JANUARY 10, 2023

Dear Pleasantville Families,

A recent adjustment to our email filtering system has resulted in some emails from Pleasantville families to Pleasantville staff being redirected to the 'Spam' folder instead of the 'Inbox.' The issue has been addressed, but it is possible that the email system may erroneously redirect an email. If you send an email to a staff member and do not receive a response, we recommend you call the school. 

On a related note, we ask that Pleasantville families verify the authenticity of the sender before opening any attachments in emails from Pleasantville staff. A recent 'spoofing' incident resulted in a fake email being sent by a spammer to Pleasantville families using the name of a Pleasantville teacher. This email came from a non-Pleasantville email address. 

If you have any technology questions or concerns, do not hesitate to email our technology support team at helpdesk@pleasantvilleschools.org. 

For the youth, 

Dr. Tina DeSa

Superintendent of Schools

Creating Buzz for a Spring Musical 

Everyone in Pleasantville Middle School, it seems, is asking what the sixth-eighth grade musical is going to be. 

Music teacher Robyn O’Brien posted 20 Playbills of famous Broadway Musicals in her classroom but only ONE will be performed as the sixth-eighth grade musical in March. O’Brien will remove one or two Playbills each day until this year’s musical is revealed. 

“It gets them excited about performing, it gets them familiar with other shows that they may not know,” said O’Brien, who teaches General Music and Chorus. “The kids are really into musicals. We live close to the city so a lot of them go to Broadway shows. Many of them are aware of shows like Wicked, Hamilton, Frozen and Lion King, but there are so many great musicals out there.”  

O’Brien will reveal this year’s musical by the end of January before auditions are held in the beginning of February. The sixth-eighth grade musical will be presented the weekend of March 24.  

O’Brien’s big reveal has created a lot of buzz throughout the school. Students of all grades peek into her room daily, and sometimes hourly, to see which plays are still in the running and which have been removed.  

At the end of a recent school day, sixth graders Vivienne and Mackenzie stopped by the wall of Playbills to talk about the possibilities ahead.  

“I’m hoping for ‘Grease,’” Mackenzie said. “I love that show.”   

“I hope it turns out to be ‘Hamilton.’ That is the best,” Vivienne said. “Actually, I just really hope it’s not ‘Cats.’ They made a movie out of that, and it was so bad it was funny.”  

The girls said the buzz about the musical already had them thinking about auditioning.  

“This is a fun way to announce the play,” Mackenzie said. “It is going to take so long to find out, though. It will be hard to wait.” 

The sixth-eighth grade musical is just one of many opportunities Pleasantville schools offer students to perform on stage. The fifth graders in the middle school are already rehearsing “Annie,” which they will present the first weekend in February. Pleasantville High School students are working on “Bye Bye Birdie,” which they will perform on the weekends of March 10 and 17, and Bedford Road School has class performances weekly in its Little Theater.  

A Record-Breaking Show of Support

Dozens of former Pleasantville High School wrestlers came back to the school gym recently to congratulate Wrestling Coach Bob Bernarducci for setting a new Section 1 Wrestling record. 

It is not unusual for a handful of alumni wrestlers to return to Pleasantville High School to watch the meets and cheer on the team.  

But when Bernarducci earned his record-breaking 430th dual meet win in December, more than 20 of the wrestlers he has coached since coming to Pleasantville High School in 1990 returned to the school to honor him. 

“In wrestling you become pretty close,” Bernarducci said. “You won’t be good unless you have a good partner to work out with. You have to have good relationships, not just on the team but also in school. And these relationships last.” 

According to Lohud.com: “Bernarducci became the fourth Section 1 coach to join the 400-win club back in 2020, joining the likes of former Somers and Mahopac coach Dennis DiSanto (429 wins), Arlington's Fred Perry (421) and Fox Lane's Joe Amuso Sr. (406), but now he stands alone and on top of the record books.” 

“I was pretty happy to get it,” Bernarducci said of the win. “Some of the guys I passed along the way are legendary. I did not do it alone, though. The kids know what they must do to succeed, and I get a lot of support from the administration.” 

Nolan Eagan, 21 and a Pleasantville wrestling alum, volunteers at the high school to help Bernarducci guide today’s wrestlers.  

“He feels like a dad figure,” Eagan said during a recent practice. “He looks out for you, but he is tough. He is always looking to make you a better person.” 

Bernarducci’s coaching does not stop at the gym door. He retired as a Pleasantville teacher two years ago, but he has not stopped looking out for the students. He still collaborates with the school staff and works together with them to ensure students succeed in the classroom as well as on the wrestling mats.  

Taking Home Medals

Pleasantville Middle School students made engineering look easy at the Long Island Science Olympiad Invitational on January 7, where one group earned fifth place out of 41 teams and 22 groups of students placed in the top ten.

And what led to their success? A lot of practice, Science Olympiad Co-Coordinator Leanne Benson said. 

Several afternoons a week, eighth graders Prerna Gupta and Cailtin Chiong worked on trying to build the strongest bridge they could out of the lightest materials available. Sometimes they tried powering a car with rubber bands or testing their map reading skills.  

The students were just two of the 38 sixth, seventh and eighth graders who participated in Saturday’s competition, held at Kellenberg Memorial High School in Uniondale.

“It’s interesting to learn new things and it’s fun to meet new people,” Caitlin said. “I started thinking about what I wanted to do in July or August.” 

Over the summer Science Olympiad released a list of 23 challenges middle school students could choose to complete over the year. Even before the school year starts, many students identify the challenges they want to compete in and then set about planning how they will engineer their projects. Some choose one or two challenges.  

Prerna chose six. In addition to Bridge, Wheeled Vehicle and Road Scholar, she prepared for Meteorology, Green Gen and Fast Facts, a Science Olympiad trivia contest. She devotes time six days a week to the Science Olympiad. 

“It helps you to learn to work with other people,” Prerna said. “It teaches teamwork and you learn a lot of stuff you wouldn’t learn in school.” 

The program is increasing in popularity at Pleasantville Middle School, which offers many science, technology and engineering opportunities for students from fifth grade on. 

“Science Olympiad is getting very popular,” Benson, who teaches math and engineering, said. “It is increasing every year by 10 to 15 kids. Normally we have two teams. This year we had three. It gives kids an opportunity to experience competition and team camaraderie.” 

Earth Science teacher Jake Sablosky also serves as co-coordinator of the middle school Science Olympiad group. The club’s head coaches are volunteers Lana Pattinson and Kristine Cochran.  

The club’s first invitational of the year was held remotely at the middle school in December. Members will now prepare for the regional invitational at Byram Hills High School in March. 

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