Springhurst Elementary School principal Doug Berry’s date with Daisy is tomorrow. Berry will kiss the female pot-bellied pig in two morning assemblies at the Dobbs Ferry school because his students met a challenge to read 20,000 books by May 1. They read nearly 28,000. (That’s Berry in the pig costume).

Read the story about the [...]

In today’s paper, we write about local districts who are continuing their criticism of Newsweek’s annual high school rankings. Read it here.

While many school districts are critical of the ranking methodology – which looks at the ratio of students taking advanced courses – others welcome their placement on the list. Indeed, the Edgemont school district, [...]

Dobbs Ferry has joined several other local districts in asking Newsweek magazine to no longer rank their schools in its list of top high schools. The districts say any system that ranks schools based on a single indicator, including the percentage who take advanced courses which Newsweek uses, is flawed.

We’re running down the story, [...]

Getting back to the geniuses, part of our look at science research courses in the Lower Hudson Valley, Adam Lanman of White Plains High School explains a little bit about how groups of students form in the hallways. It’s interesting, if not a tad hard to follow, to hear the math that could explain how [...]

Eason Hahm of Spring Valley High School was named an Intel Science Talent Search semi-finalist this year for her research aimed at developing new ways to grow cells for bone replacement therapies. She is one of several students we spoke to for our look at science research programs at schools in the Lower Hudson Valley. [...]

As part of our ongoing look at science research courses and students in the region, today we feature a video of Niki Tsamis, a Dobbs Ferry High School student who spent years studying RHOBTB, a gene that is a known tumor suppressor in breast cancer. She began the research to determine if the gene could [...]

Greg Brown, a senior at Pleasantville High School, is hoping to combat identity theft. The research he conducted in his science research class focused on improving the accuracy of “cancellable” fingerprint verification systems. These systems do not permanently store your fingerprint information, but aren’t in widespread use because they aren’t as accurate as systems that [...]

In today’s paper, we take a look at science research courses in the Lower Hudson Valley. (See it here). The intensive programs allow students to choose topics that interest them and study them independently for three to four years.

These are not like the science projects you remember from school, such as connecting wires to turn [...]

Is this the delivery of state aid for local school districts?

No, it’s not. But it could be. The state Legislature just approved a final budget for 2008-09 that provides $903.1 million in aid for school districts in Westchester, Putnam and Rockland, 10 percent higher than last year. Statewide, the aid package is tagged at $21 [...]

Alex Paris of Scarsdale turned a pot of spinach into a first-place win in the environmental science division of the New York State Science and Engineering Fair.

The 16-year-old junior at The Masters School, a private school in Dobbs Ferry, used the leafy vegetable for his project, “Chloroplast Based Photovoltaic Cells.” In regular people language, that [...]

…The Springhurst Elementary School Harmonaires, singing background vocals for a remake of Burt Bacharach’s “What The World Needs Now.” (Again, sorry for the delay.) Read the story about the record here.

The song, which features Dionne Warwick, Rod Stewart, James Taylor and others, will be featured on “Back To Bacharach,” an album being produced by Grammy-winner [...]

This morning, we intended to post a preview clip of a song featuring the Springhurst Elementary School Harmonaires. The choral group sang on a remake of Burt Bacharach’s hit, “What The World Needs Now Is Love.” You can read the story here.

Well, what we need now is the song clip, which hasn’t been sent to [...]

This weekend, the future leaders of the world will, well, act like world leaders.

Students from throughout Westchester will meet at Hastings High School for the 32nd annual Westchester Model United Nations Conference, a program designed to give them an understanding of how the world body debates issues and develops policy. Continue on to read the [...]

Parents who home-school their children in California might be breaking the law. A California appeals court ruled that parents who teach their children at home must have teaching credentials or use a tutor who has the credentials. Otherwise, the children are considered truant and the parents could be subject to legal penalties. (Read the story [...]

Children’s book author Robert Kurkela will attend a fundraiser next week for the Greenburgh Central 7 school district’s Early Childhood Program.
Kurkela, a New City resident, will read original poems from his self-published book, Lilies on the Moon. Copies of the book, which also features artwork from Kurkela’s daughter, will be sold for $16.95 at the [...]