Four seniors were honored with Suffolk Zone Awards in December. The winners, chosen by the physical education staff, are the top male and female physical education students in the graduating class. Criteria for achieving this honor, as defined by the Suffolk Zone Chapter of the New York State Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance, include earning an A average or above a 90 in high school physical education classes, earning an overall grade point average of 3.0 on a 4.0 scale at the completion of the 11th grade year, and being a physical fitness role model, as well as character and leadership assessments.  

The district congratulates Jack Marti and Amanda Moghadasi from High School East as well as Christina Unkenholz and Nicholas Germano from High School West.

High School West recently held its second annual Field of Honor. Organized by the Leadership classes, all proceeds from the fundraiser help support the ongoing development of the school’s Wall of Heroes. This year’s flags, displayed outside of the main entrance, honored both veterans and frontline workers.

With the support of our newly appointed secondary instructional technology specialist Michelle Manning, sixth graders in Rita D’Amato’s class at Great Hollow Middle School participated in a digital escape room. Mrs. D’Amato created an Egypt Bitmoji Classroom and had the students use Kami and Google Slides to help her escape.

The district connected with students and parents during a virtual family literacy night on Jan. 6. After a welcome message by members of the Smithtown Community Literacy Committee, Superintendent of Schools Dr. Mark Secaur addressed parents and students and read a short story.

Parents and students had the opportunity to choose different online sessions to join throughout the evening every half hour. The literacy event offered something for everyone, with workshops spanning from kindergarten through 12th grade as well as parent workshops. Read-alouds were conducted by faulty members and students.

Some of the sessions included: Holidays Around the World; Diversity Playground; Language and Literacy presented by German, French and Italian language students from Smithtown High School West; Establishing a Reading Culture at Home; Sign Me a Story, presented by Mr. Leifsson and his sign language students; Best Books for High School and Middle School; Spanish Stories, presented by members of the Smithtown High School West Spanish Honor Society; How to Be a Better Writer; How to Make your Home Library More Diverse; Using Audio Stories; and Using Live-brary.