Hillside Grade School Principal Karen Ames has submitted her resignation to the district effective June 30. Therefore, at the last New Hyde Park/Garden City Park School Board meeting the board approved, with an abstention vote from Lawrence Montreuil, to appoint Karen Bayerbach to take over the position in the fall. Bayerbach took over as principal of Hillside Grade when Karen Ames was on maternity leave.

During the open portion of the meeting however, residents who live in the vicinity of Hillside Grade were very upset. One mother said that there have been so many principals at Hillside Grade and she wanted to know what is being done to keep the principals at the school so they won't move on. She said that first there was Grimm, then Verrone , then Begley and now Ames.

It was pointed out that when opportunities present themselves to teachers it is hard to hold them back.

There was a bond update given by Mike Peck of School Construction and he reported that the time lost, due to inclement weather during the winter months, is rapidly being made up. At the last meeting it was reported that the construction was six to eight weeks behind, but because the various companies have been working non-stop it appears that all the schools are recovering their schedules.

Maureen Cullen has been appointed as Summer Reading Principal and work has begun on the reconstruction of the football field at New Hyde Park Memorial High Schools the fields cannot be used.

Manor Oaks Principal Stephen Scarallo along with Karen Ames and Karen Bayerbach gave an overview of the Professional Development Plan (PDP) in the distinct.

Scarallo explained that the goal of the plan was to improve the quality of teaching and learning to meet the learning needs of the students. The PDP objectives are: to increase professional development based on teacher needs and to tie to student achievement and to provide for participation and planning and to strengthen evaluation

Scarello said that the in-service course for next year will include: reinforcing math skills; inclusion, collaborative and co-teaching model, WebQuest, creating lessons using the Internet and Word, , FileMaker Pro, Marco Polo, Excel, Access Database, Microsoft Publisher, Using Handheld (PDA) in the classroom and Power Point and the digital camera.

The main reason for the PDP is to help teachers improve their job performance; to support teacher learning and to give teachers feedback and help them to do a better job.

The next school board meeting will be held on June 9 at the Manor Oaks School at 8 p.m. Moving up days are scheduled for June 18 for the New Hyde Park Road School at 9 a.m. and Manor Oaks School at 10:30 a.m. Then on June 19 Moving Up Day will be held at Hillside Grade School at 9 a.m. and at Garden City Park School at 10:30 a.m. The last day of school will be on June 23.

Don't forget that the school board vote will be held on June 3 at the Manor Oaks School from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Incumbent school board candidates Lawrence Montreuil and Louis Zacarese are running unopposed. Florence Raihl and Robert Nugent are running for the seat of Curtis Axelsen who resigned from the school board.