Greetings!
Spring is finally coming to Lexington! The trees are flowering and our track and field team has been busy training for their upcoming season. Preparations are already underway for the Middle School carnival, the prom, and other end of year events.
While I don't want to rush the seasons, it's time to think about summer school. I encourage families to submit their students' participation forms before the April 29th deadline. Summer school offers students the opportunity to engage in fun-filled and creative educational activities that reinforce and enrich school-year learning. Especially after two years of disrupted learning due to the COVID-19 pandemic, I highly recommend that all eligible students participate in the six-week program.
Sincerely,
Russell O. West
CEO/Superintendent
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Lexington Receives FUEL for 50 Grant |
Lexington is excited to be a part of FUEL for 50, the Robin Hood Foundation's new initiative to support young children's learning and development through programs focused on their caregivers. Lexington will use the funds to provide the Deaf Mentor program to the families of our youngest students (ages 0-3). Selected from a pool of 350+ applicants, Lexington is one of 50 NYC-based organizations to receive a $25,000 grant, access to workshops, and support to grow this critical work. |
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Lexington's Deaf Mentors show off their #FUELfor50 swag as Lexington prepares to roll out the Deaf Mentor program to families in the Ready to Learn (RTL) program. Pictured (l-r): Patricia Ordonez, Melissa Vigilante, Catrina Zowak (Lower School Principal), Shaunina Young, Jacque Fresolo, & Debra Cole. Absent from photo - Jennifer Spensieri.
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Summer School - Participation Forms Due April 29th |
Students in preschool, elementary, middle school, High School Team, and FLTC are eligible to attend Lexington's summer school. The full-day, in-person program will run for six-weeks, from July 5 to August 12, 2022. Bus transportation is provided. Families must return the participation form by April 29th to reserve a space. Click here for more information and a copy of the participation form.
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Attendance at Lexington's Summer School program helps students maintain academic skills and offers an opportunity to participate in STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art, math) activities. |
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Academic Bowl co-coaches James McGuinness and Charles Wade Phillips would like to congratulate the Academic Bowl Team for their diligence and effort this season. The team participated virtually in the East Regional bracket of the competition against four schools – Rochester School for the Deaf, North Carolina School for the Deaf, READS Collaborative, and Model Secondary School for the Deaf. Each match consisted of three rounds. Lexington’s team won one match and lost the other three.
The Gallaudet University Academic Bowl was established with the goal of fostering the pursuit of academic excellence, promoting a spirit of academic competition and sportsmanship, and providing social opportunities for the development of collegiality and lifelong friendships. Eighty schools participate in three regional brackets with the top 16 teams advancing to the national competition at Gallaudet in May of each year.
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This year's Academic Bowl team includes (clockwise from top left): Andrew C., Alisa T., Kinverly E., Charles Wade Phillips (co-coach), James McGuinness (co-coach) and Alexandra Q. |
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Congratulations to Ricardo Rosario-Frias for achieving third place (Deaf Art category) in the 2022 Marie Jean Philip ASL Poetry, Storytelling & Deaf Art Competition. The contest is sponsored annually by the American Sign Language and Interpreting Education Program at Northeastern University. The event honors the memory of Marie Jean Philip, a tireless advocate for Deaf children, and provides a forum for public recognition of the creativity and talent of Deaf and Hard of Hearing students.
Lexington would like to recognize art teacher Patricia Ordonez for helping fifteen students in five different classes complete and submit the artwork for the competition and Debra Cole, ASL & English Bilingual Education Specialist – Upper School, for her help with the entries. Click here to see a video of the April 7, 2022 awards ceremony!
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Ricardo Rosario-Frias (left) with Patricia Ordonez (second from right) and Debra Cole. |
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A close-up of Ricardo's work. |
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On March 16th, Lexington hosted a high school open house for students from Totten Intermediate School (IS 34) in Staten Island. Lexington's Blue Brights led tours of the school and answered questions from potential Blue Jays. Families who would like a tour of the school or information about admissions should contact the Pupil Personnel Services (PPS) office at 718-350-3250. |
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NDIAA Basketball Recognition |
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High fives to the Lexington varsity basketball players who received 2021-2022 winter sports honors from the National Deaf Interscholastic Athletic Association (NDIAA) in Division 1 Basketball. Recognized students included David P. & Brianna R. (2nd Team All-American) and Heriberto A., Julianna V., Alexandra Q., & Alisa T. (Honorable Mention).
NDIAA supports and promotes individual and collective student-athletic achievement while promoting fair-play competition for over 3,451+ Deaf students attending 49 Deaf schools in the U.S. Click here to see the full list of awardees.
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To break up the late-winter doldrums, students in the Upper School (Middle and High School) participated in Spirit Week from March 14-18. Themes included: Wear White Tuesday, Pajama Day, Twin Day, Crazy Hair Day, and Wear Green Day. |
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Twin Day was popular with students! |
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Everyone loves Pajama Day. |
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Lexington salutes Aaron Laikram, Lexington Class of ’20, for making the 2022 Gallaudet University Men’s Track & Field Team. Aaron won numerous medals during his four-year tenure on the Bluejay’s Track and Field team. In 2019, he helped the Boys’ Track & Field Team win the Metro League Championship and take third place in the Eastern Schools for the Deaf Athletic Association (ESDAA) competition. Patricia McKenzie, Varsity Track & Field Head Coach, felt blessed to have Aaron on Lexington’s roster and fondly remembers his amazing leadership and sportsmanship skills. She, and the entire Lexington family, send warmest wishes to Aaron for a successful season. |
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2021 Graduate Qualifies for Deaflympics! |
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High fives to Dorgianny Flores-Reyes, Lexington Class of 2021, for qualifying for the USA Deaflympics Team in Track & Field. Dorgianny joined the Bluejays’ Track & Field Team in 8th grade and won numerous medals during her four-year tenure. Dorgianny helped the Girls’ Track & Field Team win the Metro League Championship for three years and take third place in the 2019 Eastern Schools for the Deaf Athletic Association (ESDAA) competition. According to Patricia McKenzie, Varsity Track & Field Head Coach, Dorgianny was driven to improve and was always ready to help teammates improve their techniques. The Lexington family will be cheering for Dorgianny during the May 2022 Deaflympics. |
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Bilingual Education Workshop |
Language learning is complex, but there are many ways a teacher can effectively plan for optimal language learning. The key is language planning. This was the theme of Lexington’s Superintendent’s Conference Day on March 15. The workshop was presented via Zoom by Tammy Murphy, K-12 Project Manager of National Programs and Outreach at the Laurent Clerc National Deaf Education Center of Gallaudet University.
According to Murphy, language planning empowers the teaching staff. It allows teachers to concisely describe language learning challenges and take effective action. The staff reviewed different aspects of language competence that are critical to describing language learning challenges: language abilities, content and general vocabulary, and types of discourses and registers. Throughout the session, there were times for reflection, where staff could look back upon a specific teaching activity and describe the language learning challenges.
With Murphy’s guidance, the staff explored different bilingual education strategies to determine which ones could help them address language learning challenges. The session closed with recognition of technology’s powerful role in improving access to language use and experimentation for Deaf students as language learners.
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The workshop presenter was Tammy Murphy, the K-12 Project Manager of National Programs and Outreach at Laurent Clerc National Deaf Education Center. |
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