Smithtown Elementary first graders studied outdoors for a portion of Friday morning.

Students in Marcie Krause’s first-grade class at Smithtown Elementary received fresh air while working on their alphabet skills on Friday morning.

A new outdoor learning space in the Smithtown Elementary courtyard is providing students and faculty throughout the school with an open-air classroom on a rotating basis.

The outdoor learning space is particularly valuable given the current circumstances, because it provides an extended mask break while learning continues. But the open-air classroom, complete with a chalkboard, picnic tables, umbrellas and assorted outdoor chairs, will continue to be utilized even once the pandemic is fully in the rearview mirror.

The PTA contributed the umbrellas, while the district purchased the tables. And the custodial staff helped set up the area.

Krause’s class took advantage on Friday. She mouthed a sound, and the first graders said aloud what letter matched. Each student then wrote the letter in the air a few times, before also writing it on an individual whiteboard with a marker.

“We’ve always considered the possibility of creating an outdoor learning space,” principal Janine Lavery said. “But, of course, with the onset of COVID and the challenges that it brought to us, we’ve been bringing the children out regularly. Last year, we moved forward with plans to purchase picnic tables so that teachers and staff could eat outside, but also — outside of lunch hours — it could be used as an outdoor classroom.”

Students at High School West were greeted with a welcome back sign provided by the PTSA.

Welcome back!

A little rain at arrival didn’t dampen the enthusiasm for the first day of school — and in-person learning — on Thursday.

Administrators fanned out throughout the Smithtown Central School District’s dozen schools to join staff in greeting students amid the raindrops.

At High School West, a large sign donated by the PTSA that read, “Welcome Back, West Side Pride,” greeted students.

At Nesaquake Middle School, sixth-grade teacher Ron Parmegiani was among the most enthusiastic. He grabbed an umbrella and went car to car as students arrived, offering personalized greetings to each family.

"We are very excited to welcome our students back to school for in-person instruction five days a week,” superintendent Mark Secaur said. “We have many reasons to be enthusiastic about this school year, including the return of extracurricular clubs, sports and activities. Our students also will be able to participate in field trips, concerts, plays and other activities that bring them joy and a well-rounded scholastic experience.

“This year’s enrollment will be near 8,000 students, including 171 students in our new full-day prekindergarten. We stand ready to provide all of our students with whatever academic, social or emotional assistance they may need and look forward to the year ahead.”

The Smithtown Central School District welcomed its newest educators on Monday.

A three-day New Teacher Orientation program began inside Branch Brook Elementary School library in the morning, with board of education members, superintendent Mark Secaur and several other administrators offering their greetings.

The group, which includes teachers, psychologists, social workers and counselors, and which comprises roughly 40 newcomers in total, then began three days of programming to prepare them for the Sept. 9 opening day of school.

Sessions during the three-day event will include strategies for success during the opening days of school, classroom management, an overview of technology resources, meetings with principals, special education and guidance department overviews, and the distribution of security badges, email addresses, passwords and other key material.

Superintendent of Schools Mark Secaur aims to cap the size of any class in the district’s seven elementary schools at 25 students during a typical year.

Particularly mindful this year of keeping classroom density at an appropriate level, Secaur was pleased to report during Tuesday night’s board of education meeting that class sizes at the kindergarten through fifth-grade levels are projected to be well within targeted levels during the 2021-22 academic year that begins on Sept. 9.

The projected average class size for kindergarten will be 18.3 students, with first grade at 20.6, second grade at 20.8, third grade at 21.7, fourth grade at 20.9 and fifth grade at 21.6.

“Going into this year, we purposely sought to lower the numbers because of the pandemic-related concerns we all have,” Secaur reported during Tuesday’s board meeting.

Secaur indicated that class-size projections will continue to be vigilantly monitored.

“These are data we’re monitoring closely to make sure we don’t have creep,” Secaur said. “And if we make decisions to increase the number of sections, we’d like to do so sooner rather than later if there’s a need. But, right now, we’re safely within what our goal was for the beginning of the year.”