City School District of New Rochelle
News & updates
January 8, 2021
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Black History Celebration
To Focus on
Local Deseg Case
For this year’s Black History Month celebration, the Westchester Alliance of Black School Educators (WABSE) in partnership with the City School District of New Rochelle again looks back at CSDNR history, marking 60 years since the landmark Lincoln School desegregation decision.

The ninth annual celebration, usually held in New Rochelle High School, will be presented virtually this year. It will be free and accessible on the www.nred.org home page. The celebration and exhibit opens on Feb. 27, 2021.

As with the previous celebrations, it will feature student created visual art, spoken word, drama, dance, music, poetry and a virtual African arts market place. Its title will be: “A Celebration of Our Schools: A 60-Year Retrospective of the Lincoln School Decision.”

Participating students from across the District “are encouraged to learn about the Lincoln School Decision of 1961 and about others who struggled for educational justice,” reads a brochure for the event from the organizers, the Westchester Alliance of Black School Educators and the New Rochelle Black History Month Committee. The organizers are seeking submissions for the event by Feb. 22, 2021.

There are several other events planned in the city from January through May and brought to the community by New Rochelle Council on the Arts, the Iona Council on the Arts and the Lincoln Park Conservancy, Inc. and their exhibit Struggle, A 60-Year Commemoration of the Lincoln School Decision. 

“This year’s theme will once again bring the community together as we commemorate this important New Rochelle history,” said WABSE President Candace Pinn, who is also a kindergarten teacher at Henry Barnard Early Childhood Center. “The court decision of 1961 continues to be debated and impacts the lives of our students and community today.”

The landmark court case reached the U.S. Supreme Court in 1961, seven years after the more widely known Brown V. Board of Education of Topeka, which was decided in 1954. In the New Rochelle case, the nation’s top court let stand a lower court decision agreeing with plaintiffs that the school’s enrollment was almost entirely Black as a result of deliberate segregation. The Lincoln School was torn down in 1963, but its attendance boundaries have never been redrawn. Instead, students who live in the Lincoln School zone are allowed to attend one of four other CSDNR schools based on preference and availability.
BOE Seeks Members
For Superintendent Search Committee
Community members who want to assist the New Rochelle Board of Education in selecting the next Superintendent of Schools can apply to serve on a Citizens Advisory Committee (CAC) that is being established.

The Board will choose 10 to 12 members of those who apply by the deadline, which is next Friday, January 15, 2021.

“Selecting a Superintendent is among the most important tasks a Board of Education performs and we are committed to making the decision in partnership with you, the City School District of New Rochelle community,” the Board wrote to the community in an email this week.

This will be the second of two committees that will play key roles in the search. On Tuesday, the members also established a Board committee, the Superintendent Search Engagement Committee to “advise the full board on how to maximize community engagement in a successful superintendent search.” It consists of Board Vice President William Iannuzzi, who will be the committee’s chairperson, and Board members Julia Muggia Ochs, Adina Berrios Brooks and Katie Castellano Minaya.

For the Citizens Advisory Committee, the Board seeks a wide variety of applicants from throughout the City School District of New Rochelle.

“We are looking for fresh perspectives and voices from all facets of our community,” the Board wrote. “We are especially looking for community members who have not previously served on District committees.”

The Board also stressed that the CAC will be just one of several ways the community will be engaged in the search. The Board and its search firm Ray And Associates will reach out to stakeholder groups for input and will hold community meetings. The Board will also gather input in a survey.
'Poetry Out Loud'
Set for January 14
The New Rochelle Fund for Educational Excellence has scheduled its Poetry Out Loud event for 6 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 14.

You'll be able to view the virtual celebration of verse from students in grades three through six at the Fund's website, www.nrfund.org.
District Booklet
Explains COVID
Testing Procedures
The COVID-19 testing procedures for the City School District of New Rochelle are explained in detail a new booklet.

The six-step plan is available on the COVID Resource Center on the District’s website. The seven-page document explains the procedures parents and students will follow, the precautions taken to prevent the spread of the virus and the testing procedure itself.

Jacqueline Ceja and Akshara Koottala
Students Explore Climate Change, Epilepsy
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. On Jan. 23, 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.

Jacqueline Ceja, Junior
Mentor: Jessica Schuler, Arborologist
 
Climate change isn’t just a catchy news headline; it’s a global issue that Jacqueline Ceja has been concerned about since ninth grade. During her sophomore year, Ceja connected with arborologist Jessica Schuler, and the pair began a long-term project that sought to identify tree species in nearby Ward Acres Park and determine each species’ carbon sequestration in an effort to help slow down climate change.
 
Carbon sequestration refers to the amount of carbon trees use to carry out photosynthesis. Using software called i-tree, Ceja input data collected from a small section of trees in Ward Acres Park such as DBH (diameter at breast height – or 4.5 feet above ground – a standard measurement). She then determined the trees’ levels of carbon sequestration. Ceja and Schuler sampled 46 trees spanning 10 species, and found that they captured 2.29 tons of carbon each year. Of the species included in the sample, the red maple tree was found to sequester the most carbon.
 
Additionally, Ceja calculated whether each tree had sequestrated the average amount expected for an adult tree. Her findings showed that only two trees were below average, including the red maple. Ceja concluded a possible cause for the below-average sequestration for the trees could be due to the weeds in the area the trees were planted, and that some trees were not fully grown.
 
“Our sample included just 46 of the many hundreds of trees in the park, but based on our findings, I hope that in future tree plantings, the red maple will be planted to help slow down global warming and that more people will help care for the environment,” she said.
 
Akshara Koottala, senior
Mentor: Dr. Libor Velisek, New York Medical College
By exercising her long-held interest in biology and neuroscience, Akshara Koottala sees a way to address another passion – seeing the development of affordable medical treatments for low-income areas, including other countries.
 
Her research explored the connection between stress in pregnant rats and the incidence of epilepsy in their offspring. She found an association between higher stress – manifested as a decreased expression of a neurotransmitter gamma-Aminobutyric (GABA) – and increased susceptibility to seizures in the offspring.
“When the pregnant mother was stressed she ended up giving birth to rat babies that were susceptible to developing seizures,” she said.

She also discovered factors such as gender the section of the brain play a significant role in the development of epilepsy as well. She discovered, for instance, that the cortex region of the brain is most susceptible to seizure activity.

Koottala started out researching epilepsy in teenagers, but later turned her attention to infantile spasms, a condition that can be fatal, or can lead to lifelong complications. The treatments that are available are costly and inaccessible to those in economically disadvantaged countries. She hopes her research can lead to more affordable treatments.
“With an appropriate diagnosis and use of cost-effective anti-seizure medication, up to 70% of people diagnosed could become seizure free,” she said. “My research is the first step.”
Con Edison Names Deda
'Athlete of the Week'
In case you missed it, New Rochelle High School soccer star Teresa Deda earned another honor during the holiday break when she was named Con Edison Scholar Athlete of the Week.

Add that accolade to her two consecutive league Player of the Year honors and her places on the All-League and All-Section teams for Section 1. Deda, a senior, has also been named to the First Team – All-State, the only Section 1 Class AA player to be so honored. Additionally, she was selected to the Elite 12 by the Westchester/Rockland/Putnam/Dutchess Girls Soccer Coaches Association.  

Over the season, she scored 21 goals – the most in Section 1 – and had six assists.

She has signed to attend and play for Bucknell University, a Division 1 school, next year.
She also runs track and field.

Speaking with 100.7 WHUD’s Rich Leaf, who interviews the Con Ed winners weekly, Deda said she enjoys soccer because; "It involves fitness, agility, speed, strength,” she said. “That just really amazes me and it’s really great to be part of the game.”

Warhit Resigns from Board of Education
The Board of Education announced the resignation of Board member Paul Warhit at its virtual meeting on January 5, 2021. The Board chose to leave Warhit’s former seat vacant until the next school board election, which is scheduled for May 18, 2021.

Warhit was elected in 2017 and was serving his first term on the Board. He served as Board Vice President for the 2019-2020 school year.

“I appreciate and respect the work this board does on behalf of students,” Warhit wrote in his resignation letter to the District Clerk. “I have faith in our district and every confidence this board will lead us to achieve our goals.”

Two other seats on the nine-member Board are up for election in May. The candidate who receives the third highest vote total in that election will take office immediately and will serve out the remainder of Warhit’s term, which ends June 30, 2022. The two top vote-getters will win full five-year terms beginning July 1.

Several Board members praised Warhit for his service.

“We appreciate Mr. Warhit’s service to the children of this District over the past three and a half years,” said Board President Rachel Relkin. “We wish him well now and in the future.”
City School District of New Rochelle | http://www.nred.org/