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Wednesday, April 23rd is Administrative Professionals’ Day! On behalf of the entire Harborfields High School community, I would like to thank our Administrative Professionals for all that they do to make our school a very special place to work and learn.
Our students and staff returned to Harborfields High rested and recharged for the final push toward the upcoming AP and Regents examinations. We were also met with exciting news about the accomplishment of our students and staff. I am pleased to share the following accomplishments with you.
America’s Best High School Program: We are excited to share that Harborfields High School has made the news again with special recognition the US News and World Report Best High Schools Program where our students and staff have earned a Gold Medal, the highest award given!
US News and World Report Best High Schools
http://www.usnews.com/education/best-high-schools
National Rank: 190
NY State: 34
Nassau/Suffolk: 9
Suffolk: 2
This ranking is a testament to the hard work of everyone here at HF with special recognition for our teachers, our students, and our community. Our students challenge themselves with the most rigorous classes because they know that the special person in front of the room will be there for them and lead them to success. We also know that support for our educational achievements begin at home. Our school would not be the quality school that it is without the support of our parents. Thank you to our parents for your constant support of our school! Although this program recognizes the high level courses that our school offers and our students take full advantage of, it does not recognize the full scope of our dynamic academic program that serves the wide range of interests of our learners. Over the past two years we have made strides to develop programs that promote 21st Century skills such as our student journalism program described below, our mobile computing club and our expanding partnerships with regional BOCES technical programs. We are excited to be able to offer internship opportunities through our School to Work coordinator beginning in September and to continue to offer internships with local firms such as BAE Systems described below. Our students will continue to be able to receive college credit in certain courses through our partnerships with local universities including St. John’s University, Long Island University at CW Post, and Adelphi University. Although these and many other programs we offer are not recognized by the US News and World Report Ranking, we place a higher value on our commitment to serving the needs of all learners within the walls of Harborfields High. Our community can rest assured that we will continue to seek opportunities to expand on any and all opportunities in the future.
NY State Master Teacher: Congratulations to Mr. Michael Khan who was recognized by NY State as a Master Teacher after completing a rigorous application and interview process. Mr. Khan was recognized for his ability to better prepare students for STEM related fields and for improving science education throughout his career. With this recognition also comes great responsibility as Mr. Khan will be required to mentor less experienced teachers and lead other professional development opportunities for teachers.
Model School Technology Grant: Congratulations to Mr. Vincent Ambrosio who earned a $1,000 grant for his work with the Harborfields Tornado News Team. Through Mr. Ambrosio’s Multimedia Publishing Course and Newspaper Club, our student journalism program has made tremendous leaps forward with regard to technology integration. From our Harbinger News website to our school event video feeds, our students are doing some amazing things. Mr. Ambrosio will be honored at a ceremony hosted by Western Suffolk BOCES on June 3rd.
Forensics Competition Success: Congratulations to the Harborfields Forensics Team, advised by Mr. Dan Barrett and Mr. Dan Contopoulos and led by HF senior and team captain Jackie Canino, who won an award for best Crime Scene Photography at the 14th Annual CSI Challenge at Long Island University last Friday. While this was truly a team effort, the work of student photographer Isabella De Matteo was critical to the team’s success!
Safe Driving Activist Award: Congratulations to HF senior, Alexandra Kantor, who earned the Allstate Safe Driving Activist Award given by the Suffolk High School Principals Association. Alex won this award for her selfless efforts in promoting teen safe driving programs.
NYSSSA Students: We are pleased to share that HF Sophomores, Jack Levenberg and Mariel Stein, were accepted to the NYS Summer School of the Arts School of Theatre program. This is a competitive 4-week residential program in which the students were chosen by audition. There were only thirty-two actors chosen from all of New York State. They will study with members of a professional theater company and receive intensive, pre-professional training in a wide spectrum of theater arts, take daily classes in acting, movement, voice and scene study, and will also engage in a number of other specific theater disciplines, including stage combat, comedy/improvisation, mask-making, and play writing.
Long Island’s Best: Congratulations to HF senior, Frances Chi, who won the Renzo S. Bianchi Scholarship Award last Saturday at the Long Island’s Best Young Artists Juried Exhibition. This scholarship award was given to only 6 students at the prestigious exhibition. Congratulations also to Pamela Best who earned the People’s Choice Award at the same exhibition. Attendees of the exhibit casted their votes and selected Pam's Piece Cheater Pants as their favorite from the entire show!
National French Contest Winners: We are pleased to share that the following students are top ten winners in Suffolk County and in the nation in the AATF National French Contest 2014 (Le Grand Concours)!
Level 2, grade 9 Chapter rank National rank
Browne, Greta 3 9
Chalif, Jacob 6
Dwyer, Falyn 2 8
Madigan, Olivia 6
McKane, Ava 10
Level 3, grade 10
Clement, Catherine 9
Hochwald, Marc 4 6
Mank, Gabrielle 5 7
Wax, Abigail 8 10
Level 4, grade 11
Taber, Jamie 5
Level 5, grade 12
Abbott, Miranda 8
Haggard, RaeAnne 4
Parent and Student Reminders:
Prom Forms: Any senior who plans on attending senior prom with a non-Harborfields student must complete the prom permission form located on our website. This form must be returned to my (Dr. Manning’s) office.
Parent Portal: Third Marking Period Report Cards will be posted to the Parent Portal by 9am on Tuesday, April 22nd. Please be sure to review this important document with your child.
HACEF Summer Camps: HACEF summer camps registration is open! Please visit http://hacef.org/images/campdocs/HACEF_Camp_Descriptions%202014.pdf to view the offerings and register online.
BAE Women in Engineering Internship: Applications for the BAE Women in Engineering Internship are now available. This opportunity is open to girls who are currently in 11th grade. Applications have been distributed through all 11th grade social studies classes. If you would like more information, please do not hesitate to contact me (Dr. Manning) by phone or email.
2014 Community 5K Fun Run: Attached is the registration form for the Second Annual Community 5K Fun Run which will be held on Saturday, May 17, 2014.
Random Acts of Kindness: We are pleased to share that Jackie Canino, Alexis Kazic, Jennifer Lombardo and Taylor Smith were awarded a Random Acts of Kindness Award for being kind when they thought nobody was looking.