JerichoSchool News

Superintendent of Schools HankGrishman recently invited membersof the Jericho school communitytogether to review and evaluate theneeds of students in order to revisethe district’s long-term goals. TheDistrict Goals Committee, com-prised of parents, faculty, supportstaff, administra-tors, communityleaders, and mem-bers of the Boardof Education, metrecently for afour-hour eveningworkshop. Thethree main districtgoals, established by members of theJericho school community in the fallof 2002, include educational pro-gram, relationships, and facilities.

The district’s current educationalgoal is “to ensure that Jericho stu-dents are provided with the advan-tages of a comprehensive long-termplan that reflects the changing natureand diversity of society, effectivelymotivates and provides tools for stu-dents to achieve their fullest poten-tial, and fosters a lifelong joy oflearning.” At the present time, thereare eight objectives outlined toachieve this goal.

The second goal is “to strengthenour sense of community by promot-ing broad based involvement and byfostering positive relationshipsamong students, parents, staff andcommunity members.” Two objec-tives are in place to support this goal.

The final goal is “to ensure thatthe Jericho School District facilitieswill meet the educational needs ofour community through the year

2010.” In order to meet this goal, there arecurrently two established objectives.

After Mr. Grishman welcomed morethan sixty participants, he outlined theobjectives for the evening. He introducedBen Ciuffo, the Assistant Superintendentfor Human Resources and EducationalOperations, who reviewed district demo-

graphics and enrollmentprojections. BarbaraBauer, the AssistantSuperintendent forCurriculum andInstruction, presented anoverview of the manyinstructional programenhancements, as well as

the achievements and accomplishments ofstudents, faculty and the district over thepast five years. Joan Colvin, AssistantSuperintendent for Business, discussed

In this Issue:- Kindergarten Registration in January

- Jericho Announces AP Scholars

- District Honors Outstanding Staff

- Student Exchange Program

- Classroom Happenings

- Important Dates to Remember

VOLUME 46, NUMBER 3 December 2009

“We look forward to reflecting onthe information that we receive inan effort to formulate goals thatwill guide our students toward abright and successful future.”

-Hank GrishmanSuperintendent of Schools

Jericho Hosts Workshop To Begin Review of Long-term School District Goals

(continued on page 3)

Helene Kriegstein facilitates a group discussion about financial considerations with committeemembers (from left) Laura Katz, Jodi Orbuch, Bill Ferro, Yoona Choi and Jong Pil Lee.

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Jackson fifth grader Christopher Heilig works along-side kindergarten buddy Jacob Khim to plant crocusesin a garden that was donated by the JerichoEducational Foundation.

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December 2009 Jericho School News

Jericho Kindergarten Registration Begins in JanuaryCalling all Jericho School District children born on or before December 1,2005. Registration for kindergarten will be held at the Jericho ElementarySchools Tuesday, January 5 through Friday, January 8, 2010 at:

Cantiague: 9 -10:30 am Jackson: 9 -10:30 am Seaman: 9:30-11 am

To register, parents must provide the following: 1. Original Birth Certificate2. Proof of Residency such as a tax bill or deed (original lease if renting)3. Immunization Record signed by a physician

New York State law requires the following minimum immunizations for allstudents attending school:

Diphtheria & Pertussis (DTaP) 3 dosesPolio 3 doses OPV or IPV Measles 2 doses on or after the first birthdayMumps 1 dose on or after the first birthdayRubella 1 dose on or after the first birthdayHepatitis B 3 doses Varicella 1 dose on or after the first birthday

Valid medical or religious exemptions are acceptable if written proof is presented at the time of school registration. Thisincludes a medically documented history of disease. Appropriate forms are available in the school nurse’s office.

Questions regarding medical requirements can be answered by contacting the school nurse or building principal atCantiague (203-3650), at Jackson (203-3640) or at Seaman (203-3630), or Executive Director of Pupil Personnel EdwardFriedlander at 203-3600 ext. 3254.

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Jackson teachers Lois Wittmann, Laurie Oddo, andLori Salzman recently received a Jericho EducationalFoundation grant to start a school garden. Planting boxeswere set up for class projects at each grade level. Fifthgraders and their kindergarten buddies planted a varietyof bulbs that will bloom in the spring. Classes plantedtulips, daffodils, hyacinths and crocuses. They learnedabout how bulbs develop, how they are different fromother types of plants and what they need to grow.Students used bulb planters to dig holes, put in plantfood, planted each bulb, filled the holes and wateredthem. They used bone meal to enrich the soil and providenutrition for the plants. These bulbs, once they bloom,will be used for a fourth grade unit on plants. The tulipsare an especially valuable visual for students to learnabout parts of the plant. The other gardens will includeherbs, the Three Sisters, a butterfly garden, vegetables,and a pumpkin patch. The intention of the gardens is tobring the curriculum to life and provide students with arewarding hands-on gardening experience. The smilesand excitement of fifth graders and their buddies rein-forced the success of this wonderful activity. We can'twait for the spring!!

How Does Our Garden Grow?

Sarah Tract and Bari Yorke participate in apre-reading activity that addresses keythemes in “Three Cups of Tea”.

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Jericho School News December 2009

budget, expenditure and revenue history andprojections. After the overview, Mr.Grishman outlined the skills and contentareas that educators believe students willneed to learn in order to successfully competein the 21st Century workforce.

At the completion of the presentation,workshop participants were divided intosmall groups. In an effort to gather communi-ty input to assist the district in formulatingnew long-term district goals, the followingquestions were posed:

1. What makes a good school great?2. If you could implement two innovations,

what would they be?3. What strategies and/or efficiencies would ensure that high quality public education, in Jericho, remains financially sustainable?After one and a half hours of committee

work, participants reassembled and facilita-tors from each group presented an outline oftheir discussions. Mr. Grishman thanked allfor their input in this initial phase of the goal-setting process, and reported that facilitatorswould meet to draft a summary of the infor-mation gathered and present it to centraladministration. Some of the next steps in thisprocess will include meetings with students

Goals Workshop(continued from page 1)

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District Goals Committee members (from left) Gina Levy, Ilene Joachim, Barbara Krieger,Harold Wanderman and Kevin Brodsky work with facilitator Adam Winnick on answering oneof the three questions posed to groups.

and alumni to receive further informa-tion. Once all the input has been evaluat-ed and considered, a revised set of goalswill be presented in draft to the DistrictGoals Committee and community forreview. The intention of the district is topresent the plan to the Board ofEducation for adoption at a future Boardmeeting. “This is the first in a series of

opportunities to gather input from variousconstituencies to help us put together anew set of district goals,” explains JerichoSuperintendent of Schools HankGrishman. “We look forward to reflectingon the information we receive in an effortto formulate goals that will guide our stu-dents toward a bright and successfulfuture.”

Three Cups of TeaBefore reading Three Cups of Tea, 7th graders

at Jericho Middle School enjoyed a celebratorykickoff event where English Language ArtsCurriculum Associate Dan Salzman introducedstudents to the story. They then participated in apre-reading activity that addressed key themes inthe book. Due to overwhelmingly positive feed-back from students, classes met together againafter reading the first half of the book. Studentsworked in groups, reflecting on what they learnedand discussing key elements of the book, espe-cially the significant role that culture plays in ouridentity. The final collaborative activity will takeplace in December. While drinking Chai tea, stu-dents will address ways to help Greg Mortensonwith his mission to build schools in Pakistan andAfghanistan.

Jericho High School RecognizesDecember 2009 Jericho School News

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The College Board has recognized fifty-four current seniors at Jericho High School as AdvancedPlacement Scholars with Honor.

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The College Board has recognized forty-three current Jericho High School seniors asAdvanced Placement Scholars.

One hundred forty-six current JerichoHigh School seniors are among the 276Jericho High School students who recentlyreceived notification by The College Boardof Advanced Placement Scholar Awards.Award standings are based, for these stu-dents, on Advanced Placement courses com-pleted by May of 2009. More than1,000,000 students took AP Examinations inMay 2008 (May 2009 statistics are unavail-able as yet). The statistics for Jericho HighSchool students speak for themselves.

84% of the class of 2009 completed oneor more Advanced Placement courses. 45%of the Class of 2009 received AP Scholardesignation and 42% of the current seniorclass have earned the same recognition.Current seniors have an opportunity to earnanother AP Award by completing additionalcollege level studies this year.

AP Examinations, which students take inMay after completing college level courses,are graded on a 5-point scale. Credit,advanced placement or both is awarded atmost of the nation’s colleges and universi-ties for grades of 3 or higher. More than1,400 institutions award a year of credit tostudents presenting a sufficient number ofqualifying grades. There are 36 APExaminations offered, each consisting ofmultiple choice and free response (essay orproblem solving) questions.

Current senior Pragya Kakani and tengraduates of the class of 2009, AndrewColeman, Lauren Cooper, James Gladstone,

Abhijay Goenka, Joshua Kornberg, Marvin Li,Shane Liebenthal, Liana Mari, Haixiang Pengand Kevin Tzeng, qualified for the AP NationalScholar Award by earning an average grade of 4or higher on all AP Exams taken, and grades of 4or higher on eight or more of these exams.

Ninety-one students, including forty-eight cur-rent seniors, qualified for the AP Scholar withDistinction Award by earning an average gradeof at least 3.5 on all AP Exams taken, and gradesof 3 or higher on five or more of these exams.Receiving AP Scholar Awards with Distinctionin the senior class are: Jesse Aronica, RohitvarmaBasavaraju, Gabrielle Bass, Mubarrat Bhuiyan,

Jaime Chang, Cecilia Copperman,Justin Einhorn, Jeremy Feinstein,Joseph Gallo, Sean Haghighi, HarryHe, James He, Sophia Hsien, OnurIlingi, Alvin Jeon, Alan Job, DavidJung, Jasleen Kaur, Jack Kaye,Daeyoup Kim, Matthew Knight,Jessica Lebovits, Yvette Leung,Brandon Li, Sahil Lillaney, CodyLipton, Hersh Mehta, Margaret Meng,Julia Millot, Seth Mishan, CarolineMotschwiller, Pooja Rambhia, CharlesRubenfeld, Adam Seiden, Grace Seo,Arpita Shah, Dawi Shin, JasonShinners, Pushpinder Uppal, JasonWang, Kaixi Wang, Arie Wolf, KevinWu, April Xiong, Heeyoung Yoo,Hyun Mo Yoo, Jeffrey Yoon andJennifer Zagelbaum.

Receiving AP Scholar Awards withDistinction from the class of 2009 are: Julie Avrutine, Zachary Barletta,Jennifer Bell, Julia Chalif, Brian Cho,Dawn Chung, Robert Cohen, AndrewColeman, Lauren Cooper, MichaelFreiberg, James Gladstone, MichaelGladstone, Abhijay Goenka, DaynaGreenstein, Jaycee Gruszecki, OliverHorowitz, John Hwang, Katerina Jeng,Eun Jung, Benard Kang, JordanKaren, Joseph Kim, Min-Hye Kim,Joshua Kornberg, Martin Lecher,Marvin Li, Shane Liebenthal, DanielleLohan, Mari Liana, SamanthaMcInerney, Dana Miccio, Scott

The College Board has recognized seniorPragya Kakani as AP National Scholar.

Jericho School News December 2009

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276 Advanced Placement Scholars Mishan, Kassandra Pae, Amar Parikh,Suzanne Park, Haixiang Peng,Samantha Perlstein, Stephen Platz,Rishi Ratan, Jacob Roberts, SaraRotter, Melissa Rudofsky, ShivaniShah, Dasmer Singh, Jason Taibi,Kevin Tzeng, Abigail Weinberg,David Weiss, Stefan Weiss, AdamWeser, Yeu Sanz Wu and RuiqiZhang.

Seventy-two students qualified forthe Scholar with Honor Award,including fifty-four current seniors,by earning an average grade of at least3.25 on all AP Exams taken, andgrades of 3 or higher on four or moreof these exams. AP Scholar withHonor was awarded to the followingseniors: Cara Alpert, Catey Appel,Seung Woo Bek, Alyssa Birbach,Lauren Busch, Jamie Cantor, BrittanyCohen, Gregory Ellner, PhilipFitzpatrick, Heather Friedman,Wendy Ginsberg, MichelleGreenblatt, Derek Han, MarshallHochhauser, Rebecca Hong, GraceJeong, Sylvia Kang, MaxwellKaufman, Chelsea Kutner,Christopher Lam, Jenna Lamm,Kathryn Landsman, Lauren Lazarus,Michael Lesser, Alyssa Leventhal,Siquan Li, Reed Longo, ElizabethMarriott, Neal Marshall, ShanenMcElhinney, Joshua Montazeri,Georgie Morris, Tiya Nandi, JanicePark, Jared Perlman, Zachary Porges,Victoria Saunders, DanielleSchwartz, Ryan Schwartz, JakeSchwarzbaum, Lauren Siegelbaum,Nadia Sikander, Nathan Skurnik,Michael Solomon, JessicaSonnenfeld, Do Yeong Tak, JohnTam, Shelly Thai, Abigail Wank,Danielle Warren, Sasha Weiss,Sydney Werber, Whitney Wu andDavid Zheng.

AP Scholar with Honor was award-ed to the following members of theclass 2009: Derek Ash, RyanBaltimore, Spenser Barnett, MichaelCamhi, Priyanka Chopra, JaimeColtman, Jessica Crusco, LindseyDubb, Nicholas Esposito, BryanFriedman, Laura Klein, ZacharyLevine, Naveen Nandigum, SoohyunPark, Jo-Ann Rosa, Rachel Rosner,

The College Board has recognized forty-eight current Jericho High School seniors asAdvanced Placement Scholars with Distinction.

Vanessa Ross and Michael Tischler. One hundred three students, including forty-

three current seniors, qualified for the AP ScholarAward by completing three or more APExaminations, with grades of 3 or higher. SeniorAP Scholars are: Jonathan Aseel, Andrew Becker,Rachelle Blidner, Michelle Chung, RandiDennett, Mercy Du, Ariel Feldberg, Alec Gerson,Julie Gold, Engeline Gomez, Morgan Green,Taylor Hamerman, Brian Heimowitz, RobertHeimowitz, Brittany Hsu, Jisoo Jeong, YoonsooJung, Daniel S. Katz, John Kiriazis, MichaelKitay, Danielle Koenigsberg, Damon Lee, EricLee, Yang Liu, Mary Loffredo, Samantha Mlotok,Hyung Joon Na, Divya Oberoi, Horace Patrick,Pranav Ragipani, Sagar Rambhia, Max Resnik,Steven Rothstein, Julianne Rucker, TaylorScheiner, Rebecca Shinners, Debbie Simon, JasonSklar, Lindsay Snyder, Ariel Strobel, CarlingSugarman, Meghan Tiangco and Jessica Weingast.

AP Scholar was awarded to the following mem-bers of the class 2009: Aaron Albinder, AmyArnow, Kyle Birnbaum, Pamela Bortnick, EvanBrandoff, Elyssa Carr, Christine Chang, MinwhiChang, Thomas Chang, Melanie Checkla,Jonathan Chen, Joseph Choi, Trevor Cookler,Jordana Diamond, Benjamin Ehrlich, ShanaFeibus, Sheri Feigenbaum, Priya Gandhi, AlecGinsberg, Harrison Godles, Harrison Goodman,Haley Greenfield, Alyssa Greenstein, ScottHalperin, Susie Han, Melissa Hartman, AngelaJung, Jenna Kaplan, Nicole Kapner, Jonathan,Kerbis, Lisa Kim, Annette Kiviat, Lauren Klein,Julia Klimchak, Esther Lee, Paul Lee, DavidLeung, Ellen Mao, Sanchita Mehra, Alison Neher,

Diana Pan, Verghese Polakunnil, GregoryQuackenbush, Evan Rich, Jordan Sakni,Stefanie Seigerman, Pamela Seltzer, AlexSpector, Jonathan Spivak, Lindsay Talve,Daisy Tang, Zachary Tannenbaum, CraigTarasoff, Lauren Tiffen, Nicole Wanderman,Scott Weiss, Alex Wu, Catherine You,Kunah Yun and Jordana Zwerling.

The College Board is a not-for-profit edu-cational association that supports academicpreparation and transition to higher educa-tion for students through the ongoing col-laboration of its member schools, colleges,universities, educational systems and orga-nizations. Jericho, in partnership with TheCollege Board, continues to promote educa-tional excellence for all students.

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Jericho School District staff members honored for ten years of service include: Judi Adler, Patricia Agrillo, Maureen Appiarius, BarbaraBauer, Jennifer Benderly, Jeanne Boyle, Milissa Castanza-Seymour, Marie Chirco, MaryAnn Colucci, Lynn Comolli, Elissa Cosenza,Barry Coval, Lauren DeMarinis, Janis DeMieri, Rosanna Gangidino, Linda Groy, Joan Gulamerian, Patricia Gulitti, Nicole Gumpert, LisaHakes, Barbara Harris, Mellene Hederian, Risa Huzarsky, Jill Kahan, Barbara Kalpakis, Holly Kim, Jill Kipnis, Nancy Kost, JozefKotowski, Barbara Krieger, Josephine Langone, Jerzy Lawreniuk, Mary Leissing, Jacqueline Leonard, Caroline McCormack, ChristineMongiovi, Stephen Mutz, Susan Reidy, Beth Riccuiti, Jennifer Rinaldi, Theone Rinaudo, Beverly Roach, Janine Rodriguez, Margaret Rudis,John Russo, Nancy Schubach, Sandee Thau, Charu Vardhan and Betsy Zahn.

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Community members andschool district employees gath-ered together on Thursdayevening, November 12, 2009,for the annual staff recognitionreception. The district honoredstaff members for outstandingservice to the children andyouth of Jericho.

Jericho School Board President BarbaraKrieger (L) and Superintendent HankGrishman congratulate MarthaSammartano, who was honored for 30years of service to Jericho students. (Notpictured-Eugene Gerardi, MD.)

Jericho School District Honors Staff At Annual Recognition Reception

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Staff members honored for 20 years include: (from left) James Whelan, Denise Ryder, Mary Bensen,Jacek Malecki and Suzanne Jacobsen. (Not pictured-Roberta Boritz and Joanne Daly.)

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!Staff members honored for 25 years include: (from left) bottom row -Robin Fisher, Margaret Oliva, LydiaMarcucci, middle row- Jill Kaufman, Cathy Collins, Zita Rosen, James Kennedy, top row- Todd Benjamin,Lynne Kane, Clare Hussey, Ellen Chaimovitch and Tina Bellotti. (Not pictured- Lisa Berkowitz.)

Jericho School District Honors Staff At Annual Recognition Reception

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NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATION

U.S. POSTAGE

PAIDJERICHO UFSD

December 2009 Jericho School News

Please visit us at our websitewww.jerichoschools.org

Jericho Union Free School District

Jericho, New York 11753(516) 203-3600

Board of EducationBarbara Krieger, PresidentJoseph H. Lorintz, Vice PresidentWilliam FerroShawn GladstoneClaire M. Hochheiser

Superintendent of SchoolsHenry L. Grishman

Newsletter EditorMary Marks

Dates to Remember

Schools ClosedThursday, December 24th

through Friday, January 1st

Schools ReopenMonday, January 4th

Board of Education Meeting& Budget Workshop #1

Thursday, January 14thSeaman Elementary School

7:45 PM

Schools ClosedMonday, January 18th

Budget Workshop #2Thursday, January 21stMiddle School Library

7:30 PMJericho High School students and staff welcome students from a school in the city ofPontevedra, which is in the north of Spain. These students will be living with Jerichofamilies over a two-week period. Jericho students will visit Spain in the spring.Teacher Lucia Alonso coordinated the exchange program for Jericho.

Jericho High School Welcomes Spanish Exchange Students

ECRWSSRESIDENTIAL CUSTOMER

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