Educator receives BOCES award Syosset BoE examines enrollments, trends

BY RIKKI MASSAND

As the Syosset Central School District’s Board of Education anticipates discussing a priority list of capital projects at its August 28 meeting, the board discussion in late July turned to predictions of future district enrollment.

As the report presented by Superintendent of Schools Dr. Thomas Rogers indicated, the “bubble” of higher enrollment currently found in Syosset’s lower grades will be shifting through the middle school and high school levels in the years to come, but the surge in students is uneven. H.B. Thompson Middle School is currently seeing more of an impact than South Woods Middle School, and two district elementary schools are having their capacities soar.

In the midst of the board’s reflections on district trends, Dr. Rogers commented on the steady increases in residential construction and new housing developments coming to the Syosset and Woodbury area.

“With the new construction there is not only the desire for people to live in the community but the oppor-

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This past June, Megan Falck, a library media specialist at Walt Whitman Elementary School in the Syosset CSD, was recognized by Nassau BOCES and the Nassau Association of School Technologists (NASTECH) as a pioneering educator who has contributed significantly to the advancement of technology in education.

Ms. Falck was honored at the fifth annual Nassau Association of School Technologists Award Recipient (NASTAR) awards ceremony, held at the Nassau

BOCES Brookville Outdoor and Environmental Education Center.

Thanks to Megan Falck, the Walt Whitman Library Media Center is a lively blend of traditional library resources and progressive learning tools. The center also boasts a “Maker’s Space” — a collaborative workspace for creativity, learning, exploring and sharing. She has created a library culture that balances creativity, passion and inquiry, incorporating the necessary digital literacy skills that are required to support student success. She prepares students for the future through literacy, coding and STEAM education.

“Ms. Falck is deeply devoted to her students and is passionate about creating exciting learning opportunities for them,” said her award nominator Christine Payne, coordinator of instructional and administrative technology. “She has a contagious smile, a generous spirit, and an enthusi-

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