Scores of students turned out for free haircuts Sunday at Brothers Barber Shop in Huntington Station. The shop was packed as kids lined up or sat patiently in chairs as barbers worked their magic.
Leaders of the New School arranged for the haircuts, and provided backpacks, food and music from DJKool.
Heat Hanging On
Summer is rapidly coming to a close but not the heat. With temperatures in the upper 80s and high humidity expected this week as schools reopen, some parents are worrid about the effects on their children in un-air-conditioned classrooms.
One parent of an incoming kindergartner wrote about her experiences, “Students are heading back to school in record high temperatures, closed doors, closed windows, no fans and no a/c. Due to security doors must be locked, windows can sometimes be opened, if they function, but have safety stops after only a couple inches. Public Schools do not allow Air conditioners and fans to be purchased/donated by parents or teachers, purchasing equipment for school seems to be sealed with red tape and a dead end. I offered to buy ac for the classroom and have been told that can’t be allowed. What used to be a few days of unbearable heat and humidity in classrooms is just becoming more common with climate change.”
Another parent suggested that schools that aren’t fully air conditioned should be allowed to close on extra-hot days, just as schools close on snow days.
New Leader at Huntington
James W. Polansky wrapped up 12 years as superintendent of Huntington schools on Friday. Polansky came to Huntington on July 1, 2011. His lengthy list of achievements includes establishing the Jack Abrams STEM Magnet School in September 2013 and reinstituted a full-day district kindergarten program in September 2014, after a three-year absence. He is succeeded by Christian Bowen, who comes from the Valley Stream district.
Ag-Tech Initiative at Half Hollow Hills
Half Hollow Hills will offer lessons in agricultural technology to students this year.
The Half Hollow Hills Science Department is introducing the new program for students in grades 8 through 12. This program will consist of outdoor raised garden beds at Hills West and an indoor programmable hydroponic growing system to mimic extra-terrestrial scenarios at Hills East. The indoor space will include various high-tech systems, allowing students to test for optimal conditions to grow various types of cultivars. This program will also partner with Island Harvest to donate all of the food produced each season.
“We’re thrilled to launch this innovative Ag-Tech program in Half Hollow Hills for the upcoming school year. This initiative not only offers students hands-on experience with cutting-edge agricultural technology systems but also fosters an understanding of sustainable food production and space exploration,” said Christian Fogarazzo, director of science in Half Hollow Hills. “Through our partnership with Island Harvest, students will not only cultivate knowledge but also contribute to the community, reflecting the true spirit of scientific exploration and social responsibility.”
New Courses at Whitman
Walt Whitman High School has reinstated its ninth period of classes, and added a variety of courses as electives.
A spokeswoman for the district said, “Now they can take advantage of other electives and help them find out what they’re really interested in. We hope it will expand their horizons.”
The district also added a late bus at Stimson so that kids can remain later for extra activities.
ART DEPARTMENT
1.Visual Arts (including morning announcements)
Prerequisite: NONE Credit 1/2 Time: Alt Days Full Year
This course will mimic our current Video Production offering but with production and implementation of the morning announcements worked into it.
2.AP 2D Design Photography Credit: 1 Time: Full Year
Prerequisite: NONE
Artists and photographers generate an original and powerful body of work related to their experiences. Artists make work through practice, experimentation, and revision using selected components, developing skills in connecting materials, processes, and ideas within their work and consider how these elements and ideas can be used to make work that exists on a flat surface. Students can work with a variety of materials and ideas. Graphic design, digital imaging, photography, videos or film are all accepted.
3.Curating Music Exhibitions Credit: 1/2 Time: Semester
Prerequisite: NONE
This course is an overview of the theory and practice that goes into curating professional work in museums. The Introduction to Museum Studies course is a study of local museums experienced not only in the classroom but in the field, as students participate in hands-on activities. By visiting different art museums students gain insight of museum practices worldwide as the course fosters practices of teamwork, a necessary attribute in museum work. Students will improve the presentation of their own artwork by learning to wire, mat, frame, photograph and advertise their work in a professional way. Students will also work hands-on as they organize and curate our very own Walt Whitman art gallery.
4.Fashion 2/3 Credit: 1/2 Time: Semester
Prerequisite: NONE
This course continues a sequence in Fashion Design and Illustration begun in the Introductory course (Fashion 1). Students with interest in this area would now be able to create a true porfolio if they wish to pursue fashion at schools such as FIT after high school.
BUSINESS DEPARTMENT
5.ADVERTISING AND SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING Credit: 1/2 Time: Semester
Prerequisite: NONE
“This course allows students to explore the world of modern Advertising. Students will develop a conceptual base in preparing and implementing ad campaigns in a variety of industries, take an in-depth look at today’s trends in branding, multi-media exposure, and game changing technological advances, and debate ethical topics from the fast changing ad world.
6.WALL STREET INVESTMENT
Prerequisite: NONE Credit: 1/2 Time: Semester
This introductory course presents an overview of the financial markets. Students will explore how the markets work and how they can be used to their financial advantage. Students will participate in an investment simulation where they will create and manage “stock portfolios”. This course is highly recommended for those studying business or anyone with an interest in investing or money management.
7.Hospitality
Prerequisite: NONE Credit: 1/2 Time: Alt Days Full Year
This was a course we called Hospitality
8.Business Solutions and Logistics
Prerequisite: NONE Credit: 1/2 Time: Alt Days Full Year
This course will provide students with the opportunity to learn how we can start with an idea and get the idea into the hands of a consumer. Students will learn about marketing their idea to venture capitalist, manufacturing, distribution, wholesale and retailing, and customer service support.
DANCE / PHYSICAL EDUCATION
9.Everyone Can Dance
Prerequisite: NONE Credit: 1/2 Time: Alt Days Full Year
This course is designed to engage students in creative movement activities and introduce modern dance techniques to improve strength, flexibility, and coordination, and to explore their own unique movement style and abilities. Students will explore the concepts of space, time, energy, and relationship independently and collaboratively, as well as learn basic modern dance skills. Students are required to wear clothing they can move in and bare feet. Students will receive PE credit upon successful completion of this course.
ENGLISH
10,Finding Answers: an interdisciplinary introduction to college and career writing
Prerequisite: NONE Credit: 1/2 Time: Semester
“This course invites students to explore practical writing in a hands-on format by participating in a research and presentation course that encourages them to ask great questions and find smart answers. The curriculum is interdisciplinary, reaching into each student’s area of interest, from business to technology to history to environmental science, to review the MLA style sheet, become familiar with the APA style sheet and utilize online citation tools. Students will have the opportunity to design thoughtful research questions and then explore a variety of primary and secondary research sources, including databases, document images, articles and journals, while also evaluating and understanding online source evaluation techniques. Students will learn to navigate the writing tools in both Microsoft Word and Google Docs in preparation for college and career writing expectations. The course will culminate in a written research paper accompanied by an electronic presentation to be delivered to the class and evaluated.
11.Sports Literature and Culture: A Deep Dive into Sports through Literature and History
Prerequisite: English 9 Credit: 1 Time: Full Year
”
The course is designed to be an interdisciplinary examination of the impact sports plays in society as well as the impact society plays on sports. This course will provide students with high interest, historical, and contemporary sports-related documents, literature and other forms of media. Students will explore topics such as:
Aggression and violence (football, hockey, Mixed Martial Arts, boxing, soccer fans)
Race and ethnicity (Golf, Tennis, NASCAR, Baseball)
Corruption in Sports (Black Sox scandal 1919, PED’s in Cycling and Baseball, gambling in baseball and basketball, point shaving in NCAA basketball)
Social justice (Olympic Athletes, Colin Kaepernick and the NFL, NBA stars)
Women in sports (Surfing, Billie Jean King, Serena Williams, Women’s NCAA Basketball Tournament inequities, and the Women’s National Soccer Team)
Sports during war periods (Jesse Owens ‘36 Olympics, Hockey Olympics “Miracle on Ice”)
The English portion will focus on these topics through interaction with literature presented by authors from various genres such as poetry, essays, excerpts from autobiographies, and novels. The Natural by Bernard Malamud, widely regarded as a top sports novel, will be used to help examine sports themes such as ambition, failure, stardom, and heroism. The course will culminate with an argument essay, which will entail researching controversial topics using credible sources.
The Social Studies portion of the course will allow students the opportunity to interact with a variety of historical documents and resources that will combine the worlds of sports and culture together. The course will culminate with an enduring issues essay in which students will apply the skills and knowledge gathered in the class to these key historical concepts
”
FAMILY AND CONSUMER SCIENCE
12.Future Teachers
Prerequisite: NONE Credit: 1/2 Time: Semester
Students will have the opportunity to learn the idea of being a teacher. Students will be exposed to pedagogy, classroom management, and teaching methodologies. Students will work in small groups to learn about the development and structure of the American education system, explore careers in the teaching profession, analyze ways a teacher’s personality, disposition, and cultural competence impact how students learn, and observe, develop, implement, and evaluate lesson plans and teaching strategies. Students will have the opportunity to explore the various joys and challenges of teaching diverse learners in today’s classrooms along with an opportunity to examine their own motivations of why they wish to pursue the teaching profession. Students will be expected to observe teachers, prepare lessons and teach a class.
13.Nutrition and Wellness
Prerequisite: NONE Credit: 1/2 Time: Semester
This course will look into the different dimensions of health focusing on nutrition, exercises and strategies for a healthy lifestyle.
MATH
14.Business Stats
Prerequisite: NONE Credit: 1/2 Time: Alt Days Full Year
In previous Catalog
15.Mobile Apps
Prerequisite: NONE Credit: 1/2 Time: Alt Days Full Year
Mobile applications are becoming increasingly important to our consumption of media, news, social interaction, and learning. In this course, students learn how to create mobile apps using React Native, build applications to run on their own smartphones, and create an app to solve a specific problem!
16.Introduction to Artificial Intelligence
Prerequisite: NONE Credit: 1/2 Time: Alt Days Full Year
The Introduction to Artificial Intelligence (AI) course teaches students important programming concepts that enable the use of AI in computer science and society at large. Students learn the implications of AI on society and develop a series of projects that illustrate the variety of ways AI can be used to optimize and predict information.
17.Web Design
Prerequisite: NONE Credit: 1 Time: Full Year
This is a project-based course that teaches students how to build their own web pages. Students will learn the languages HTML and CSS, and will create their own live homepages to serve as portfolios of their creations. Students will finish this course with tangible, professional, mobile responsive websites.
MUSIC
18.Music Production
Prerequisite: NONE Credit: 1/2 Time: Semester
This course would take advantage of the new Mac Lab (219) as well as the Recording Studio as students follow the process of music production from start to finish with regard to ideas and written music to technical production to performance.
PHYSICAL EDUCATION
19.Advanced Strength and Conditioning
Prerequisite: NONE Credit: 1/2 Time: Alt Days Full Year
This course is designed for students who want to dive deeper into the anatomy and physiology behind strength training and more advanced techniques to building muscle for a healthy lifestyle.
SCIENCE
20.The History of the Earth
Prerequisite: NONE Credit: 1 Time: Full Year
The history of the earth from its formation 4.5 billion years ago to the present from the perspective of New York. Major issues to be addressed include formation and early history of the earth; evolution of land masses, plate tectonics; origin of life; earth materials and rock-forming processes; surface processes and their bearing on human activities; crustal deformation and global tectonics; the earth’s interior; and the geological features, and compositions. Hands on field study trips to witness first hand the evidence left over from 4.5 billion years of Earth action.
21.Organic Chemistry
Prerequisite: NONE Credit: 1 Time: Full Year
This course is designed to provide a fundamental overview of organic chemistry to students interested in pursuing a career in the sciences. Upon successful completion of this class, students will understand the relationship between structure and function of molecules, the major classes of reactions, reaction energetics and mechanisms, synthesis of organic compounds, and how to determine structure via various spectroscopic techniques. Several themes are prevalent in each unit of study: nomenclature, chemical and physical properties, structures, mechanisms, common molecules, and the diversity of organic molecules in plants, bacteria, and animals. This course will have an extensive focus on laboratory experience and application of these concepts. Students will be challenged to consider how these concepts are related to the broader applications of science and think critically about how they could apply these applications in the laboratory setting. Students interested in a career in chemistry, nursing, medicine, dentistry, pharmacy, medical technology, science laboratory work or related sciences should take this class.
SOCIAL STUDIES
22.History at the Movies
Prerequisite: NONE Grade 10-12 Credit: 1/2 Time: Semester
History at the movies will focus on history (both world history and US History) Over the semester the course will highlight time periods and offer a movie about the time period. After discussing the history and viewing the movie the class will discern the facts, the fiction, and the subsequent events that developed. This should be a fun class for history lovers and the movies/events highlighted will be the “big events” that appear on the NYS Regents and AP tests (European History, World History, US History)
23.Thinking and Learning Strategies
Prerequisite: NONE Grade 10-12 Credit: 1/2 Time: Semester
Thinking and Learning Strategies will help all students think better and maximize their learning. Students will explore learning strategies, different learning styles, and cognitive fallacies. At the end of this course students will have a valuable tool kit designed to help them be better thinkers. It will also help students who seek a career in education develop the skills to help their future students.
24.Ethics and Philosophy of Education
Prerequisite: NONE Grade 11, 12 Credit: 1/2 Time: Semester
This course is designed for those who may seek a career in education. It will explore the different philosophies of teaching and learning, the main educational theorists of today, and the different theories of teaching and learning. Additionally, this course will examine the ethics of a solid course of study and the responsibilities of the educator and student in the learning process
TECHNOLOGY
25.Small Engine Repair I
Prerequisite: NONE Credit: 1/2 Time: Semester
Students will be introduced to Transportation Systems, including land, marine and aerospace modes. Course objectives include the following: students will evaluate the condition of a used vehicle, read symbols on maps and waterway charts, identify propulsion systems, prepare an order from a parts list, apply safety procedures, laws and regulations, interpret flight instruments, obtain career information, maintain a small gas engine, calculate fuel consumption and determine horsepower.
26.Small Engine Repair II
Prerequisite: NONE Credit: 1/2 Time: Semester
Prerequisite: Power Mechanics I. This half year course is designed for the student who has previously completed Power Mechanics I and wishes to further his/her education in the field of mechanics. Through a hands-on learning process, students will explore the complex designs of overhead camshafts and multi-piston engines. Each student will take part in the breakdown and reassembly of several small engines. Students will gain valuable as well as practical knowledge that could then be carried over into the automotive and technical fields.
27.Design and Drawing for Production
Prerequisite: NONE Credit: 1 Time: Full Year
This course is an introduction to a universal graphic language through which students can express their ideas with creativity, clarity and exactness. This class teaches technical drawing through design problem solving and stresses that design is the creative element and technical drawing is the expression of design. Students are encouraged to solve visual problems using a common technical drawing language to describe forms in the man-made environment. This course fulfills the one unit of the Art or Music credit requirement for any student toward a Regents or Local diploma.