For the second consecutive year, two of Deer Park’s schools – Robert Frost and JFK – were recognized by the Better Outcomes organization for their outstanding work in boosting the achievement of economically disadvantaged students via the “Beating the Odds and Building Opportunities” study of New York State demographic data and ELA assessments. Out of 1,128 New York State public schools that had 40 percent or more economically disadvantaged students, Frost and JFK had 25 percent or more score 3 or 4 in 2016 ELA and 65 percent scoring 2, 3 or more.

The district honored both schools at the March 27 Board of Education meeting, presenting certificates to the principals of both schools, Susan Bonner of JFK and Dr. Eliana Levey of Frost.

“My congratulations to both principals for achieving this, it’s quite a feat,” said Superintendent of Schools Eva Demyen. “My thanks to the teachers, also.”

“We are humbled to be honored and recognized for the hard work our students and teachers put in every day toward success,” said Levey.

“At JFK, we have increased our Academic Intervention Services in reading and mathematics, where necessary, to service more students,” said Bonner. “Teachers in the building have also increased extra help time and some of our AIS teachers now push into classrooms, which also provides opportunities to reach and support a larger amounts of students. Classroom teachers have large leveled libraries in their classrooms to support the diverse reading needs of students. These libraries allow for students to be reading on their level and in a topic of their choice.”

Eighth-grade social studies teachers from Robert Frost recently met with their ninth-grade counterparts at the high school to discuss the new format of the global history Regents examination. The teachers were also invited to Karen Haar and Vanessa Whitney’s global history class to help students draft their essays.

“All of our teachers have been hard at work creating new resources and collaborating to best prepare students,” said Heather Stewart, the district’s curriculum associate for social studies and family and consumer science.

Young actors at Robert Frost had a chance to play detective with the school’s recent production of “Gumshoe High.” Written by Flip Kobler and Cindy Marcus, the film noir-style play sets its mystery inside a high school.

“We did a mystery this year, which is something I wouldn’t have chosen in the past, but there was something about ‘Gumshoe High’ that I found to be special,” said Director Michael Moriarty. “The actors and crew didn’t disappoint in bringing the play to life.”

The large, talented cast included Justin Berman as Drexton Cage, Alexa Wesnofske as Betty Ann, Karly Haskins as Chapter, Michelle Xuan as Glossary, Elisya Clermont as Index, Drea Hendrickson as Carmen Hardstone/Peniscola Jones, Steven Discenza as Fred Backwards, Zaara Azizi as Sheila, Antonio Meyers as Trident, Paul-Destin Cyril Blanc as Scatters, Nala Francis as Snake, Joel Nash as Buster/Smilin Bob, Marina Williams as Sal, Theresa Tiernan as Giggles Fontaine, Madalynn Bernstein as Victoria/Patience. Anthony Aguilar as Reginald Wellington III, Brianne Vasconcellos as Electra, Dimitra Pavlatos as Cloris, Marcus Fasano as Abner Johnson, Muskan Kaur as Sylvia, Carson Warkenthien as Royalty Hal, Gianna Sanchez as Maxine/Georgia, Mia Malcoln as Meryl, Sebastian Linares Lopez as Sincere Thatcher/Olivier, and Aruba Nadeem as Parker Roberts.

“This season was tough, due to the flu and the weather, but once again, the students of Robert Frost stepped up and gave a great performance,” said Moriarty.

Each quarter at Robert Frost, one gold card student for each team, per grade, is randomly selected to spin a special wheel, giving them an opportunity to win prizes such as gift cards or lunch with their favorite teachers.

A total of 23 student-artists from Robert Frost and May Moore were recently chosen for the 2018 Suffolk County Art Leaders Association Children’s Show, which is held annually in cooperation with the Babylon Citizens Council of the Arts. The students and their families attended the show’s reception, enjoying the chance to view their artwork on display.

Deer Park’s SCALA/BACCA Children’s Show participants were Noah Barclift, Jayda Barnes, Antonio Colon, Dania Fadel, Sophia Fasano, Taylor Gaskin-Grawford, Jade Griffin, Jose Iglesias, Tasfiya Haque, Alexia Haynes, Ermilia Honore, Ronnie Horner, Cyrus Hossain, Kathy Lin, Layla King, Kylie McGarty, Marissa Mongelli, Sarah Naqui, Anthony Peschke, Sarai Ponce, Mikaela Ponte, William Rivera and Sophia Zorakhsh.