Deer Park High School’s girls track team delivered an impressive performance at the Section XI State Qualifier, held at Suffolk Community College in Brentwood, with three athletes earning spots in the New York State Championships on March 6-7 in Staten Island.

Kayla Beaumont led the way with a historic effort in the triple jump, soaring 40 feet, 5 inches – the No. 2 mark in New York State this season – to capture the Section XI title. Her jump places her among an elite group of Suffolk County athletes to surpass the 40-foot mark.
Nadia Elsergany also advanced to states, finishing second overall in the shot put after entering the finals with the top qualifying throw.

Chelsea Cornelia secured her state berth with a determined third-place finish in the 600-meter race. After narrowly missing qualification in the 1,000 meters with a strong 2:59.17 performance, Cornelia returned just 80 minutes later on fatigued legs to earn her spot in Staten Island.

The team posted several additional standout performances. Ama Asare placed seventh in the 600 meters, while the 4x200 relay team of Asare, Chloe Biggers, Cassidy Kelly and Madison Soltau ran a season-best 1:49.4 to finish fifth overall, Deer Park’s highest finish in the event since 2001. Soltau later clocked a season-best 42.90 in the 300 meters, ranking her No. 4 all-time in school history. Biggers also recorded a personal best of 44.9 in the freshman/sophomore 300-meter division, placing fifth.

Vanessa Cayea competed in both the 55-meter hurdles and high jump, finishing among the county’s top 12 in the hurdles, while Riley Girard cleared 5-0 in the high jump and narrowly missed an All-Section finish.

With three athletes advancing and multiple personal and program milestones achieved, the Lady Falcons head to the state championships riding strong momentum. 

Click here to view the Three Deer Park Girls Track Athletes Head to State Championships slideshow.

 

Date Added: 2/20/2026

Students at John Quincy Adams Primary School and May Moore Primary School welcomed the Lunar New Year with vibrant twin parades on Feb. 12. Excited first graders marched through the hallways with festive noisemakers and a colorful dragon leading the way, while classmates from other grades lined the halls to cheer them on. The celebration continued in the cafeteria, where students enjoyed culturally themed treats, making for a joyful and meaningful schoolwide observance of the holiday.

Click here to view the Lunar New Year Parades Bring Joy and Tradition to Deer Park’s Primary Schools slideshow.

Deer Park High School has earned Bronze recognition on this year’s AP School Honor Roll, highlighting the school’s ongoing commitment to expanding student access to Advanced Placement coursework.

The AP School Honor Roll honors schools nationwide whose AP programs are creating meaningful pathways to college readiness. Replacing the previous AP District Honor Roll, the program identifies schools meeting established benchmarks tied to student participation and success. Recognition is awarded at four levels: Bronze, Silver, Gold and Platinum.

Schools qualifying for the AP School Honor Roll must meet clearly defined, research-based criteria, including:

•    College Culture: A minimum of 40% of the graduating cohort participated in at least one AP exam during high school.
•    College Credit: At least 25% of graduates earned a score of 3 or higher on one or more AP exams.
•    College Optimization: At least 2% of the graduating class completed five or more AP exams, with at least one taken as an underclassman.

Bronze recognition underscores Deer Park’s dedication to strengthening its AP offerings and encouraging students to challenge themselves academically while building skills that support future college success.

Date Added: 2/18/2026

Students at Deer Park’s John Quincy Adams Primary School recently combined math skills with compassion during this year’s St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital Math-A-Thon, raising an impressive $4,500 to support children with cancer and their families.
As part of the annual event, students solved math problems in their Math-A-Thon Funbooks while also helping to spread awareness through a schoolwide poster contest highlighting the mission of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Sponsors pledged donations based on the number of problems or pages students completed, while others contributed fixed donations to support the cause.

JQA’s students have raised more than $80,000 over the years through the Math-A-Thon, demonstrating the school community’s long-standing commitment to helping others.

“Our school community is proud and happy to help children and their families at St. Jude,” Grieco said.

Date Added: 2/17/2026

Christy Villalobos’ ENL students at Deer Park’s Robert Frost Middle School recently participated in a meaningful cross-classroom collaboration that celebrated language, creativity and community. Students authored a wordless book titled “The Snowman,” which allowed them to tell a story using illustrations and sequencing skills. After completing their books in Villalobos’ class, the students visited Rachel Burkel’s life skills classroom to share their stories by reading and discussing them with the other students.

To continue the experience, the ENL class led a hands-on craft activity in which the life skills students created their own “melted snowman.” Students worked together, practiced social language and supported one another throughout the activity.

This collaborative lesson provided an engaging, low-stress opportunity for both groups of students to practice English in an authentic social setting while building connections across classrooms. The activity ended with cupcakes and cookies to celebrate everyone’s hard work and enthusiasm. Smiles, learning and teamwork were on full display.

“It is so important for students to have opportunities to practice English in a nonthreatening, supportive environment,” Villalobos said. “Experiences like this allow students to build confidence while learning from one another. Collaboration between teachers also strengthens learning – we are better when we work together for our students.”

 

Click here to view the Robert Frost Students Share Stories and Smiles in Cross-Classroom Collaboration slideshow.

 

Date Added: 2/13/2026