Staff Spotlight - Jerome Massicot

Every member of the Dobbs Ferry School District team has important responsibilities that help ensure the safety of our students, the efficacy of our faculty and the functionality of our school buildings. Few, however, have the same breadth and depth of responsibility as Maintenance Mechanic Jerome Massicot, a cornerstone of the Dobbs Ferry School District Facilities Department. On a team with a wealth of experience, skill, professionalism and dedication, Massicot stands out for his deep knowledge of the Dobbs Ferry Middle and High School building and 15 years of history working in the district.

“I do plumbing, electrical, construction, sometimes work on AC units, I do anything to keep the building running,” Massicot said. “Any problems I see, I try to fix it before we have any contractors come in.”

Massicot doesn’t simply do maintenance on our school. His intimate familiarity and ability to diagnose problems have been cultivated over 15 years of dedication to DFSD and well over three decades of work experience.

“I try to save the district money on contractors. When I started here, there were leaks everywhere. They had a plumber come in every week. Then I got to work fixing the leaks, and they stopped needing the plumber.”

Whether it’s leaky pipes or sheetrocking for new offices, Massicot’s deft hands have touched every inch of our school building, ensuring that every classroom, hallway and gym stays usable and clean for students to pursue their education. 

“I love my job. I’ve loved it since I started working construction when I was 13 years old,” Massicot said. “I take pride in it. After I finish a job, I can look at it and everyone can see that it was done well. I learn from my coworkers too, we work well together. It’s not me alone.”

It’s hard to imagine DFSD without Massicot working behind the scenes, with his finger on the pulse of our building and staying ahead of maintenance tasks. His contributions have served to keep our building usable, preserve it for future generations of students to use and save the District and the Dobbs Ferry community money in contracting costs.

DFMS Students Explore "I am a Scientist" Activity

Check out the scientists of tomorrow in Michael Hanley’s and Leslie Marx’s 6th Grade science classes as they explored the "I am a Scientist" gallery!

The vision of the I Am A Scientist activity is, “to counteract the stereotypes and ensure a more equitable future for STEM, we need more classrooms and resources that celebrate the incredible range of personalities, interests, backgrounds, and pursuits that drive discovery and progress.”

Equipped with clipboards and inquisitive minds, students read all about scientists from a variety of backgrounds, cultures and upbringings, exploring the lives and work of scientists that interested them.

Class of 2025 Mural on Display

Continuing the tradition that was started by Dobbs Ferry High School graduating classes so many decades ago, the class of 2025 has left its mark in the form of a mural on canvas hanging in the high school hallway.

“Our school has a long tradition of student-created murals that for many years filled our hallways. Due to significant disrepair that came as a result of the natural wear that happens with paint-to-wall over decades, the pre-existing murals were digitized, catalogued, and the walls were restored to their original form," said Principal John Falino. "Last year, representatives from the Class of 2025 worked with our student Legislative Branch to propose a new generation of murals at Dobbs Ferry High School that would be created on canvas, framed, and put on display. This mural is now the first of what we hope will be a tradition that will be carried on by future generations of Dobbs students, including the current Class of 2026."

Mural artists Eliza Watkins and Verity Chao said of the work, "we want the canvas to be timeless, but progressive.”

While summer break might mean a break from classes, Dobbs Ferry High School’s science research students take the opportunity to work with many prestigious organizations to further their projects every year. The program is bursting at the seams with 68 talented and dedicated students who are researching everything from Diabetes to exoplanets, coral bleaching, the impacts of virtuality on professional environments, a firefighting robot, and much more.

Students have been working with organizations including NYU Langone, Mount Sinai, Einstein Medical Center, Mianus River Gorge Preserve, NASA, Teatown Nature Preserve, NY Medical College, Columbia, Cornell and more. The young researchers go to great lengths for their projects, traveling across the United States to places like Colorado and Arizona, while others even go abroad to places including China and Australia.

“This year's Science Research students are starting strong, building on all of the impressive progress they made over the summer,” said Science Research Coordinator Sarah Marino. “They are summarizing their research through papers, slideshows, and posters as they gear up for STEM competitions and science fairs.”

The program has expanded substantially every year since its creation over 15 years ago. Starting out as a small, elective experience, the program now has dedicated support from staff and the Dobbs Ferry Schools Foundation and has grown alongside the International Baccalaureate program to become one of the most popular programs at Dobbs Ferry High School.

Science Research offers a higher-level science education that takes students out of the classroom and into the world of work and academia. Students develop independence and public speaking, networking and research skills that are essential to the IB program. With the freedom to choose their own projects, students are not constrained by a particular curriculum and can learn and develop their skills while pursuing a topic that interests them and have the opportunity to gain valuable college credits thanks to DFHS’s partnership with SUNY Albany.

“We’re not doing this because we want to win awards,” said Principal John Falino. “If they win awards at competitions, then we celebrate that, but that’s not how we evaluate the program. For me, it was always about providing students in a small IB school with more opportunities to pursue areas of passion and interest in STEM fields. They’re doing high-level research and writing at a college level while gaining public speaking and presentation skills at competitions.”

Many of the science research students of today will become leaders in science, engineering and business fields, but the skills gained through the program will prove to be invaluable in every facet of their professional lives, regardless of what career they choose to pursue.

The students and teachers of Dobbs Ferry School District celebrated the arts all week for Arts in Education Week! Whether they were drawing, sculpting, acting or making music, Dobbs Ferry students celebrated and explored the arts.

Composting & Recycling at Springhurst Elementary

Springhurst Elementary students worked with the steward of the Springhurst garden, Sara Sellitti this month to learn all about recycling and composting to minimize waste and protect our environment.

“It's a very hands-on way for students to make an impact in their school, village and beyond when they understand what really happens to the large quantities of food and plastics that get put into the trash on a daily basis.  At Springhurst they are offered an alternative to do something positive with their food scraps, which directly benefits their school community by producing soil for their garden.”

Dobbs Ferry School District

505 Broadway

Dobbs Ferry, NY 10522

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