Click here for information on Summer Camps, Reading, Summer School and more.

A recent science show at Oquenock highlighted students’ knowledge and ingenuity, including projects about geodes, volcanoes, turtles, hydroponics, the solar system, added sugar in foods, and the two differing sides of the human brain.

The high school held its International Baccalaureate diploma ceremony on May 21, celebrating the 21 graduating seniors who completed their IB diploma requirements. The students displayed their Creativity/Action/Service projects as well as their extended essays of research. This year’s honorary IB awards were presented to IB director Jim Gilmartin, Philip Kane and Nancy Yost.

“The IB/CAS program is rewarding and meant to provide our students with the opportunity for continued growth in their current and future endeavors,” said adviser Virginia Scudder. “Their success is seen through their desire to achieve the very best of themselves

“The program is a testament to the amazing West Islip faculty that helps bring the classes to life,” said the school’s principal, Dr. Anthony Bridgeman, who extolled the virtues of IB’s rigor and value in creating lifelong learners.

Click on image for more information

High school athletes Kimberly Arena, Andrew Paules and Isabella Rogler recently earned All-County honors at the Suffolk County track and field championships. Arena broke her own school record and cleared 10 feet, 6 inches in the pole vault, Paules ran a 10:07.15 in the 3,000-meter steeplechase, and Rogler was county champion in the 1,500 race walk with an impressive time of 6:57.

“Congratulations to the track All-County performers and coaches Mike DiStefano, Nick Grieco, Jeremy Robertson and John Lavery on these impressive accomplishments,” said Athletic Director Tim Horan.

West Islip High School’s Thirst Project hosted its third annual Gala at Captain Bill’s in Bay Shore on May 30, celebrating the hard work and dedication of club members and highlighting the impact they have made this year. The event raised over $5,000 towards the Thirst Project’s next fresh water well in the African nation of Eswatini.

The Gala featured raffles, silent auctions and a presentation by Evan Wesley, the vice president of student activation at Thirst Project in Los Angeles. Club members and their families enjoyed an evening of dancing with DJ Brandon Latargia, a West Islip alumnus. At least one former Thirst Club president from each year since 2012 attended the event in support of the club, impressing the school’s principal, Dr. Anthony Bridgeman.

“West Islip’s legacy is unmatched and the dedication of its students is inspiring to all,” said Wesley.

“We would like to thank all students, family, friends and community members who attended the event,” said club adviser Paola Nilsen.

Talented young West Islip student-artists – nine fifth graders from Bayview and 19 third graders from Bellew – recently created posters for the New York State Senate’s Earth Day program, which encourages students to become aware of ways they can reduce, reuse and recycle. Each student was presented with a certificate and letter of recognition by State Sen. Phil Boyle.

A total of 33 exceptional language students from the high school and middle schools recently scored gold, silver or bronze on the National Spanish Exam.

Beach Street eighth graders in Maria LaPinta’s class who scored medals on the Level 1 exam were gold medalists Bradynn Alessi, Sophia Bahm, Eugene Ditaranto and Isabella Keogan; silver medalists Emily Bahm, Asfar Chaudhry, Amanda Dolan, Avery Lanzarotta and Alexander Prokopiou; and bronze medalists Aixa Dadd, Keston Hartman, Meghan Henry, Kayla Huners, Erick Rivas, Sebastian Roman, Samantha Sadowski and Gabriella Toala.

Udall eighth graders in Kristina Rocco’s class who scored medals on the Level 1 exam were gold medalist Edward Chrostek; silver medalists Jack Greene, Elizabeth Lam, Andrew Rao and Vincenza Robiglio; and bronze medalists Eiurlan Coppola and Grace Iehle.

High school students in Maria Simeone’s class who scored medals on the Level 3 exam were gold medalist Amanda Ditaranto; silver medalists Sophia Crudele, John DiBenedetto and Olivia Minissale; and bronze medalists Angelina Amatulli-Griffith, Alexa Camillery, Emily Lau, Lindsey Pritchard and Kevin Rion.

The 2019 varsity softball team, guided by coaches Kourtney Proske and MacKenzie Buckley, finished another terrific season, making it as far as the Section XI county semifinals for the third consecutive year.

High school student Jake Maresca was one of a dozen Suffolk County seniors to receive a $2,000 scholarship and gift from the Association of Suffolk Supervisors for Educational Technology at a May 23 ceremony. Each year ASSET offers this award annually to 10 to 12 deserving students who will be entering into higher education and studying fields that integrate technology.

“After viewing the recipients’ video applications, all of those attending were able to witness how Jake’s passion for robotics has shaped what he hopes to continue in his higher education pursuits,” said Reanna Fulton, the district’s director of technology.

High school junior Andrea Gomez, a member of both the choral and orchestral programs at the school, has been awarded a scholarship for private musical instruction from Life Is Music, Music Is Life. Applicants were required to write an essay, pass an interview and perform for the LIMMIL scholarship committee. 

The high school’s valedictorian and salutatorian for the Class of 2019 are Madison Esposito and Douglas Dillman, respectively.

Esposito, who earned a weighted GPA of 106.57, is an accomplished scientist. A New York American Chemical Society award recipient, she served as project leader at Brookhaven National Laboratory and earned a Second Place Grand Award at the Long Island Science and Engineering Fair. She also serves as the director of the school’s literary magazine and senior leader for the Rotary Youth Leadership Association, is first chair viola for the chamber orchestra, and plays on the varsity field hockey team. Esposito will attend Princeton University, majoring in astrophysics and English.

Douglas Dillman, who earned a weighted GPA of 105.89, is an International Baccalaureate Diploma Candidate. He serves as president of the National Honor Society and West Islip Thirst Project, is a member of Century Club, and is a recipient of the State Sen. Phil Boyle Leadership Award. Dillman will attend Georgia Institute of Technology, majoring in civil engineering.

The high school recently kicked off its first unified basketball season with great success. The unified basketball team is composed of co-ed students from grades 9-12 and combines players with intellectual disabilities and those without intellectual disabilities on the same court against similar competition. Under the direction of teacher Phil DePompeo and social worker Erin Bies, aided by student volunteers, the team has demonstrated tremendous teamwork and growth.

“The introduction of this team has enriched social interactions among the student body and has elevated school spirit,” said Athletic Director Tim Horan.

Denise Cain of Beach Street recently received the 2019 Teacher of Excellence Award from State Sen. Phil Boyle during the program’s fourth annual awards ceremony on May 9.

“This award recognizes outstanding educators whose tireless advocacy, commitment and dedication often go unrecognized,” said Tim Horan, the district’s director of health, physical education, athletics, recreation, and family and consumer science. “Ms. Cain is a 33-year educator who has had a profound positive impact on her students, staff, faculty and the West Islip community. She was selected from many outstanding West Islip educators and we wish her a fulfilling retirement.”

Guided by head coach Shawn Rush and assistant coaches Joe LaCova and Richard Zeitler, the high school’s varsity baseball team won the 2019 League IV championship. This is the fourth year in a row that the Lions have earned that title, along with two county and one Long Island championship.

High school student Anjolie Falbo was recently selected for the 22nd annual “Long Island’s Best: Young Artists at the Heckscher Museum” gallery show. Chosen among work by hundreds of participating students from schools in Queens, Nassau and Suffolk counties, Falbo’s winning piece was displayed at the Huntington museum.

Second graders in Ashley Caldone’s class at Bayview recently participated in a “Pioneer Day,” where desks were turned into covered wagons and students came to school dressed up as pioneers.

Among the activities the students engaged in were building the Transcontinental Railroad, creating colorful quilts, panning for gold, measuring different territories, matching vocabulary words, writing in Morse code and listening to digital texts.  

Bellew was transformed into Career Central on May 20, with students from kindergarten through fifth grade exploring many different career possibilities through in-class presentations and hands-on learning experiences. Parents and local community members volunteered their time to share their knowledge and expertise with the students. Visitors on this fourth annual Career Day included doctors, police officers, FBI agents, nurses, sailing enthusiasts, business owners, attorneys and a dog walker.

The high school’s IB History of the Americas classes visited Washington, DC in April, exploring the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History & Culture, Arlington National Cemetery, Ford’s Theatre and the Frederick Douglass National Historic Site.

Varsity boys tennis player Evan Lam, a sophomore, recently qualified to play in the 2019 Section XI Individual Tennis Championship held at East Islip High School.

Sixth graders in Jeanette Merola’s and Janet Renganeschi’s classes at Udall traveled to New York City on Earth Day to interview Grammy-nominated musician, philanthropist and author Julian Lennon. The students met with Lennon to discuss his new book, “Love the Earth,” the conclusion of a bestselling trilogy, and spoke to him about Lennon’s humanitarian efforts, which inspired the writing of his books. His White Feather Foundation was created in 2007 with the key initiatives being the education, health, conservation and the protection of indigenous cultures.  

Students in Michelle Bonkov’s third grade class at Oquenock recently tested objects in the STEM lab to find out which had the least and most amounts of friction. Students were tasked with determining which types of materials would work the best in designing a slide.

A terrific tally of 26 outstanding seniors have committed to play Division I, II and III college athletics this fall.

The students are: Maximus Albanese (lacrosse, Vassar College), Michael Alexander (lacrosse, Yale University; Jack Altieri (baseball, Farmingdale College), Kimberly Arena (track and field, SUNY Cortland), Tom Armetta (lacrosse, SUNY New Paltz), Julianna Budriss (softball, St. John’s University), Jillian Caroselli (lacrosse, Duquesne University), Adriane Casey (swimming and diving, SUNY Cortland), Anthony Cinquemani (baseball, St. Joseph’s College), Erin Corcoran (field hockey, University of New Haven), Kyle Cronin (track and field, Adelphi University), Patrick Cunningham (lacrosse, Assumption College), Jason DeCoteau (lacrosse, SUNY Geneseo), Nicholas Groia (lacrosse, DeSales University), Connor Harris (lacrosse, Western Connecticut University), Michael LaDonna (baseball, New York Institute of Technology), Danielle Marino (lacrosse, Syracuse University), Caitlin Neglia (volleyball, Misericordia University), Dylan Pape (lacrosse, Siena College), Jared Paquette (lacrosse, Yale University), Peyton Ryan (basketball, Springfield College), Ava Sesto (lacrosse, Pace University), Nick Siano (baseball, Manhattanville College), Christopher Sparks (lacrosse, University of Tampa), Marion Wegener (tennis, Queens College) and Cody White (track and field, SUNY Cortland).

“Congratulations to these student-athletes who have committed to play college athletics,” said Athletic Director Tim Horan, who congratulated them alongside Principal Anthony Bridgeman. “The West Islip community is proud to have them represent us as they move on to higher education.”

The high school’s robotics team No. 871 won the Innovation in Control Award and was a runner-up for the Safety Award at the 2019 Hudson Valley Regional FIRST Robotics Competition in Suffern, NY.

During a May 8 home baseball game against Bellport, Anthony Cinquemani pitched a perfect game, including six strikeouts. Facing 21 batters, Cinquemani threw 72 times in the 10-0 Lions victory.

“The West Islip community is very proud of Anthony and his perfect game,” said Athletic Director Tim Horan. “This may be the first perfect game in the history of West Islip baseball. St. Joseph’s College is getting an incredible student athlete and even better person.”

As part of its buildingwide character education initiative, Bayview students have been immersed in learning about the Seven Habits of Happy Kids. Developed by author Sean Covey, these universal principles instill “responsibility, service and honesty, resulting in confidence, integrity and the courage to do the right thing.”

As part of the initiative, vocalists representing each grade level and class rehearsed a special song, “Can’t Stop the Leaders,” with lyrics written and aligned to the Seven Habits. Ron Weber, an engineering and technology teacher at West Islip High School, collaborated with the young singers to record a music video for the song, slated to air in June 2019.

“Building character, instilling values and promoting a healthy mindset are rewards that come with embracing the seven habits,” said Principal John Mullins. “It’s exciting to see the positive energy the children share about the many classroom leadership initiatives offered at Bayview, and this music video promotes the language and principles in a fun and entertaining way.”

Nine students from the high school, accompanied by adviser Diana Saadat and math teacher Tara Annunziata, recently attended the 59th annual New York State DECA Career Conference, held at the upstate Rochester Riverside Convention Center. Competing in the Accounting Applications Series, Courtney Metzger won three medals – top 10 Role Play One, top 10 Role Play Two and top 10 overall – and finished fourth in the state in her category, qualifying her for DECA’s International Career Development Conference.

Other West Islip students who qualified at the regional level and continued on to compete at the state conference were James Sladky and Isabella D’Avanzo in Marketing Management Team Decision Making; Kendalyn Gruenberg in Retail Merchandising; Kayla Dixon and Lily Gilmore in Buying and Merchandising Team Decision Making; Olivia DiStefano in Principles of Marketing; and Maya Marino and Paisley Narra in Hotel and Lodging Management. 

“It was a great experience filled with learning and networking in a business environment,” said Sladky, one of West Islip DECA’s two vice presidents.

“We look forward to this every year, it is always a lot of fun,” added D’Avanzo, the other vice president.

“It was an unforgettable experience shared with some of my closest friends and favorite teachers,” said Metzger, who is new to DECA.

“I’m extremely proud of all the students,” said adviser Diana Saadat. “It’s always great to watch them get out of their comfort zones and prepare for their event. We may not have earned as many medals as we hoped, but having someone place fourth in the state is definitely very exciting.”

The high school’s varsity girls track team had an impressive showing at the Carle Place Invitational held on May 9 as they prepare for the Section XI divisional championships. Team members continue to achieve personal best times and distances, resulting in each member winning two or more medals at the invitational.
 

Students in Justin DeMaio’s class at Bayview have been learning about food chains and food webs, utilizing a mystery from Mystery Science. One of the labs focused on decomposers, such as worms.

After observing the behavior and preferences of worms, the students came up with their own experiments to conduct on worms in order to learn more about them. Some tested to see if worms ate soil, while others investigated the worms’ reactions to noise. The students had to come up with a testable question, create a list of materials, describe a plan, write a hypothesis and then decide how they could make their experiment better after completing it.  

“My students not only had fun, but learned a lot and are now even more curious,” said DeMaio.

Children’s book author Brian Heinz recently visited Bellew to wrap up the school’s Parents As Reading Partners program, coordinated by Bellew’s PTA. Heinz is known for his stories of the natural world, such as “Butternut Hollow Pond,” “The Great North Woods,” “Red Fox at McCloskey’s Farm,” “Nanuk: Lord of the Ice” and “A Coming of Winter in the Adirondacks.”

The rapt audience listened as Heinz shared stories of his adventures in the wilderness and his experiences with animals. He detailed the journey of a writer from observations and note taking to drafting and revision. Heinz also autographed copies of his books for the Bellew students.

“His tales had us all laughing aloud throughout his presentation,” said Principal Rhonda Pratt. “Without a doubt, Mr. Heinz was an inspiration to all of us.”

The 2019 varsity boys track team recently won the League IV championship. This was the second year in a row that the Lions have captured the league title.

Beach Street teachers Trish Portnoy and Chris Salerno recently presented at the 21st annual ASSET Conference at the Huntington Hilton. Educators from across Long Island meet at ASSET to discuss technology, innovation and best practices. Portnoy and Salerno’s presentation showcased the Computer Essentials program available to Beach Street’s seventh and eighth grade students.

“We consider Computer Essentials to be the ‘class behind the class,’” said Salerno. “It’s not just a typing class, it teaches students how to apply Google Apps in their general classes and introduces students to college and career interests as they begin to build their personal digital portfolio. Computer classes were once a dying trend, but Computer Essentials is bringing it back and with a purpose.”

The district’s English as a New Language and World Languages departments held various activities at Udall this spring to celebrate, acknowledge and recognize various languages spoken by many district families.

ENL students and teachers created posters with their favorite diversity and cultural quotes for display around the school. They also posted their favorite words or phrases in their native languages for fellow students and faculty to learn. Udall students who speak languages other than English participated in morning announcements by showing off their skills in their native language.

Udall also held its annual Cultural Celebration Assembly. Joined by members of the school’s International Club, Udall and West Islip High School ENL students shared fascinating and unusual facts about their native countries with their peers, teachers, and administrators via slide presentations, videos, songs, dances and poetry.

“The reason to celebrate every year is to help make students understand the importance of studying a foreign language, and to help students appreciate and recognize the cultural diversity we are lucky to have in our school district,” said Udall Principal Daniel Marquardt.

Kindergartners in Janis Howard’s class at Oquenock collected items for the Helping Hands Easter basket gift drive, putting together five Easter baskets filled with goodies for children and three handbags filled with gifts for teens.

Led by the Students with HEARTT group, high school students helped to celebrate the 70th birthday of Ride for Life founder Chris Pendergast at HEARTT’s annual pie toss. The event serves to support the Ride and raise awareness for ALS.  This year, pie toss recipients included Assistant Principal Craig Gielarowski, who encouraged students to enjoy throwing pies at him.  

“Sticky fun was had by all in hopes of raising awareness and finding a cure for ALS,” said HEARTT adviser Virginia Scudder.

High school students in James Stidd’s Intro to Trades class recently completed the interior of their model wall sections. Working in groups, students replicated scaled-down home wall sections. Structures included a cinder block foundation, 2x4 wall framing, interior door, drywall, spackling and paint.  Working light switches and outlets as well as functional plumbing fixtures were included inside the walls. The exterior phase of construction has already begun and will include framing, sheathing and shingling a roof as well as installing exterior vinyl siding.

A total of 17 West Islip students from grades 5-12 were selected to perform in the Long Island String Festival Association’s 2019 orchestras. After extensive hours of rehearsals, the students gave stirring performances earlier this year at LISFA concerts in West Islip and Setauket.

Students chosen included fifth grader Joy Reese from Bayview; fifth graders Anthony DeMaio and Ronald Piciullo from Paul J. Bellew Elementary School; fifth grader Dana Shi from Oquenock Elementary School; fifth grader Caitlyn Filiato from Manetuck Elementary School; sixth grader Kevin Ryan and eighth grader Alexandra Scourtos from Beach Street Middle School; sixth grader Mason Plouffe and seventh grader Vivian G from Udall Road Middle School; and freshmen Taylor Davies and Emma Musial and seniors Joseph Imburgia and David Mahany From West Islip High School.

Isabella Lucchese and John Murphy, two students studying cosmetology at Eastern Suffolk BOCES, have joined the high school’s “Lions News Live” newscast program. Put in charge of hair and makeup for the news team, Lucchese and Murphy have worked hard to make anchors more camera-ready prior to the filming of the main announcements on Thursday mornings.  

“I honestly think it’s a great opportunity because I get to learn more about figuring what makeup goes with their hairstyle, their eye color and what they’re wearing,” said Lucchese. She has long been interested in makeup and hair and started studying cosmetology this year with an eye to pursuing it as her future career.

“The cosmetology students working with our news program is very important because it includes the BOCES students in the regular flow of the school,” said Ronald Weber, the video production and digital photography teacher in charge of the newscast. “Because of their scheduling, sometimes the BOCES students are not able to be included in different things, but this brings their talent to the mainstream of the high school. Both students are excited to be part of the program and I hope that we can continue doing this in the coming years with our future cosmetology students.”

“Lions News Live” segments can be viewed at http://www.wihsmedia.com

A spooky success was in the cards for the high chool’s recent musical production of the “The Addams Family,” directed by Ryan Jensen over three performances this spring. The 2010 macabre musical comedy, written by Andrew Lippa, Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice, was based on the original cartoon characters created by Charles Addams.

The cast included stellar student performers A.J. Venezia as Gomez, Kylie Horan as Morticia, Mary Ellen Boucher as Wednesday, Sara Alvarado as Pugsley, Brian Parrett as Fester, Olivia Hargraves as Grandma, Bruce Konopa as Lurch, Jake Siffert as Lucas, Kathryn Paidoussis as Alice and Matthew Falkenmayer as Mal. The team also included pit orchestra director David Kaufman, musical director Melissa Senatore, set director Michael Taranto, costume director Elaine Longo and producer James Krais.

“We are so proud of all of the hard work that was put into this,” said Jensen. “Congratulations to the cast, crew, and pit on an amazing production!”

After brainstorming ecological ideas and searching for materials, students at Bayview recycled plastics around their homes into artistic and useful items.

The high school’s varsity girls lacrosse coach Joe Nicolosi reached the 200-win milestone by leading the Lady Lions to a victory over the Massapequa Chiefs on March 15. Under Nicolosi’s leadership, the team has won four of the past five county championships, four Long Island championships and one state title.

“Coach Nicolosi continues to provide the Lady Lions a priceless, rewarding educational experience and has developed a culture where student-athletes can reach their full potential,” said Athletic Director Tim Horan.

Business education students at Udall and the high school recently participated in the annual Long Island Business Teachers Association’s annual spring competition with students from across Nassau and Suffolk counties. LIBTA winners included the high school’s Giavanna Genna, who came in second in the Personal Finance category; the high school’s Isabella D’Avanzo, who earned third in Marketing; and Udall’s Brandon Lin, who won fifth place in Word Processing.

“Congratulations to all who completed,” said Udall business education teacher Dawn Morgan.