Of course, we are also deeply engaged in academics. In Environmental Science, students have been assessing the health of the nearby brook by creating and submerging artificial "leaf packs" at various sites. In October, students retrieved their packs to examine them for macro-invertebrates, which indicate the health of the ecosystem. Students then tested the brook for abiotic factors such as dissolved oxygen and pH.

 

These students joined the American Studies class for a trip on the Clearwater , the flagship of the environmental organization Hudson River Sloop Clearwater. After raising the 3,000 lb sail, students engaged in water testing, learned about the history of trade on the river, and explored art and poetry inspired by the Hudson River Valley.  

Students in American Studies are also invested in the process of writing their literary research papers. After closely examining their chosen texts, students are now working to develop thesis statements and outlines. The finished papers often exceed twenty pages in length. This assignment prepares our students for the demands of in-depth research and writing projects they will face in college and beyond.

The first quarter is traditionally hectic time in the Counseling Department, and the past few weeks have been no exception.  We welcomed close to 400 freshmen to the high school and have continued to support their transition through our Freshman Seminar and Civic Education programs.  The Deans registered new upperclassmen as well, and they have benefited from the SHS Intro program to familiarize them to their new surroundings.  Our work with seniors has continued through ongoing conferences with families regarding the college process, and we have worked closely with students across our entire caseload in helping them navigate their academic, personal, and social lives at Scarsdale. 

We recently concluded our "Conversation with the Deans" program for freshmen parents, and are looking forward to continuing this with parents of juniors and sophomores in the coming months.  The Deans held two application workshops designed to answer students' questions about their specific college applications, and successfully conducted our yearly Essay Workshop Day, a program run in coordination with our colleagues in the English Department.  The Department has already hosted over one hundred and fifty college representatives as they visited our school, with plenty more to come.  Three Deans also represented Scarsdale at the National Association of College Admissions Counselors annual conference, where thousands of college counselors and admissions professionals attended workshops, networked, and held important conversations about our profession.  All of us are looking forward to the next quarter, as we remain committed to our work with students and our broader school community.

The 2017-2018 year got off to a strong start with meaningful discussions of literature happening in English classrooms throughout the school. It a true delight for teachers to present classic texts to a fresh audience of students each year. Freshmen met Gilgamesh and his companion Enkidu; sophomores were introduced to such figures as Atticus Finch from To Kill a Mockingbird and Piggy from Lord of the Flies; juniors met Hester Prynne from A Scarlet Letter, Jay Gatsby, or Frederick Douglass; seniors encountered the complex figures of Hamlet, Oedipus, Sherlock Holmes, and Sir Gawain. 

Other highlights from first quarter: approximately 100 juniors traveled to SUNY Purchase to see a live production of Arthur Miller's The Crucible. Accompanied by their teachers Mr. Ceruzzi, Ms. Kelly, Ms. Rosenzweig, and Mr. Sawyer, students watched the Purchase repertory bring to life this timely study of "fake news" in America. Meanwhile, as part of a study of storytelling in world religions, students in Ms. Jakymiw's ninth-grade classes learned about how symbolic patterns are used to commemorate Diwali, the Hindu festival of light. Together with Social Studies teacher Ms. Claussen, Ms. Jakymiw and her students used chalk to create Rangoli designs outside the Brewster Road entrance.

Health
Students have been actively learning a wide variety of relevant health-related topics. In Mr. Tulley's classes, students studied and discussed risk factors for drug use. The concept of early (preteen/teen) and often drug use as a prominent risk factor was highlighted, and classes used SHS Pride Survey (2014) data as context. Students watched an episode of "Intervention", highlighting examples of enabling and codependent relationships within the documentary. This unit concludes with a multigenre project, with students working in collaborative groups to research specific classifications of drugs and present their findings in their choice of a number of creative ways (skit, song, slideshow, etc.).  

Ms. Levenberg's classes began the year with a Mental Health unit, the goals of which are for students to be able to identify and handle personal, academic, and familial stressors (both positive and negative), learn to recognize effects (physical, emotional and psychological), determine how to handle the stress, learn to relate to others, and develop a series of good choices in response. The unit culminates with an in-class reflection that allows the students to apply their knowledge to a series of scenarios and then constructively analyze the proposed solutions. 

The year has gotten off to an exciting start with new acquisitions, 9th Grade orientations and compelling research projects. Added to our already robust online database collection are four additional resources including Religion and Philosophy Database and Research in Context. We have also acquired NoodleTools, a citation and note-taking tool which offers a more reliable and sophisticated platform than EasyBib. Our print fiction and nonfiction collections continue to grow with titles ranging from Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI to Turtles All the Way Down, a novel by John Green. 

In addition to our brand new desktop computers, we now have 30 additional Dell Chromebooks which the students have been eagerly checking out for use in the library. In a continued effort to meet the dynamic needs of students, we have moved tables, chairs, computers and book shelves to provide and delineate more quiet and collaborative spaces.

Logic Studies
Ms. Castellano's class celebrated Halloween with a Sudoku inspired Logic Game called Chocolate Fix, except they used real candy! They had a great time applying their knowledge of Logic and using deductive reasoning skills, all while enjoying a Halloween treat!   As part of a logic unit, Mrs. Pulford's 423 students participated in the "Hour of Code" activity and fixed broken robots using logic. http://www.thinkfun.com/hourofcode/

Chocolate Fix	Chocolate Fix	Hour of Code

Every Vote Counts
In the Math 454i, Math Applications course students studied the various voting methods: Plurality Method, Borda Count Method, Plurality-with-Elimination Method and Pairwise Comparison Method. Students, in groups, then researched and presented on the following projects: Grammy Awards, Heisman Trophy, Nobel Prize and Olympic Host City and World Cup. The talked about how the winners are selected, what voting methods are used, who gets to vote and if the process is prone to corruption. The students realized quickly that it wasn't just about voting, but how your vote is counted that is of utmost importance. 

Math Team News
At the math team initial meeting, students formed groups to practice problem solving together. These problems emphasize logical and creative thinking, but do not require mathematical knowledge beyond 9th grade.  The math team participates in a nation-wide contest called Math Madness. It is a team-based event, played online, with questions similar to those on the American Mathematics   Competitions. Students particularly enjoy the collaboration rounds of this contest where they solve problems together. 

Human Histogram

Students in AT Statistics classes learned about symmetric and skewed distributions. They then formed human histograms to display their understanding.

What's a Hedge Fund? 

Some Statistics students and Business Club members were treated to a guest speaker, Mr. Lavon Von Redden, who shared his experience as a hedge fund manager and predicting stock movement. Mr. Von Redden discussed his career in the industry and how created portfolios: "A story, a theme, a change. Focus on these things, whenever you're investing." Students learned about fundamental analysis versus technical analysis, how to pick stocks, and the importance of watching the news to look for growth in a stock.

We begin this year as the flagship of the district program recognized for nine consecutive years as Among the Best Communities for Music Education. The fact that we are already in full performance mode is a testament to this honor. 

In continuing to provide as many instructional demonstrations as possible to enhance student learning as well as spring-board deeper discussion, the chemistry department put together a spectacle of stimulating demonstrations for students in October. On Halloween, chemistry students were engaged in observing several demonstrations that reinforced content learned in prior units, as well as introduced several phenomena that will be studied in further detail later in the year.  

A luminol demonstration showed how light can be produced via a chemical reaction - a phenomenon known as chemiluminescence. This led to a conversation of fluorescence versus phosphorescence, as well as the role electrons play in the production of light. Another demonstration introduced students to a combustion reaction. Acetylene gas was produced from the combination of ordinary water and calcium carbide stones. This very same reaction was used, in a more controlled manner, to produce light in coal miner's lamps before the creation of portable batteries. The result of igniting the gas was a perfectly carved jack-o-lantern - the only way chemists know how to carve a pumpkin. 

Finally, students witnessed density in action when they heard sound waves as they traveled through a dense gas such as sulfur hexafluoride. Despite its intimidating name, sulfur hexafluoride is inert and used by electricians when dealing with open wiring to prevent sparks and arcing. The sound, traveling through the dense gas in the lungs, moves slower, and we interpret this slower movement as a sound emission with a lower tone.

In the 12th grade City 2.0 classes taught by Emily Block, Maggie Favretti and Fallon Plunkett, students were tasked with identifying a specific problem related to a certain aspect of the Scarsdale community. As part of their work, students met with meeting with a variety people and local organizations, including Mayor Hochvert and the Forum's Downtown Revitalization Committee.

City 2.0 interview in the Village

French Revolution role play

In David Sheerin's 10th grade class, students engaged in a French Revolution role-play. In this multi-day role play, students were assigned specific characters from the French Revolution and engaged in debates that simulated actual historical events from the French Revolution.

In Carlos Bedoya's 12th grade Food for Thought classes, students travelled to the Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture where they learned about sustainable agriculture as an alternative to the industrial agricultural industry. Students had a chance to speak to farmers, cook their own lunch from fresh produce picked at the farm, and learn about the importance of policies that protect the environment and encourage biodiversity in agriculture.

In Kate Krahl's 12th grade Advanced Topics US Government class students created "spot ads" for November's Westchester County Executive election and the referendum on whether to hold a New York state constitutional convention. These are two of the student-produced ads from the referendum question on holding a state constitutional convention.

Students in Patrick Healy and Sue Silver's 9th grade World History and English classes went on a Geocaching expedition around the high school and were then challenged to draw the map of their journeys. Later, both classes made further connections to maps and journeys, in history, literature as well as their own lives. 

The Learning Resource Center started off the year welcoming our new freshman and helping them transition to the high school. We also welcomed their parents to the "9th Grade LRC Parents Welcome." The night provided an informal forum for parents and LRC teachers to meet and talk about the transition into the high school and the role that the LRC plays in their child's journey through SHS. Parents were provided an overview of the services, followed by a Q&A segment.  

While our freshmen are transitioning to high school, our seniors are looking towards the next step in their academic journey. After working with many of the seniors for over three years, it's exciting to help them plan for college. We look forward to celebrating with them! 

After-school help in the LRC continues for all classified students. Teachers are available Tuesday through Thursday from 3:00 - 3:45 and on Friday from 2:00 - 2:45 to work on homework, test preparation, organization skills and anything else they may need assistance with. Please encourage your child to attend. 

Finally, the LRC staff has participated in Professional Development workshops focusing on executive functioning and mindfulness. As the year progresses we will continue to explore workshops and conferences to keep current with the latest trends in special education.

New second level electives were added to the STEAM program this year: Robotics, Design/Build, Design for Modern Production and Wearables/Physical Computing. In addition, with a grant from the Scarsdale Schools Education Foundation, we are prototyping the third level Entrepreneurship course, which will be offered as an Advanced Topics course next year. 

Introduction to Engineering classes have just finished the "take-apart" of an object, allowing students to understand how all the pieces function together. Introduction to Design and Fabrication students, after a short redesign of an everyday object, have learned Fusion 360, a 3D modeling program and are working through the design process to create a 3D modelled object, which will alleviate stress. 

Design for Modern Production students are looking at negative behaviors within certain spaces at SHS and will be designing and digitally prototyping objects to change those behaviors. Robotics students just finished learning about gearing ratios through building drag racers and designing maze challenges .  Physical Computing students have created a sewable electronics project and are moving into coding.

Robotics Maze Challenge

Wearable Electronics

The Design/Build students learned about hardwoods and power tools through making wood kitchen utensils and are embarking on a real school based challenge.

The Entrepreneurship independent study kicked off with a full day design workshop led by consultant Eugene Korsunskiy, who taught at Stanford's d.school and now teaches at Dartmouth College Thayer School of Engineering. 

Although still in our temporary space, the classes are all off to a great start!

The first quarter has been non-stop for the Student Government. We began the year with Freshman Orientation and our service project which had the incoming freshmen assembling backpacks with school supplies for the new year for kids in need. The first day of school culminated with the bonfire where the party-like atmosphere was enhanced by free burgers and hot dogs for all attendees. 

The following week saw our first Spirit Week, and the High School students came in daily wearing themed clothing ranging from red, white and blue to pajamas to Scarsdale maroon and white. The week culminated with the fall pep rally where we introduced the varsity sports teams and entertained the students with our first faculty volleyball game. 

Freshman class elections then took center stage, and as a result, eight new officers now represent the class of 2021. The school government officers next took over the A-School for a morning and ran leadership training for the members of the class governments.  

Following the second night of parent-teacher conferences, the Student Government threw a faculty appreciation breakfast, complete with freshly made waffles and princess pancakes. 

Wanting to extend its efforts beyond the SHS community, the Student Government then focused its efforts on helping others by hosting the SHS Cares: Hurricane Relief Dinner fundraiser. The students chose to donate the event's proceeds to the American Red Cross and they were able to contribute nearly $9000 to the charity as a result of the community dinner. Many thanks to all who contributed and attended!

Six sections of students studying Spanish with Robert Weldon and Robin Bray worked with Art teacher Beth Colleary making colorful tissue paper marigolds that will adorn the Day of the Dead altars that they are constructing outside their classrooms. After learning about Frida Khalo and her celebration of Mexican culture, students made plans for the decoration of the altars that they are dedicating to hurricane victims in Puerto Rico and Mexico.  (more photos)

Students in Sra. Bray's Spanish classes baked Pan de Muertos to celebrate the Mexican holiday El Día de los Muertos. Bread was judged by members of the school faculty. Criteria was best taste, best presentation and most authentic.  (more photos)

This summer, John Van Way had the opportunity to work collaboratively with Beth Colleary to design a framework of lessons for Latin 323 to be incorporated in the fall of 2017. Their visit to the Cloisters prompted an introduction of the Cloisters collection as well as the themes that are prevalent in medieval art and Latin Literature.  

Also this summer, Judy Tanen and Robin Bray had the opportunity to meet with Beth Colleary to continue their work on the theme of mindfulness ("Passion Days"), and introduce topical events/issues based projects so as to provide learners with more of a "real world" perspective in the current Spanish 333 curriculum. 

The China Exchange program 2017/18 started this October with the hosting of ten students from Pinghe International School. SHS students had the opportunity to get to know their new Chinese friends from Shanghai by hosting them for two weeks, attending school with them and showing them around various sites. They are looking forward to traveling to China in April 2018.