City School District of New Rochelle
News & Updates
March 12, 2021
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Budget Session
Focuses on
Elementary Programs, Summer School
Click on image above for full presentation.
Summer programming and an extended 2021-2022 academic day for some City School District of New Rochelle elementary school students were among the proposals discussed at the first of three planned budget review sessions, which was held virtually Tuesday evening. Interim Superintendent Dr. Alex Marrero and administrators in areas including curriculum and student support services presented on the challenges and opportunities facing the District and the student-centered approach taken in drafting next year’s budget.

The draft plan calls for a 2.3% increase in spending, which maintains current staffing levels, programs and District fiscal health. It also provides for 11.1 additional positions to meet special education and English as a New Language mandates.

The budget also addresses needs associated with COVID-19. The proposal, following a year in which there was no rise in the tax levy, carries a 3.01% increase in the levy for next year. That does not exceed the state tax cap.

“This isn’t an ‘ask,’ it’s an investment in our students,” said Dr. Marrero. He stressed the importance of providing the resources necessary to meet students’ increasing needs – and, along with other administrators and members of the Board of Education, commended CSDNR faculty and staff for going above and beyond, especially during the pandemic.

The presentation, prepared by Director of Instructional Supports Tiara Reyes-Vega and Director of
(Please see "Budget" at end of purple column.)
Early Dismissal Drill Set for March 26
All City School District of New Rochelle schools will end their day 15 minutes early on Friday, March 26 for an annual state-mandated drill.

Please plan accordingly.

The drill is intended to test various operations including transportation, alerting and evacuation procedures and to test coordinated movements of students to designated areas within a school building.
Voters to Elect
Three BOE Members
On May 18
New Rochelle voters will elect three members to the nine-member Board of Education on May 18, 2021.

The two candidates with the highest vote counts will be elected to full five-year terms beginning in July. The seats currently are held by Rachel Relkin, who is the current Board President, and Todd Kern. The candidate with the third-highest number of votes will take office immediately and serve through June 30, 2022, filling the unexpired term previously held by Paul Warhit, who stepped down in December.

Voters and candidates will note some changes in the election process due to COVID-19. All plans are subject to change via executive order from Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

In-person voting is expected to take place at the usual polling sites (except for School Election District 11, which has changed from Salesian High School to Fire Station 1 at 45 Harrison Street).
Information on how to obtain an absentee ballot will be disseminated in the coming weeks.

District Clerk Millie Bonilla and the facilities staff have visited the 13 polling places to ensure that there is sufficient space for social distancing and smooth operation of the election. Face masks and other personal protective equipment will be supplied for election inspectors, who will disinfect machines and pens throughout the day. Extra personnel will be on hand to keep things moving efficiently.

Information for Candidates

New Rochelle residents interested in running for a position on the Board of Education will find the materials on the budget vote and elections page of the City School District of New Rochelle website.

To run for office, a resident must be a qualified voter in New Rochelle and must have resided in the city for one year as of the date of the election. This year, candidates must gather 50 signatures rather than the usual 100 signatures on nominating petitions. (Last year, the petition requirement was waived completely.)

Nominating petitions must be filed with the office of the District Clerk by April 28, 2021.

The Westchester-Putnam School Boards Association will offer a workshop for prospective candidates on at 6:30 p.m. April 8, 2021 via Zoom. 
Update from the BOE
on Search for
Superintendent
Dear Community Members,

We are pleased to inform you that our search for our next permanent Superintendent is ongoing and on schedule.

The application for the position opened on Friday, February 12 and closes on March 28. We have worked with our search firm Ray and Associates to ensure the ad flyer for the position has been shared broadly and has been posted in the following places:

• AASA job bulletin and website
• Education Week newspaper and website
• (NABSE) National Alliance of Black School Educators
• Association of Latino Administrators and Superintendents (ALAS)
• Education America Network Website
• School Leadership 2.0
• National Association of School Superintendents (NASS) website
• Ray and Associates, Inc.
• TheLadders Passport
• New York State School Boards Association (NYSSBA)
• The New York State Council of School Superintendents (NYSCOSS)
• School Administrators Association of New York State (SAANYS)
• American Association of School Personnel Administrators (AASPA)

You can visit our search firm’s website to see the advertisement and timeline for our search at https://rayassoc.com/job-details.php?ID=545

We also want to thank the members of our Citizens Advisory Committee for the Superintendent Search for their help, feedback and recommendations so far.
Please tune in to our Board of Education Committee of the Whole meeting on Tuesday, March 23 where we will be discussing the process after the application closes.

Sincerely,
The Board of Education
COVID Testing
to Begin Wednesday
COVID-19 testing in City School District of New Rochelle schools will begin March 17 and will be conducted every Wednesday at different sites.
 
The first schools to administer the testing will be Columbus and William B. Ward elementary schools. 
 
Parents and guardians, if you have not done so, please complete and return your child’s consent form, which can be found on our District website or in your child’s backpack. Parents and guardians will be notified of the date when their child will be tested. A parent or guardian must be present when a child is tested, except for high school students.
 
Questions and comments may be sent to: COVIDTEST@nredlearn.org
Budget (continued)
Elementary Education Carlos Leal, highlighted strategies to accelerate student learning while remaining mindful of cost efficiencies. The draft budget includes an academic summer school targeting general education K-4 students facing intensive challenges, learners at risk for academic and social failure and special education students.

Projected to serve some 20% of the District’s elementary students, the program would focus on English Language Arts and math and likely would run from 8:30 a.m. to noon Mondays through Thursdays, July 6 through July 29 (15 days).

Enrichment opportunities in English Language Arts and math also would be provided to eligible K-5 students during an after-school program. Leal said these academic areas align with the skills students must develop to succeed in middle and high school and beyond.

Assistant Superintendent for Student Support Services Dr. Jackielynn Manning Campbell and her team presented on special education, the impact of social and emotional learning on behavior and academic success and the importance of establishing personal connections with students, families and the community at large. “It truly does take a village,” she noted.

Dr. Marrero encouraged the community to review the budget and become involved. Click here to view the slides shown in Tuesday’s presentation or here to view the entire budget session. The next presentation will be held on March 16 at 7 p.m. and will focus on middle and high school education; a March 23 session will highlight technology, facilities, transportation and capital bonds.

Visit the budget section of the website for more information; the vote is scheduled for May 18.
Clockwise from top left: Interim Superintendent Dr. Alex Marrero, New York Education Department Chancellor Richard Carranza, Dr. Jesús Jara, Superintendent of the Clark County School District in Nevada; and veteran educational leader Dr. Michael Hinojosa.
Dr. Marrero Moderates
Panel of Top Educators
When leaders of some of the nation’s largest school districts came together Tuesday to discuss education’s path out of the COVID-19 era, a familiar administrator led the discussion – New Rochelle’s own Interim Superintendent Dr. Alex Marrero.

The panel, part of a national event called Ed Fest 2021, was comprised of: Richard Carranza, Chancellor of the New York Education Department; Dr. Jesús Jara, Superintendent of the Clark County School District in Nevada; and Dr. Michael Hinojosa, who has served as the head of six public education systems, including two of the nation’s largest – the Dallas schools and the Cobb County School District in suburban Atlanta.

“This is the panel of the great city school districts,” Dr. Marrero said at the beginning of the session.

The educational leaders talked about addressing the pandemic for which “there is no playbook,” as Dr. Jara said.

The leaders discussed not only managing the crisis, but capitalizing on the lessons learned and measures taken over the past year to change education for good. For instance, Dr. Hinojosa said, there’s no need to suspend a disruptive student when the student can be given a laptop or device to participate remotely without continuing to disturb the class.

“We’re going to get back to near normal in August,” Dr. Hinojosa predicted. “But I don’t ever want to go back to the old normal.”

Discussing specific issues, Carranza strongly rejected the idea of adding accountability measures to federal funding, arguing that “this is not the time to apply a pre-COVID-19 accountability scheme” when help is needed, especially after government leaders did not “give us the guidance we needed to lead our school systems through this pandemic. We had to figure it out ourselves. We have led when others have not.”

“We had to take the bull by the horns,” Dr. Marrero added.

While the session tackled serious issues, the participants allowed some levity. To close on a positive note, Carranza, at Dr. Marrero’s urging, retrieved a guitar from another room and played and sang “El Rey,” by Mexican singer-songwriter José Alfredo Jiménez.

The four-day conference was presented by the Association of Latino Administrators & Superintendents (ALAS) and the National Association of Black School Educators (NABSE). Its purpose was “to highlight accomplishments of the past year and set the stage to tackle top education issues in the year ahead.” 
Trinity students follow along with video of Assistant Principal Bridget Merturi.
Social-Emotional Learning
On Center Stage at Trinity
Anne Marie Manganiello’s second graders in Trinity Elementary School sit up in anticipation; morning announcements are about to begin. Suddenly, there’s Assistant Principal Bridget Merturi beaming at them from a video on the Smartboard.

“Let’s begin with Rainbow Breath,” she says. In response, the students raise their arms above their heads as they inhale slowly, then lower them as they exhale.

Welcome to the social emotional learning (SEL) at Trinity. Students practice mindful breathing exercises like this daily as part of a new initiative called the SEL Project, led by a group of teachers and the Pupil Personnel Services staff. The strategy is a response to the heightened stress caused by pandemic restrictions that disrupt the way people do virtually everything. Trinity is meeting the challenge by putting social emotional learning (SEL) at the forefront.

“As educators, we have engaged in professional development focused on ‘trauma informed’ instruction,” said Principal Michael Hilderbrand. “As a community, we have all endured some form of trauma. Now, perhaps more than ever before, we must address our scholars’ social-emotional needs.”

SEL learning at Trinity includes mindfulness, restorative circles and the district-wide ReThink lessons that provide students and teachers with strategies to identify feelings and to manage their emotions effectively. These components are embedded throughout every school day, using Merturi’s daily announcement videos as a springboard.

Students build mindfulness – presence in a moment – through a variety of breathing techniques, such as “dragon breath” and “rainbow breath.” They also use positive affirmations, repeating phrases such as “I am strong” or “Mistakes help me grow.” The videos help create an SEL routine and serve as a role model for students and teachers alike.

The results of these efforts have been easy to see. Students of all grade levels are demonstrating ease and independence in using the SEL strategies that are modeled. Third grader Benicio Perez’s favorite breathing exercise is the “Take 5 Breath,” pacing five breaths by tracing the outline of one hand with the opposite index finger.
 
“This is a good breath,” he said. “This is good when you are sometimes sad, frustrated or even angry.”
 
Parents have reported that students are using these strategies at home. Trinity parent Susana Howe shared, “My Francesca has taught me some breathing! It’s so great!”

The SEL Project has also ensured that teachers are equipped with the tools they need to support students in the classroom. Through a series of hands-on professional development sessions led by the SEL Project Team, teachers saw firsthand the power of SEL strategies and what it could look like for students. Third-grade teacher Rachel Collins explained that using the SEL strategies with her class contributes to a positive mindset to start the school day.

“Class meetings put us in the right frame of mind and we are all ready to learn after them,” she said.
The project plans to build on these practices for long-term SEL integration in the school’s culture and curriculum.

"The Trinity SEL Project has given our students the opportunity to feel connected and supported even when we can't physically share the same space,” said Hilderbrand. It also teaches them lessons they can use long after the pandemic has passed. Said Merturi: “Our scholars are acquiring tools for their ‘Social Emotional Tool Kit’ that will last a lifetime."
Nina Peña and Amal Verghese
Students Investigate
Soil-Climate Connection, Machine Learning
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’ research projects or other science happenings.
 
Nina Peña, senior
Mentor: Jacob Egelberg, Northeastern University
The relationship between soil and climate change intrigues New Rochelle High School senior Nina Peña, who visited seven state parks between Ithaca and Hyde Park to collect and analyze 28 soil samples. She created a novel statistical model to predict soil pH and determine the significance of each characteristic, understanding that soil acidity/basicity affects soil temperature, plant growth and ecosystems.

“My research showed that using statistical models is very helpful in highlighting specific soil factors’ roles in determining pH, which is information we can use to get closer to solving climate change,” explained Peña. She also found that the soil samples between the sites were more similar than she had expected.

Her mentor for the research project was 2020 NRHS alum Jacob Egelberg, who had participated in the District’s Science Research Program while in high school and currently attends Northeastern University.

While this is Peña’s fourth year in the program, it is the first time she has conducted hands-on research. “It was a very rewarding experience,” she explained, one that may lead her to study environmental science in college. “Being exposed to all of this information was really interesting.”
 
Amal Verghese, junior
People underestimate the impact machine learning has on their daily lives, but they should welcome the brains behind smart phones, search engines, Alexa, self-driving cars, online shopping and much more, said NRHS junior Amal Verghese. His project, conducted with the help of Jeff Wuebber, teacher and head of the District’s Science Research Program, set out to determine how much people know about this branch of artificial intelligence versus what they think they know. 

Verghese surveyed 1,300 people of various ages and found that “the majority didn’t understand machine learning and how much it affected their lives.” Through 20 questions he assessed their knowledge of terms and their awareness of the devices, applications and other products and services that rely on machine learning to deliver results.

“About 60% of the respondents didn’t understand the technology at all, and 36% underestimated its impact,” concluded Verghese. He hopes people learn more about the power of machine learning and “incorporate it more into their daily lives.” He added, “Don’t be concerned about it taking over the world … scientists will develop security protocols to prevent that from happening.”

Verghese may very well be one of those scientists; he plans to study machine learning in college.
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