At MPES, we are always looking for ways to foster a positive and inclusive school community. This past week, our students participated in the District-Wide Read, where every classroom engaged with the book, I'm Not Just a Scribble by Diane Alber. This wonderful story sparked meaningful discussions about kindness, empathy, and emotions, reinforcing the importance of understanding and valuing one another.
As students listened to the story, they reflected on how everyone’s feelings and experiences matter. Classroom discussions encouraged them to think about ways to support and uplift their peers. Many students connected the book’s themes to the 4B’s we practice every day—Be Safe, Be Kind, Be Respectful, and Be Responsible—showing how these values help us build a strong and caring school environment.
Beyond discussions, students also expressed their learning in creative ways, including art projects, writing reflections, and classroom activities that deepened their understanding of empathy. It was inspiring to see them relate the story to their own lives and the ways they can demonstrate kindness daily.
We encourage families to continue these conversations at home by asking students what they learned from I'm Not Just a Scribble and how they can show kindness and empathy in their everyday interactions.
Together, we are making MPES a place where every student feels valued, heard, and supported. Stay tuned for more exciting learning experiences ahead!
Monday, April 7-April 9-Field Day Spirit Wear Campaign
Wednesday, April 9-School Store will be open. If you would like to volunteer, you can sign up by visiting mpespto.org website.
This week, the first-grade students at MPES took a deep dive into the fascinating world of volcanoes! As part of their Geology unit, students in Mrs. Clark’s class, along with Mrs. Zulauf and Mrs. Adams’ students, explored how volcanoes form and erupt.
In a wonderful display of the 6 C’s—Collaboration, Communication, Critical Thinking, Creativity, Citizenship, and Compassion—our young scientists worked together to share their knowledge and excitement. The first graders eagerly explained what they had learned about volcanic eruptions before participating in an exciting hands-on experiment. Using baking soda and vinegar, they created their own volcanic eruption, bringing science to life in a fun and interactive way!
It was an engaging and memorable experience for all, reinforcing the joy of learning through discovery. We are so proud of our students for their curiosity and teamwork!
Stay tuned for more exciting learning adventures from MPES!
Monday, March 31 is day 6 in our special cycle.
Jenn Darling
March is Disability Awareness Month and the Carmel Central School District has a lot of informative, helpful and interesting activities planned. Please take a look at the attached schedule. We look forward to seeing you.
Carmel Central School District residents who volunteer with fire departments or ambulance corps will see a 10 percent reduction in their school taxes in return for their service.
The Carmel Board of Education voted February 25 to give volunteers with at least two years of service a 10 percent cut in the property tax assessment of their primary residence. The vote was unanimous.
“For example, the impact in the Town of Kent would result in an $800 savings for each person receiving the exemption,” Assistant Superintendent of Business Ken Silver said.
The reduction would cost the remaining taxpayers 1.2 cents on every thousand dollars of assessment.
“If your home is assessed at $400,000, the property owner would be paying $4.80 in addition each year for the volunteers who are risking their lives,” Silver said.
More than 35 volunteers attended the board meeting and School Board President Melissa Orser thanked them for keeping the community safe.
“We are giving you a little bit back for giving us a lot,” she said.
The volunteer tax break will help the entire community in the long run.
“Anything we can do to assist with local fire companies’ recruitment and retention benefits the entire community,” said Trustee John C. Curzio II. “If we ever had to go to a paid fire service, town taxes would increase as much as 50 percent, which would result in a huge burden on our community.”
They used to say you had to know someone to get a book published.
Not anymore.
Fourth grade reading students at Matthew Paterson Elementary School published their own books using Book Creator, the online publishing software.
Reading Teacher Janine Avitabile recently gave her students the chance to each present their books to their class.
“Our focus was winter holiday traditions that ranged from Christmas, Ramadan and ended with our New Year's resolutions,” Avitabile said. “They each got to tell the story of their own family traditions.”
The students wrote the story and chose the photos. They even created the design, picking their own fonts and adjusting the sizing and layout of their images.
The Journal News did a story and video about Matthew Paterson Elementary School's newly renovated school library. It's on @lohud. The library was dedicated to recently retired Head Custodian Larry Kershaw, who oversaw the project. See photographer Frank Becerra Jr.'s photo essay and video here: https://bit.ly/3El3CcO
One group of four-year-olds served their teacher a make-believe breakfast while another played with building blocks and a third practiced cutting out pictures.
It was a busy day in Carmel Central School District’s first Universal Pre-Kindergarten program, which started on Monday, January 6.
“We want to teach them everything they need to know before kindergarten, but we do it in a fun way,” said Theresa McCaffrey, Executive Director of Little Leaf preschool in Carmel.
Little Leaf is one of three preschool programs chosen to provide services to the 75 students who enrolled in Carmel’s first semester of universal pre-kindergarten. Creative Kids and Kids Cottage preschools are also hosting the program.
School Superintendent Erin Meehan-Fairben made starting Universal Pre-Kindergarten one of her first goals for the district. The program, which is funded through state and federal grants, is provided at no cost to district families.
“The benefits of early childhood education are clear, and include improved school readiness, better academic performance and a reduced achievement gap,” said Dr. Fairben, who took over as Carmel’s School Superintendent in July and got to work right away to ensure that all of Carmel’s students would have access to good preschool education. “It is an investment that lasts a lifetime.”
As the students rotated through the four fourth-grade classrooms at Matthew Paterson Elementary School, they made coats of arms, stained glass, illuminated letters and castles – some with modern-day twists.
In Michael Dwyer’s classroom, the students used K’NEX building toys to create castles that would do any royal family proud. One group of builders even put their castle on wheels.
“Castles don’t use wheels,” nine-year-old Chace said to his teammates. “That’s castle-ing 101.”
Pretty soon, though, Chace went along with his group’s idea and started adding wheels. When the group rolled its castle up and down the aisles, their classmates all laughed.
Middle Ages Day was the culminating activity of the reading unit that fourth graders had just completed in the district’s Core Knowledge Language Arts, or CKLA, reading program. The unit had them reading, writing and learning the vocabulary of medieval times.
“They learned all about the Middle Ages, so everything they are creating now is building on their prior knowledge,” Teacher Anastasia Amelio said. “It’s more than just ‘Oh, this is cool.’ These are activities that tie it all together.”
The excitement of Matthew Paterson Elementary School’s holiday sing-along started even before the first note was sung.
“Look, there’s Santa signing in,” a kindergartner said as his class walked by the front door. “Holy Moly!”
“Do you think it’s the real one?” a classmate asked.
It wasn’t, but the MPES PTO members dressed as Santa, Frosty the Snowman, the MPES Panda and lots of elves provided some extra entertainment as music teacher Syndey Gaspar played all the greatest holiday hits on the piano.
If you’ve driven to Carmel High School recently, you’ve likely noticed the construction on Fair Street.
The $30 million road improvement project, which will significantly improve safety, traffic flow and infrastructure in the area, will widen Fair Street from Simpson Road to Route 52. It will also add sidewalks and streetlights from Hill and Dale Road to Route 52, fix drainage and create an additional lane for easier turning into and out of the high school parking lot. Construction started in September after years of delays and is expected to be completed by the summer of 2026.
Carmel High School Principal Brian Piazza said that the construction would make the road safer in the end.
“The construction will create challenges traffic-wise, but at its completion, the sidewalks and an additional turning lane will greatly benefit our school and community, especially in terms of student safety,” Piazza said.
Michael Klenotiz, Carmel Central School District’s Supervisor of Transportation, said that good communication will go a long way toward keeping school bus traffic on schedule.
The Third-Grade Harvest Festival at Matthew Paterson Elementary School is an event that brings students, teachers, staff and families together to celebrate an American tradition.
Parents dressed as Pilgrims and helped the third graders with activities, including grinding apples to make applesauce. The apples were donated by Fishkill Farms in East Fishkill and Wilkins Fruit & Fir Farm in Yorktown
“This is a great tradition,” said Dan Minieri, who dressed as a Pilgrim for the event. Mineri’s son, Dan, is in the third grade.
The lack of rain this fall led to a burn ban throughout Putnam County, so the tradition of cooking applesauce over an open flame was replaced by a safer inflatable campfire toy with a smoke machine.
“It was still great fun,” said Third Grade Teacher Michelle Belasco. “This event encompasses our Carmel 6 Cs, and it is something we look forward to each year,”
On two warm fall days, third graders from Matthew Paterson Elementary School walked across the road to the Patterson Environmental Park.
The park includes part of the Great Swamp, one of the largest freshwater wetlands in New York State and home to many species of wildlife. The students’ visit would allow them to see its ecological diversity up close.
“We finished the unit on animal classification in our reading program, Core Knowledge Language Arts (CKLA), so we added a trip to the Great Swamp for a hands-on extension,” Teacher Gina Boalt said. “I love this reading program; it is so rich in content.”
Judging from their enthusiasm, the students were excited to put their new knowledge to the test.
Spring Recess
Schools Closed
