BACK TO SCHOOL 3-WEST by Richner Communications, Inc

August 30, 2018

Confidence is key

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Confident kids do better in class

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Send your kids to school without anxiety. municate intelligently and they make wiser choices." "Your child needs to learn how to deal with life on his or her own terms," says Dr. George S. Glass, co-author of "The Overparenting Epidemic." "Circumstances change, communication varies and children respond differently as they grow older. This means that all of us will continue making mistakes. "Let your kids fail, beginning with the first time they fall down on the playground," he says. "They need to learn early on that life is full of bumps and bruises, and that they have the wherewithal to overcome them." "No one is perfect and having confidence doesn't come as a result of being perfect," says Campbell. "Confidence comes from learning to love themselves in their not-soperfect moments." They also need to be powerful, she adds. "It won't matter what people say about them because they know what they think of themselves." Still sometimes mistakes are a good thing, concludes Glass. Rough spots help children gain the confidence needed to succeed first in school and then, later in life. "Work with your kids on how they can learn from their mistakes," he instructs. Finally, be sure to let them take pride in their schoolwork and their creations, even if you think that they should be "better" or that you should help out. "It's their science fair," says Glass. "You had yours." n

“Your school district has a multitude of resources to which your child may be entitled. I can partner with you to design an effective, long-term plan to ensure that your child gets all that he or she requires to achieve academic success.”

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Summer is waning and you've been out shopping for new shoes, clothes and backpacks. The school supplies are labeled, packed up and ready to go — but what about your kids? Chances are most children and teens are feeling a bit anxious about going back to class. Will math be more difficult this year? Will I fit in? What if someone tries to bully me? As a parent, it is your job to help your youngster study hard, stand up to adversity and, most of all, feel confident that he or she will succeed and do well in school. Keeping in mind that parents want their offspring to have a positive approach to education, here's what a few professionals have to say about building confidence in children as the new school year gets under way. Ask your children for their advice, instructs Rabbi Roger E. Herst, the author of "A Simple Formula for Raising Happy Children." "This is an exercise to encourage independent thought," he says. "Asking children for their advice lets them know you care about and respect their perspective, which tells them their voice matters. It also lets them know they are responsible for their opinions, which have impact on the real world, and not just in their minds." Our kids are amazing and it is important that they understand that, says veteran psychologist Dr. Sherrie Campbell. "They are amazing just because they are. They don't have to do anything to be amazing," she says. "They are a gift, deserve to be loved and treasured and need to be disciplined to think and believe in their own greatness. When we see them start having low self-esteem we must remind them nothing can stand the way of their greatness." Children need to know that they are both smart and significant, says Campbell, the author of "Loving Yourself: The Mastery of Being Your Own Person." "When we raise our children, we must raise them to see, believe in and use their intelligence. When our children hear they are smart, and we find every opportunity to reflect this to them through their own actions, we help them to believe it about themselves. When they believe they are smart they behave smartly, perform smartly, com-

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August 30, 2018 — NASSAU HERALD

SchoolS in action

By The Herald Staff

As another school year approaches, administrators and faculty prepare to welcome students back with great expectations. Once again, here's the Herald’s annual look at what’s ahead for the new school year.

Hewlett-Woodmere goes back to school: Building better readers at Woodmere Middle School

Before sending students up to Hewlett High School, the staff at Woodmere Middle School is tasked with making sure the children are prepared for the next phase of their education. Hewlett-Woodmere will be offering a new level literacy intervention program for students that are having difficulty with reading in grades six through eight. The program added a total of $145,299 to the budget; at a March budget meeting thenpresident of the Board of Education Scott McInnes defended the initiative by saying that if kids fell behind, “with the amount of work they have to do in the high school, they’ll never catch up.” This comes as part of the first tax-level increase in three years — 2.86 percent — which matches the spending uptick in the $119.79 million budget. The program would require on full-time teacher, who’s salary comprises much of the money allotted. “The goal of the literacy program will be to provide additional reading support for students as they begin to read more complex texted,” said Michele Hochhauser, the district’s English language arts chairperson. “As students move up the grades, they are expected to read more critically, noticing nuances and making subtle inferences. The reading program will provide more explicit instruction for students who need support to make this leap in thinking. The program will also address other areas that impact comprehension such as fluency and vocabulary.” She added that students who are reading two to three benchmark levels below expectations would qualify, “If there is a slight gap, for whatever reason, as they are making leap in the transition to middle school and emotionally, socially or academically it’s just too much for them,” she said at a budget meeting in February. “This is a program that would help close the gap [between the students and their peers].”

Lawrence School District embarks on new partnership with Nassau BOCES

The Lawrence School District has partnered with Nassau BOCES to bring a certified nursing assistant program to the high school, which is set to begin on the first day of school, Tuesday, Sept. 4. Juniors and seniors in the two-year program will learn in a newly-constructed classroom in the high school. It will have an instruction side, where a registered nurse will teach students anatomy and physiology, medical terminology, nutrition, first aid and growth and development. “We couldn’t be more excited to embark on this first true vocational path for our students who will be half day in the program and half day in Lawrence classes,” said Lawrence

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Lawrence High School certified nursing assistant program students will be learning an array of medical skills but won’t have to travel to the Joseph M. Barry Career & Technical Education Center in Westbury, above. Superintendent Dr. Ann Pedersen. There will also be a hands-on side that will be set up like a nursing home and hospital, where students will practice what they learned. They will wear uniforms, which will “make them feel really special,” said Andrew Weisman, Lawrence’s supervisor of pupil personnel services and guidance. Having the program in the high school cuts out the students’ commute to Joseph M. Barry Career & Technical Education Center in Westbury. Students missed class periods for travel and the district spent a substantial amount of money on transportation. In addition to learning skills such as how to take vital signs, transfer and position patients, make beds, feed patients, care for patients’ hygiene, dress patients, collect specimens and insert catheters, another goal of the program is for students to “learn a lot about how to treat patients and residents with respect and dignity,” Hynes said. “For baby boomers like myself, as we get to retirement age, there are thousands and thousands of jobs going unfilled because people don’t want to take on this role. Personal care attendant and home health aid and working as a CNA in a nursing home, transporting somebody and caring for their personal needs … it isn’t sexy.” After the two years and completing 900 hours of instruction, 108 includes shadowing a professional in a nursing home or hospital setting, graduates can take the New York State Certified Nurse Assistant exam and have a diploma from Lawrence High. After passing the CNA exam, students can continue studying to become licensed as nurse anesthetists, practical nurses, registered nurses or nurse practitioners. While being trained, students can work as caretakers or in nursing homes. Students who complete the program will earn English Language Arts credit and elective credit through the high school.

Publisher StuaRt RIChneR

Section Editor KaRen Bloom

Executive Editor SCott BRInton

Editorial Designer Cover Design JeffRey a. negRIn

Innovation at Lynbrook Public Schools

Always looking ahead to the future, the Lynbrook School District welcomes families with a continued focus on instilling skills and experiences in order to help students achieve success in college and the ever-changing workforce. Whether in academics, athletics or performing arts, administrators and staff strive to enrich students with challenging experiences, robust instruction and emotional and social support. For 2018-19, Lynbrook High School will continue to offer students a wide array of courses and extracurricular activities. Recently designated a New York State Reward School, LHS continues to improve its ranking among the best high schools in the state and country. Two new principals joined the district this year: Alison Banhazel will take on the role at Waverly Park, while Joseph Wiener as will serve as South Middle School principal. “We are grateful to the community for its continued support of educational initiatives that help us achieve our goals,” Superintendent Dr. Melissa Burak said. “Passage of the budget and proposition proposals has allowed us to strive for our maximum potential on behalf of the students.”

East Rockaway focused on four-part strategic plan

The East Rockaway School District has several new programs, opportunities and enhancements to its curriculum for the 201819 school year, all of which are components of its four-part strategic plan. The first element is aimed at achievement at all grade levels. The second facet of the strategic plan is connection. Officials will continue to make the home-school connection a priority with the Vice President of Sales Rhonda glICKman

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continued development of the Engage Every Family Initiative and the introduction of a parent coordinator who will work closely with families across the district. The school’s new entrant protocol is aimed to ensure all new families to the district are welcomed through a registration process and individually contacted by the building principal. At the high school, a new principal, Richard Shaffer, takes over for Interim Principal Neil Lederer. Shaffer, a Floral Park resident, has spent the past seven years serving in a variety of leadership roles at Nathaniel Hawthorne Middle School in Bayside, Queens, and he told the Herald recently that he is excited to help bring 21st century learning to East Rockaway. The plan’s third component of the strategic plan emphasizes opportunity. All students are provided with engaging and rigorous learning opportunities, support to achieve success, and extra-curricular activities aimed at developing well-rounded individuals. The last feature of the strategic plan is innovation. The 2018-19 school year marks the completion of the district’s 1:1 Device Initiative, whereby all students in fifth through 12th grade are provided with an individual laptop or Chromebook. All classrooms for kindergarteners through fourth-grade students are equipped with classroom devices that are used in many ways by teachers and students.

Facilities and curriculum upgrades in Malverne

The Malverne Union Free School District’s $57 million spending plan will be used to build on its science, technology, engineering and math, or STEM, program, as well as Project Lead the Way. District officials continue to keep short-, mid- and long-term goals in mind. This summer, the district’s Board of Education broke ground on the new wing that will built at Malverne High School. The project, which was approved by community voters as a special bond referendum in 2016, will include a STEM lab, multipurpose instructional spaces and a performing arts center. The project is expected to be complete by fall 2019.

New faces, strategies set for West Hempstead

With the passing of the West Hempstead Union Free School District’s $61 million budget, the district will maintain all academic programs, athletics and co-curricular activities, Continued on page S-4

NASSAU HERALD — August 30, 2018

What to expect for the 2018-2019 school year

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and provide $600,000 to use either to install air-conditioning in the high school auditorium or to refurbish the high school’s kitchen. The $600,000 would be allocated in the 2019-20 budget to complete funding for whichever project the board chooses to pursue. A new restructuring plan will feature a kindergarten center, a primary school for grades one to three, an intermediate school for grades four to six, a middle school for grades seven and eight, while the high school will have grades nine to 12. The district also welcomed new administrators, directors and faculty. Daniel Rehman has been appointed as Superintendent of Schools. Rehman, who has served in the district for the past nine years, began his career here as principal of the Chestnut Street School,. James DeTommaso was appointed as West Hempstead High School’s new Principal. He was most recently Assistant Principal in the East Rockaway School District for 17 years.

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Students can expect a few new changes when they walk in the door on September 5. Sewanhaka Central High School Districts Career and Technical Building will house the new Academic Learning Center. “There will no longer be your typical out of school suspension as those students will attend the Academic Learning Center at our CTE building in Sewanhaka,” Superintendent Ralph Ferrie said. District officials aim for the ALC to help deter students from being suspended, something similar programs have accomplished in other districts. They also see the program as a way to stop the learning gap that students face when they’re suspended, as the students will attend a full day of classes at the ALC. Beside the ALC, the district will also launch its Alternative School Program, which allows non-traditional students who usually attend night classes to learn at the school during the daytime. John Kenny, who had served as Sewanhaka High School’s Assistant Principal, has been put in charge of overseeing the Alternative School Program along with the ALC. Kenny said the Alternative School Program will have four teachers, a teaching assistant, a school psychologist and a counselor available for its more than 30 students this fall. With Kenny’s transfer to the Career and Technical Education building, the district announced the transfers of two other assistant principals in the district. Paul Naraine will be transferred from Sewanhaka High School to Elmont Memorial High School, and Alicia Calabrese will be transferred from Elmont Memorial High School to Floral Park Memorial High School.

A new look for Elmont

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August 30, 2018 — NASSAU HERALD

The Elmont Union Free School District faces budget constraints for the 2018-19 school year. Nevertheless, the district will integrate its new uniforms in September after spending the entire summer informing students and parents about the new look for Elmont students. District Superintendent Al Harper said the district pitched the idea of uniforms last year, and

after sending out a survey to parents, the district found overwhelming support for the idea. “About 75 percent of the parents were in favor of it, and it’s nothing too formal,” Harper said. “We have khakis, slacks and a navy-blue shirt with the district name on it.”

Valley Stream updates curriculum

Students in all four Valley Stream school districts will use new technology to enhance their studies when they return to school next year. As part of District 13’s technological upgrades, the district’s one-to-one Chromebook program will be expanding to the secondgrade, so that every student in grades 2 through 6 will have their own book. Second-graders will also be able to use the Reading Wonders English Language Arts program, which is currently being used by third- to sixth-graders. In addition, the district is implementing a new science program for kindergarten through sixth grade. Kindergarteners through fifth graders will use the McGraw-Hill Inspire Science program, which offers students“handson activities and performance tasks to provide students the opportunity to expand content knowledge and demonstrate skills in science and engineering,” according to McGraw-Hill’s Inspire Science brochure. The goal, is to get students thinking about careers in science and engineering. As part of District 24’s approved $28.75 million budget for the 2018-19 school year, the district is adding additional security guards and security cameras. The district will also provide additional mental health programs and will revamp the parent portal. On the curriculum side, the district is introducing a new science curriculum, as well as a virtual reality program and is offering keyboarding classes. Programming will account for about 77.5 percent of the district’s expenditures for the coming year. In District 30, students will begin to use Google Expeditions, a virtual reality headset. “Virtual reality will engage our students in active learning designed to help them understand complex real world experiences,” said Dr. Roxanne Garcia France, the assistant superintendent for curriculum Families in the Central High School District will see several upgrades to their schools when they return in September. Students will be able to take a second part of the Advanced Placement Capstone course, an AP research course. As part of the Capstone program, students must take an AP Seminar, which is already offered in the district, and an AP Research course. The AP Seminar course enables students to develop analytic and inquiry skills using themes based on a student’s interest. The district is also looking into alternatives to punishing students as part of the district’s social and emotional learning component. Under the alternatives, Superintendent Bill Heidenreich said that students would try to understand what they did wrong and learn why they should not repeat their negative actions. n Reported by Tyler Marko, Dena Gershkovich, Mike Smollins, Nakeem Grant, Ronny Reyes, Melissa Koenig

Students’ homework schedules

NASSAU HERALD — August 30, 2018

Play first, homework later? By Sharon Naylor

When kids arrive home from school, is it wisest to make them sit down and dive right into their homework before playtime begins, or should they be allowed to play first and work later? As a parent, it's important for you to weigh both options and then decide what works best for your children. "Generally speaking, homework should be delayed until there has been some respite time after school to allow the brain a 'vacation' before beginning homework," says Jennifer Little, Ph.D., founder of ParentsTeachKids.com. Just like you need to decompress after a long workday before you're motivated to undertake household cleaning and tasks, students often need a breather before the next to-dos must be done. Plus, according to Dr. Maureen Taylor, who has master's degrees in secondary and special education and has been a teacher for almost 40 years, "Playing after homework can drive a child to work faster at the risk of their work." Allowing children a set amount of playtime before homework is what "educators used to call 'shaking out the cobwebs,'" says Taylor. "Today we call it 'giving the child time to breathe and to process his day.'" Children, after all, have bad days, too. They may be stressed over an impending test or still feeling the sting of a negative comment from one of their peers. Quality free time lets them enter the "safe zone" of home and relax and unwind. "Students' brains require a shift from the pressures of school to the relative calmness of

home," says Taylor. Taylor also brings up a valid point affecting your children's energy levels and abilities to focus on homework: "Keep in mind that in larger schools, some children eat lunch at 10:30 and end their day at 3." Kids may be low on energy simply because they haven't had a nutritious meal or snack in more than four hours. They couldn't possibly focus well on homework while low on fuel. So a healthy snack upon their return home is a must, no matter what your homework/play arrangement is. Each Child's Homework Responsibilities "Elementary children usually do not have much homework, so doing it as dinner is prepared usually suffices," says Little. "Middle- and high-school students will have more homework, and thus will need more hours to complete it. So before and after dinner should be allocated (for homework) before any other computer-based activities (Facebook, games, TV) occur. At some point, the child will become self-regulating with homework and decide when is best for him/her." Another factor is your child's personality type. Some children cannot unwind unless their homework – about which they feel pressure – is completed, and some children would do anything to avoid their homework. If you have multiple children, you need to create a plan that meets each child's preferences. That

may find you sitting down one child who needs to get homework out of the way, while the other child plays, and then summoning your other child to begin his or her homework after the allotted playtime. Jen Lilienstein, founder of the educational site Kidzmet.com, says that children with different personality types approach homework differently, such as a student who prefers to get closure on assignments before play, a student who thrives on tight deadlines, or a student who likes to work on three projects at once. There is no rule saying all children must sit down together as a group to do homework. You may even find that they distract one another when they're all at the kitchen table at the same time, working in their different ways. It may be your personal system to have kids do their homework in set shifts that work best for all. Setting the Rules If you're experiencing homework/play chaos with no set plan, now is the time to enforce rules in your home and decide how, when and where kids will do homework. A quiet environment with no television is ideal. Cellphones are to be left outside of the homework room to eliminate distractions. Decide beforehand how children's homework sessions will be scheduled, and inform kids that they are to complete all homework before their set bedtime. You will, in several

Homework before play or vice versa? weeks, review their grades and talk with them about their homework schedule, and you may decide to make changes to their schedule. Older kids with extracurricular activities that affect their post-school schedules may need to switch their homework times to earlier in the evening due to fatigue from their busy schedules. You'll decide that at your review session. As you observe children in their homework modes, pay special attention to their frustration levels as they're working. Little says, "Homework avoidance is often a sign of problems" that may exist in their school days, such as bullying. Be very observant of what kids are telling you through their attitudes toward homework. If you have questions about your child's homework levels, make an appointment to speak in person with his or her teachers. n

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