Southern Westchester BOCES Center for Special Services

News from our schools

• Middle School Teacher Wins Rye Lake Cookie Bake Off

  Congratulations to the winners of the fourth annual Rye Lake Middle School/High School Cookie Bake Off, which took place Dec. 18! Middle School teacher Jesse Fierro won first place for his mother’s Italian anisette cookies. Michelle Carpiniello, an administrative assistant, won second place for her edible cookie dough. She had chocolate chip, chocolate, chocolate chip and sugar cookie dough on spoons for students and staff to taste.

   

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• Tappan Hill Students Excited about New Lu Interactive Playground

  Southern Westchester BOCES’ Tappan Hill School received a new tool this year that gets children moving, helps with hand-eye coordination, requires them to think on their feet, and gets them excited about gym class.

  It is the Lü interactive playground, which projects games onto the wall using a giant projector, 3D camera, and light and sound system. Tens of thousands of kids in 20 countries use the Lü technology each week, but Tappan Hill is the only school in the area that has it, according to school Principal Phyllis Rizzi.

   

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• Holiday Cheer at Center for Special Services Campuses

  Center for Special Services campuses were filled with cheer in the lead-up to the holidays. Students at the Decagon took part in a singalong Dec. 19. Santa Claus attended and gave out candy canes. Several students got up and danced as the band played and children and staff sang along. On Dec. 20, students and staff performed during a concert at Tappan Hill School.

   

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• Students Have Fun Decorating Gingerbread Houses

  For the fifth year, Culinary Arts teacher Lisa Rudner and a group of her students in the Baking, Food & Retail Service program baked dozens of gingerbread houses for Center for Special Services students to decorate and take home for the holidays. The decorating party, which took place Dec. 19, is something students look forward to each year.

  “They talk about it as soon as school starts,” Ms. Rudner said.

   

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• SEPTA Celebrates with Students and Families at Annual Holiday Party

  Santa Claus, Mrs. Claus, Santa’s elves, Frosty the Snowman and Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer all attended the SWBOCES Special Education PTA’s annual holiday party to celebrate the season with Center for Special Services students and families.

   

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• SEPTA Holiday Celebration moved to Thursday, Dec. 19

  The Southern Westchester BOCES Special Education Parent Teacher Association invites all to attend the Annual Holiday Celebration. Due to a forecast for inclement weather the date of the celebration has been moved to Thursday, Dec. 19, from 4 to 6:30 p.m., at the Rye Lake Campus gymnasium, 1606 Old Orchard St., White Plains.

  Santa and his elves will return with gifts for all SWBOCES students! Raffle prizes include a 50/50, an Apple iPad, an Acer Chromebook, a Fuji Instax Mini 9 camera and several gift baskets! Raffle tickets will also be available at the door. There will also be singing and dancing, a photo booth, crafts and games, cookie decorating and more!

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• New Assistant Principal's Ties to SWBOCES Go Back Decades

  Amanda Allison recently became assistant principal at Tappan Hill School, but her connection to Southern Westchester BOCES goes back decades.

  Her father, Marty Sommer, was a guidance counselor at the Center for Career Services campus. She attended “Take Our Daughters to Work Day” there when she was a child, and when she was older, she brought her car to campus for students in the Automotive Technology Department to work on.

  “I feel like BOCES is a second home, so it’s surreal for me to be working in the same organization that my dad worked so proudly for,” she said.

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• Valhalla students, staff give thanks for one another

  Students and faculty expressed thanks for one another and for their school at the Center for Special Services Thanksgiving luncheon at the Valhalla campus.

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• St. Matt's students deliver donations to Grace Church in White Plains

  Staff from St. Matthew's Educational Building donated a number of hygiene items including soap, shampoo, deodorant and more to the Grace Church in White Plains. St. Matt's students packed 50 bags of necessities and delivered them to the church Thursday, Nov. 21. These Student Helpers are paid by SWBOCES to work in the soup kitchen sponsored by Grace Church.

   

  

   

   

  

   

   

  

   

   

  

   

   

  

   

  News Feed - Center for Special Services

• New Laundry Program at Tappan Hill

  As Michael Wisher finishes his last year at Tappan Hill School, his mother, Justine Riordan, has been investigating adult programs and thinking a lot about what he will do when he turns 21 and leaves Southern Westchester BOCES. Michael, who is in Erroll Rivera’s class for students with multiple disabilities, is passionate about laundry and washing machines. 

  Ms. Riordan put a post on Facebook, asking friends to contribute to a new laundry program at the school called “Mikeymo’s Laundry Service.” Within days, she had about $3,750 in donations, enough to purchase a washing machine, dryer, supplies and additional funding for the program. Each child who participates will receive a Mikeymo’s Laundry Service T-shirt. She has pledged to keep the supplies stocked for five years after her son finishes in June.

  The laundry service is one part of Tappan Hill School’s “Essentials for Learning” vocational program, which will help middle and high school students develop some of the skills they will need to enter the workforce. The others are the office and silk flower programs.

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