The 2016-2017 school year is coming to a close, which means concerts, award ceremonies and other exciting culminating events are taking place all across the Peekskill City School District.  We have coverage and photographs from many of these moments here in this month's eNews. We are also excited to announce the return of our free Summer Lunch Program, which you can read more about below. As always, please make sure to check our calendar of upcoming events. 
eNews from Peekskill Schools                June 9, 2017
Peekskill City School District: Educating Children of Promise
Upcoming Events  
 
June 9: Early Release for Professional Development Academy Pre-K-12 (No AM Pre-K) 

Woodside Kindergarten Screening Fair: 4-6 p.m.

June 10: Woodside Kindergarten Screening Fair: 9-12 a.m.

June 12: Hillcrest Awards Ceremony Grade 4 - 9 a.m.; Grade 5 - 1:30 p.m.

PTO Executive Meeting in BOE Room; 6:30 p.m.

June 13: PKMS Grade 7 Awards: 8:30 a.m.

SEPTO Differences Day at Hillcrest: 9-11 a.m.. 

PKMS Grade 6 Awards: 2 p.m.

June 14:  PTO General Meeting at PKMS: 6:30 p.m.

June 16: Uriah Hill Spring Fun in the Sun Day

June 20: Uriah Hill Pre-K Graduation: 9:30 a.m. & 1 p.m. .

Board of Education Meeting: Public Session 7 p.m. in the Administration Building

June 21: Early Release for Professional Development Academy Pre-K-12 (No PM Pre-K/Last Day for AM Pre-K) 

PKMS Grade 8 Dinner Dance: 6 p.m.

PHS Senior Awards at the Paramount : 7 p.m. 

June 22: Early Release for Professional Development Academy Pre-K-12 (No AM Pre-K/Last Day for PM Pre-K) 

PKMS Graduation at the Paramount: 6:30 p.m.

June 23: Last Day for Students

SEPTO Meeting in PHS Library: 6:30 p.m. 

June 25: PHS Graduation at the Paramount: 2 p.m

July 6: 
Board of Education Meeting: Public Session 4 p.m. in the Administration Building

View our complete District calendar here.
Red Devil fans, view our athletic schedule 
here
First Annual Jazz Cafe at PHS
The end of the school year brought a variety of showcases to the Peekskill City School District, including several concerts that you can see photos of below. A new tradition also began this year as Peekskill High School hosted it's First Annual Jazz Cafe in the school cafeteria. 
Click here for a photo album from this event. 

We strive to ensure the Peekskill City School District educational experience spurs every student to excellence. As part of that process, we're asking the community for feedback about our schools. To make this outreach successful, we need your support. Please take a few moments to complete THIS SURVEY, which is available in both English and Spanish. All responses are confidential. We thank you in advance for your feedback. The deadline to submit your answers is June 16, 2017. 


With summer right around the corner, it's time to think about keeping children healthy while school is out. With this thought in mind, the Peekskill City School District has committed to providing free meals to children during the summer.

Each year, the U.S. Department of Agriculture partners with local organizations like Peekskill Schools, to provide free meals to children when school is out for summer vacation. This year, meals will be served Monday through Thursday at Peekskill High School, Dunbar Heights and the Kiley Youth Center from July 5 through August 15, 2017 from 11:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.

Meals will also be served at Hillcrest Elementary School and the Peekskill Youth Bureau for children attending those programs ONLY. Please note that Hillcrest and the Youth Bureau are not open to the public for this program.

There are no income requirements and no registration is necessary. Any child who is 18 years old or younger is eligible for meals. For more information, contact (914) 737-0201 Ext. 322 or click here.

For more information about the national Summer Food Service Program, click here.

Twenty Peekskill Middle School eighth graders, along with their chaperones PKMS Teachers Amy Marrero and Renee Kearse, were recently offered the opportunity to take a day trip to Capital One Bank in Suffern, NY. The trip was made possible thanks to a partnership program between Capital One and Junior Achievement, which teaches middle school students financial responsibility.

During the trip students listed to informative presentations from Capital One professionals who exhib ited passion about their career paths and job functions within the bank. Students also had the chance to attend company meetings, observe day to day practices within the banking industry and see what is entailed in networking.

"The meetings were well organized and eye-opening to the students, creating what seemed to be a lasting impression and a different outlook as to what their future can entail," Marrero said. "Students were able to observe excellent, personalized customer service and the importance of building positive business relationships, which are skills that they can utilize regardless of their future career path. The students were honored to be selected to experience this real-life glimpse into the career world and the banking industry. It was a great experience."
 
See a photo album from this event  here .   

Hard work, dedication and an endless number of hours on the basketball court have paid off for Peekskill High School senior, Nyrie Holliman who, on May 2, signed a National Letter of Intent to play basketball at American International College (AIC) in Springfield, MA. Holliman will be attending AIC this fall on a full athletic scholarship and plans to major in Business with a concentration in Sports Management.

In a ceremony held in the Peekskill High School Library, Holliman was joined by family, friends, coaches, PHS teachers and District administration.

"It's a very special day for PHS," said Peekskill City School District Athletic Director Lou Panzanaro. "This national letter of intent means that a college has recognized the ability and talents of one of our students and has offered them a scholarship to come play for their school. That doesn't happen without a lot of work. Nyrie started that work when she was very young and she has worked year round. She has stayed focused and true to her dreams, and today, she's realizing the fruit of that dream that she's had for a long time."

Click here for the complete article on this story. 

Students at Uriah Hill Elementary recently welcomed a very special guest to their school. On April 26, Pat Schories, famous for her illustrations of the beloved children's book character, "Biscuit" came to the school to show the children how she creates her drawings. After speaking with the students about her career as an illustrator, Schories read aloud to all of the classes at Uriah Hill.

"The children were very excited to meet a real illustrator and see how she draws her pictures for her books," said Ms. Elizabeth Boyle, who teaches Pre-K at the school.

Six Peekskill High School students were inducted into the National Technical Honor Society Thursday, having demonstrated scholarship, character, leadership, service and skill at an exemplary level.

The honorees and their fields of study were:
Jada Anthony (Certified Nurse Aide)
Emily Czerwinski (Television Production and Digital Film)
Autumn Jacobs (Culinary Arts)
Karla Mogrovejo (Medical Assistant)
Brittney Pauta (New Visions Health)
Josh Satur (New Visions Health)

The event, held at Putnam/ Northern Westchester BOCES' Yorktown campus on May 18, was attended by BOCES administration, Tech Center faculty, students, friends and family members. In addition to those students who were inducted into the National Technical Honor Society, more than 80 students received scholarships and awards.

Thank you to everyone who came out to our 2017 District Art Show's opening reception on Monday, May 22 and to those who came to view the show throughout the week. Our student artists had a great time showing off their creativity. Additionally, we thank those who came out to support our Peekskill High School Young Docents on May 10 as they presented a tour of the Hudson Valley Center for Contemporary Art. A wonderful time was had by all! Of course, neither of these events would be a possible without our amazing PCSD art teachers, and for that, we thank them as well. 

Throughout the month of May, over 500 students at Hillcrest Elementary School brought color and positive affirmations to life in their school community by creating an almost 100 foot mural on the school's playground. To gain inspiration for the piece, students discussed the history of Hip Hop culture, with an emphasis on graffiti, and spoke about the importance of getting permission when creating public murals.

The project was made possible by a collaboration between the Peekskill City School District and the Hudson Valley Center for Contemporary Art's Artist in Residence program, which brought Yonkers-based artists Evan Bishop and Katori Walker in to work with the students and their art teacher, Ms. Taylor Coleman. 

For more on this story and an accompanying photo album, click here.

Peekskill High School held their annual Science Research Symposium on Thursday, June 1. Peekskill's Science Research course is a three-year college level course, provided in collaboration with the State University of New York (SUNY) at Albany. During their enrollment in the course, PSR students conduct scientific research on the topic of their choice with a career scientist. 

The Symposium is organized by PSR Program Coordinator Mrs. Erum Hadi, MPH, MSEd.

For more on this story and an accompanying photo album, click here.
Literacy Leaders Shine "Light" in Peekskill Classrooms

If you see a photo of a lighthouse on a classroom door in one of Peekskill's schools, it's not for simple decoration. It's a symbol of the dedication and learning going on behind the door.

In the 2014-2015 school year, a group of Peekskill City School District teachers in Grades K through 5 were trained by instructors from Lesley University on how to use a Readers Workshop model in their classrooms, as this model helps to support the District's Balanced Literacy approach to student learning. The following school year, these teachers were deemed Literacy Teacher Leaders and were awarded a framed photo of a lighthouse to post outside of their classrooms as a symbol of their ability to "light" the way for their students.

This year, each of these Literacy Teacher Leaders worked intensively with one grade level colleague to develop consistency within and across grade levels, as they implemented a Readers Workshop.

Last week, during National Teacher Appreciation Week (May 8-12), junior lighthouses were awarded to the following teachers:
Woodside Elementary: Jessica Montoya (Kindergarten) and Donna Marzella (Grade 1)
Oakside Elementary: Alyssa Gullo (Grade 2)
Hillcrest Elementary: Peggy Owens (Grade 4) and Heather MacPherson (Grade 5)

The junior lighthouses were presented to teachers by Peekskill's Director of Literacy Dr. Rochelle Mitlak, with the help of building principals (Colleen Hardiman, Staci Woodley, Jackie Liburd) and Literacy Teacher Leaders (Kelly Kadin, Teresa Rivera, Jessica Newby, Tara King and Heydi Rodriguez).

Peekskill High School's 2017 Valedictorian Brittney Pauta and Salutatorian Nia Robinson were honored at the Lower Hudson Council of School Superintendents' 53rd Carroll F. Johnson Scholastic Achievement Dinner held on May 17. The two students were joined at the event by Acting Superintendent of Schools Dr. Lorenzo Licopoli, Board of Education President Mrs. Lisa Aspinall-Kellawon and PHS Principal Mr. Rodney Arthur.

At the dinner, Pauta was awarded a $1,000 check, the first of four annual installments of the $4,000 scholarship she received from the LHCSS. In a letter the Council addressed to Pauta, it was noted that the Peekskill senior was chosen to receive the scholarship because of her extraordinary scholastic achievement, school and community service and for her leadership skills. 

Congratulations to both Brittney and Nia on their accomplishments! 

Congratulations to Peekskill City School District's Assistant Superintendent for Administrative Services Dr. Joseph Mosey, who recently received a TELL Award on May 12! Formerly known as the Pioneer Awards, the well-respected accolades are the Lower Hudson Regional Information Center's (LHRIC) way of saluting outstanding teachers and administrators in the region who go out of their way to advance student success through their innovative use of technology.
 
Dr. Joseph Mosey was awarded the Outstanding Innovative Partner Award for launching a series of Twitter chat sessions centered around an array of instructional technology topics. You can join in these chats by following Dr. Mosey on Twitter .


The remaining date for 2017's Kraft Mobile Food Truck  is Thursday June 15 from  3:30 - 5:30 p.m. 
Peekskill Board of Education
Lisa Aspinall-KellawonPresident
Richard Sullivan,  Vice President

Trustees: Douglas Glickert, Maria Pereira,  Michael Simpkins, Colin  Smith,  Jillian Villon
 
Dr. Lorenzo Licopoli 
Acting Superintendent of Schools
We Want to Hear From YOU!

Please contact Acting Superintendent Dr. Lorenzo Licopoli by calling 914-737-3300 ext. 302, or email enews@peekskillcsd.org

Peekskill CSD Communications
Laura Belfiore, Editor 
Peekskill City School District
Peekskill City School District  | 1031 Elm Street, Peekskill, NY 10566 | (914) 737-3300 Contact: enews@peekskillcsd.org | Visit our website: www.peekskillcsd.org
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