At the June 15 work session and June 17 regular meeting, the Board of Education and Administration discussed the desire to provide a smooth transition for our students when they enter a new building and, as such, some calendar adjustments were made.
A Special Meeting of the Board has been scheduled for October 5, 2021 in the PD Room at the Falls School at 7:00 p.m.
There is a Finance/Audit Committee Meeting at District Office, Thursday, October 14⋅6:00
At this time teacher and class assignments as well as transportation information will be visible to families by logging into the portal.
Dear Parents and Families,
Welcome to the 2021/2022 school year! I am very excited to welcome you all back for another school year at Austin Road. If you are a new student or first time parent to AR, on behalf of our administration, faculty and staff, it is our pleasure to welcome you to our school! For our returning students, I am sincerely looking forward to seeing you again and being back together under one roof. While last year brought many challenges, we faced them together as a community, and not only survived, but we thrived!
As we continue to navigate the challenges and opportunities of this upcoming year, I look forward to our continued partnership in navigating them together. Here at Austin Road, we are fortunate to have an amazing group of educators who are dedicated to supporting our children's academic, social, and emotional development. We will continue to provide a caring and engaging environment that fosters students' growth, curiosity, and ignites their passion for learning.
I look forward to working collaboratively with our families and staff to provide a safe and rigorous learning experience for all of our students. On behalf of the entire Austin Road community, I would like to wish you a healthy, happy, and successful school year.
Respectfully,
Mr. Gilligan
The Moving Up Ceremony at Austin Road gathered parents and family members in the auditorium as fifth graders were congratulated on all they accomplished during their time at Austin Road, but especially the last two years
Mr. DiCarlo greeted families and congratulated students and teachers called names and attendees cheered for six great years at Austin. Mr. Gilligan handed each student a certificate and shook his or her hand, but not before he reminded the class how much he will miss them and how special they are to him since their first year at Austin Road was also his.
After the ceremony, families moved outside where students picked up their commemorative beach blankets provided by the PTO and gathered for pictures under a balloon arch. On the way out families admired the “Little Free Library,” a gift from the Class of 2021 to their school.
Congratulations Austin Road!
MCSD 2020-2021 District-wide Art Show
The Mahopac Central School District believes that Art education is an essential component of human development. Through Visual Art, students are empowered to be creative, “out of the box” thinkers and conscious designers; they are able to discover and express who they are, communicate their ideas, understand the visual, cultural, and virtual world, take risks, work collaboratively, make connections in their learning, innovate, develop an increasing sense of their own aesthetic, and authentically engage in their education.
The inaugural District-wide Art Show centralizes all the a talent district wide from Kindergarten to 12th Grade. Click the link below, explore, and enjoy!
2020-2021 MCSD District-wide Art Show: https://sites.google.com/mahopac.org/2020-2021-art-show
Austin Road Music Teacher Elizabeth Day challenged her students to combine the music they enjoy with critical thinking and research skills they had developed throughout the year, “The musician's timeline was a project that Austin Road Elementary 4th and 5th graders started by sharing with the class who their favorite artist is, and then adding pictures, videos, and music into a YouTube-type template and being prepared to describe their favorite music and why they liked it.”
Part of the research included reviewing infographics of how different musicians are connected, in formats similar to family trees or a six degrees of separation-type layouts. Students were then asked to think about gaining information in a casual, social setting.
"I asked my students to picture themselves at a backyard barbecue or a party at your favorite artist's house and to describe the kind of music they thought would be playing," Day said. “This required researching who their favorite artist listened to, and then we took it a step further. I challenged them to take it to the next level, having them hypothesize who would their favorite artist's favorite artist listen to, and on and one for several ‘degrees.’ They also had to be prepared to defend their choices.
The project was both eye-opening and fun for both students and Day. “ For me as their teacher, it gave me a way to connect to the music that is relevant to them and actually learn of some new artists and bands I did not know about. For the students, especially those who said they did not listen to music, it inspired conversations about where they might hear music with something they enjoy, like movies or video games.”
Day described this as opening them up to a new perspective on music in their lives. “By the end of the timeline project, students were finding that many of their favorite artists, although they were different, seemed to be influenced by the same people in history.”
Check out these timelines her class created!
Susan Downey’s fifth grade students shared the projects that were the culmination of their Animal Adaptations Science Unit with the entire Austin Road community by displaying them in the main hallway.
Throughout the unit they learned about the different types of adaptation including physical, behavioral, mimicry, camouflage, hibernation, migration, and dormancy. The children were asked to select a non-domesticated animal and create a poster that showcased how it adapted. Their final score on the project was based on how well they followed the project rubric. Once the posters were completed, each child presented his/hers to the class (both in person and virtually).
“Every single student earned the highest possible score of 4, something that has never happened before in Downey's class!” Mrs. Downey raved about this year’s students’ efforts and final projects, “They crushed the project this year too. All of the work, with the exception of some research, was done at home.”
April is World Autism Month, beginning with United Nations-sanctioned World Autism Awareness Day on April 2. Throughout the month, people are encouraged to focus on sharing stories and providing opportunities to increase understanding and acceptance of people with autism, fostering worldwide support.
Austin Road special education teacher Amanda Giacquinta snapped these fabulous pictures of the hallway decorations and said, “I love walking through the halls and seeing this in honor of Autism Awareness Month!”
We agree, Mrs. Giacquinta!
When Austin Road Elementary students can't sing together (check out the video here!), they sign together instead! Music teacher Elizabeth Day, using technology and sign language, helped her students perform "Thanks a Lot" by Raffi in celebration of Thanksgiving and in gratitude. Enjoy!
The Lyrics of the song are:
This Calendar includes school breaks, holidays, and color cohort days for the entire 2020-2021 school year. *Please refer to specific communications from schools for building specific changes and updates.*
Michelle Tween has joined Austin Road Elementary as the school’s new assistant principal.
“I speak for everyone at Austin Road in saying that I am pleased to welcome Michelle to the Austin Road Family,” said Principal Bryan Gilligan. “I am grateful to the administration and The Board of Education for working diligently to select someone with the combination of educational experience and philosophy that she brings. I look forward to working closely with her to continue the good work being done at Austin Road to the benefit of all our students. I believe that her passion and dedication to early childhood and elementary education is well-aligned with mine and am confident will make a great team.”
Prior to joining Austin Road, Mrs.Tween spent nearly a decade as Director of Early Childhood Education at the Chapel School in Bronxville supervising and supporting preschool and K-2 team leaders, teachers, and teacher aides. Her other duties included coaching and observing teachers in instruction, management, and planning. She also created and implemented a schedule and protocol for school-wide faculty instructional rounds to create a culture of collegiality and collaboration. She was a reading specialist and a classroom teacher for Kindergarten, first, and second grades and participated on and led several educational and community committees including chairing the Cultural Competence Curriculum Review Committee.
“I am thrilled to be joining the Austin Road team. The warm welcome I received from Mr. Gilligan, the staff, and all of the teachers has been nothing short of amazing,” said Mrs. Tween. “Everything that I was told about the culture of Austin Road is what drew me here, and my experience so far is better than I could have imagined. Austin Road’s commitment to each other, to our students, and to our families will continue to keep us a truly connected and strong community.”
Mrs. Tween, who lives in Eastchester, NY, earned both a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Fordham University and a master’s degree in early childhood education and early childhood special education as well as an advanced diploma in school building leadership from The College of New Rochelle. She returned to Fordham to earn an Ed.D in Educational Leadership, Administration & Policy and is planning to graduate in 2021.
Please enjoy this Spotlight especially for Austin Road Families about the Reopening.
Teachers and staff from all three of Mahopac’s elementary schools - Lakeview, Austin Road, and Fulmer Road - held a parade on Friday, June 5, to pay tribute and say goodbye to their students, who they haven’t seen in person since the pandemic shutdown began. Students lined Route 6 with signs so they could say “goodbye” as well in a touching tribute.
Check out pictures of the parade - with many pictures submitted by YOU - here!
Read more about it and see even more pictures in the Mahopac News: https://www.tapinto.net/towns/mahopac/sections/education/articles/a-parade-of-goodbyes
