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Prior to running in the Timber Point Turkey Trot, students at Timber Point have been participating in a Thanksgiving food drive. All items collected will be donated to a local food pantry to help others in their time of need.

High school senior Sophia Worst signed a national letter of intent on Nov. 12 to play field hockey for Wagner College, a Division I school in Staten Island. Her major is undecided.

The 2020 team captain, a defender, is a four-year varsity starter. She won All-Division honors in 2019 and the Scholar-Athlete award in 2017, 2018 and 2019. Worst, a member of the school’s National Honor Society, also plays for the Strong Island club team, which qualified to play in the USA Field Hockey National Indoor Tournament in 2019 and 2020. She has participated in USA Field Hockey’s Futures Program since freshman year, and was selected to play on the New York State team for the National Futures Championship and the AAU Junior Olympic Games.

Melissa Love’s second-grade class at Connetquot recently spent some DEAR time outside in the fresh air. The acronym stands for “Drop Everything and Read.”

“I like to read outside because it is quiet, and I can get some fresh air,” said Liam Nemeth.

“Reading outside is cool because it is fun and calm,” said Shahaan Qureshi.

“I like to read outside under a tree because it is comfortable and peaceful,” said Alee Nielsen.

“Reading outside is nice because I like reading and I also like being outside,” said Lily Blore.

“I like doing DEAR time outside because it is quiet, and I love to read,” said Danni Baumbusch.

Senior Ryan Smith signed a national letter of intent on Nov. 12 to play lacrosse for Hofstra University, where he plans to major in physical education.

A midfielder, the 2021 team captain for East Islip joined the varsity team as a sophomore, when the team played in the county championship game. He earned a Scholar-Athlete award in 2019. Smith, who also plays club lacrosse for Legacy, is a member of the school’s Foreign Language National Honor Society and the Town of Islip Youth Board.

The high school’s Class of 2021 was celebrated on Nov. 4 and 5 with a socially distanced Senior Breakfast. 

Students were treated to bagels, muffins,  cookies and refreshments.  Senior superlatives were announced according to the winner’s cohort and more than $1,000 in raffles were won by 50 members of the class, 25 winners per cohort. 

At the event, senior advisers Kate Boucher and Marissa Quigley announced that the Class of 2021 would be the first class to have an East Islip High School hallway dedicated as the “Senior Hallway.” The hallway will start at the sports lobby and end at the area of the school’s Forum. The advisers have activities planned to personalize the hallway for the senior class, starting with the display of a 10-foot banner signed by every member of the Class of 2021.

Good Afternoon,

This is an important message that also begins to outline the new process we are using with the Suffolk County Department of Health to try and mitigate the spread of the COVID virus.

Due to two staff members and one bus matron testing positive, RCK Elementary School will be on remote learning, tomorrow, Monday, November 16th. After consultation with the Suffolk County Department of Health , the classes and staff directly affected will quarantine as per Department of Health guidelines. RCK will reopen on Tuesday morning for in person instruction. The district has provided the Department of Health with all pertinent information. They have begun the contact tracing process at this time and all persons who need to quarantine have been notified. We apologize for any inconvenience.

Working with the Dept. of Health, we believe these short moves to remote learning will protect our students and staff by mitigating the spread of the virus. Supporting the contact tracing process, we believe this approach will allow us to achieve our goal of keeping the school district open in a safe and healthy fashion.

Once again, we apologize for any inconvenience.

Please were your masks, please practice social distancing and if you have any concerns at all about your personnel health and safety, please get tested.

Due to seven (7) confirmed cases of COVID-19 among our staff, the middle school will be on remote instruction until Tuesday, December 1st. All pertinent information has been forwarded to the Suffolk County Department of Health and contact tracing has begun. Anyone deemed to have been in direct contact will be notified by the Department of Health.

For East Islip’s elementary schools, Nov. 9 marked the first day that hybrid learning students were back in the building five days a week. To help make the day extra special, and welcome returning remote students, RCK voted on Election Day for a Spirit Day theme for Nov. 9, in which “Pajama Day” won by a landslide.

“Our students came to school cozy, ready to learn and ready to have fun,” said Principal Janet Jones. “They did an outstanding job entering and maneuvering in the classrooms and throughout the building. RCK’s students have taken this new normal in stride. They are strong, caring and smart. While chatting with the students who were on the lunch line, one fourth grader told me, ‘I love RCK. Today is like the old days in third grade. It’s great to have all my friends back. I really love this school.’ It is hard for me to believe we have not had a full building since March 13.”

At the district’s Nov. 12 Board of Education business meeting, Joann Walsh was appointed by the board as a trustee. She replaces former trustee Christopher Nicolia, who resigned on Nov. 2. Nicolia was elected to the board in May 2019 for a three-year term. Walsh’s term will end in May 2021, when she will be eligible to run to complete Nicolia’s term.

Tracy Nelson’s kindergarten class at Timber Point recently discussed Veterans Day. Each student was asked to imagine they were in the military, and think about what branch they would be in. Some chose the Army or Navy, while others picked the Air Force, Marines or Coast Guard, then they labeled and drew beautiful pictures of the branch they had selected.

Attachments:

• Click to read letter

Connetquot first-grade teachers Jen Giordano and Jessica Petroglia recently turned safety shields that were installed on students’ desks into Jeeps. The protective plastic shields were installed in anticipation of all elementary students coming back full time on Nov. 9. To avoid students feeling isolated behind the shields, the teachers transformed them into adventurous learning vehicles complete with their own personalized license plates.

The East Islip Athletic Booster Club's holiday store is now open online. We hope you'll enjoy this year's selection of apparel. Please order early to ensure delivery of your items for the holidays.

The high school’s cosmetology students recently created amazing fantasy updos on their manikins, inspired by Halloween and the fall season. Guided by teacher Candice Rodriguez, the students worked all week on their looks, searching for different pictures to use as an inspiration for their creations. Large amounts of hairspray and hair products were used to create these unique looks. The manikins were then put on display in the school’s main lobby.

East Islip students across the district celebrated Red Ribbon Week from Oct. 26 to 30, focusing on making healthy choices, spreading kindness and being good citizens. Special daily themes included wearing pajamas to show the importance of making good choices the second you wake up; showing off “crazy hair” to let everyone know to use your head to choose your words wisely, do the right thing and be kind; wearing “crazy socks” as a reminder that eating healthy foods is good for you from your head to your toes; wearing school colors to be proud members of a positive East Islip community; and wearing favorite Halloween colors or outfits while pledging to make good choices.

“It’s always great to join in on activities that promote the spirit of making good decisions and good citizenship,” said Ñî¹óåú´«Ã½ Principal Deborah Smith.

In prior years, representatives from the high school’s Students Against Destructive Decisions club visited fifth-grade classes at Ñî¹óåú´«Ã½ and RCK to present for Red Ribbon Week. The high schoolers were not permitted to visit the elementary schools this year due to COVID-19, so the SADD Club shared a slide presentation with all the fifth-grade teachers to show to their classes, which included a video on peer pressure, drug facts, a game and messages to remind students to stay away from drugs. The video can be viewed below.

“As we work through the pandemic, we know that we must be creative and still do the important programs that we have always done and send the message that we usually send to the fifth graders in our district,” said SADD adviser Bridget Lopiccolo.