During their May meeting, the Merrick Board of Education and administration honored the district’s students who were selected for this year’s Nassau County All-County Art Exhibit held at Farmingdale State College in March. All-County artists were nominated by their respective art teachers, who, along with their principal, awarded them certificates of recognition for demonstrating exemplary creativity in their artwork.

Congratulations to the following students and their teachers:

Birch School:
Elena H. 
Matthew K.
Matthew R.
Teacher: Cory Gerard

Chatterton School:
Ryan K. 
Bridget L. 
Bianca P. 
Teacher: Justine Dujardin

Lakeside School:
Aliza B. 
Rosina P. 
Samantha T.
Teacher: Alexandra Muzek

This year, more than 400 art educators from more than 200 schools in 50 Nassau County school districts submitted student artwork for this prestigious exhibit. Merrick Superintendent of Schools Dr. Dominick Palma is pictured congratulating students along with their respective principals and art teachers. 




 

Chatterton School third graders recently enjoyed the cultural arts program titled Vanover Caravan, which taught them dances from various cultures from around the world. Third graders also had the opportunity to show their moves  for schoolmates and parents.

Special thanks to the PTA for bringing this amazing program to Chatterton once again!

During the final three months of the school year, Chatterton School students of all grade levels are hard at work completing their service learning projects for the year. Each grade level has been working with a charity to conduct inspiring, generous acts in connection with the social-emotional learning program Lions Quest.

To highlight some of the wonderful things happening at Chatterton, teachers shared the projects that will be completed by each grade:

• Kindergarten students are collecting and donating gently used books to the Book Fairies, a program that distributes books to other schools or children in need throughout the tristate area. 
• First graders are conducting a drive they named “Pennies 4 Paws,” collecting pennies and donating them to the local animal shelter Bobbi and the Strays. 
• Second graders placed personal messages inside of donated books and DVDs and sent 16 boxes of them to the Zucker Hillside Hospital in Queens. 
• Third graders will be taking a trip to the Community Cupboard at Brookside School in May to collect and organize food donations that help feed 35 families in the Bellmore-Merrick community. 
• Fourth graders will be making laminated meal placemats to donate to The Inn soup kitchen in Hempstead, decorating them with pretty pictures and positive messages. 
• Fifth graders recently mentored incoming kindergarten students as a part of the incoming kindergarten orientation. The fifth graders read books and completed a fun art activity with their future schoolmates, and discussed ways to be kind and serve as a positive influence in the school community. 
• Sixth graders have been completing acts of kindness around the community, and asking sponsors to donate money to send to the Reason2Smile organization, which supports orphans and at-risk children in Africa. This charity has been near and dear to those in the school for several years.

Congratulations to all of the Chatterton students for doing their part to help others in and around their community and abroad, and making the world a better place!

Congratulations to the six student musicians who were chosen to represent the Merrick School District at the Long Island String Festival Association (LISFA) concert held at Uniondale High School in March. Thank you for continuing to make us proud!

Elena Hyzak (Birch, violin)
Ian Klimov (Chatterton, violin)
Ryan Levinter (Chatterton, viola)
Jason Lin (Birch, viola)
Rachel Watson (Lakeside, viola)
Jocelyn Yeung (Lakeside, cello)

For the fifth consecutive year, the Merrick School District has been honored with the Best Communities for Music Education designation from The NAMM Foundation for its outstanding commitment to music education.  

The Best Communities for Music Education designation is awarded to districts that demonstrate outstanding achievement in efforts to provide music access and education to all students. To qualify for the designation, the district answered detailed questions about funding, graduation requirements, music class participation, instruction time, facilities, and support for music programs. 

“We are truly grateful to be named one of the 2019 Best Communities for Music Education by the NAMM Foundation,” said Merrick School District’s music coordinator Dr. Richard Nasto “We are tremendously proud of all our students and their accomplishments. It is a testament to our Merrick Schools community – our music department, school and district leaders, students, teachers, staff and parents for their consistent support of arts education. They have all played a part in making this recognition possible."

The NAMM Foundation is a nonprofit supported in part by the National Association of Music Merchants and its approximately 10,400 members around the world. The foundation advances active participation in music making across the lifespan by supporting scientific research, philanthropic giving, and public service programs.