Dear Syosset Community:

I want to start with a big thank you to all of the Syosset students and leaders who marched in the annual Memorial Day parade to honor the service and sacrifice of our Veterans!

When we returned to school early Tuesday, we once again met up with our local vets to recognize one of our HBT students who received a certificate of merit for his Patriot’s Pen entry. Congrats to seventh grader Nadiv Khan!

Last night, the PTA hosted their annual Celebration of Culture, where students from across the District submit works of art from paintings to poems to performances that illustrate pride in each’s unique heritage. The rich tapestry that is Syosset was on full display – and I am always so impressed both by our amazing diversity, and by the extraordinary talent of our students. After observing through a show of hands that I had been superintendent in Syosset for longer than most of the students had been alive, I took the opportunity to share with these young people how proud I was to work in Syosset – a community whose PTA has been so intentional about celebrating its rich diversity – and how lucky they were to live and learn alongside friends and neighbors with so much to share.

The PTA is also a great source of advice and feedback to the District. Last summer, as we finalized an information campaign related to the facilities proposition, PTA leaders encouraged us to go beyond traditional communication methods—like flyers and mailings—and incorporate short videos that would better resonate with today’s social media-driven audiences.

Fortunately, our Public Information Officer, “Philly” Hefferon, has a background in broadcast and we were able to pivot quickly, producing a series of short videos to help explain each project clearly and concisely. I had fun donning spirit apparel from every building (I requested a size “medium” shirt without providing details, so it’s my fault that one of our elementary schools made me squeeze into a child’s medium – oof) to walk viewers through the details of each project—resulting in more than 20 videos.

Combined with printed mailers, emails, poster boards, and more, we worked hard to ensure our community had all the information needed to make its decision. So we’re proud to share that our campaign won a National School Public Relations Association’s Golden Achievement Award—and it all started with a great idea from our PTA. Congratulations to Ms. Hefferon for keeping us in the know and in the glow.

BOE Meeting Recap

At this week’s Board of Education meeting, we presented an update on our elementary curriculum work, which we call SYO Inspire. Syosset has been a leader in developing curriculum projects – like our Supercoops – that cross the boundaries between academic disciplines, developing skills students can apply in a rapidly changing world. SYO Inspire builds on and deepens that work.

The State is shifting its graduation requirements to emphasize real world skills described by the “Portrait of a Graduate." SYO Inspire is building a learner profile of those skills for our younger students to set them up for success as those high school expectations shift. The inquiry-based work that has made some of our lessons so memorable (and fun!) is the perfect vehicle to develop skills like critical thinking and creativity – because they transcend traditional subject area boundaries.

#SyoSports

Also at the Board meeting, we recognized our winter athletes – yes, now that it’s warm again! As I’ve shared in the past, we had a very successful Winter season, bringing home six Nassau County championship titles and three Long Island championship titles. For the third-consecutive year, all of our athletic teams have received the scholar-athlete distinction, with 75% or more of each roster holding an overall average of 90 or higher.

We want to celebrate our Syosset gymnastics team for their unbelievable record this season. This year, they won their sixth Nassau County championship title (5th consecutive) – and the program only began eight years ago. Four of the girls went to the State championship, including seniors Leah Chin, Vanessa Frullo, and Ilana Slade, along with freshman Sophia Bahiri. Our three graduating gymnasts have been key to the team’s success – helping us bring home these titles for the last four years. At the state qualifiers, Leah Chin was the Nassau County floor champion and Ilana followed in second place. Vanessa was the Nassau County Uneven Bars Champion, earned 2nd All-Around, and was the only Section 8 gymnast to make the podium at States. Vanessa also helped New York place 2nd at Nationals and set a new Section 8 All-Around record – she was also named Newsday’s Nassau County Gymnast of the Year. Congratulations to all of our amazing athletes!

Before the long weekend, we also hosted our athlete commitment ceremony to recognize several of our graduates who will be going on to play sports in college. This is a special moment in the lives of our seniors, who have dedicated their time to both academics and athletics throughout high school, and will continue to represent us as they move on to their next chapters. Congratulations to these students. We can’t wait to watch you soar!

Jessica Alessi, Cornell University (Soccer)

Alexa Baek, Iona University (Lacrosse)

Lily Brill, University of Chicago (Lacrosse)

Declan Broggy, Hobart and William Smith Colleges (Football)

Will Cawley, Lehigh (Lacrosse)

Nicolette Ferraro, SUNY New Paltz (Softball)

Sara Gao, NYU (Tennis)

Thomas Martelli, University of Scranton (Baseball)

Adam Marvin, University of Rochester (Football)

Bibo Mohammad, Manhattan University (Swimming)

Alison Predmore, RPI (Softball)

Ethan Ramirez, Emory University (Baseball)

Matthew Robotham, Marist University (Track and Field)

Brynn Schneider, Hobart and William Smith Colleges (Soccer)

Hailey Truicko, Adelphi University (Lacrosse)

Nicholas Turner, SUNY Geneseo (Lacrosse)

Conrad Zheng, Bates College (Football)

We have much more to highlight for our Spring sports season, and I will in the coming weeks – but for now, I am happy to report that our boys tennis team took home its third consecutive county championship title yesterday… and its third Long Island championship a few hours ago. Unbelievable. Congrats team on this accomplishment!

Next stop: Harrison High School Wednesday at 6:00 pm for the Regional championship as they work to capture their third state title.

At last night’s PTA meeting, we were proud to recognize the outstanding accomplishments of two of our students who have been named national(!) winners in the PTA Reflections Competition. This prestigious program receives thousands of submissions from across the country and celebrates student achievement in the arts across multiple categories. Village second grader Whitney Medovoy was honored for her dance piece, and HBT eighth grader Kristofer Castillo won for his literature entry. Congratulations to both students on this remarkable achievement!

Checkmate! Our South Woods Middle School students made all the right moves at CHESSanity’s 2025 Long Island Cup, taking home 1st place among eight competing middle school teams. CHESSanity, a nonprofit based in Jericho, promotes chess through inclusive, educational, and competitive tournaments designed for K–12 students. The South Woods victory was a true team effort, with each student's individual match contributing to the overall win. Congratulations to Jacob Chang, Aqeel Panjwani, Richard Woitkowiak, and Ryan Wang on this impressive accomplishment!

Sophomore Lauren Ng has been nationally recognized with the United Nations Ambassador Award for her commitment to community service. Lauren is the Executive Director and co-founder of ForgetMeNot, a nonprofit supporting the local elderly demographic. In her work with the non-profit, she coordinates art and music events at assisted living facilities. She does this alongside her Syosset peers, who help her run the foundation: Proksha Kandula, Abigail Ho, and Taylor Yeh.

Bright Spot 😎

H.B. Thompson advisory classes have been working as the school’s interior decorators over the past several weeks as competitors in a hallway decorating contest. Each advisory hallway was randomly assigned a theme by Principal Bonanno – everything from ‘outer space,’ to the ‘wild west,’ to ‘under the sea.’ Then, students got to work, designing their hallways for bragging rights from now until the end of the year. The concepts were impressive: album covers of our students in the music-themed hallway, flying UFOs in the space hallway, an official score board made out of cardboard and construction paper in the sports hallway.

Principal Bonanno walked through the halls a few days before the official judging to see the progress. Students were shouting: “I thought we had two more days!” “Are you judging now?” “Do you have a favorite?” “Come look at this alien we made!” The excitement, and the commitment to the work, was clear.

Not only did the project spark student creativity and encourage team building - it also lit up the halls, with the decorations slated to remain hanging for the rest of the year! Thank you students for working together to brighten up our halls – and our schools – every day.