Each year, we take a moment to inform you of some of the progress we have made this school year. This overview will provide you with helpful information while also highlighting some of the accomplishments of our high school students and staff.

Points of information and interest are listed below:

As the warm weather approaches, we encourage you to review the appropriate guidelines in the student handbook. Every student receives a handbook in September. This handbook is also available on our web site, including the code of conduct.

The Regents and Final Examinations will begin on Monday, June 16th. This is a revision to the district calendar. There will be no departmental Regents Review sessions this year.

The course catalog is now exclusively available on-line. Please visit our webpage to review the opportunities available to your child.

We are working with the O.C.C., the P.F.A., and Mr. Mohrman, the Assistant to the Superintendent for Operations, on a renovation of the snack bar area of the cafeteria.

We will dedicate the courtyard to the alumni in early June. If you would like to make a donation, please contact the National Honor Society. We would welcome plantings to beautify this area.

Please remember to call the attendance office if your child is going to be absent.

All efforts will be made to give 9th and 10th graders a full schedule, including lunch.

The Shared Decision Making Committee is working on a volunteer mentoring program for 2008-09.

The district is embarking on a recycling program. The funds raised will be used by clubs to beautify the duck pond area outside the cafeteria.

We are currently working on departmental web pages that will contain the information on levels (Regents, honors, and A.P.) so that parents and students can make informed decisions when deciding which courses to take in the future.

The Alternative Education Committee has made a recommendation to the Superintendent and Board of Education for an alternative program for next year named The Hilltop Academy.

Construction will begin shortly on the Lincoln Ave. and Round Hill Road connections with Roslyn Road. This may necessitate closures on Roslyn Road over the next year.

The high school Grading Committee recommended to the Superintendent of Schools to move to a numerical grading system for the 2008-2009 school year. Details will follow.

DEPARTMENTAL UPDATES

Art and Music

The Bryant Library Art Show will be running the entire month of April. There will be a reception on Tuesday, April 8th from 6-8:30 pm.

English

The 2007-2008 school year has been an exciting and busy one for the English department. The new elective titled The Sixties was a smashing success, at least based on student evaluation at semester's end. An interdisciplinary course in the truest sense of the word, The Sixties, taught by Mr. Segal, examines the literature, drama, politics, music, movies, art, and cultural attitudes of the decade. The course actually begins in the 1950's, and looks at the Beatnik movement and its profound influence on the counterculture in the years to follow. With a combination of essays, projects, and journals, students are asked to confront the tumultuous change that took place during the 1960's and the echoes of that change in our own world today. The success of the course can be measured by the fact that a student, who could not fit the class in his schedule, is currently auditing the course and showing up every other dayÉand doing the work!

Students Dara Bernstein and Sasha Miller had this to say about a second new elective: "For two months students at Roslyn High School have been creating their own children's books as a project in the new elective, Children's Literature. The new elective, taught by Ms. Muller, has examined the reading and writing of children's literature. As part of this project, students from grades 10 to 12 split into groups of two, three, and four students to collaboratively write and illustrate their original books based on the themes of exclusion and being different. Since the books are targeted for young children, the groups implemented the themes in a variety of ways that small children could relate to such as being excluded or being different for making different kind of art projects, having divorced parents, being small, and looking different.

With the help of art teacher, Ms. Lizzul, students used watercolors, pastels, or color pencils to illustrate their books. Students used digital photographs to create the books. They also laminated and bound the books.

On November 30, 2007, the Roslyn High School Children's Literature class visited the Heights School to share their books. Each kindergarten class spent 45 minutes with one group. After the groups read their books they discussed themes with the kindergarten students and answered all of their questions. The groups organized an activity to reinforce the themes in their picture books. Each class created and decorated a bookmark. This was a fantastic experience for both the kindergarten students and the high school students. It reinforced a passion for reading, learning, and teaching."

In addition, the newly implemented Academic Strategies course is functioning in high gear. The students are working hard to develop a portfolio of generic learning strategies. They are demonstrating an understanding of text by organizing, comparing, translating, and interpreting facts and ideas. In addition, the students are striving to better analyze, synthesize and evaluate print. Great strides are being made in the writing process as well. The teacher, Mrs. Waidenbaum noted, "We will continue to expand our horizons as we further develop our critical thinking skills and cultivate a love of reading."

Finally, the Roslyn Film Society continues to grow in 2008! Armed with over 75 students who have completed Film and Literature I and dozens more enrolled in Film & Literature II, the Roslyn Film program is ready for the logical next step: an expansion of the film production component in our classes and in our club. Film & Literature II already requires an original film production; likewise, countless students write, direct, and edit original films that premiere at the annual Roslyn Film Festival. Along with the High School Administration, Mr. Cabat and Mr. Kaufman are brainstorming strategies and raising funds to meet the growing demand for film study and for film production at Roslyn High School.

Plans are already under way for a similarly successful 2008-2009 school year with the introduction of new classes such as The Short Story, World Humanities Seminar and Multicultural literature.

Foreign Language and ESL

The foreign language department started the 2007 school year with the implementation of a new curriculum for all incoming freshman with the goal that all students will take the NYS Regents Exam in a Foreign Language their sophomore year. We have been extremely successful with challenging our students with the new information and topics and have seen tremendous improvement with the target language. The foreign language teachers have also undergone extensive training in order to utilize the new Learning Lab that we now have available. Every foreign language class will be exposed to a Lab period every two weeks in order to improve their speaking & listening comprehension skills. We are also excited to have our ESL department take part in the usage of the Lab in order to facilitate their speaking & listening skills as well. Many of the foreign language teachers will be working on some more curriculum writing in the summer of 2008 for new courses as well as improving the old.

Guidance

The fall and winter was a very busy time of year. We began meeting with students to solve scheduling conflicts and then with seniors in counselor groups to discuss the college application process. During the week of September 25th, the counselors met their freshman in transition groups. At that time, all the counselors met with their individual students over a two-day period and discussed issues relating to high school, managing the work load, and solving problems that the students were experiencing. It was wonderful to hear from the students that they absolutely love the high school, that the transition has been seamless, and that the management of the physical plant was effortless. I have also heard from parents of freshmen that it was a terrific start to the school year.

In October I met with 9th and 10th grade parents in a pre-college planning evening. Over 200 parents and students attended where Mr. Caruso, Mr. Geller, and I discussed the college application process, involvement in extracurricular activities, and curriculum planning. In addition, we took nine adult volunteers from the audience to participate in THE GPA GAME. The night was very well received and shed light on a number of topics that parents and students alike were concerned about. On the same day, the counselors met with the sophomores to repeat THE GPA GAME.

The college application season this year was a rather hectic one with the increase of online applications. The office processed more than 2000 applications to over 240 colleges nationwide. The counselors were busy working with seniors completing the college application process. As you can see, we are a very busy office with one activity flowing into another. After the first of the year, we began the junior conference cycle. This is the time where you and your child meet with your counselor to begin planning for their senior year and on their post high school planning. All the documents needed to be completed for the junior conference are available at www.roslynschools.org at the RHS/Guidance website.

Counselors will meet once again with their 9th and 10th grade students in the spring to do a career inventory and a personality assessment which relates to career and learning style. Please ask your child the results of these instruments as they will be given them to take home to you to share.

To date, course selections are complete for all students, verifications are being mailed out to parents and students, and the master schedule is in the process of development. If any changes need to be made, they must be made soon. I encourage you to carefully and thoughtfully verify the courses. The last day to change a schedule without the grade carrying to the new course will be the fifth week of school in September. I would also give some thought to the work load to insure that your child can successfully complete the work to level that acceptable without a tremendous amount of stress.

Library Media Center

The High School Library inaugurated its new website, which can be accessed at http://libraries.roslynschools.org/hs or by following the link from the High School home page. The library pages function as an instructional and research tool and school community resource. The site connects our patrons to critical resources and vital links, all in one place, 24 hours a day. Currently our links include the High School Library catalog (OPAC), High School subscription databases and specialized free web resources, Bryant Library databases, the Nassau Library System catalog, and the HS MLA style guide and other formatting assistance. Students can also link to handouts and pathfinders produced for specific class assignments provided to them during research instruction periods. Library instruction now directs students to the library website for specific resources that are highlighted and demonstrated in class.

Math

In January, 288 students took the Math A Regents Examination. 98% passing with 75% mastery.

In the Nassau Math Tournament held on February 1st at SUNY Old Westbury, Stephanie Wang finished in 9th in the county in the 11th grade individual competition, and David Herzka finished 8th in the county in the 12th grade individual competition.

In the lower division team competition, the team of Brian Chen, Zach Goldsmith, Nikhil Mehandru, Jeanne Park, and Kevin Xu finished 5th in the county.

Science

The AP Environmental Science class visited a local Roslyn Cemetery with their teacher Mr. Joseph Dispigno late last semester to study mortality rates and survivorship curves as well as the effects of weathering, erosion and to explore local ecology. The class plans to visit the Marine Nature Study Center in Oceanside in April, and will join with some AP Bio students to attend the the Science Explorations Day extravaganza at Hofstra University in March.

Seven Roslyn HS past and present AP Chemistry students from Mrs. Mary Cronin's class participated in the annual Chemistry Olympiad competition held at CW Post on Saturday March 1st.

Our newest science elective, Sports Physiology, taught by Mr. Dispigno, is now in session. Students are engaged in exciting lessons about human body performance in athletics. The AP Biology program is fielding two teams for the protein modeling challenge to be held at Stony Brook in April. Team coach Mr. Dispigno attended special training workshops to best prepare our students.

The Marine Biology program, instructed by Ms. Laura Wenzel and Mr. William Marvin, has students actively involved with marine life and aquaria in and around our school. In addition to maintaining about a dozen fish tanks in their classroom, students have visited or will be visiting the aquariums at Atlantis Marine World in Riverhead, will be visiting the Caumsett Environmental study center, and will be taking a boat trip out of Freeport to study local marine ecosystems.

Our four AP Biology classes, taught by Mr. Vincent Kreyling and Mr. Dispigno have made several recent visits to the Dolan DNA Learning Center to study bacterial transformation and cloning techniques.

All of our Regents and Honors Earth Science classes, under the supervision of Dr. Debra Oleksiak and Ms. Wenzel are intensively preparing for the newly revised Earth Science Performance Test to be administered for the first time this coming June. Teachers have been attending training classes to best prepare our students for this new practical examination. The Roslyn High School Science Olympiad Team had several top scorers in a variety of categories at the annual Olympiad held at Kellenberg HS on February 9th. First Place awards in Ecology were received by Anouva Kalra-Lall and Olivia Conetta, Second Place awards in Physics Lab were received by David Herzka and Eric Imperato, Third Place awards in Health Science were received by Kate Kerpen and Samantha Halpern, and Fourth Place Awards were received by Jon White and Austin Bernhardt for Experimental Design. Team coaches are Mr. Kreyling, Mrs. Irena Tsarevsky, and Ms. Christina Hutter.

Science teacher extraordinaire Mr. Vincent Kreyling was recently announced as the recipient of the Harvard Club of Long Island Distinguished Teacher Awards for 2008. Mr. Kreyling was nominated for the award by one of his former students who is now about to graduate from Harvard. Mr. Kreyling will be recognized at a luncheon in his honor where he will receive a scholarship opportunity at Harvard.

The Science Department is thrilled to have student Evan Babazadeh win Finalist status at the annual Intel Science Competition. Under the guidance of his Roslyn mentor Mrs. Tsarevsky, Evan's project involving stem cell research has earned him the right to travel to Washington DC next month to compete against finalists from around the country. Good luck Evan!

Stephanie Wang, another of Mrs. Tsarevsky's research students was recently announced as a finalist of the American Academy of Neurology's Neuroscience Creativity Prize. As a finalist, she will receive a $100 gift card to purchase a selection of neuroscience books. Four of Mrs. Tsarevsky's science research students, Brittany Katz, Stephanie Wang, Jourdan Urbach, and Evan Babazadeh who represented our school at the annual Long Island Science and Engineering Fair were selected to go on to the second round of the competition to take place this coming month.

Physics students and their teachers Mr. Thomas Kundmueller, Mr. Ken Packert, Mr. William Marvin and Mrs. Tsarevsky are excitedly preparing for the annual Physics Day extravaganza to be held at Six Flags Great Adventure on May 20th. Students will be actively engaged in lab activities analyzing the various laws of motion and energy demonstrated by amusement park physics.

Social Studies

There were three Intel STS semi-finalists in behavioral science Ð Jenna Kahn, Ben Wasserman, Jonathan White.

In the Junior Science and Humanities Symposium Ð Jenna Kahn placed second in Health and Medical Sciences and Adam Ilowite placed third in Psychology.

Jenna Kahn, Jonathan White, Ben Wasserman, Jake Levy, Alexis Shaw and Adam Ilowite were Finalists in the Long Island Science and Engineering Fair

Jenna Kahn, together with Dr. Weseley, published an article in Pediatric Cardiology: "When the Third Degree is Necessary: Do Pediatricians Obtain Enough Information to Detect Patients At Risk for Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy?"

8 out of ten Roslyn H.S. participants in the University of Pennsylvania Model Congress were recognized for their outstanding performance.

Elyssa Goldberg and Sam Vitello for Best Speaker in Committee, Geetika Rudra an Honorable Mention for both Individual Committee and Full Session, Austin Bernhardt an Honorable Mention for Full Committee and Olivia Conetta, David Hollander, Aaron Levine and Nissa Ostroff-Moskowitz all received Honorable Mention for Committee.

Special Education

The special education programs at the high school provide a continuum of services for classified students in grades 9-12. Regardless of the academic programs or related services recommended for your child by the Committee on Special Education, the high school is working diligently to offer programs that support the academic goals of your children. The programs at the high school include related services (e.g. speech), resource room support, co-teaching, subject specific, and life skills.

All special education students are assigned a roster teacher who monitors your child's progress, worked with classroom teachers to support the goals contained in the IEP, and ensure that modifications and accommodations are consistently provided.

The CSE annual review process will begin during the month of March. I am looking forward to meeting with you to review your child's progress and work together to make recommendations for the 2008-2009 school year. I would encourage you to have your children attend the meeting given that their perspective as a high school student is important to the programs we consider for the following school year.