Elementary and middle school students celebrated their academic achievements during moving up ceremonies, which were held in the days leading up to the high school graduation.

A trend-setting class graduated from Edmund W. Miles Middle School, and they did so at the place where they will spend the next three years of their educational journey. During the ninth-grade awards ceremony at the high school on June 22, Principal Edward Plaia reviewed all the “firsts” that the class experienced. They were the first ninth graders in the district to take Advanced Placement courses and to build Lego robots. The 180 members of the class received their promotion certificates, and numerous awards were handed out.

Middle school now awaits the sixth-graders who graduated from Park Avenue Memorial Elementary School on June 22. Principal Robyn Santiago said that while they have great achievements to celebrate, they should strive to do even better next year. She reminded the youngsters that they don’t always have to follow the crowd and should always make good choices, even when no one is looking.

The 238 third-graders at Northwest Elementary School completed another step in their educational journeys when they were recognized for their achievements at the moving-up ceremony on June 21. Following a video in which students shared their memories of Northwest, teachers from each class announced their graduates and handed out completion certificates. Principal Kathleen Hyland reminded the students that “what’s worth learning is worth working for.”

Kindergartners completed one of their first major milestones when they graduated from Northeast Elementary School on June 20. The youngsters performed songs for their family members and Principal Dr. Pauline Collins presented perfect attendance awards. The students will comprise Amityville Memorial High School’s Class of 2029.

Superintendent Dr. Mary T. Kelly wished the students luck as they head to their next schools. She encouraged them to continue reading over the summer and said the public library has a lot of good books available.

Edmund W. Miles Middle School Ninth-Grade Moving Up

Miles Middle School Ninth-Grade Moving Up

Northwest Third-Grade Moving Up

Northeast Kindergarten Moving Up

Popular children’s characters were recently found in a second-grade classroom at Northwest Elementary School in the Amityville Union Free School District during fairy tale Reader’s Theater.

Students in Jenny Smith’s class performed “Goldilocks and the Three Bears,” “Jack and the Beanstalk” and “Little Red Riding Hood” for their parents. The children dressed up as the characters and even used props such as a picnic basket and paper beanstalk. 

Ms. Smith said that Reader’s Theater helps students improve their fluency, their ability to read with expression and their confidence in reading and public speaking. One of the skills practiced in class is re-reading books to improve comprehension and word recognition, and the scripts proved to be the perfect motivator to get students to read and read again. 

After writing poems for six weeks, second-graders at Northwest Elementary School were given a forum to share their work. Teacher Franca Adams recently welcomed parents to the Adams Family Poetry Café. To simulate a real-life poetry reading, the room was illuminated with battery-powered candles and guests were encouraged to snap their fingers instead of applauding.

After a group poetry reading, children came up one-by-one to read a piece. Ms. Adams said that each student wrote about two dozen poems during the poetry unit using various techniques. Everyone selected a favorite piece to share at the poetry café with topics ranging from watermelons to dogs to monster trucks.

Legos are the newest educational tool in Margaret Brooks’ first-grade class at Northwest Elementary School. Twice a week, her students use the popular building blocks to participate in STEM activities, reinforcing skills in science, technology engineering and math.

Each student has his or her own Lego kit complete with dozens of blocks in different sizes and colors. The children are tasked with building projects from the LearnToLearn Lego Education curriculum pack. So far, they have made bridges, wheelchairs and machines.

After the children were introduced to the kits, they earned their building licenses. They learned that in order to successfully complete each project, they must follow the engineering process: plan and design, construct and test.

Ms. Brooks said that the students are developing their problem-solving skills and learning how to work together through engaging, hands-on activities.