News from Our Schools 10/30/20

News & updates

October 30, 2020

Thank You, Dr. Bongo

Dr. Anthony Bongo’s 21-year career with the City School District of New Rochelle draws to a close today, but the impact he made will live on.

Gregarious and welcoming, a lively storyteller, a lifelong New Rochellean, he joined the District as Assistant Principal at Isaac E. Young Middle School in 1999. Through the years, he became known as an educator with a towering sense of empathy and a laser focus on students’ needs. In 2005, he began 14 years as Principal of IEYMS and was elevated to a cabinet position, Assistant Superintendent for Pupil and Student Support Services, in 2019.

He retires effective today, leaving behind a legacy of caring.

Just ask Columbus Elementary School Principal Michael Galland, who was encouraged to seek a school leadership position when he served as math department chair at IEYMS under Dr. Bongo.

“I owe him a lot,” Galland said. “He was a great mentor and a great leader. He fully believes in putting others in front of himself. He continually encouraged me. He would say, ‘If you think it’s right, do it.’”

Also ask Laurie Marinaro, Assistant Principal at George M. Davis Jr. Elementary School. She was English chair at IEYMS about the same time.

“Part of what makes him so funny is that he speaks in disarmingly simple truths,” she said. “Dr. Bongo has no filter for a reason. He has always believed that speaking the hard truth is exactly what creates a real connection between people.”

Perhaps most of all, ask Dr. Tawanda Robinson, his successor as IEYMS Principal. She began as a counselor when Dr. Bongo became Assistant Principal, then succeeded him in that role when he became Principal.

“If I would have met him outside of work, I probably would have been his friend,” Dr. Robinson said. “He’s funny, he’s outgoing. He has a unique way of telling stories, a unique way of getting his point across. He can capture an audience.”

Bongo is also known for his pride in the city of his birth. Graduating New Rochelle High School in 1976, he earned two higher education degrees in the city – one at Iona College and another at the College of New Rochelle. (His doctorate would come later from Columbia University’s Teachers College.)

He served several years as a school psychologist and administrator in the Bronx and taught courses at Iona College and the Westchester Business Institute before finally securing the position in New Rochelle.

“That was the goal,” he said.

Indeed, Bongo is the second of four generations to attend District schools, starting with his mother,

(Please see "Dr. Bongo" below.)

Millie Bonilla

Board of Education

Hires Bonilla as Clerk

Millie Bonilla has been named Clerk and Secretary to the New Rochelle Board of Education.

She was sworn in this week, replacing Lisdalia Saraiva, who retired this summer. Assistant Clerk and Secretary Taylor Emanuel served as interim clerk while the Board conducted a search to fill the position.

“This was a good opportunity to work in a larger district and I appreciate the diversity in New Rochelle,” Bonilla said.

She speaks English and Spanish. Before coming to New Rochelle, she served as Pelham Public School’s District Clerk and Secretary to the Superintendent for two years. She holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from Hofstra University.

In New Rochelle, Bonilla fills a crucial position. She is responsible for maintaining records, preparing resolutions for Board of Education meetings and serving as the liaison between the Board and the public. A major responsibility of the Clerk is overseeing and coordinating the annual budget vote and school board election for the District.

“Ms. Bonilla possesses all the qualities we were looking for in a Clerk,” said Board of Education President Rachel Relkin. “The clerk is the person behind the scenes making sure everything runs correctly. Ms. Bonilla has the experience and the understanding of how a District runs that we need. We are confident that she will fit right in.”

NRHS Senior Arbeiter

Is Regional Governor For Junior State

New Rochelle High School senior Dev Arbeiter has been a member of Junior State of America, a national organization whose mission is to boost civic engagement among students, since his freshman year. He also fills a much larger role.

For 2020-21, Arbeiter holds the title of governor for the JSA’s Northeast region, one of 10 regions or “states” that comprise the organization. Covering New York and New England, the Northeast state includes nearly 50 chapters with approximately 500 students.

“I love talking to everyone in the organization; they’re all really great people,” said Arbeiter. “It’s definitely been one of the most impactful experiences of my high school career.”

In addition to a governor, each region is run by about 50 appointed Cabinet members.

From early on, Arbeiter showed the leadership qualities that set him on course to become governor, said Debbie Minchin, who served as faculty advisor to the NRHS chapter until her retirement as a social studies teacher in June. By sophomore year, he held a Northeast Cabinet position, debate agent. He also served as chief of staff for the NRHS team.

Last year, Arbeiter held the position of Director of Debate for the Northeast, leading other members of the debate department to organize all the debates across multiple conventions.

“He’s a very good leader,” Minchin said. “He’s a very good listener and he really is inclusive. He gets other students to work with him.”

As governor for the Northeast, Arbeiter leads his Cabinet to meet goals he has established, such as creating a certain number of debates for the upcoming convention, organizing a lineup of speakers for the convention and managing attendee engagement. He also works to enact the platform outlined during his election campaign.

Arbeiter has also explored his passion for government in two internships with New York State Senator Shelley B. Mayer.

“That experience has given me an inside look into how government operates and the positive impact on my community,” said Arbeiter. “Those internships, and my experience with JSA, have heavily influenced my desire to work in government in the future and create my own positive impact.”

COVID Notification

Protocols

The City School District of New Rochelle is taking all necessary and appropriate steps to proactively limit potential COVID-19 exposure in our buildings. This includes adhering to Westchester County Department of Health (WCDOH) as well as our own internal guidelines regarding the reporting of all necessary covid-19 information to students, staff and the community. In doing so we must also ensure that the confidential medical information of our students and staff are protected at all times. This delicate balance sometimes precludes the District from disseminating certain specific information sought by the members of the public, including any information that could potentially reveal the identity of a student’s or staff member’s medical condition in any manner.

The District provides the following types of notifications to our constituent groups depending upon the circumstances:

Classroom Notifications

· Individualized, most specific information provided, abiding by HIPPA/FERPA

· Specific instructions will be provided regarding quarantine

Building/Districtwide Notifications

· Generalized, less specific information provided

Quarantine Instructions Provided to:

· Staff and classmates who were around a COVID-19 Positive person while infectious (including 48 hours before symptoms)

How Many People to Quarantine?

· Schools with classrooms that are contained will have fewer contacts to notify vs those where classes mix

· Quarantines may impact only one or more classrooms, bus(es), and/or section or entirety of a school building

· Building closures will be minimized.

· Elementary Schools - may not require building closure

· Middle/High Schools - may require building closure to assist in contact tracing efforts or be necessary for a widespread quarantine

How Does the District Handle Off-site Exposures that Impact a Group of Students/Staff?

· Depending on the impact on our student/staff population, the District will collaborate with outside entities and the WCDH on identifying and notifying students contacts of COVID Positive individuals to limit further exposure to potentially infectious individuals in our buildings.

The health and welfare of students and staff continues to be our highest priority. We will continue to provide any and all necessary information to the extent appropriate and legally permissible under the circumstances to ensure the safety and welfare of our students and staff.

Sports Schedule

For upcoming New Rochelle athletic competitions, check out the Athletics Calendar.

* This link connects to an outside website

Sara Fryxell and Julia Yang

Student Scientists

Go Cellular

In Search of Cures

The students in New Rochelle High School’s Science Research Program explore a dazzling range of topics under the mentorship of professional scientists from some of the top institutions of learning and exploration. Each week in this column, we’ll learn about two students’ activities. In January, researchers in grades 4 through 8, many of them mentored by the high school students, will present their research in the second annual Research Fair.

Sara Fryxell, Senior

Mentor: Dr. Cathy Savage-Dunn, biology department, Queens College, CUNY

Sara Fryxell spent two summers studying the cells that drive the growth of miniscule roundworms. Her mission is to increase the medical world’s understanding of ailments such as brittle-bone disease and cancer.

Her research focused on signaling pathways, the biological process cells use to communicate. She examined the Bone Morphogenetic Protein (BMP) signaling pathway, which governs growth and body size of the worm, known by the Latin name C. elegans. The process in the worms is similar to human cells’ communication, which, when it goes awry, can lead to the bone condition, pulmonary hypertension or can fuel cancer’s progress. The tiny worms – they grow to about 1 millimeter – also are ideal because their overall biology is simple enough to observe the processes clearly.

In her study, Fryxell identified another protein that regulates a key gene in the process, activating or repressing it to control the way it performs its function, much like the operator manages a piece of heavy machinery.

“All these discoveries allow scientists to better comprehend the communicative process of the signaling pathway, and gets the scientific community one step closer to solving issues in the pathway that lead to the suffering of thousands,” Fryxell said.

The experience taught Fryxell to establish a scientific procedure and work with high-tech lab equipment, hazardous chemicals and living organisms. She presented her findings in laboratory meetings to other scientists at Queens College.

Julia Yang, Junior

Mentor: Dr. Teresa Bowman, Ph.D., Albert Einstein College of Medicine

Julia Yang is helping scientists seeking to better understand blood disorders. She’s comparing methods of monitoring the regrowth of decimated blood stem cell populations in zebrafish larvae.

“Observing the way that cells rebound from the impact of a blood disorder helps us learn the cause of the disorder, which is a step toward eventually finding the cure,” she said.

Yang conducted her research via Zoom and emails because the coronavirus pandemic prevented her from studying in the laboratory over the summer.

She worked with images of the blood cells of zebrafish larvae, a computer software known as Fiji, and a computer program plug-in known as Streamlined Particle Quantification (SParQ). Fiji enabled her to count the zebrafish blood cell images by sight. SParQ, a program within Fiji, automated the process. The goal was to determine which method was more efficient and accurate.

Yang is calculating the results of her study, but the project has already had one positive result: she devoured many journal articles about stem cell biology, broadening her knowledge of medical science. That’s a great advantage for Yang, who plans to become a pediatric surgeon.

Volunteers Plant

Donated Tulip Bulbs

To Honor Class of 2020

A group of volunteers gathered Sunday to plant a tribute to the New Rochelle High School Class of 2020 that will burst from the ground in a purple and white display next spring.

Twenty-one community members planted 2,020 tulips bulbs outside the House IV cafeteria of New Rochelle High School. The bulbs had been donated in the spring by Tom and Ally Gallin, parents of a member of the class. They are intended to be sign of the community’s affection for the class that missed so many end-of-year events, including the senior prom, because of COVID-19 restrictions.

A plaque in honor of the class will be mounted in the near future.

The project was a group effort. Trevor Benevento, the City School District of New Rochelle Working Grounds Foreman led a grounds team in clearing the beds, removing sod and dirt. Volunteer New York! put out the call for volunteers, who were organized by Julie Konvisser, the City of New Rochelle Director of Community Engagement.

Kelly Meringolo, a horticultural professional, guided the volunteers in proper planting of the bulbs. They included purple prince and white prince varieties.

The volunteers began the afternoon working with the people they had come with, but soon made friends and connections, even while wearing masks and maintaining social distance.

“People had a great time,” Konvisser said. “By the end you had kids who hadn’t known each other talking and chatting and adults bridging across generations. It’s a beautiful thing to see that kind of connection going on through volunteerism.”

Dr. Bongo's 1976 yearbook photo from New Rochelle High School.

Dr. Bongo

(Continued)

whose father immigrated to New Rochelle from Italy. His three sons and three of his five grandchildren attend District schools. They all live in New Rochelle.

“We’ve always been a diverse, inclusive community,” Dr. Bongo said. “It’s the great ‘big-city small

town.' It’s still got a small-town feel.”

He is most closely associated with IEYMS.

“It’s a school that fits the core of what the District is about,” he said. “It’s a joyous place.”

Teacher Jennifer Vivolo-Carson sensed his contagious enthusiasm for the school from the time she arrived, the same time Dr. Bongo did.

“We all knew how great Isaac was, and he never let you forget that,” she said. “No matter what time you got to work, Dr. Bongo’s car was there.”

Board of Education President Rachel Relkin sensed it, too.

“I’ll never forget how welcoming he was to me,” she said. “He made me feel accepted and included

and right at home at Isaac.”

On Tuesday night, the Board honored him in a proclamation.

“Dr. Bongo continually encouraged and supported colleagues to emulate his daily interactions with students and to assimilate his core belief – that building and nurturing relationships of genuine caring

and mutual understanding with students is foundational to successful teaching and learning in all forms,” it reads. Several Board members implored him to keep his current cell number so he could be reached for consultation.

Parent Mary Monzon was struck by his rapport with staff, his connection with students and his openness to discussing whatever issues arose.

“He treated the students with respect and with friendship,” she said.

While he ran IEYMS, the school quadrupled the number of eighth-graders taking high-school-level courses. The school also earned the title of Breakthrough School from the National Association of Secondary School Principals in 2008 and 2013. Dr. Bongo said Dr. Robinson shares in the credit for those accomplishments.

Dr. Bongo also began International Day, when students celebrate their heritages in front of the section known as The Castle.

Galland observed Dr. Bongo’s key strength: following his instincts. In one instance, Galland said, when a marching band from Italy was scheduled to play outside the school, Dr. Bongo refused to make an indoor backup plan despite a forecasted rainstorm. Sure enough, the rain held off long enough for the concert to fill the city’s South End with music.

“That’s Anthony,” Galland said. “He willed the rain to stay away.”

Now that he is retiring, Dr. Bongo promises to still be around. He plans on engaging in community service, writing about leadership and caring, and becoming involved with school-principal training programs at colleges.

He will also likely have to make time to hear from the friends, former colleagues and admirers in the District.

“Your empathy runs deep and your love for this city and this school district is really moving to watch,” Board member Julia Muggia Ochs told him at the Board meeting Tuesday. “I thank you for everything you’ve left us. And seriously, don’t change your phone number.”