Navy is also big, as is winter white. Churchills continues to carry full collections of clothing, with many items trimmed in faux fur. “It’s popular to mix a faux fur vest with a cashmere sweater, also to add faux fur accents to chocolate brown,” Land said. Men’s fashion remains a mix of styles, Land said: “The look is juxtaposed between tailored and sloppy. One of the designers hit it right on the head — his whole advertisement was that men’s fashion is a tad dressy, but a tad disheveled.” Lynda Piscitelli of Indigo Chic in Hartsdale Continued on page 34A

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Friday, August 19, 2011/ Page 33A

Photos by Jim Maclean

At Dennys in Scarsdale: Alexa, left, is wearing a Free People top layered over a Sugar Lips tank and paired with dark wash denim jean by Mavi. Backpack by Zinnia. Ariana is wearing a Vintage Havana toile sweater layered with a Charm School tank and scarf tied around waist, paired with Dori pinstripe leggings.

options for all

At Beginnings, with locations in Scarsdale and Armonk: Shelley, left, is wearing a JoieEmilie sweater, an Italica cheetah scarf and Hudson Chelsea jeans, while holding a JJ Winters small envelope bag. Leah, middle, is wearing a Haute Hippie suede fringe jacket and Seven Jiselle jeans. Jenna is wearing a G1 co-ed shirt, a Minnie Rose charcoal vest and Citizen Ava jeans.

At Neilâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s, with locations in Mt. Kisco and Scarsdale: Matthew is wearing an Adidas long sleeve dri-fit tee, Adidas triple stripe pants and a Northface backpack. The mystery model is wearing a Monster hoodie and Adidas triple stripe pants.

At Bubble and Tweet in Bedford Village: Kingsley, left, is wearing a Pink Chicken jewel dress. Ava is wearing a Pink Chicken Madeleine shirt, Go Gently bow tie cardigan and Kit & Lily Peasant top.

At Neilâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s, with locations in Mt. Kisco and Scarsdale: Allison, left, is wearing a Faux fur vest, dark stretch jeans, a long sleeve Star tee and feather clips. Emma is wearing a Burnout multi-colored studded LOVE long sleeve tee, stretch jeans and feather clips.

At Dennys in Scarsdale: Michael, left, is wearing a striped Volcom hoody over an Element tee, paired with Quiksilver cargo pant and knit hat. Luca has on an Authentic Proteam vintage tee and hat, paired with Vibe cargo sweatpants.

4 6

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Friday, August 19, 2011

BTS FAshion Continued from page 32A

agrees that colored jeans are making a huge fashion statement this school year, as are fringed tops, animal prints and fur trim. Cherry, cobalt blue and purple are among the most popular jeans colors, while gray and black denim remain perennially popular. The jeans, she said, â&#x20AC;&#x153;are very dark pigmented in different colors, a look that has changed from prior years. Usually there are different shades and washes of blue, but this year color is really big.â&#x20AC;? Offering clothing to customers â&#x20AC;&#x153;15-70,â&#x20AC;? Indigo Chicâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s fashions transition through different ages. â&#x20AC;&#x153;It seems as if the off-theshoulder look is still really big,â&#x20AC;? Piscitelli said, citing â&#x20AC;&#x153;really big, slouchy tops that fall off the shoulder, plus asymmetrical blouses and tops.â&#x20AC;? Barb Jacobowitz of Industry in Dobbs Ferry said colored denims are popular in bright as well as muted colors â&#x20AC;&#x201D; royal blue and red or deep purple, plum and army green. Wearing skinny jeans and cords is a trend that, while not new, remains extremely popular. Tops in stripes, polka dots and floral prints help complete the look. Accessories such as vests, jewelry and hats are equally â&#x20AC;&#x153;inâ&#x20AC;? this year. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Vests are popular as fashion pieces,â&#x20AC;? said Piscitelli of Indigo Chic, who added, â&#x20AC;&#x153;If youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re going to wear a sweater indoors, the vest would add an extra layer. It also could be worn throughout the fall instead of a jacket.â&#x20AC;? The fedora remains the hat of choice â&#x20AC;&#x201D; for teens and young adults of both sexes all the way down to fashion-forward elementary school students. For womenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s jewelry, thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a lot of mix-

At Beginnings, with locations in Scarsdale and Armonk: Shelley, left, is wearing an Elizabeth & James hooded poncho and Hudson Chelsea jeans. Leah, middle, is wearing a Lauren Moshi Bridgit swing tank, an Ever black leather jacket and Seven Jiselle jeans. Jenna is wearing a Three Dot long sleeve scoop watermark top, a Sanctuary faux sherpa vest, Citizen Avan jeans, while holding a Diane VonFurstenberg bag.

ing of semiprecious stones with different golds, according to Land from Churchills: â&#x20AC;&#x153;From rose gold mixed with white gold, yellow gold mixed with rose gold, you can wear any kind of jewelry. You no longer have to wear all your white gold or all your yellow. Because the price of gold is so high a lot of designers are mixing diamonds with sterling silver, and pyrite is huge again.â&#x20AC;? Going back to school means students must carry their supply of books, tablet computers, laptops and cell phones, a heavy proposition sometimes. While the basic black book bag remains at the top of the popularity list, accents in bright colors can make an other-

wise ordinary necessity pop. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The North Face is making some backpacks that continue the old-school look,â&#x20AC;? said Sims of Acadia on Main. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Most of them will have sleeves for laptops. Kids are also looking at daypacks. Patagonia makes them in hot pink, blue, orange and army green.â&#x20AC;? Diana Tyler at Kelloggs & Lawrence in Katonah has noticed students purchasing more than one backpack or daypack: â&#x20AC;&#x153;People now have two or three, and they really reflect an individualâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s personality and what he or she is using them for at the time.â&#x20AC;? Combining colors is popular in this yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s backpacks, Tyler said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Even for a guyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s bag,

we find yellow and purple with red loops, for example. But guess what sells the most â&#x20AC;&#x201D; classic black with accents of color.â&#x20AC;? Cross-body bags are the choice of most college students, and thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s even a bag specifically made for the iPad, available in a number of Westchester stores. Look in many local shops for hats, boots, outerwear and other items to complete the back-to-school look. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We just bought 250 unbelievably cool hats,â&#x20AC;? Tyler of Kelloggs & Lawrence said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Some of them even have curled dreadlocks in different colors.â&#x20AC;? Lindsey Isanberg, owner of Infinity in Scarsdale, said that feathers are â&#x20AC;&#x153;very big this fall. Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re finding that feathers in hair â&#x20AC;&#x201D; hair extensions â&#x20AC;&#x201D; feathers on clothing, on earrings and all accessories are extremely popular.â&#x20AC;? In addition, Isanberg noted the trend toward colored jeans, with skinny jeans remaining popular but â&#x20AC;&#x153;wide-leg jeans making a comebackâ&#x20AC;? as well. A â&#x20AC;&#x153;neighborhood shop,â&#x20AC;? according to Isanberg, Infinity sells to girls size 4 to 6X, 7 to 14 and teens. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I know everybody and all their kids,â&#x20AC;? she said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We get a lot of repeat customers, all of whom loving shopping here for back to school.â&#x20AC;? Back-to-school clothes shopping is as important as ever for kids and parents. â&#x20AC;&#x153;When I went back to school I couldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t wait to get my notebook, pens and backpack,â&#x20AC;? Werner of Lesterâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s said, â&#x20AC;&#x153;and those are still things that kids like, only now theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re more interested in fashion as well. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a blending of fashion. Kids donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t want to look unfashionable. With Facebook and the access that kids have to whatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s online, theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re speaking to one another about what theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re wearing. No matter what the age, they want to be hip, cool and fashionable in school.â&#x20AC;? n

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Trends

Studying abroad: what to plan, pack Studying abroad is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity full of culture, language, culinary delights and many other unique and exciting experiences. Study abroad program participation grew in the 2009-10 school year, according to the Institute of International Education. Colleges and universities modified and revamped programs to cater to where and what students want to study. If your child plans to study abroad this school year, the excitement levels are likely pretty high as you get him or her packed and prepared for the trip. You’ve already researched the climate, food, language, transportation and school where your child will study, so you have a good idea of what clothing, school supplies and personal items he or she will need to pack. But you might not have considered some items which should probably be added to the list: • Brand name products you must have. This is important if you’re traveling to Africa, Asia and even South America. If you love to chew gum, use a specific brand of shampoo or deodorant or even prefer a brand of pain killers for headaches, chances are that the country you’re traveling to won’t carry that brand. So stock up on those products that you’ll need to last you the entire time you’re away. • Travel assistance. You hope that medical, legal or even stolen document emergencies won’t happen to your child while he or she is studying in a foreign country. Invest-

With the right preparation, studying abroad will provide many wonderful life opportunities. ing in On Call International for travel assistance can help give you peace of mind that if an emergency occurs, he or she will have access to financial, legal and transportation assistance. On Call International’s memberships offer travelers help for medical evacuations as well as medical transport home after a hospitalization. The program also includes a 24-hour nurse helpline and worldwide legal assistance. Visit www.oncallinternational.com for more information. • Current conversion kits. Foreign countries have different outlet shapes and electrical currents than the United States, which means if your son or daughter tries to plug a laptop or cell phone charger into an outlet while abroad, the plug won’t fit. If he or she is planning on packing electronics, purchase a proper electric conversion kit for the country. Check with the travel abroad program about its recommendations for cell phones. It may

be easier and cheaper for to purchase a cell phone plan overseas. • Review the policies on social networking sites, email and even cell phone use for the country your child will be visiting. There are some countries where the government controls usage of some communication methods, which could come as a surprise to many Americans. Consider packing a smartphone so she can also take advantage of helpful travel and safety applications. With the right preparation, traveling and studying abroad will provide many wonderful life opportunities for your child. It might not feel like time is flying by while your child is gone, but when he arrives back home, he or she will have so many stories to tell you and photos to share about all the fun while studying in a foreign country. n — ARA Content

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Health & Wellness

Health tips for the new school year As the new school year gears up and todo lists get longer, make sure to put your child’s health on the list. Updating vaccinations, scheduling annual physicals and alerting your child’s school about allergies and illnesses are crucial steps to ensure their academic success, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP). “Children need to feel their best in order to learn, and schools need to be able to provide for students’ daily health issues as well as special needs, accidents and emergencies,” said O. Marion Burton, MD, of the AAP. You can ensure a safe and happy year for both parent and child with a little planning.

Vaccinations Thanks to immunizations, most children in the United States today lead much healthier lives than generations past. And while vaccines have reduced many infectious diseases to low levels in the United States, vacationers can bring old and new diseases back into the country. Measles, for example, is still prevalent in other parts of the world and has been linked to recent outbreaks in the U.S. Unvaccinated children are at risk. That’s why routine, up-to-date vaccinations are as important today as they have ever been. There may be tears, but the pain associated with most immunizations is minor. Consult your pediatrician about keeping your child’s vaccination schedule up to date.

Food allergies, illnesses If your child suffers from food allergies or other health issues that require management during the school day, be sure to contact the school nurse and update your child’s health plan at school. This will ensure that proper steps are taken if the child develops symptoms while at school, and that his or her activities are not restricted unnecessarily. A child’s health can change from year to year or even month to month, so make sure the school is well aware of how to handle new conditions or restrictions. Parents should also check that you have provided the school with any special medications your child needs.

Annual physicals Along with your child’s regular annual physical, aspiring athletes should get a

A visit to the pediatrician will help keep your child healthy for school.

sports physical before the start of the season. Children’s bodies are vulnerable to injury, and as youngsters move through middle childhood — becoming bigger, stronger, faster, and more aggressive — the incidence of injuries rises. Make sure your athlete wears a well-fitted helmet, mouthpiece, face guard, padding, eye gear, protective cup or other equipment appropriate for the sport. Of course, regardless of whether your child is on a competitive team or not, parents should promote physical activity for all kids. Discussing health issues with your pediatrician before the start of the year helps children, parents and school staff ensure students’ health and safety all year long. For more tips for a healthy school year, visit: www.healthychildren.org. — StatePoint

Make the grade with meals, snacks By LINDA ARPINO, MA, RD, CDN The school year often starts with fastpaced schedules. Eating is sometimes the least thought about part for transition from summer to fall schedules. This year start the year off right. Choose foods that are packed with nutrients, taste great and enhance focus. • Teach your child to sit relaxed not rushed. This is very important for digestion

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and hormonal balance and will help with feeling satisfied. A false sense of hunger from adrenaline and cortisone overdrive may occur from eating on the run. Avoid meals and snacks in cars or while watching TV. • Plan ahead. Encourage your child to NOT skip meals, especially breakfast, which is critical for school attention and ability to focus. Late night heavy eating will reduce the desire for food first thing in the morning. So limit bedtime snacks and offer most calories during the day when

they are the most active. • Choose fiber rich, healthy snacks, such as fresh fruit or vegetable, low sugar whole grain cereals, fiber rich bread or crackers. Junk foods should be only considered after your child has sufficiently met their nutritional needs. One hundred calorie snack packs (cookies or chips) should not replace more nutrient dense options such as apples, pears, bananas, carrots and other raw vegetables, whole grain bread or crackers or cereal. Manufacturers coined 100 calories as a target, but many children should have less. • Encourage your child to drink water instead of sweetened beverages such as soda and juice. • Physical activity is key to release stress and help maintain muscle. Grade A Lunches: Encourage your child to bring lunch from home if choices at school are high in fat and sweet cereals and bagels replace more nutrient dense foods. Plan on including at least one serving of fruit or/and vegetable, one or two whole grains and a protein choice. Go Vegetarian a few days: • Sunflower seed butter on whole grain bread is a great alternative to peanut butter, with a banana or apple and low fat soy or cow’s milk. • Hummus on Pita with raw veggies and a fruit is a great choice. • Black bean tex-mex salad with corn and salsa served with a corn tortilla and fruit. For more great ideas check out Linda Arpino’s book, “Eat Fit, Be Fit: Health and Weight Management Solutions.” Arpino, MA, RD, CDN, is the founder and owner of The Life Focus Nutrition Centers with offices in Rye Brook and Stamford. Call 935-0123 or (203) 321-8454 or visit www.lifefocusnutrition.com.

Family counseling center reaches all ages Children do better when raised in strong families, and families are stronger when they live in supportive communities. Whether you are a parent or parenting your own parents in later life, a teenager or living with one, a couple at midlife, or an older adult, Scarsdale § Edgemont Family Counseling Service is a resource providing a range of services to people at every life stage. Changing family structures, economic challenges, workplace stressors and Continued on the next page

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planning for the future are only a few of the pressures faced every day by residents of Scarsdale and Edgemont. The Scarsdale Community Youth Services Project continues to provide emotional support to Scarsdale students at both the high school and the middle school. Over 700 parents of teens and preteens participate in sponsored parent support groups where they find strategies for dealing with texting, sexting, cyberbullying and a new world of risky behaviors. Youth outreach workers continue to provide emotional support to girls with the Young Women In Leadership groups, while middle school boys can participate in Friday night activity and discussion groups at the middle school. This year both groups celebrated adult leadership by organizing a “Royaltea” at the Scarsdale Woman’s Club and a Friday night supper with veterans of World War II. SFCS also continues to provide mental health services to families, couples and individuals dealing with anxiety, depression, life stage transitions, loss of employment, martial stress or wanting to renew and strengthen their couple relationship. At the other end of the spectrum, the SFCS Older Adult Service joined forces with the Scarsdale “Aging in Place” initiative to reconvene as “At Home in Scarsdale Village.” This group has a purpose of providing support and services for its membership to live with confidence in the community where most have lived the majority of their lives. SFCS continued to contribute to vital aging and wellness through a

series of seminars on relevant topics such as “maintaining your brain,” planning your financial future and securing emotional and physical well-being. This series is held monthly at the Scarsdale Woman’s Club and plans to continue in the fall. The Earth’s Elders Project is a joint venture of SFCS and Scarsdale Middle School bringing together middle school students and the community’s distinguished elders for a series of mutual sharing of experiences. In April, SFCS purchased a new 12-passenger van for use by “At Home” members to attend social and cultural events in New York City and Westchester and “shop and stop” about town on Tuesday and Thursday mornings. To join “At Home”, or to learn more about services, call 723-4529. TALKABOUT social skills groups are now forming for the fall 2011 with openings for children ages 7-8 and 10-11 years of age. Looking ahead, Scarsdale § Edgemont Family Counseling Service hopes to secure its future with a long-range plan that will develop the agency over the next three to five years while continuing the tradition of support for families. This is the SFCS mission and tradition. In 2012, Scarsdale § Edgemont Family Counseling will celebrate 92 years of service to Scarsdale and Edgemont. More information can be found on the SFCS website (www.sfcsinc.org) or by calling 723-328. In addition, the annual Gourmet Galaxy fundraiser event will be held at Westchester Country Club on May 2, 2012. n

Friday, August 19, 2011/ Page 37A

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News & Notes

Pope Foundation awards grant to Holy Child

Westchester Reform EEC expands offerings

School of the Holy Child in Rye has received a $120,000 grant from the Generoso Pope Foundation in Tuckahoe to establish the Generoso Pope Italian Cultural Studies Program. This program will offer students an innovative, comprehensive Italian language and culture immersion. Students who are chosen to participate will be designated as Generoso Pope Italian Cultural Studies Scholars and will take part in a two-year experience that offers both classroom study and field study. In the first year, Holy Child’s faculty participants will create a committee to administer the program and serve as advisers to the scholars. In the fall of 2012, the first groups of scholars from the junior class will begin their journey, which will include a yearlong interdisciplinary course in history, art history, literature and architecture; combined visits to the National Gallery, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Frick, the Tenement Museum and Ellis Island; weeklong Italian immersion courses prior to a summer course at the Westchester Italian Cultural Center; and a monthlong art and language immersion in Florence in the summer. As seniors, the scholars will develop a thesis for research and independent study with a faculty adviser and will formally present their projects in June. Scholars will continue their affiliation with the Westchester Italian Cultural Center and

Westchester Reform Temple Early Childhood Center (WRT ECC) is launching its 26th school year with expanded offerings for the community. “When we started in 1985 our focus was on a parent center and classes for toddlers,” said ECC director Susan Tolchin. “This year, in addition to our infant, toddler and preschool programs, we are expanding our class offerings for nannies, parents-to-be and parent-graduates of our ECC. This is going to be a very exciting year.” Led by the school’s social worker, Brenda Stern, the new offerings provide groups for socialization and information, for children and adults alike. “I am very excited about the Nanny and Me program and Nanny Class,” Stern said. There is also a toddler group called Temple Tots meeting on Monday mornings this year and a special five-part class for mothers of children in grades k-3. “Talking about the birds and the bees, bullying and peer pressure can be very sensitive in the early elementary years,” Stern said. One of the newest groups at WRT ECC will be two free programs for first-time parents and those with infants. “We have had so many requests for a place where firsttime moms can gather,” Tolchin said. “Our What to Expect When You’re Expecting and Infant Group will really fit that need. It is offered free to the community.” WRT ECC is dedicated to enriching

David Pope, president and CEO of the Generoso Pope Foundation, Ann F. Sullivan, head of school, and Domenick Ciaccia, trustee, at Holy Child’s annual award ceremony.

may also engage in a genealogical study and trip to their village or city of origin. Ann Sullivan, head of school, said, “This is a major addition to our Global Programs — we have organized trips to Ghana, France, Peru, Morocco — but our monthlong language and art programs in Florence have always been the most successful and memorable. Consequently, we wanted to expand the study of Italian culture to junior and senior years. We are extraordinarily grateful for the chance to expose our girls to the depth and breadth of Italian language, literature, architecture and culture.”

young children’s lives socially, emotionally, intellectually, spiritually and physically. In addition to the new offerings this year, the 2-year-old learners are in class 9:15-11:30 a.m., with three-, four- or five-day options, while the 3- and 4-year-old students participate in morning programs from 9 a.m.noon five days a week, with options for lunch and afternoon electives. WRT ECC is licensed by New York State Department of Children and Family Services. The school takes great pride in its excellent teacher-to-student ratio of 4:1 in the 2s program, 6:1 in the 3s program, and 8:1 in the 4s program. The school will continue its partnership with The PJ Library® at WRT. The PJ Library, an award-winning Jewish family engagement program, launched in the fall of 2010 at Westchester Reform Temple. Created by the Harold Grinspoon Foundation, The PJ Library sends free, high-quality, age-appropriate Jewish books each month to children to read at bedtime with their families. All families interested in signing up for The PJ Library should go to www. wrtemple.org for information and a membership application. Enrollment for the Early Childhood Center’s 2011-12 school year is ongoing. Registration for 2012-13 begins in November, with a special open house scheduled for the evening of Oct. 18. Westchester Reform Temple Early Childhood Center is located at 255 Mamaroneck Road in Scarsdale. For information, call Tolchin at 723-5493 Ext. 103 or email Sue.Tolchin@ wrtemple.org. n

St. James the Less Episcopal Nursery School Crane Road at Church Lane Scarsdale, NY

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Health & Wellness

By ANNA KROSCHE Take a closer look at that scalp. What may initially look like dandruff could be head lice. Pediculus humanus capitis, or head lice, live and feed exclusively on the human head. These tiny insects live in human hair, causing intense itching, after they have been present for several weeks. More of a nuisance than a medical threat, these tan or grayish-white insects are roughly the size of sesame seeds and don’t fly or jump. The nits, or eggs of adult lice, are laid where the hair shaft meets the scalp, making them difficult to see and remove. Contrary to popular belief, lice are not a sign of poor hygiene, but rather easily latch on to clean hair. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, head lice is most often found on children between the ages of 3-10 and their families. Head-to-head contact and the sharing of hair brushes, towels, hats and pillows, are the most common ways lice are spread. Frequent scratching of the head may be the first sign of a problem. Small, red bumps on the scalp and neck may help you identify head lice, along with tiny, yellowish-white, oval-shaped eggs that are attached to the hair shaft and are difficult to pick out. Nits are most commonly found at the top of the scalp, behind the ears and base of the neck. To see head lice, you must look closely in good light or use a magnifying glass. When it comes time for treatment, a natural enzyme shampoo should be used that kills the lice on contact followed by manual

combing with a specialized metal-toothed comb. This is the most effective way to remove nits. Lice have become resistant to both over-the-counter and prescription products containing pesticides. Treatment should include: thorough vacuuming, hot water and high heat laundering of linens and clothing, and boiling combs and brushes. Head lice cannot live on pets, nor can they be passed via the household cat or dog. Good communication with your child’s teacher, school nurse or daycare provider can assure that an outbreak can be avoided and that they are free of live lice and nits before returning to those environments. Anna Krosche, The Lice Lady of Westchester, is a natural lice and nit removal specialist. Her salon is located in the Town of Greenburgh. Inhome lice removal services are also available. Call 497-5465, email TheLiceLady@aol.com or visit www.TheLiceLadyofWestchester.com. n

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School

News & Notes 723-3520 for more information. In addition, Scarsdale blankets, folding chairs and car magnets can be ordered by contacting the Belks at 723-8274. Go Raiders!

Maroon & White supports athletics Maroon and White, Scarsdale High School’s parent athletic association, supports interscholastic athletics. Celebrating its 45th anniversary this fall, Maroon and White promotes student participation in sports, sponsors awards dinners at the end of each sports season to honor athletes, coaches and managers, hosts Raider Pride weeks in the fall and spring to honor all high school teams and raises funds to donate gifts to the athletic department. Through the events it sponsors and funds, Maroon and White also enriches the physical education program and improves athletic facilities for all SHS students. Over the years, Maroon and White has played a vital role in supporting the athletic department by donating equipment that is not funded by the school budget. Gifts in recent years include a scoreboard, safety mats for various sports and portable defibrillators. Maroon and White publishes a sports journal for the fall, winter and spring seasons. This journal consists of booster ads from families and businesses, as well as rosters and pictures of each sports team. Other activities include a coaches’ dinner, Raiders of the Week, the Kari Pizzitola Holiday Basketball Tournament and a spring picnic. The Maroon and White board of directors meets regularly and serves as an advocate for athletes and athletic programs. The 2011-12 executive board members include:

Scholarship fund benefits students Charlotte Carr and Liz Whitney, co-presidents; Jane and Jim Felix, vice presidents; Anne and Mark Ellman, treasurers; Cathy and Gary Quintalino, secretaries; Karen and Harry Fisch, membership; Geralyn and Ralph Della Cava, sports journal; and Carrie and Howard Belk, fundraising. Maroon and White’s annual membership drive is under way. High school families and community members are encouraged to support Maroon and White. Membership contributions may be made in five categories: Honorable Mention ($40); AllLeague ($65); All-Section ($100); All-State ($150) and Most Valuable Patron ($250 or more) and may be sent to Karen Fisch at 30 Springdale Road. Maroon and White’s other major fundraiser, The Sports Journal, is now accepting ads for this year’s publication. Parents of incoming freshmen should note that the beginning of the school year would be their only opportunity to submit a family booster ad for the year. Families and businesses may contact Geralyn Della Cava at

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Friday, August 19, 2011

2011 marks the 62nd year that the Scarsdale High School PTA Scholarship Fund for College has provided grants to graduating Scarsdale High School seniors for their freshman year of college. For many graduating seniors, the fund provides vital financial assistance. The loss of a job, divorce, unexpected illness or death may have devastating effects on a family’s ability to pay for a college education. In addition, the financial strains resulting from the current economic crisis, the escalating cost of college tuition and expenses, as well as the decrease in available government loans and college assistance may, for some students, make attending college in the fall an unattainable goal. The scholarship fund provides grants for freshman year, ranging in amount from $1,000-$7,500, to Scarsdale High School seniors who demonstrate need and who will receive a Scarsdale diploma and matriculate at a college or university in the fall. The fund is administered under strict rules of confidentiality. The Scarsdale High School deans make applications available to all Scarsdale seniors. Applications may also be download-

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ed online at www.shspta.org. The deadline to apply for a grant is May 4, 2012. The scholarship grants are funded solely from donations made by the Scarsdale community. Each fall, an appeal is made to each household, business and educator in Scarsdale. In addition to the communitywide mailing, funds are raised through the sale of Gift of Education cards to honor graduating seniors or in honor or in memory of teachers or administrators, or as a holiday gift. Every dollar raised goes directly toward funding the grants to students. Last year, the scholarship fund raised approximately $70,000 from contributions by more than 280 residents, businesses, organizations, graduating classes, alumni and educators. As a result, the scholarship fund was able to award 13 grants totaling $85,000 to students for their freshman year of college. Without these grants, many of these students might not have been able to attend college. Scarsdale is a community that has consistently demonstrated its commitment to our youth and their education. By contributing to the Scholarship Fund for College, we can attempt to ensure that all students who wish to pursue higher education have the opportunity to do so. The fund is managed by volunteers from all five neighborhoods. Donations, which are tax-deductible, are accepted throughout the year. They may be mailed to SHS PTA Scholarship Fund, P.O. Box 147H, Scarsdale. Questions may be directed to chairman Geralyn Della Cava at 723-3520 or geralyndellacava@aol.com

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The scarsdale Inquirer

School

Back to School

Friday, August 19, 2011/ Page 41A

News & Notes

Scarsdale mentoring program STEPs up again Scarsdale STEP is thrilled to be supporting two students for the 2011-12 school year. The Scarsdale Student Transfer Education Plan (STEP) is an independent community program that allows promising students of color to attend Scarsdale High School for their junior and senior years. It can be a life-changing opportunity for qualified students, who benefit from access to Scarsdale High School’s strong college preparatory program and extensive extracurricular activities, as well as the cultural and recreational resources of the New York metropolitan area. While in Scarsdale, each visiting student lives with a host family and

is encouraged to become an integral part of the Scarsdale community. The two-year program exposes the transfer students to a challenging environment, and helps prepare them to take positions of leadership and responsibility in a multicultural society. STEP student Keith Martinez will be entering his senior year at Scarsdale High School. Martinez comes from the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota and lives with Scarsdale host family Mara and Brandon Steiner. He completed his junior year at Scarsdale and became a real contributing member of the Scarsdale community. He played for Scarsdale’s football team and participated on the track team. Martinez was a volunteer mentor in the Young Men in Leadership program at the middle school and will be a team leader for the new students’ group at the high school this fall. Martinez will be in great shape to help welcome incoming STEP student Alisa Studway, who will begin her junior year at Scarsdale in September. Studway comes from Memphis, Tenn., and will be living with host family Lynn and Martin Keltz. STEP is a unique, nonprofit program supported solely by local donations that are used for student-related expenses. By contributing generously to STEP, community members can invest in the future of the capable students who are participating in the program. Potential donors interested in learning more or making a contribution should contact STEP at P.O. Box 278 or through www.scarsdalestep.org.

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Do your children like going to Hebrew School? Our kids do! A unique learning experience at Temple Israel Center awaits your child as they learn about what it means to be Jewish today through Torah study, Hebrew, Jewish holidays, and more. Our top priority goals of building community and living Jewishly are brought to life each day in our school. We offer Religious School classes for grades Kindergarten through 12 in a warm and interactive after-school program.

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Because learning and fun can happen in Religious School! Temple Israel Center Religious School & Havurat Torah High School 280 Old Mamaroneck Road, White Plains 914-948-2800 x123 Nancy Parkes Director of Congregational Learning

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Back to School

Page 42A/The scarsdale Inquirer

School PT Council supports seven area PTAs PT Council, the joint organization for the seven PTAs, is looking forward to the new school year and its annual events. Each year the PT Council holds three community meetings that feature programs on parenting, education and topical issues. This year’s dates are: Thursday, Nov. 17, at 7:30 p.m.; Tuesday, Jan. 17, at 7:30 p.m.; and Thursday, April 19, at 9:30 a.m. The council will work with the Scarsdale Board of Education, school personnel and community groups to sponsor speaker programs that promise to be valuable sources of information for the community. Clean out your closets for Sports Swap which will be held Saturday, March 10. Gently used sports equipment, bicycles, musical instruments, formal wear and computer and video games are all appreciated. Drop them off at the Heathcote gym — then come back and shop. All proceeds from the sale of these items will be donated to the PT Council to help support projects and programming for the community. Everyone is welcome on March 10 for the sale from 10 a.m.-noon. Look for the Young Writers’ Workshop on Saturday, March 24. This is one of PT Council’s most eagerly anticipated and highly respected programs. The event is a celebration of writing that features workshops led by talented professionals. The chairmen are already busily planning and coming up with new ideas to make this year’s event

Friday, August 19, 2011

News & Notes

the most exciting ever. It will be held at the middle school from 9 a.m.-noon and is open to third-, fourth- and fifth-graders. In addition to these annual events, the council provides support to schools by coordinating districtwide activities and facilitating the sharing of information and ideas among PTA leaders. The PT Council promotes discussion of educational issues and common concerns in the district. The legislative committee examines issues on a county- or state-wide level and the safety committee continues to work with the village and school officials to address traffic and other safety concerns. PT Council leaders will be closely involved with the budget process and will assist in communicating its development throughout the year. Council committee volunteers also support PTA initiatives and programs ranging from community service and environmental action, to cultural arts, after-school clubs, multicultural programming, as well as providing support for families of children with learning differences (CHILD). The 2011-12 PT Council executive board includes four officers: Suzanne Glaser, president; Gayle Kenigsberg-Hutcher, vice president; Wendy Berk, secretary; and Stephanie Hurwitz, treasurer; as well as the seven PTA presidents: Vivienne Braun, high school; Judy Stanley, middle school; Carmen Hall, Edgewood; Pam Rubin, Fox Meadow; Kathleen Campbell, Greenacres; Amy Frank, Heathcote; and Felicia Fisher, Quaker Ridge. For more information about the PT Council, email scarsdaleptcouncil@ gmail.com.

Scarsdale Teen Center: Call it your own The Scarsdale Teen Center is here for students’ enjoyment with flat screen TVs, hot video games, a fully stocked snack bar and a large open space to hang out with friends or to use for club fundraisers. Past programming initiatives have included drop-in hours for students after school, during the weekend and when school is closed; chess tournaments with a world-class chess master; art classes; SAT practice and study workshops; movie nights; and late night food. This year will not disappoint. STC thrives to offer an array of dynamic events and programs. The 2011-12 year will include programs such as zumba fitness, iPod/iPad app making workshops, trips, haunted house creation,

extreme bingo, band nights, Spanish workshops, annual art show, job fair, standardized practice test (i.e., SAT/ACT), college series and so much more. As a complement to other programming initiatives at STC, the teen board will continue to increase their participation in community service efforts. These efforts include participation in various drives (blood drives, clothing and food drives), cleaning up a local nature center, volunteering at a local nursing home and participating in various communitywide events. The mission of the STC is to provide a safe, alcohol- and drug-free environment where teens can interact with each other and engage in many safe recreational and educational programs and activities. With many events conceived and run by the teens themselves, STC provides leadership opportunities for Scarsdale. If you’re a club leader or in a club and would like to hold a club meeting, bonding night or fundraiser at the teen center call 722-8358 or email Info@ScarsdaleTeenCenter.com. Visit www.ScarsdaleTeenCenter.com.

Scarsdale Foundation awards funds The Scarsdale Foundation is pleased to announce that it has awarded $85,000 in scholarship monies for the 2011-12 academic year. These need-based financial stipends, awarded annually to college stuContinued on the next page

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The scarsdale Inquirer

Continued from the previous page

dents who have graduated from Scarsdale High School or were Scarsdale residents during their high school years, were allocated to 24 individuals. They range from $1,500-$5,000 and average about $3,500. The scholarships are intended to offset some of the college expenses of students who are going into their sophomore, junior and senior years. The foundation has continued to experience a high demand for scholarships from families and students in financial need. As the economic recovery remains uneven and tuition costs spiral, paying for college has become more and more of a struggle for many Scarsdale families with special circumstances. A significant number of applications are from single parent families, while others are from families whose savings for college and retirement have been eroded or wiped out by loss of employment or devastating health setbacks. In anticipation of the increased demand for scholarships in Scarsdale, a few years ago the foundation initiated an aggressive fundraising campaign for specially earmarked donations to the scholarship program to supplement its annual allocations from the foundation’s endowment, and the Scarsdale community responded to support this mission. This enabled the foundation trustees to increase the total monies available for scholarships in 2011 from $76,000 to $85,000 in an effort to provide larger stipends to students in need. Yet the foundation board knows it must do more. Like many other charitable organizations,

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The Edgemont Parent Teacher Student Association (PTSA) will start the 2011-12 school year with a new look and new committees, but the same passion to enrich the educational and social experiences of Edgemont Junior and Senior High School students. The PTSA has scheduled new programs for the school year and has made improvements

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the foundation has suffered a decline in its endowment income during the economic downturn. The trustees would like to continue to raise additional annual special purpose funds from the community to increase annual scholarship allocations and to meet what they believe will be a continued, pressing demand for need-based financial stipends in future years. The foundation is confident that Scarsdale residents will respond. All Scarsdale residents are encouraged to make a tax-deductible donation or a bequest directly to the foundation, a 501(c)(3) organization, by contacting the Scarsdale Foundation at P.O. Box 542 or by contacting president Jackie Irwin by phone at 472-2311 or email at scarsdalefoundation@gmail.com. Also visit www.scarsdalefoundation.org. Through the collective goodwill and generosity of the entire Scarsdale community, the community can help Scarsdale families in need to provide a meaningful college education for their children.

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Friday, August 19, 2011/ Page 43A

News & Notes

SoListen Tomatis listen-for-change Tomatis SoListen

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to existing programs as well. The PTSA’s mission will continue to be accomplished by funding programs, events and items for teachers and students that would otherwise be unavailable to them due to budgetary constraints. The Edgemont PTSA begins the school year by introducing its new website, www. edgemontptsa.org. Previously, information about the PTSA was only available online via the school’s website. Now, parents and community members will be able to visit the website to view a calendar of upcoming events, pay their annual PTSA membership dues and purchase gift cards online with the ease and convenience of PayPal. Additionally, the Edgemont PTSA’s website provides a link to the PTSA’s newsletter and instructions for accessing eChalk, a vital communication tool for parents, students, teachers and school administrators. All junior-senior high school families, students and faculty members are provided with an eChalk account. School events, board of education news, student schedules, homework assignments, the daily bulletin and other important information are available 24/7 with eChalk. To celebrate and embrace the cultural diversity in Edgemont, the PTSA is proud to host the South Asian Cultural Expo. Join the PTSA and your neighbors as they experience the sounds, sights, tastes and rhythms of South Asia and celebrate Diwali in the high school gym on Saturday, Oct. 22, from 5:30-10 p.m.

Friday, August 19, 2011

News & Notes

For its 10th-year anniversary, PISA (Parents in Support of the Arts), a subcommittee of the PTSA, has decided to reinvigorate its committee beginning with a new name, ACE (Arts and Cultural Enrichment in Edgemont). ACE plans to expand its mission of enriching the curriculum at Edgemont Junior-Senior High School by funding arts initiatives that the school budget cannot support. Recently, ACE invited all teachers and staff to submit proposals for new arts-related initiatives and projects for the 2011-12 school year. ACE is actively seeking new members. Parents interested in joining ACE should consult the Blue Book or the website for more information and meeting dates. In addition to these new programs, the PTSA is committed to many of its successful annual programs for students, parents and teachers. Important dates include: Sept. 22, PTSA Reception and Back to School Night; Sept. 27, PTSA Student Activities Fair; Oct. 6, Seventh-Grade Parent Meeting; Oct. 19, meet and greet new staff at the first of four PTSA Parent Forums. These programs would not be possible without the generosity of local parents, teachers and community members. The Edgemont PTSA raises funds from membership dues, enrichment donations and fundraising activities, such as the Spring Fête, Lord and Taylor Charity Days and the new gift card program. This latest fundraising activity invites Edgemont community members to purchase gift cards for popular stores, restaurants, websites and movie theaters. The purchaser receives a

gift card equal to the full amount paid for the gift card, while the PTSA receives a donation ranging from 4-17 percent of the value of each gift card. By simply using gift cards for everyday shopping or gift-giving, the Edgemont community can conveniently help fund programs for Edgemont students without any additional cost to themselves. Information about this program is available on www.edgemontptsa.org. For the past several years the PTSA has donated over $50,000 annually to Edgemont Junior-Senior High School. This has only been possible due to the support of the entire community in helping the PTSA enrich the Edgemont educational experience. Any questions or comments for the PTSA can be sent to ptsapres@ehs.edgemont.org. The PTSA executive board thanks the Edgemont community for their support and looks forward to seeing everyone at PTSA events.

Kids’ B.A.S.E a resource for Scarsdale families Kids’ B.A.S.E. & The Little School continues to be an invaluable resource for the families of Scarsdale. This not-for-profit community organization encompasses two programs: a before-and-after school program for school-age children, and a preschool program for 3- and 4-year-olds. Since 1982, Kids’ B.A.S.E. has provided quality before and after school programming for youngsters in grades kindergarten through fifth, offering enrichment

programs in the afternoon, such as Musical Theater, Kids Are Cooking, Mad Science, Foreign Language and Animal Study. The Sports Clinics and Chess Chums continue to be popular after-school activities, under the directorships of coach Steve Stone and master chess champion, Adnan Kobas, respectively. The Little School provides a high quality preschool experience for over 150 3- and 4-year-olds. In addition to a developmentally appropriate program led by highly qualified head teachers and teaching assistants, the Little School offers weekly music, gym and creative movement classes as well as monthly Nature of Things animal programs. The Summer Enrichment Program this year provided a rewarding summer session to over 80 3- and 4-year-old children. The highlight of the children’s day was swim time at the Scarsdale Pool. They also welcomed Broadway Babies, a petting zoo, pizza making and LuAnn Adams as part of the summer enrichment. Kids’ B.A.S.E. & The Little School remains a vital community asset, unique to Scarsdale and eager to share its wealth of educational experiences with its residents. For more information, call 472-5409.

Scarsdale Adult School presents new classes Heading back to school is not just for the young and there is every reason for grownups to be as excited as kids this fall. With Continued on the next page

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This fall we’re pleased to welcome Juilliard-trained pianist Chuan Qin to our faculty!

The scarsdale Inquirer

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Back to School

Friday, August 19, 2011/ Page 45A

Voted one of the top 50 dance studios in the Northeast!

News & Notes

Continued from the previous page

its outstanding enrichment curriculum, the Scarsdale Adult School presents a vibrant array of new classes and old standards. After 73 years, the Scarsdale Adult School continues to offer in-depth studies through their wide variety of courses and lectures with opportunities for students to learn during both day and evening sessions. The semester begins Sept. 12 and continues with new offerings regularly throughout the winter months. Many of the school’s academic and recreational classes and lectures are intellectually stimulating, skill enhancing, provide a social network and a link to community. A sampling of dynamic new classes include: • Don Quixote: A Book Discussion Group where students will explore how Cervantes weaves his important themes — the tension between imagination and desire and reality; between past and present, men and women, arms and letters — into the West’s first modern novel and a universal favorite. • Many new and practical computer courses, including Learn to Blog, a course that will put you in touch with readers around the world through the worldwide web (needless to say, the Internet is changing how we do just about everything and that includes reading and writing blogs); and Poker 101, an introductory course designed for players with little or no experience or success at the game. • World Regional Geography and Beside the Golden Door: Four-hundred years of

American Immigration Policy, both classes that will lead to a greater understanding of today’s global connectedness as it is reflected in race, economics and ideology. • Two new hands on sustainability classes, including Growing Your Own Vegetable Garden and Farm to Table Cooking (where the exact menu will depend on what’s growing and what’s good at the time of the class, ensuring students will be eating the best that nature has to offer). • And a number of spirituality classes which include Buddhism; Spiritually Yours: Developing a Spiritual Practice; and Profound Meditation. The school continues to offer a wide variety of courses including classes for women re-entering the workforce, personal finance, history, writing; many classes concerning fitness and wellness, the creative arts, art history, music, and specific old favorites such as: Book Talk with Harriet Sobol, The Joy of Singing, Guitar for Beginners, Composting 101, Belly Dancing, Yoga, Boot Camp, Website Design, Beading, Bridge, Mah Jongg and Canasta, Conversational Italian, French and Spanish as well as multilevel courses in Spanish and Italian and ESL. Look for the new fall catalog in the mail and on the website. The catalogs are also available at Scarsdale Village Hall and the Scarsdale Public Library. In the meantime, visit www.ScarsdaleAdultSchool.org to register or for information on all course offerings. Questions? Call 723-2325. n

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Page 46A/The scarsdale Inquirer

Back to School

Friday, August 19, 2011

JCC kicks off new school year with a Day of Chesed The Jewish Community Center of MidWestchester in Scarsdale will kick off the school year with a Day of Chesed (Kindness) on Sunday, Sept. 11. A number of community-oriented programs will take place, including a Rosh Hashanah holiday package delivery program in partnership with DOROT, an organization which supports outreach programs for the elderly as well as intergenerational volunteer opportunities. Also planned are a bone marrow drive with the Gift of Life Foundation, a pet adoption with PetRescue, and others that are still being planned. There will be a teen component as well, with youth groups such as B’nai Brith Youth Organization (BBYO) coming together for a day of service and leadership. This fall the JCC will also partner with the Jewish Renaissance Experience (JRE) to provide several new programs to celebrate community including a challah baking workshop, Jewish learning programs, including Introduction to High Holiday Services, and a Chanukah jelly donut making extravaganza, just to name a few. Throughout the school year, kids, teens and adults will discover new horizons, connect with others and grow in ways they never imagined at the JCC. Fresh new programs, as well as old favorites, are guaranteed to keep everyone active and engaged throughout the 2011-12 school year. Only at the JCC of MidWestchester can the entire family nurture their passions under one roof. Let the JCC fill your family’s day with education, exercise, culture, friendship and fun. The JCC nursery school offers the high-

Challah-days at the JCC of Mid-Westchester.

est caliber early childhood experience for children 2-5 years old. In addition, the program offers added benefits, such as weekly swim instruction in the indoor heated pool, gymnastics instruction in a spacious gym, early drop-off/late pick-up and more. Infant/ toddler classes are not only fun for children, but provide a great opportunity for parents and caregivers to connect as well. In addition, the JCC offers an abundance of after-school options in aquatics, gymnastics, art, dance, theater and sports, as well as teen and adult programming. Sports programs for children continue to be a major focus at the JCC. Just this past week, kids enjoyed a weeklong end-of-summer baseball clinic led by a former Division I pitcher from Iona College. The baseball clinic

will also run next week as well as a new Cheer Tumbling Clinic for 7-12-year-olds. The very popular preseason Maccabi Basketball League for 10-12-year-olds, which was introduced last year, is looking forward to another spectacular season. And now adults can get into the action with a new men’s adult basketball league beginning in October. Children can build strength, agility and have fun with gymnastics, karate, kids’ super sports classes, basketball and baseball clinics, swim lessons and more. This year the JCC is offering additional gymnastics and super sports programs on Sundays so more children can participate in these very fun and very popular activities. The JCC’s extensive aquatics program offers private instruction, group classes and even lifeguard training. Feeling competitive? Try

out for the JCC’s award-winning swim and gymnastics teams. Cultural Arts at the JCC is home to many developing artists in art, theater and dance. The JCC Dance School, one of Westchester’s most highly respected dance programs, offers a broad range of classes for children, teens and adults in ballet and pointe, hip-hop, musical theater jazz, tap, a full range of preschool dance classes, Zumba fitness and Israeli folk dancing. Make sure to also check out art school classes for kids and adults including mixed media, life painting and ceramics, as well as new art workshops for the whole family. The JCC Theatre School will continue to offer budding young actors fun and engaging programs to sharpen their performance skills. Kids in kindergarten-third grade will love the new Brick Mania class which will develop intellectual, physical and social skills through interactive LEGO® brick-building activities. The Bendheim Performing Arts Center at the JCC continues to offer wonderful professional entertainment for all ages. This past spring a new Jewish film series, Encounters with Jewish Cinema, was introduced. The 2011-12 season will feature more new and innovative programs. Visit the Bendheim online at www.thebendheim.org. The Sports & Fitness Department will continue to emphasize adult health and wellness. Take advantage of the many offerings for 2011-12, including the very successful triathlon club, indoor cycling studio classes, state-of-the-art pilates studio and mat classes, individualized fitness program design, masContinued on the next page

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The scarsdale Inquirer Continued from the previous page

ters swim program, j-FIT personalized training program, teen fitness, personal and partner training, water aerobics and group fitness classes. Enjoy steam and sauna, massage therapy and whirlpool, upscale private locker rooms and laundry service. Call for a tour or visit the JCC’s website for fall promotions and revitalize your fitness routine today. The JCC of Mid-Westchester is excited that BBYO has become its official youth group. BBYO, the world’s leading pluralistic Jewish teen movement, is a place that is dedicated to fulfilling teens’ interests and supporting them as they develop into the next generation of Jewish leaders. The JCC and BBYO are looking forward to providing exciting, enriching programs for teens in grades 9-12 (eighth-graders are welcome starting in January). The JCC Academic Center continues to provide great value and results to students preparing for the SAT, ACT, Biology SAT Subject Test and Regents exams. The successful program, Writing the 5 Paragraph Essay, will be offered again this year to strengthen the writing skills of ninth- and 10th-graders. College admissions workshops and speed reading are also available. On Oct. 18, the JCC is pleased to present the very popular “Inside the Admissions Office” panel discussion. High school students and their parents are invited to spend an insightful evening with the deans and directors from several popular colleges who will give an insider’s view of what they look for in applicants and how they make admissions decisions. A time management workshop, as well as a financial aid night, is also planned for the fall. JCC’s renowned and highly successful special needs nursery program, Toward Tomor-

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row, is offering another year of special education opportunities for 3-4-year-olds. Your child is eligible to receive all therapies as per the IEP (speech, OT, PT, counseling) while enrolled in this program. In addition to the half-day class the children have gymnastics, computer time, creative movement and swim. As a complement to Toward Tomorrow, the Special Needs Academic & Arts Center (SNAAC) provides children with special needs from pre-k to 6 years old with classes in social skills. Featured in The New York Times and on Channel 4 News, SNAAC’s renowned SIBConnection group provides peer support and education in a group setting for siblings with brothers and sisters with special needs. SNAAC, highlighted in Westchester Magazine’s “Best of Westchester 2009,” features sports, social skills, art, speech, theater, music, gymnastics, yoga and learning through computer technology on Sundays from 9 a.m.-noon for children ages 3-18. A new parent/child tai chi class is also offered. There is a separate inclusion class with peer mentors for 13-18-year-olds. Customized birthday parties for children with special needs are also offered. Visit the JCC online at www.jccmw.org for more details and up-to-the-minute information on all the great happenings at the J. The Jewish Community Center of Mid-Westchester 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. The JCC is a proud beneficiary agency of UJA Federation of New York. For more information about the JCC of Mid-Westchester, visit www.jccmw.org. n

Joe Antony Cavise, Artistic Director

Photo: Lori Carlton

Registration for Fall Classes Going on Now!

Dance Cavise Studios 273 Halstead Avenue, Mamaroneck (914) 381-5222 www.dancecavise.com

Friday, August 19, 2011/ Page 47A

Page 48A/The scarsdale Inquirer

Back to School

Friday, August 19, 2011

Creativity counts: Why kids need the Arts By JACKIE LUPO “What does your son do after school?” asked a mom to her friend one day over coffee. “Music? Art? Acting?” “Well, he doesn’t seem to be an ‘artsy’ person,” answered the second mom. “He has never shown signs of being talented in any particular direction. I guess he’ll just do sports.” End of discussion. And maybe, the end of a child’s interest in the arts, even before it had a chance to begin. Does a kid need to show creativity or talent to benefit from participation in the arts? We asked that question to local experts from the fields of music, theater, dance and the visual arts. The answers we got may surprise you. “We say, everyone’s a creative person. You were born a creative person,” said Jill Abusch who, with her husband, Steve, owns Play Group Theater in White Plains. “Our job is to nurture and guide it.” Steve Abusch agrees. When it comes to success in theater, he said, “We’re definitely of the understanding that it’s a taught skill. We don’t expect the kids to come in with the skills that we will teach them. Sometimes kids say, ‘Oh, I can’t do this, because look at everybody up there on the stage. They’re so good.’ But it’s not that they are better — they have learned the skills.” The Abusches run acting classes for kids during the school year and a theater summer camp. Their goal, throughout a typical day of camp, is to nurture creativity. “The idea is

to provide a complete creative environment. That includes providing creative role models — teachers and adults who lead creative lives,” Jill Abusch said. “We gather together at the beginning of every day and we have the ‘question of the day.’ For example, today’s question was, If you could combine any two animals, what two animals would you combine, and what would that animal be like? It gets you thinking outside the box. Everybody’s voice is heard, and their personalities emerge. And they’re challenged to think in a new way.”

What about talent? Steve Abusch doesn’t even like to use the word. “The idea that you’ve either got talent or you don’t is a complete misconception,” he said.

It’s the process that counts Where there’s a will there’s a way, according to our experts. “Arts are great for kids whether they’re talented or not,” said Nancy Rothenberg, owner of Studio B Dance in Eastchester. “It’s just a way to express oneself. Art should be appreciated by all kids, even kids with disabilities.

There doesn’t have to be any talent.” Dance experts agree that for those kids who want to progress to more advanced levels of very formal disciplines such as ballet, there is a natural selection process. “Kids can be as young as 4 or 5, and we sometimes see they have a talent,” Rothenberg said. “Sometimes, when they turn 8, they suddenly become serious. Talent can be developed at any time. In dance, you can see if children have good feet. You can see if they are good listeners at a young age.” But what about kids that are not naturally graceful — those that are, in fact, on the klutzy side? Don’t write off the idea of dance, said Rothenberg. “A lot depends on what the studio’s philosophy is,” she said. “A very structured ballet studio might not be best for that child. They might feel better, if they’re not comfortable in ballet, doing something like hip-hop. Not every child has to be excellent — they just have to have the opportunity to express themselves. So, I think that when a child wants to dance, if they enjoy doing it, you don’t want to discourage them.” Diane White, owner of Scarsdale Ballet Studio, said desire is just as important as talent. “I have learned that, though some children show obvious ability from a very young age, one mustn’t overlook any student with a desire to learn,” she said. “Many of my students have been late bloomers. At the same time, no matter how much talent a child has, or

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The scarsdale Inquirer

Continued from the previous page

how hard he or she works, there is no guaranteed outcome. It’s the process that counts. In dance, as in any other discipline, each class should be a reward in and of itself.” White’s philosophy may surprise parents who assume that participation in the arts is only worthwhile as long as the child is making steady progress toward some level of “professionalism.” But experts in other arts agree with White that it’s the process — the experience of performing, or creating art — that’s of real value to kids. Loren Andersen, founder and owner of the Katonah Arts Center, teaches art to students from third grade to adults. She notes that “people are born with more or less activity in one side of the brain.” Some students come in with more natural, open-

Back to School

Friday, August 19, 2011/ Page 49A

Photo by Sally Semonite Green

ended creative ability — “right-brain” people. Others are recognizable as “left-brain” people — folks who tend to thrive in a more structured situation. “You can train the right side of the brain to be more active,” said Andersen, who uses exercises such as the ones in the book “Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain” to unlock a person’s creative potential. Andersen said that sometimes kids who first arrive at class with a left brain approach have to be “untaught.” “Instead of teaching them, ‘This is how to draw a face,’ we teach them to see the face,” Anderson said. “When they’re drawing metal or glass, forget what it is, and look at value, shape, color. Then it becomes accessible to them.” Andersen believes teachers and parents

ACTING COACH Whether you are a future THEATRE MAJOR or a PROFESSIONAL ACTOR honing your craft, Nicole can help you give your BEST AUDITION every time!

can play major roles in either promoting or discouraging a child’s creativity. “Parents should be nothing but positive,” she said. When looking at a child’s drawing, if it isn’t realistic, “Don’t say, ‘Oh, it doesn’t look like this in real life’ or ‘That sky doesn’t look real.’” She recounts the story of a parent who would make some critical remark about her young daughter’s painting every time she came to pick her up after class. “That child didn’t continue the next year,” noted Andersen. Music is an area in which the need for technical proficiency often leaves kids by the wayside. Once again, some parents have the perception that every child needs to strive for some level of professionalism to make the effort worthwhile. This attitude, and the pressure on kids that comes with it, often

results in kids quitting music lessons after a few years. But according to Joan Bergman, director of Hoff-Barthelson Music School in Scarsdale, “Music is an essential part of life.” “Students here glean an enduring love of music and discover the joy of sharing it with others,” she said. “We emphasize the intrinsic value of a life enriched by the ability to appreciate music, and the skills to interpret the vast menu of music literature available to us. We encourage the creative inspiration that gives voice to the music within our hearts.” Many of the school’s students have gone on to professional careers in music. But not every young pianist will make it to Carnegie Hall, and not everyone wants to. Some just want to be able to play their favorite pieces at home, or for friends and family. Who’s to say what’s more important? n

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Back to School

Friday, August 19, 2011

Hoff-Barthelson Music School has programs for all ages The Hoff-Barthelson Music School, a major Westchester center for music education and performance for more than 65 years, extends a welcome of warmth and caring to all who walk through its doors and into its musical home. HBMS students embark upon a journey of musical growth under the guidance of a distinguished faculty, and are encouraged to explore their musical ideas, tastes and potential in a setting of friendship and support. Private musical instruction, sequential musicianship classes and annual performances constitute the school’s core curriculum. The 90-member faculty, comprised of many of the region’s most distinguished performers, offers lessons for all students in both classical and jazz idioms. Students of all ages and skill levels may join one of the many chamber, choral, jazz or orchestral ensembles. (Students from outside the school may participate in an ensemble or club for a modest fee.) Hoff-Barthelson’s Orchestral Training Pyramid is unique among music schools in Westchester County in structure, substance and quality. Students begin their orchestral experience in the Lower School Symphonette, move on to Chamber Orchestra or Wind Ensemble and then may audition for the selective Festival Orchestra, which has been lauded as one of the finest high school orchestras in the country by the New York State Council on the Arts. HBMS isn’t just for youngsters! Adults have a special treat in store at HBMS with a new program, Dalcroze for the Older Adult, an approach to learning music concepts

HBMS Festival Orchestra with Fred Sherry, cello, guest artist.

through movement. This 14-week course will meet weekly and participants will explore music concepts while exercising skills in balance and gait. Adults will experience the pleasure of moving with music and a general sense of increased well-being. An open house is scheduled for Friday, Sept. 9, at 2:15 p.m. The very youngest students will enjoy Hoff-Barthelson’s Music & Movement Program, staffed by dynamic, highly skilled eurhythmics teachers, which features Music and Movement classes for parents/caregivers and children from birth to 5 years old. These classes present an opportunity for

parents and their little ones to share songs, rhymes and movement games in a nurturing setting. The music school introduces language learning through music with its Hola Niños and Welcome to Mandarin classes for preschoolers 3 and 4 years old. The school’s group recorder classes introduce children to the basic concepts of music on an early wind instrument. A full Suzuki program for violin, viola, cello, flute and piano completes the roster of preschool programs. The HB preschool, which has offered a daily program for 3- and 4-year-olds, with a special emphasis on music and art since

1975, has a few openings available for the upcoming school year. The public is invited to hear the school’s many fine ensembles, often in performance with renowned guest artists, at the Classics in Concert and the Music of Our Time festivals. The HB Artist Series (the Faculty in Performance) presents the School’s exemplary professionals in chamber music recitals that are open to the public for a nominal fee. The school’s distinguished tradition of free-of-charge Master Classes coached by world-class musicians continues with internationally renowned cellist Joel Krosnik, flutist Bart Fekker, pianist Seymour Lipkin and violinist Jennifer Ko. The New York Philharmonic will return on April 16, 2012 for its 16th annual educational residency for chamber ensembles. Other special events will include a commissioned work for the HBMS Jazz Studies Department by David Grossman, bassist with the New York Philharmonic, and a lecture recital, ClassicalJazz Connections, by Stuart Isacoff on Friday, Nov. 4, at 7 p.m. Adults who wish to refresh their instrumental technique or who enjoy choral singing may join the Adult Chamber Program or the Festival Chorus. The Festival Chorus participates in the school’s major music festivals. The Adult Flute Choir always welcomes new members. At Performers Showcase, avocational players hone their performance skills before a sympathetic audience of fellow performers. School opens Sept. 9. Call 723-1169, email hb@hbms.org or visit www.hbms.org. n

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Workshops help adults find their stories The fall sessions of Louise Albert’s creative writing workshops will begin in September. The classes encourage students to find material from their life experiences that they can write about with authenticity and feeling. Many students are writing short stories, some are working on novels and many are writing personal essays. Most enjoy experimenting with different genres, including poetry. Some are writing memoirs to share with their children and grandchildren. Over the years Albert’s students have published three books and more than 300 pieces in journals and newspapers. Each class starts with a writing exercise — a feature that is unique to the workshops and for many, the most valuable part. After the exercise students take turns reading the pieces they have brought from home.

Here they receive feedback from the group, hearing not only about possible problems but also about strengths. The workshops are small and both day and evening sessions are offered. Albert, a longtime Scarsdale resident, holds degrees from Cornell and University of Michigan. She is the author of several short stories, and her novel for young people, “But I’m Ready to Go,” is in its third hardcover and paperback editions. Holiday House published her second novel, “Less Than Perfect.” She has taught creative writing at Manhattanville College, Iona College and SUNY’s Empire State College. She has received the Matrix Award of the Westchester Chapter of Women in Communication for her achievements as a teacher and a writer. Call 761-1123. n

KinderKicKers soccer Boys and Girls aGes 3 - 6 saturdays 9am to 10am september 10, 17, 24 october 1, 8, 15, 22

st. Pius x

85 Palmer avenue, scarsdale call 833-2024 or www.summitsoccer.net

We’ll help you build a resume for life, not just for college! Be a part of the Temple Israel Center high school program, Havurat Torah, and take charge of your learning!* All subjects will combine both secular and Jewish interests and will develop skills that will help you succeed in life. Havurat Torah meets on Wednesday nights from 6:30-8:45pm. For more information, call Temple Israel Center at 914-948-2800, ext 143. *Based on recent educational research about student motivation to learn, this new structure will give students more responsibility and input in their learning environment and content.

Temple Israel Center Religious School & Havurat Torah High School 280 Old Mamaroneck Road, White Plains 914-948-2800 x123 Nancy Parkes Director of Congregational Learning

Lisa Schwartz Religious School Principal

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Arts & Enrichment

Programs for all ages at CPD Whether your child is bound for Broadway or ready to be introduced to dance for the first time, Central Park Dance combines a fun dance environment along with a studio focused on teaching proper dance technique. Led by artistic director Maria Bai and director of operations Mario LaStrada, Central Park Dance is celebrating over 30 years in business. “We believe that superior teaching and a supportive atmosphere go hand in hand,” Bai said. “Our dancers believe in themselves because we do everything we can to motivate and inspire them.” Thanks to her extensive dance experience, Bai has developed a dance syllabus that reflects every age, ability and commitment level for each student studying ballet, pointe, jazz and tap. Her program integrates fairness, constructive education and a very rewarding dance experience. Be sure to ask about the preschool program, which is regarded as one of the finest in the area. Children as young as 2 years of age delight in Tot & I, an introduction to dance. The latest addition is the popular Fairytale Ballet for ages 3-5. LaStrada is constantly updating the programs and class offerings to ensure quality, variety and age-appropriate options. With over 30 years of experience, Central Park Dance knows that variety and creativeness have made them a popular studio for dancers. With over 150 weekly classes to choose from such as ballet, jazz, tap, hip-hop, hip-

hop jazz and pointe, as well as fitness classes like aerobics, boot camp, hip-hop fit, Latin dance fit, Latin workout and the ever popular zumba, you are sure to find a class that’s right for you. Camps, birthday parties, Miss Talia’s Boutique and more are available. Miss Talia’s Boutique is located within Central Park Dance and is open late, seven days a week for your convenience. We offer a wide selection of footwear, body wear, gymnastics attire and accessories at affordable prices. Beyond just traditional dance programs, Central Park Dance also offers summer camps and creative birthday parties. They customize each party and add elements that work best for your child and his/her guests. Central Park Dance, at 450 Central Park Ave. in Scarsdale, invites you to participate in the ultimate dance experience. Call 7232940 or visit www.centralparkdance.com. n

Rivertown’s Dental Dr. Samar Tannous

Dr. Tannous has practiced dentistry for over 15 years. She earned her DDS and a diploma in Pediatric and Community Dentistry in 1994. She obtained her DDS from New York University in 2008. Known for her high quality and good caring, Dr. Tannous shares her extensive experience and continues her dental education to solve most of today’s dental problems and concerns. She is a member of the American Dental Association and the American Academy Of Facial Cosmetics.

is happy to announce the opening of her new dental practice at:

34 High Street (corner of High and Rose)

Hastings-On-Hudson, N.Y. 10706

(914) 214-8228 Hours by appointment

Services Include:

General Dentistry ~ Root Canal Therapy

Cosmetic Dentistry Including: Bonding, Veneers, Crowns and Bridges Invisalign ~ Teeth Whitening

Special Back to School Offer: Bring your child in for their school dental examination. New York State Law also requests in addition to a physical exam, a dental exam for all students in grades K, 2 & 4 for the upcoming 2011-2012 school year.

FREE Cleaning plus Fluoride Treatment for Children 10 & under. (Offer expires 9/30/11)

The scarsdale Inquirer

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Arts & Enrichment

Greenburgh Nature Center is paradise for preschoolers Back to school is a busy time at the Greenburgh Nature Center (GNC), which welcomes visiting preschool and school groups, parents and caregivers with children, and the general public. GNC offers a wide array of educational programs and classes, special seasonal events and birthday parties for ages 3 and up. The goal is to promote an appreciation of nature and the environment on a 33-acre woodland preserve that has trails, a pond, gardens and outdoor animal exhibits. The indoor exhibits include a live animal museum with over 100 specimens, exhibit areas focusing on nature and the environment, a greenhouse with a live butterfly exhibit (through Sept. 30) and a gift shop. By being outdoors, interacting with animals and witnessing nature’s seasonal changes, children learn that they are part of a larger ecological community. The GNC has professional educators who gear each program to the appropriate age. Programs stress hands-on and direct-involvement learning, while teaching children important skills such as utilizing measurement tools and developing critical thinking. Weekday drop-in programs for young children with a parent or caregiver let you enjoy an hour of fun with nature. Except during extreme weather conditions, a portion of each class is spent outdoors. For each class, GNC members pay $5/adult and $4/ child, and nonmembers pay $9/adult and

Fall Festival Visitors Get a Look at “Bigfoot” the Tortoise.

$7/child. No preregistration required. Nature Bugs (for 2-5-year-olds) provides an opportunity for nature discovery. Students will look for signs of life on the lawn and in the woods, and meet a different museum animal each week. There will also be a craft or nature game. The program meets on Mondays from 1:30-2:30 p.m. Critters, Crafts and Kids (18 months-5 years old) offers an hour of nature fun. Participants will enjoy wonderful seasonal days at the GNC with walks, live animals and stories. The program meets on Wednesdays

Kol Ami Early Childhood Program Warm, Nurturing and Enriching Nan Blank, Director

Celebrating over 35 Years of Experience! First Friends: A Toddler Program 2, 3, & 4-Day 2’s 3, 4 & 5-Day 3’s Full and Half Day 4’s Extended Day Program for 3’s & 4’s A Step Ahead! Pre-K for children turning 5 in the Fall Summer Camp for 2’s & 3’s Join us for Shabbat in the Woods every Friday from 5:30 - 6:00pm Registration Ongoing Call for an Appointment & Tour 252 Soundview Avenue, White Plains 914-949-4717 x107

from 10-11 a.m. On Sunday, Sept. 25, at 2 p.m., GNC is hosting its annual Harvest Party. Reap the harvest of the nature center’s gardens and hives. With the naturalists, pick ripe veggies from the organic garden and help make apple cider using a hand-operated press. The harvest from the hives will be extracted indoors, away from the active outdoor beehives, by beekeeper H. Peet Foster. There will be a free tasting of fresh honey from the hives. Members $4, nonmembers $8. Visit www.greenburghnaturecenter.org

for details about the upcoming Fall Festival, Scarecrows & Pumpkins Parades, Turkey Scavenger Hunt and Train Show. Visitors can walk among live butterflies in the greenhouse. Watch Monarchs and Red Admirals fluttering from blossom to blossom in search of nourishing nectar or see them resting in a shady spot to cool off. Compare how diverse adult butterflies are in shape, size and color. Learn about the life cycle of a butterfly — from egg, to caterpillar, to chrysalis, to butterfly — and about the relationship between specific plants and butterflies. Appropriate for all ages. Runs through Sept. 30. Also ongoing is the third annual Story Walk. See how much fun it is to read while you walk. Signage will lead you along the woodland trail and you’ll have an opportunity to enjoy Farfallina & Marcel, a favorite children’s storybook, along the way. Free bookmarks will also be distributed. Recommended for children ages 8 and younger. The free program runs through Sept. 30. GNC is located at 99 Dromore Road off Central Park Avenue in Scarsdale. Parking is free and handicapped parking is available. The nature center’s grounds are open daily dawn to dusk throughout the year. The center’s indoor exhibits are open daily except Fridays and a few holidays, from 9:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. on weekdays and 10 a.m.-4:30 p.m. on weekends. See www. greenburghnaturecenter.org for a calendar of special events. Call 723-3470. n

ALOHA MATH LEARNING CENTER Abacus Mind Math Program proven to help your child master arithmetic in 2 years Ages 5 - 12 years

50% OFF Registration with this ad. $25 Value! Handwriting • Athletics • Gross Motor Social Skills • Fine Motor • Language Occupational • Physical • Speech Therapy Individual Therapy • Small Groups • Evaluations Consultations • Enrichment Sessions Robbie Levy, MA, OTR/L, Director 914-428-5151 White Plains www.dynamickidsny.com

www.AlohaMindMath.com

N. White Plains, NY & Darien, CT (914) 373-4960 or (888) MathMind westchester@aloha-usa.com

Call us for a FREE Workshop

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Expanded space for theater arts at Applause Westchester Applause Westchester, founded in 1995, is excited that it is expanding again. Since opening in Mamaroneck in January 2008, it has now expanded its space — twice. In addition, this September Applause Westchester adds singing, acting, ballet and tap programs to its lineup of exceptional music and theater classes. Applause Westchester’s new state-of-theart dance and rehearsal studio is located on the second floor of its current location at 114 W. Boston Post Road in Mamaroneck, making it now three floors of classroom and studio space. The new second floor studio with wood floors and mirrored walls also boasts expansive windows to allow beautiful views of Harbor Island beach and park. In September 2010, Applause Westchester built out additional studio space on the ground floor to accommodate the growing demand for classes. New at Applause Westchester this fall: • “Broadway Babies” and “Rock-n-Roll Babies” classes, now $100 per month. • New “Music and Sports” class for toddlers 18-36 months old in conjunction with OnDeck NY. • “Broadway Ballet and Tap” class. • Additional Applause Weekend Workshop for fifth- and sixth-graders on Saturday mornings from 9 a.m.-1 p.m. The current Applause Weekend Workshop for sixth-eighth-graders remains on Saturday afternoons from 1:15-5:15 p.m. • “On Camera” and “Acting for the In-

Applause Westchester rocks!

dustry” classes for students currently auditioning or just starting to break into the business. More exciting news: Seven-year-old Henry Kelemen of Larchmont, whose interest in theater and acting career began at Applause Westchester’s classes and camp, appeared as the “youngest” Mr. Popper in this summer’s hit movie “Mr. Popper’s Penguins.” Kelemen got his manager from Applause Westchester’s

Talent Manager Workshop in 2010. Several students who attained their agents and manager through Applause Westchester recently auditioned for Broadway for their first time for the upcoming Broadway revival of “Annie.” “Everyone here shares a love for music and theater and considers it a privilege to expose children to these great art forms,” said Heather Capelle, director of operations.

 

Westchester Reform Temple Early Childhood Center 

Celebrating Our 26th Year

“In addition to this passion, we enjoy seeing our students grow and develop the skills necessary for the performing arts, whether it be professionally or just for fun. And in the arts, you truly develop friendships like no others. It’s so rewarding to see that happening for our students.” Applause Westchester opened in Westchester in January 2008. This premier music and drama program introduces Broadway and rock ‘n’ roll music to children 4 months to 3 years with professional performers/musicians who sing out in harmony while the curriculum weaves educational activities, such as pre-k development of motor skills, color and letter recognition, counting and socialization, all through the stories and songs of each Broadway musical or band. Applause Westchester students then take the next step by performing in Broadway Stars (3-5 years). Next, it is on to the classes in the Superstars division for k-sixth grade with singing, acting and hip-hop. The Applause Weekend Workshop for Grades 5-8 is an exciting and intensive workshop for students who are more serious about performing and theater, and is by audition only. Applause Westchester offers children’s birthday parties with a Broadway show or theme of choice and interactive entertainment with a 45-minute show. Their Broadway and rock ‘n’ roll performers make the party come alive with games, music and fun. Visit www.applauseny.com. n



■ Individual & family assessments ■ Support Groups ■ Family care planning ■ Referral resources

    

Pre-school Classes for Toddlers, 2s, 3s & 4s Lunch/Extended Day Options for 3s & 4s Open House Tuesday, October 18th 7:30-9pm Mini-Camp and Summer Play Place Nurturing environment promoting self confidence and independence. Curriculum explores math concepts, reading and writing readiness, art, music and Jewish learning from Hebrew to challah. Enrichment offerings from Little Chefs to Super Science. Lunch provided (optional). 2012-2013 enrollment begins November. Call for an appointment and tour: Susan Tolchin, Director WRT Early Childhood Center 255 Mamaroneck Road, Scarsdale 914-723-5493 x 103 or Sue.Tolchin@wrtemple.org Licensed by NYS OCFS

Limited spa ces available fo r 2011-2012 School Year



   Services provided FR troug a grant from Federation of 

& The Little School



Exciting year-round programs for children ages three to twelve

• Early Childhood Education • After-School Enrichments • Sports Clinics – Saturday Basketball – Birthday Parties • Vacation Week Activities • Summer Enrichment Programs • Open 7:00 A.M. – 6:30 P.M. Apply by October 1, 2011 for 2012-2013 preschool Stop by our Kids’ B.A.S.E. Open House Tuesday, September 6th, 10:00 A.M.- Noon and meet our after-school teachers and Coach Steve Stone

307 Mamaroneck Road • 472-5409 • Visit us on the Web at www.kbls.org

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Claessens opens ballet studio After 20 years of teaching in Westchester County, Christian Claessens, former soloist with the Dutch National Ballet and former director of Scarsdale Ballet Studio and the Purchase Youth Ballet, is opening a Christian Claessens new ballet school in Tarrytown. All classes at La Lecon Christian Claessens, School of Ballet will be taught by Claessens. The purpose of his new school is to continue to bring professional ballet training to the area. The program will include technique classes as well as choreography workshops and is open to children age 6 and older. Classes for adults are offered as well. Classes will be held in Tarrytown at the UMAC Art Center, 27 South Washington St. School opens Sept. 12. Claessensâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s philosophy of teaching reflects his European training, which he began in Brussels, Belgium, at the Conservatoire de la Monnaie. His vision is to build dancers from an early age, educating and guiding students with consistency throughout their years of training as artists. Standards of discipline and cultivating a uniform style will be emphasized in technique classes, as well as classes in variations and pointe. Teaching students the art of presenting ballet as a fine art form focusing on performance quality is a constant theme in his teaching. Claessens, born in Brussels, began his

ballet training at the Conservatoire de la Monnaie. When he was 11, his family moved to Cannes, France, where he continued his studies under former ballerina Rosella Hightower and renowned teacher Jose Ferran. In 1978, Claessens came to New York as a scholarship student at the School of American Ballet and the American Ballet Theatre School simultaneously. After graduating, he performed with the Kansas City Ballet and the Pittsburgh Ballet Theater. In 1984, he returned to Europe as a member of the Dutch National Ballet. There he had the great opportunity to expand his classical repertoire in ballets by Petipa, Ashton, Balanchine and Nureyev, while working closely with contemporary choreographers such as Rudy Van Danzig, Hans Van Manen, Maguy Marin and many others. As a soloist, Claessens toured internationally with the company and appeared on television and in films. In 1991, Claessens founded Scarsdale Ballet Studio and co-directed the school for 15 years. From 1998-2001, he was artistic director of the Purchase Youth Ballet, a division of the Conservatory of Dance at Purchase College (SUNY). Claessens has been presenting his choreography in Westchester and New York City since 1991. His unique and highly effective teaching method has attracted dancers of all levels. He has trained students that are now members of the New York City Ballet and American Ballet Theatre. For further information about La Lecon Christian Claessens, School of Ballet, call 806-7624 or visit www.laleconballet.com. n

Love for singing, auditions Shirley Love, the renowned mezzosoprano of the Metropolitan Opera Co., continues her private vocal teaching in her studio in Scarsdale. Besides Loveâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s many professional students, her studio comprises many high school students preparing for their NYSSMA vocal exams, as well as their college preparation vocal auditions. Love was honored in May by the New Rochelle Opera Co. for her body of work at the Metropolitan

Opera Co., where she performed 1,000 times during her 22 years there, as well as her worldwide contribution to the arts. Some of her performances may be viewed on YouTube. Love is a professor of voice at the Music Conservatory of Westchester in White Plains and a visiting professor of voice at The International Academy of Music, in Lucca, Italy. She can be reached at 723-5390 or visit www. voiceteachers.com/shirleylove. n

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Lester’s for back-toschool style With the debut of lesters.com in mid-August, customers are now able to order online and chat live throughout the day on Lester’s Customer Service Hotline 877-5-Lester (877533-7837). In store or online, keeping warm and stylish this fall is easy at Lester’s. Their style professionals will help you put together outfits of the season’s trendy must-haves. At Lester’s, this fall’s super hot trends can be personalized for all ages with the great va-

Westchester’s Premiere Competitive & Fun Program! s Evaluation Begin Sept. 10th

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New chocolate factory for parties and gifts Looking for that unique experience for your child’s birthday party? Come celebrate at 5th Avenue Chocolatiere at 450 Central Park Ave. in Scarsdale. A premier chocolate stop has finally opened in Westchester and specializes in children’s birthday parties and school field trips. Children and guests will be transformed into “Chocolatieres” for the day. An educational lesson is taught about the manufacturing of chocolate and the children get to play with some props relating to the process. 5th Avenue Chocolatiere is a hands-on factory where the children get to make their own creations on a 30-foot enrobing machine. All packages include paper goods, invitations for each guest and one slice of pizza per child, along with juice, soda or water. Skilled party coordinators are provided. At 5th Avenue Chocolatiere, the all-natural chocolates are handcrafted using the highest-quality ingredients each morning and sold that same day. The chocolates are perfect for year-round gift-giving. Hours are Monday-Saturday from 9 a.m.-6 p.m. and Sunday 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Call 713-8879.

Dr. Laniado offering orthodontics in Scarsdale The children, teenagers and adults that are patients of Dr. Nadia Laniado feel welcomed and cared for in her office. She is a solo practitioner and provides a warm and friendly office environment. Having lived and worked in Scarsdale for over 15 years, it is no surprise that she is a familiar face in and around town, running into current and former patients and parents. Laniado’s office is state-of-the-art with digital X-rays, photographs and models. She is a strong believer in the patients’ involvement in their treatment as well as communication all along the way. Patients have a choice of Invisalign, conventional metal braces or clear braces. A strong emphasis is placed on oral hygiene. All patients receive complimentary mouth guards for sports. The office is involved in supporting many local and national charities. Laniado currently participates with Operation Smile and Smiles Change Lives, two organizations that provide orthodontic care for children who could not otherwise afford treatment. Laniado is a member of the ADA, American Association of Orthodontists, Northeastern Society of Orthodontists, Dental Society of the State of New York and is past president of the Scarsdale Dental Society. She is also a specialist in sleep disorder dentistry, which involves making dental appliances for adults who snore and may have sleep apnea. Call 472-9595 or visit www.scarsdaleortho.com. n

1_4-SI-8-19-11

Fall Youth In-House Hockey League

riety of textures, cabled and patterned knits, crochet and lace embellishments, leather and fur. Real or faux, designers are using fur on hoods, hats vests, and even shoes. Motorcycle, asymmetrical zip jackets and vests will be staples. Cross body bags and large totes are two top accessories. Lester’s is located at 1037 Boston Post Road in Rye (908-5688) and in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Greenvale and Huntington, Long Island.

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Arts & Enrichment

School helps kids share the creative joy of dance Share the joy of dance at the Steffi Nossen School of Dance, just named as having “Best Kids Classes” by Westchester Magazine. The school’s centrally located studios are home to classes appealing to the needs of a variety of dance students and are housed in the nearby Music Conservatory of Westchester (across from the county center) in White Plains. Classes also take place in Chappaqua at the Church of St. Mary the Virgin on South Greeley Avenue. Core Curriculum modern dance classes are taught to live music for children in preschool-third grade. They are followed by modern/jazz (grades 4-5) and jazz classes, for grades 6 and up, classes that introduce and explore the rhythm, styles and music of the jazz idiom. Classes take place on Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. They develop both technique and creativity and emphasize movement and dance vocabulary. Technique is taught in the form of dances set to a variety of music children love and are appropriate to the physical and educational development of each age level. In addition, the school’s excellent technique programs include modern, ballet, jazz, tap, hip-hop and a young children’s ballet program beginning with classical story ballet at age 3. A guest artist program of short-term workshops in a variety of dance and movement dance forms will be offered throughout the year. The Steffi Nossen School of Dance, founded in Westchester in 1937, is a pro-

Steffi Nossen School of Dance students in kindergarten and first grade in “Eloise” as part of this spring’s children’s show, “Live from New York.”

gram of the not-for-profit Dance in Education Fund, an organization making dance opportunities more available for dance students, professionals and audiences. Classes emphasize the joy and freedom of dance as well as honing technique. Live music and visiting days are highlights of the program. All students — recreational and pre-professional — are treated with equal attention and respect. School director Kathy Fitzgerald said, “Our program involves the whole child,

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You possess the power and responsibility to shape your own life, and a belief in a deity is irrelevant, you could give your child a non-traditional modern Jewish education Come to our OPEN HOUSE August 24, 7pm at The Community Unitarian Church, 468 Rosedale Avenue, White Plains Learn how we do historic and contemporary heroes; the meaning of Jewish holidays and how to celebrate; Jewish ethics and values, music, stories, Bar/Bat mitzvah preparation

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not only physically, but also their emotions, their minds and their creativity. Our faculty collaboratively designs a sequential, developmental and age-appropriate curriculum that shares their love of dance, encourages creativity and exposes students to a variety of dance styles. Faculty members are all graduates of college dance programs and performing professionals. As dance is a performing art, there are performance opportunities for all students.” She added, “For the dancer interested in

developing technical advancement, master classes, ensembles, and the pre-professional Steffi Nossen Dance Company are additional possibilities.” Fitzgerald is a graduate of North Carolina School of the Arts, who has performed as a principal dancer with and teacher for Frankfort Ballet and soloist with Netherlands Dance Theater. Moving Wheels & Heels is a program of adaptive dance classes for students of all abilities — both wheelchair and stand-up. It includes movement adapted so that all can experience the joy of moving to music and learn dance technique. Students can increase strength, range of motion, focus and social skills. Individual creative expression is encouraged. Teacher Jeanie Gayeski previously taught and headed the arts department at the Gillen Brewer School in New York City. She holds an M.S. in elementary education, a certificate in dance education for children from the 92nd St. Y, and has trained in creative arts therapy at Pratt Institute and in yoga and creative movement for children with special needs. Classes include live music. During the Week of Dance Open House, Sept. 19-24, all are invited to try as many age- and level-appropriate classes as they wish at no charge. Call 328-1900 or email info@steffinossen.org to plan your dance year, register or arrange a no-obligation trial class. To learn more about classes and meet the faculty, visit www.steffinossen.org. n

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BTS Scarsdale Little League for k-8 this fall The Scarsdale Little League is the largest youth participation organization in Scarsdale with roughly 1,000 participants annually. The “high” season for baseball is the spring for which SLL runs programs starting at the kindergarten level up through eighth grade. In the summer and fall, SLL has programs for players in grades 4-8. Information about the program, including registration, can be found year-round at the SLL website, www.scarsdalelittleleague.com. Programs for Grades k-3 are instructional leagues with an emphasis on fun and skill development. Fourth- and fifthgraders are mixed into two leagues that are stratified by skill level, and the middle school-age players are also merged into two stratified leagues. SLL also offers a travel team experience for the highest skilled players in order to compete against teams from around Westchester County. This past year SLL successfully added a sixth-grade travel team to the usual seventh- and eighth-grade teams. The spring season starts with opening ceremonies on the Little League field, at which a notable ex-Major League ballplayer throws out the first pitch. For 2011, it was former Yankees great third baseman Craig Nettles. The season ends with the league championship games at Crossways

Friday, August 19, 2011

Arts & Enrichment

fields all at the same time. SLL also operates summer and fall programs as well, with programs for older age kids playing countywide through the Westchester Baseball Association and through NY Little League District 20. SLL’s goal is to provide a program that nurtures each participant’s enjoyment of baseball in a healthy environment. SLL is run by a board of directors made up of 15 volunteers all devoted to making SLL the best possible experience. The town leagues count on the devoted efforts of volunteer managers and coaches, who always provide the appropriate role modeling for our participants. As always in children’s team sports, there is a careful balance of competition and inclusion, thus the option of stratified leagues for the older age groups so that the more advanced players can be challenged. At the middle school level the stratification is designed to separate the eighth-graders from the sixth-graders, except for those few exceptional sixthgraders who will benefit from the higher level of play. The SLL website (www.scarsdalelittleleague.com) is an excellent resource for registration information, rules and safety issues (such as new bat regulations), field information and other useful links. Registration for the spring season starts right after the first of the year, for the summer in May or June and for the fall season in August.

The ropes course is an important part of the Girl Scouts camping experience.

Girl Scouts make a difference The Scarsdale-Edgemont Girl Scouts are continuing to build leaders one girl at a time. There is always something exciting happening in our local Girl Scout community. Plans for the 2011-12 school year include camping in the fall, where girls participate in the ropes challenge course, learn how to use a map and compass, and cook over an open fire; square dancing at

an old-fashioned hoedown at the original Father-Daughter Square Dance; learning the inner workings of the local government at Scarsdale’s annual Village Government Day; ice skating at the annual mittenskating parties, and swimming at the annual splash parties; and of course, lots of opportunities to serve the community and to make a difference. Scouting is an excellent opportunity for girls to forge new friendships, stay bonded to old friends and build character and skills for success in the real world. The troops that comprise the Scarsdale-Edgemont Girl Scouts provide an accepting and nurturing environment where girls develop qualities that will serve them all their lives — like strong values, social conscience, and inspiration about their own potential. Girls from grades k-12 can participate in scouting. Joining the Scarsdale-Edgemont Girl Scouts is easy. Girls may join an existing troop in their grade at school or interested girls can establish a new troop with adult volunteer leaders. Troop leaders are needed to help run existing troops and/or to start new ones. This is a great opportunity to make a difference in the lives of girls in our community. Without local adult volunteers, girl scouting in the community would not be possible. Becoming a Girl Scout troop leader is a small commitment with a large reward. For more information about how to become a Girl Scout or leader, visit www. segirlscouts.org or contact Carmela Crawford at carmelarcrawford@aol.com. n

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Arts & Enrichment

Scarsdale Ballet dancers gain valuable stage experience “Performing on stage is not only an enriching experience, it is a vital component of a young dancer’s education,” said Diana White, the artistic director of the Scarsdale Ballet Studio. White, who was herself a soloist with the New York City Ballet for many years, acknowledges that class work is of primary importance. “However,” she said, “dancing in a classroom and performing on stage are very different things. “In the classroom you can try again. On stage you have to make it happen in the moment. Only through experience can you develop the confidence and the know-how to do this. In the meantime, you are learning the very specific protocol of the theater: how to behave backstage, how to be responsible for your costume, make-up, entrances and exits, and how to work with everyone who makes a performance possible. But even more than that, performing on stage is exhilarating! It’s not like anything else. I just love to feel the buzz of energy in the theater before a show, and then to see the joy on everyone’s faces after all the hard work has paid off.” The studio, which prides itself on the professional quality of its classical training and its international faculty, offers dancers the opportunity to perform on two different levels. All children ages 4 and up appear in the annual recital, but the spring Concertdance performance offers the more committed dancers an even more challenging and exciting experience. Each spring Scarsdale

Ballet stages a diverse program of classical and contemporary ballets. They rehearse on weekends throughout the fall and winter. The 2011 Concertdance featured Act III of “Swan Lake,” “Mediterranea,” a world premiere by the acclaimed Cuban-born choreographer Pedro Ruiz, and Balanchine’s “La Source.” In that ballet, the dancers performed alongside a SBS faculty member, the NYCB ballerina Abi Stafford. White, who danced under Balanchine, stages his works worldwide as well as with her own students. The Scarsdale Ballet Studio is the only dance academy in Westchester to have the privilege of performing Balanchine’s choreography. Scarsdale dancers are often chosen to perform in outside productions as well, such as “The Nutcracker” at New York City Ballet and at the Performing Arts Center at Purchase College. This fall, White looks forward to a new venture, a collaboration with the newly formed Scarsdale Ars Viva Chamber Orchestra. Parents of the dancers are grateful for the opportunities the studio has offered their children. One parent said, “SBS gives our daughter, Mary, the opportunity to receive the highest quality classical training and essential performance experience.” The Scarsdale Ballet Studio offers a comprehensive program of classes for dancers aged 3 through pre-professional and adult and is located in the Vernon Hills Shopping Center on White Plains Post Road. Visit www.scarsdaleballetstudio.com or call 725-8754. n

Performance is an integral part of Scarsdale Ballet Studio.

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Arts & Enrichment

Pass It On Kid’s Kloset director Stephanie Roth organizes donated children’s items for redistribution to local families in need.

Community center issues a ‘clothes call’ Westchester Jewish Community Services is issuing a “clothes call” for cold-weather clothing to stock Pass It On Kid’s Kloset, which provides new and gently used children’s clothes and essentials to Westchester families in need free of charge. An all-volunteer effort, Kid’s Kloset relies on donations of children’s clothes, diapers and strollers to pass on to families who cannot afford them. “As winter approaches we have a tremendous need for warm clothes, especially coats, jackets and boots,” said Stephanie Roth, Kid’s Kloset director. “The start of school is a good time to sort through children’s clothes and pass on those that no longer fit as well as items that children have outgrown such as pack ‘n plays and car seats.” Kid’s Kloset is located in downtown White Plains. Clothing donations can be dropped off at WJCS, 845 North Broadway, from 9 a.m.-4 p.m. or by appointment at Kid’s Kloset. Contact 761-0600 Ext. 715 or kidskloset@wjcs.com. For more info about Pass It On Kid’s Kloset, go to www.wjcs.com or “like” it on Facebook.

Programs and activities for Scarsdale seniors Over the past year, the Scarsdale Seniors participated in a variety of activities and programs highlighting senior education, music, art, politics, luncheons, trips, card-playing and discussion groups. Seniors gained valuable information on driving through the AARP 55 Alive driver education course,

available senior trips through Upper Class and medical information at the Flu Shot Clinic and the Dana Alliance for Brain Initiatives: Staying Sharp. Shelly Grafstein from Prudential gave seniors practical tips on getting their houses in order for selling and political awareness was raised by Rabbi Wohl and Judge Fredman along with Dory Kathein and his discussion of Israel and the Palestinians. The seniors’ own Alma Shapiro delighted her audience with a four-part series that she originated titled “The Composer and his Audience.” A video presentation by professor William Kloss outlined the first segment of “The History of European Art,” which will continue this year starting with Giotto and the frescos of the Arena Chapel. Trips included a look at two senior residences, four museums, and cooking and eating at Le Panetiere Restaurant and Arthur Avenue. Smaller clubs focus on sustained interests. The Canasta Club, led by Rita Sweeny, meets at the pool in the summer, the Girl Scout House and individuals’ homes. The Lunch Club, led by Irene Pastarnack, takes the bus to various local restaurants in January and February, weather permitting. The new addition to the senior program, the Book Club, led by Martha Rosen, meets one Tuesday a month. The next meeting will be Sept. 20 at 1 p.m., and the book under discussion will be “One Thousand Autumns of Jacob deZoet” by David Mitchell. Good times and delicious fun were had at the Thanksgiving luncheon, the holiday party, the Weinberg nature luncheon and the annual luncheon. The seniors were especially fortunate to have Stephanie Kaplan Cohen read from her latest collection of poems, “Additions and Subtractions,” and enjoy a spring luncheon after such a nasty winter. The summer was spent with our ongoing exercise program including yoga, tai chi and aerobics at the Girl Scout House, along with Thursday visits to the pool for swimming, card-playing and water aerobics. Senior information for the oncoming year can be found in the fall/winter brochure prepared by the Department of Scarsdale Parks and Recreation, by the monthly newsletter, Happenings, sent to all members’ homes, and by accessing www.scarsdale.com and clicking on Senior Programs. The fall activities will be kick-started by the fourth annual senior pool picnic in early September. Details will follow in the September newsletter. For more information, call 722-1160. n

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Smart (and fun) ways to stop summer brain drain

reparing for back-to-school season is more than just shopping for classroom supplies and new clothes. During summer vacation, kids can experience a month or more of learning loss. As a parent, you can halt the summer brain drain and give your kids the brain boost they need to prepare them for the upcoming school year. Exercising the brain doesn’t need to be something boring that kids dread. With some creative ideas, you can encourage your children to have fun and the education will come naturally.

tience, cooperation, concentration, teamwork and perseverance. Two fun games with educational benefits are Jungle Speed and Dixit. Jungle Speed is a fast and furious game of quick thinking and lightning-fast reflexes. Think classic card games like Spoons or WAR, embellish the cards with abstract shapes and colors and add an exciting race element. The game will have kids involved in so much exciting, stimulating fun, they won’t even know they’re learning. Dixit is a unique game of storytelling through imagination and clues. Artistically designed cards tell a different story for every individual and put creativity to the test.

Smart idea 1: scavenger hunt

Smart idea 3: crafts that teach

A family scavenger hunt can make for a fun afternoon activity full of education and a bit of friendly competition. For smaller children, focusing on counting skills can be a good way to add education to the activity. Have them look for things like five red rocks, three yellow leaves and one penny. For older kids, make nature your inspiration and have them seek more specific items, such as a certain type of tree leaf, a specific flower or a bird feather from a popular local bird. Arm them with a nature book or diagram so they can learn about each item as they look for it.

Encouraging kids to be creative and use their imagination is a great way to have a blast while exercising that brain muscle. If your child has an interest in a certain type of art or craft, encourage him to explore it throughout the summer. From writing poetry to sketching flowers, you’ll be amazed to see their talent develop. Here are three fun educational crafting ideas: • Make collages that feature natural treasures, items from nature or old family photos. • Encourage kids to write in a daily journal and keep small mementos from their favorite activities. Each week go through the journal and add to a scrapbook. From playing games to making crafts, with these fun activities, your kids will be learning and preparing their brains for back-to-school without even realizing it. n — ARA Content

Smart idea 2: board games Recent research has acknowledged the significant benefits that board games have, not only on children’s cognitive development and their brain’s motor functions, but also on important life skills such as pa-

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Endpaper

Back to school after all these years By TODD SLISS

graduated from college in 1999. I never did well sitting in a classroom (not grade-wise necessarily, but sitting and paying attention for long periods of time). The only “classroom learning” time I’ve had since that time would be short classes at an annual two-day press convention. Next month, however, is my first real back-to-school experience in over a decade. For four years most of what my son, Henry, knew was either staying home with mom or dad or going to his grandparents’s houses for the day. We knew that he wasn’t getting much socialization with his peers, but it caused no strain on our already empty wallets keeping him home with us, plus it also helps that parent-child bond. Then this year in the winter and spring once each week for an hour, Henry went to a cooking class. This summer he spent 2.5 hours five days a week at camp. Now, in his final year before he’s old enough for kindergarten, our 4.5-year-old is going to pre-school. This is big stuff for us, major stuff for him. He loves being around kids, but doesn’t always know how to handle the situations that arise. (From my observation, many of the ones who have been in daycare or been to pre-school don’t either.) The cooking class and camp were a transition for Henry — he got a timeout for not listening at each one, but for the most part was on his pretty good behavior. The real reason we’re sending him to pre-school is for the social aspect, for him to get into a routine and reinforce everything his parents have been telling him about how to behave before we unleash our little monster into public school. With Henry going to school, and his younger brother Jeffrey to follow in four years, I feel like I’m going back to school. Sure, I may not be sitting in classes, taking tests, writing pa-

pers or doing projects, but eventually I feel like I will be. I’m going to have to know lots of things that I forgot before I even took the tests back in elementary school, middle school and high school so I don’t look like a total dope to my kids. Luckily I think between my wife and I we have the math and humanities angles covered at least until a certain point where they surpass us. Just the other day Henry asked me two questions: 1) Is Mercury the smallest planet? and 2) What about Pluto? Luckily I had my laptop out so I could at least attempt to

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Celebrating more than 50 Years of Fun!

answer his questions (sad, right?). And then try explaining to your 4.5-year-old that Pluto is not a planet and that his Baby Einstein DVDs, Blues Clues and apparently all of the scientific community since 1930, were wrong. Then tell him that it’s one of 40 “dwarf planets.” Now imagine you actually know what that means. This is the same kid that listened to his mom — by his choice — read from my old Golden Guide space book about nebulae and not even flinch, and then laughs hysterically when I tell him we live in the Milky Way Galaxy. Soon enough it will be time to go over the whole Uranus pronunciation thing. Ah, the life of a parent. I think, especially in Westchester County, getting an education is as much a strain on parents as it is on kids because of the expectations we place on our schools and our children. How will I as a parent handle my children’s education? Will I advocate for them? Will I sit back and not make waves so they don’t get caught in the middle? Will I help with the homework? Too much, not enough? Will I value creativity? The arts? Sports? Certain subjects in the classroom? And how will my kids handle me? A colleague came in a few years ago and told us that her then-kindergartener grandson and his classmates were given an activity/coloring book about saving — for college! We all had a good laugh about it, but in reality, 13 years goes by QUICKLY! I’ve seen plenty of people spend what they have now to make sure their kids are getting the proper education they need to get into college — my wife and I fit into that mold right now — but when high school hits, they start to panic, especially with the costs escalating each year. I don’t look forward to that feeling. From pre-school to college and everything in-between, the collective process does make you nervous all over again, kind of like going back to school. n

Temple Israel Center Nursery School • Nurturing & Creative Environment • Mommy & Me Programs • 2, 3, 4 Year Old Classes • Shabbat and Holiday Celebrations • Nature and Music Specialists • Summer Camp • Early Drop-Off, Extended Day & Lunch Programs A few openings are still available for the 2011-2012 school year. Call Patty Goldstick - 948-2800, ext. 126 280 Old Mamaroneck Road • White Plains • templeisraelcenter.org

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Visit us at: www.leaplizards.com

Page 62A/The scarsdale Inquirer

Back to School

Friday, August 19, 2011

Index to Advertisers Music Conservatory of Westchester.........................44A Musical Munchkins...................19A The Muzic Store........................40A Neil’s.........................................13A Parisi Speed School...................14A Performers Edge Dance Academy.............................45A Play Group Theatre.....................8A Pottery-on-Hudson....................57A Pyramid Squash........................57A Rivertown’s Dental...................52A Rye Racquet Club.....................19A St. James the Less Episcopal Nursery School....................38A Say Cheese & Thank You.........39A Scarsdale Ballet Studio.............23A Scarsdale Synagogue Temples Tremont and Emanu-El........21A Scarsdale Teen Center...............58A School of the Holy Child..........41A Shaarei Tikvah..........................18A Shake, Rattle & Roll.................36A Snip-its......................................11A Solomon Schechter School of Westchester.................................7A Soundview Preparatory School..................................34A

5th Avenue Chocolatiere...........13A Affordables...............................39A

Nicole Alifante, Acting Coach..49A Aloha Mind Math......................53A Andante Music .........................14A Alcott School............................15A

Applause Westchester...............34A Ardsley Community Nursery School..................................61A

Ardsley Orthodontics................27A

Art Academy of Westchester.....55A Beginnings..................................3A

Bernstein Center for Visual Performance.........................25A Robert J. Bernstein Educational Services................................42A

Beth El Religious School..........24A Boulder Brook Equestrian Center . ................................10A

Bowman Educational Services.48A Buddy’s Barking Lot.................22A CEED........................................43A

Central Park Dance ....................7A The Children’s Jewish Education Group..................50A Children’s Place........................61A

Choice College Consulting.......56A City Center Dance.....................30A Clay Art Center.........................58A

The Clubhouse Grill 42...............9A College Advice 101...................36A Collegistics................................10A

Convent of the Sacred Heart.....42A Creative Beginnings . .................5A Creative Playtime at Grace Lutheran Church.................50A Dance Cavise............................47A Denny’s.....................................27A

Dynamic Kids...........................53A

Eagle Hill School......................49A Elite Tutors................................55A

Elmwood Day School...............45A

Eye Designs of Westchester........3A Family Helpers..........................58A Dr. Brian H. Finn, Orthodontics..37A

French-American School of New York.............................45A

The Goddard School for Early Childhood Development......26A Janet Gordon, M.S., CCC-SLP, TSHH.................59A

Great Outdoor Toy Company . .44A Great Play....................................5A

Green Meadow Waldorf School.47A Greenburgh Hebrew Center......37A Greenburgh Hebrew Center Nursery School.....................37A Greenburgh Nature Center........23A Gymboree Play & Music..........11A Hartsdale Family Eyecare.........16A The Harvey School...................31A HaZamir Westchester................52A Hitchcock School......................50A Hoff-Barthelson Music School.38A Home Helpers...........................39A Hudson Country Montessori School..................................35A Huntington Learning Center.......5A Indigo Chic................................46A Industry.....................................20A Infinity . ....................................25A JCC Mid-Westchester – Academic................................8A JCC Mid-Westchester – General..................................17A

Johnny Rockets.........................64A Kids’ B.A.S.E. & The Little School..................................54A Kinderkickers Soccer................51A Donna Klein & Associates, Inc......................19A Kol Ami Early Childhood Program................................53A Language Link Center...............57A Nadia Laniado, D.D.S., Orthodontics.........................16A Leapin’ Lizards.........................61A Lester’s......................................63A Liberty Montessori Schools......48A The Lice Lady of Westchester....60A Lice Off.....................................55A Listen for Change......................43A Shirley Love..............................46A The Masters School...................25A Mazel Tots Early Early Childhood Program . ...........58A Mohawk Country Day School....2A

Steffi Nossen School of Dance...12A Studio B Dance Center..... 28A-29A Temple Israel Center – Havurat Torah High School...............51A Temple Israel Center Nursery School.....................61A Temple Israel Center Religious School.................41A Testtakers..................................12A Twin Lakes Farm......................30A Uniquely U. College Essay.......59A Urgent Care of Westchester......23A Westchester Community College Center for the Arts.38A Westchester Community for Humanistic Judaism............57A Westchester Jewish Community Services – Family Caregiver Network................................54A Westchester Jewish Community Services – Senior Program...60A Westchester Reform Temple Early Childhood Center.................54A Westchester Skating Academy..56A Wireless Voice...........................41A Woolf College Consulting.........43A Zoffness SAT Prep....................51A

The scarsdale Inquirer

Back to School

Friday, August 19, 2011/ Page 63A

Page 64A/The scarsdale Inquirer

Back to School

Friday, August 19, 2011