Matthew Paterson Elementary School

Latest MPES Headlines

• A Holiday Sing-Along

  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.  

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  Matthew Paterson Elementary School News

• Fair Street Construction Project Update

  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.  

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  District News

• Matthew Paterson Third Graders Celebrate History

  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,”

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  Matthew Paterson Elementary School News

• Core Knowledge in the Real World

  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.

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  Matthew Paterson Elementary School News

• A Visit From Baby Goats

  Some visitors to Matthew Paterson Elementary School recently brought out the nurturing instinct in students from kindergarten through fourth grade, not to mention their teachers and administrators.  

  Nearly everyone who got to see the three baby goats that visited from Ridge Ranch in Patterson started cooing.  

  “Oh, they are so cute,” they cried. “Can we pet them?”  

  The district’s Special Education PTO, or CCSD SEPTO, sponsored three goats this year at Ridge Ranch, an educational farm run by Arielle and Dan Honovich that specializes in “Animal Experiences.”   

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  Matthew Paterson Elementary School News

• Thankful for Senior Citizens

  The Senior Thanksgiving Luncheon sponsored by The Carmel Teachers’ Association was a big success with the guests praising the traditional turkey, mashed potatoes, vegetables and, of course, pumpkin pie.  

  Most of all, however, the senior citizens who came to Carmel High School, George Fischer Middle School and Matthew Paterson Elementary School were glad to return to schools that many of their children (and some of them) attended and to see friends from the throughout the community. 

  “We love our seniors,” said Alice Holzmann, the Family and Consumer Science teacher at George Fischer Middle School. “And they love this event.” 

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  District News

• A Thank You to the Board of Education

  The week of October 14 is School Board Recognition Week, but Superintendent of Schools Dr. Erin Meehan-Fairben thanked the Board of Education for their service a few days early, during the Board of Ed meeting on Octobert 8th. 

  "I know we are a little early, but I just wanted to take the chance to thank you for all you do," Dr. Fairben said. 

  Then she showed a surprise video that was created by students in Tim Raney’s Video Production class at Carmel High School, who included children from all five school buildings.    

  CHS Senior Kasey Carboy led the project. She wrote the outline, filmed and edited the video, which was her first project as lead.

  Seniors Ivy Kolovik and Dan Fanceschi assisted Kasey with filming at the various school buildings. 

   

  District News

• Fire Department Visits Matthew Paterson

  For National Fire Prevention Week, the Patterson Fire Department No. 1 visited Matthew Paterson Elementary School to teach kids about fire safety and help familiarize them with emergency equipment so they could be less anxious in case of an actual emergency.  

  EMT Foreman Susan McLaughlin, who came to Matthew Paterson in an ambulance, asked students in Jessica Curran’s first grade class when it might be appropriate to call 911.  

  “If someone is bleeding or hurt,” one student said.  

  “If there is a car accident or a fire,’ another added.  

  Then McLaughlin pulled the stretcher out of the ambulance, asked first grader Abigail to climb aboard and called upon classmate Hunter to act as the doctor.  

  “Ok, Dr. Hunter, you need to check your patient’s heart rate,” McLaughlin said, as she put the stethoscope on Abigail’s forehead.  

  The class all laughed and yelled “No, that’s not where it goes.” McLaughlin scratched her head and put the stethoscope on Abigail’s foot to an even louder outcry from the first graders. Finally, she handed it over to Dr. Hunter, who placed the stethoscope on Abigail’s heart.  

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  Matthew Paterson Elementary School News

• Second Graders Learn New Sports

  Now that the first couple of weeks of the school year are over, the games can begin. The games in physical education class at Matthew Paterson Elementary School, that is.  

  “Soccer is our first intro to a sport activity,” said Physical Education Teacher Lisa Palmieri as she led groups of second graders around the school field. “The first weeks are about learning routines such as how to behave in the gym and how to act outside. Now they are learning soccer skills like passing, dribbling, shooting – the basics.”  

  Playing school sports teaches all of Carmel’s Six Cs -- Critical Thinking, Citizenship, Compassion, Creativity, Collaboration and Communication.  

  Darwin, a 7-year-old, passed an orange soccer ball to his classmate Jackson. 

  “I do play soccer all the time,” Darwin said. “I asked my mom if she could take me to soccer practice and she said she would.”  

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  Matthew Paterson Elementary School News

• A Carmel Graduate Gives Back

  Come October, Chris DeChent will have worked in the Carmel Schools for 20 years. But that anniversary does not even include the time he worked in the district before graduating from Carmel High School in 2004.  

  DeChent, the Information Systems Technician, started helping out with district technology when he was in Carmel High School. By tenth grade he had a summer internship in the IT department and, later, an after-school job.  

  “In high school I was always the student ready to jump in and help the teacher if the computer had a problem or the projector wasn’t working,” DeChent said. “I enjoyed building computers, understanding how they worked, and figuring out how to repair them. My name became known to the IT department and they let me help out. I started here full time after graduation.” 

  DeChent credits his teachers with encouraging his interests and talents.  

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  District News