Rocky Point School District commenced the 2018-19 school year during its annual reorganizational meeting on July 12. 

During the meeting, Mrs. Susan Sullivan was re-elected to serve as president for the fifth consecutive year and Mr. Sean Callahan was elected to become the Board’s new vice president. Mr. Callahan succeeds Mr. Scott Reh, who, after serving for eight years, did not seek re-election to the Board. He previously served as vice president of the Board for the past four years.  

In addition, Mr. Gregory Amendola was sworn in as a newly elected member of the Board and Mr. Edward Casswell was sworn in for his second term as a Board trustee.

The district thanks all members for their dedicated service to the schools, students and community.

This coming school year will bring new responsibilities for two long-time district professionals, as Rocky Point Middle School Principal Dr. Scott O’Brien has been appointed the new interim assistant superintendent and current Assistant Principal James Moeller has been named the new interim principal at the middle school. Both will begin work in their new positions on July 1. 

Dr. O’Brien has worked in the district for nearly two decades, having started as an elementary teacher in the Frank J. Carasiti Elementary School, before being appointed as assistant principal and then principal at FJC.  In 2009, Dr. O’Brien assumed his current role, as principal of the Rocky Point Middle School. Under his guidance, the middle school has earned several distinguished honors and students’ academic performance has risen to an all-time high. This appointment will fill the vacancy of Dr. Deborah De Luca, who is retiring on June 30. 

Mr. Moeller is a long-standing district professional, having begun his career as a teacher at the Joseph A. Edgar Intermediate School. He has worked at the middle school since 2007. As a consummate professional, Mr. Moeller has helped to create an open line of communication for parents and students at the building as well as aided in the implementation of numerous new initiatives. 

The district congratulates both Dr. O’Brien and Mr. Moeller on their appointments and wishes them well in these new roles. 

Rocky Point Middle School eighth-grade students in Robert Ciaccio’s Technology Solutions class put their creativity to the test during their final unit of study by devising several new inventions.

Throughout the 20-week program, the students studied seven different problems and worked creatively to develop solutions to overcome those obstacles. Initially they worked to build structures to support weights, then moved on to competing in a car race and brainstorming ways to have a car travel up an angled track during a unit on energy.

During the final unit, students had the chance to identify a problem and work in small groups to create solutions. Using a multistep process, one similar to the scientific method, the students brainstormed ideas, making note of various designs and steps needed to make them in their classroom notebooks. Ultimately, the students used the various technology tools in the classroom to create prototypes of their solutions. 

Inspired by the topic of school security, one team created a mechanism to further secure locked doors. The device would prevent locked door handles from moving during a lockout and would be attached to the molding in a doorframe. Looking to help individuals stay warm in the colder months, another group invented heatable gloves using pouches of rice that would warm in the microwave. Another group invented a light-up purse, which was designed to help individuals locate items easily in the dark or a poorly lit area. Based on a recent heartbreak suffered by a local family, a team conceptualized an electrical dog door that would be activated and unlocked in the case of an emergency, such as a fire in the house. 

In addition to designing solutions to global problems, students were afforded the chance to create intricate puzzles to demonstrate their proficiency using the tools in the classroom. 

Frank J. Carasiti Elementary School kindergarten students in Karen Nicholson’s class brought some famous and beloved children’s storybook characters to life when they took part in this year’s original class play, “Knuffle Bunny Is Lost,” a production penned by Ms. Nicholson.

Based on the books by children’s author Mo Willems, the play followed two young girls as they tried to find a lost stuffed animal. Throughout the play, the leading actresses encountered several of Mr. Willems’ iconic characters, including Elephant and Piggie, as well as the Bus Driver and the sneaky Pigeon.  

Rocky Point High School students senior Jenna Salzan and junior Heather Kuhn recently participated in the nationwide Congressional Art Competition.  

This contest is presented by congressmen from each district and places student work on display at the Artspace, a gallery in Patchogue Village. Winners of the competition have their artwork sent to the U.S. Capitol, where the work will be on view for one year.  

To broaden their understanding of economic concepts, the students in Donna Trapani’s fifth-grade class at Joseph A. Edgar Intermediate School were assigned a project for which they had to create a business and design a product to sell to their classmates.

Students engaged in market research, submitted business plans with expense reports, went into production and developed marketing plans. The culmination of the project was the simulation of a marketplace during “Market Day.” Their ultimate goal was to make the largest profit possible. Students were really invested in this hands-on activity and utilized their “business smarts” to beat out their competition.

The Joseph A. Edgar Intermediate School fifth-grade select chorus High Notes participated in the NYSSMA Major Organization Evaluation Festival this May at Five Towns College, where they performed a Level I program.

The group, under the direction of Craig Knapp, performed three songs and were evaluated by two certified NYSSMA Major Organization adjudicators in eight categories. The adjudicators provided written and oral feedback on these categories, informing the chorus what they did well and what they can do to improve.

As a result of their performance, the group was awarded Gold with Distinction. A Gold rating, as defined by NYSSMA “will be awarded to organizations that have demonstrated an outstanding level of technical and artistic skill in each of the evaluative categories, including tone, intonation, balance, technique, accuracy/execution, diction, interpretation and influencing factors, for all three song selections. Any weakness in the musical performance will have been minimal. Recommendations will be given to further enhance their music performance skills.” A Gold with Distinction rating, as defined by NYSSMA, “will be awarded to those organizations that qualify for a Gold rating, while having achieved a standard of performance deemed exceptional in all three selections.” Gold with Distinction is the highest level of achievement presented at the NYSSMA Majors Organization Evaluation Festival.

The festival is the culmination of the music learning process as well as the hard work, dedication, commitment, process and progress the students have made throughout the school year. 

“The students performed extremely difficult music for their age level and I’m very proud of their accomplishments,” Mr. Knapp said.

As a result of their exemplary talents, close to 70 students at Rocky Point Middle School were named winners in this year’s Lois Lowry Literary and Art Contest. 

The event, which was started in the middle school in 2003, honors students for written and artistic pieces. Those winners were celebrated at an ice cream social event on May 31 and had their work published in a commemorative book. 

“This event just keeps getting better and better,” said English Department Chairperson Joseph Settepani. “The incredible talent of our students, the stunning commemorative book compiled by facilitators Sarah Schumacher and Patricia Scott, as well as the support of wonderful parents, administration and our teaching staff, makes this truly an unforgettable community event each year.”

Thirteen Rocky Point High School seniors were recognized for the next chapter of their academic and athletic careers during a College Commitment Day ceremony recently held at the school.

Hosted by Charles Delargy, the district’s director of health, physical education, athletics and intramurals, the event brought family members, coaches, administrators and the students together to celebrate their achievements.

The Rocky Point School community congratulates the following students for their dedication to the pursuit of higher education and a continuation of a healthy lifestyle while engaging in college sports. 

Ashley Bayard - Cheer - Mount Saint Mary’s College
Jack Costa - Soccer - Springfield College
Ashley Drews - Cheer - SUNY Oneonta
Sean Flinter - Lacrosse - Anna Maria College
Zachary Gill - Lacrosse - SUNY Plattsburgh
AJ Golik - Lacrosse - SUNY Purchase
Julieanna Joy - Cheer - St. John’s University
Allison Kaspar - Softball - St. Joseph’s College Brooklyn
Jennifer Manzanares - Track - Sacred Heart University
Megan O’Neill - Soccer - St. Joseph’s College
Jake Pohl - Football - Nassau Community College
Matthew Trypaluk - Lacrosse - SUNY Plattsburgh
Elizabeth Weiner - Field hockey - Molloy College

Rocky Point High School students senior Jenna Salzan and junior Heather Kuhn recently participated in the nationwide Congressional Art Competition.  

This contest is presented by congressmen from each district and places student work on display at the Artspace, a gallery in Patchogue Village. Winners of the competition have their artwork sent to the U.S. Capitol, where the work will be on view for one year.  

Joseph A. Edgar Intermediate School fourth-graders in Joanne Craig’s and Jessica Stalters’ class took a look inside the STEM field during a visit with Peter Maritato, Mrs. Craig’s brother and academic chair and professor of engineering science and electrical engineering at Suffolk Community College.

During the visit, the students viewed items created using a 3D printer and learned how the device can be used to print just about anything. Additionally, the students saw two of Mr. Maritato’s robots perform various tasks and activities, including dancing. 

Throughout his presentation, Mr. Maritato encouraged the students to always use their imagination and stressed the importance of studying STEM subjects.  

Rocky Point High School varsity baseball team won the County Championship! They will play against Wantagh on Saturday at 4PM at St. Joseph's College. There is a $7 admission fee. This is the First Suffolk County title in the Baseball program's history! Go Eagles!

Rocky Point High School varsity wrestling and cheerleading teams were recently honored by the Town of Brookhaven during a recent Board meeting.

The wrestling team was commended for being named this year’s Suffolk County Large School champions and the cheerleading team was congratulated for being named Suffolk County cheerleading champions for Medium Varsity Teams Division 1. Students from both teams were presented with certificates of congratulations.