On Sept. 25, students at Birch School wore black and gold to celebrate their first school spirit day of the 2020-2021 academic year. Our Birch Beavers were eager to show off their school apparel, from socks to headbands and even face coverings, in celebration of Birch Pride Day!

Shane Gavigan, a sixth grader at Roland A. Chatterton School, was recently featured in Newsday’s “LI Acts of Kindness” section. The story focuses on Shane’s initially challenging, yet ultimately rewarding transition to remote music therapy sessions as an 11-year-old boy on the autism spectrum. 

For nearly a year, Shane has been working with Rebecca Auty, 22, a music therapy student at the Rebecca Center Music Therapy Program at Molloy College. Ms. Auty, a Chatterton graduate, shared how their student mentor relationship flourished during the Zoom sessions. Enjoy the story here.

Sixth graders at Levy Lakeside School kicked off the 2020-2021 school year with an exciting science experiment. Melissa Robinson’s students took on the challenge of changing white carnations into rainbow-colored flowers, using food coloring.

“It was amazing to watch how a white carnation, a little food coloring, some water and a love for science started off our year of questioning, wondering and exploring,” Mrs. Robinson said.

The Merrick Union Free School District had a successful first week back to school. On Sept. 8, once again the hallways of Birch, Levy Lakeside and Chatterton schools were bustling with students, eager to make new friends and reconnect with old ones. 

Teachers welcomed students, including those working remotely, to their new learning environments and safely initiated ice-breaking activities for classmates to connect.

During the first two weeks, students enrolled in in-person instruction will be divided into two cohorts as part of the district’s phased reopening plan. All students, besides those who chose to participate in the Alternate Voluntary Remote Program, will return to full-time, in-person instruction starting on Sept. 21. 

The Merrick School District looks forward to an exciting 2020-2021 school year!

Click here to visit the reopening page