Current Projects

Holiday Meal in a Bag 

With the goal of supporting district students and their families during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Foundation created a new community campaign, “Holiday Meal in a Bag.” Community members funded a grocery bag filled with non-perishable items along with a grocery store gift card, or filled their own bags to drop at a community collection. Each bag contained ingredients to make a family holiday meal. In total, the December drive provided over 200 meals for district families in need during the holiday season. 

Fox Community Read

In 2020, the Foundation supported a BCSD community read during an unprecedented time of hybrid learning amidst a pandemic. The BCSD English department encouraged fifth, sixth and seventh graders, their parents and the wider community to read Jeremy Fink and the Meaning of Life, a thought-provoking coming-of-age story written by Wendy Mass. The goal of this program was to build a strong sense of community through a collective reading experience promoting a shared responsibility for the literacy of students across our schools. The Foundation sponsored remote presentations with the author, giving students, families and community members an opportunity to “meet” her virtually and ask questions. Nearly 200 people attended the remote author visits.

College Application Support at Fox Lane High School

The Foundation brought together the BCSD community and BCSD faculty to support Fox Lane High School students in the college application process during remote learning.

The program kicked off with teachers from the FLHS English department working with juniors and seniors on their common application essay in workshops funded by the Foundation. Students were supported throughout the writing and editing process in a small group setting with the expectation of achieving a polished first draft after the four-day program. More than 50 students participated in this ongoing work.

An important element of the college application process is the student interview with a college alumnus. The one-on-one interaction is likely to be more meaningful this year due to the pandemic. To further support Fox Lane students as they embarked on the college application journey, the Foundation connected experienced college interviewers in our community with FLHS college applicants to provide an opportunity to practice their interviewing skills. Students answered questions about their academic experiences and received valuable feedback. Dozens of students participated in this program and more recently, several were able to conduct these mock interviews remotely, which given the pandemic, will likely mirror the format of actual interviews seniors may undertake this year. 

Sixth Grade Novel Unit

The Foundation purchased a copy for each sixth grader of the novel, I Will Always Write Back: How One Letter Changed Two Lives by Caitlin Alifirenka, Martin Ganda and Liz Welch. FLMS English teachers chose this novel as a developmentally appropriate text that provides the basis for teaching the themes and skills in the sixth grade fall curriculum. The book tells the true story of an American girl who writes letters to a boy in Zimbabwe and how their long distance exchange transformed their lives. Reflecting the theme of the book, sixth grade students became pen pals with peers in other FLMS houses, an effective means of connection when students are learning remotely. Sixth graders were excited to discover that one of the authors of the book, Liz Welch, is a Fox Lane graduate. 

BCSD is rolling out RULER - the premiere program for building social, emotional and learning intelligence

BCSD has become a RULER district, just as hundreds of other districts nationwide have done, in partnership with Yale’s Center for Emotional Intelligence, chaired by the esteemed Dr. Marc Brackett, author of the recently released bestseller Permission to Feel: Unlocking the Power of Emotions to Help Our Kids, Ourselves, and Our Society Thrive. The multi-year RULER program trains school leaders, faculty, and staff as well as students and their family members, to manage their full range of feelings so they can make more informed decisions, form and maintain mutually supportive relationships, attain personal growth and wellbeing, and achieve academic and life success.

With its evidence-based effectiveness, the social emotional learning (SEL) process is not a script or curriculum, but a program rooted in social intelligence theory and research on both child and adult development, using a whole-school approach. The Foundation is working with the District to roll out RULER to all seven schools in the 2020-21 school year. This past December, Dr. Brackett held an all-teacher training for BCSD staff and administrators to kick-off the multi-year program.

Equine Assisted Learning Field Trip for Hillside

Students will have an up close and personal experience with horses, seeing how humans and animals can work together to help one another. Students will learn specific animal behaviors and how their own behaviors affect the horse and vise versa. Students will research equine behavior in class before going on the field trip in order to fully understand how horses communicate with each other and with the humans they interact with. Through this experience, students will see how animals are used to help people struggling with emotional disabilities, opening up possibilities for the students when dealing with their own struggles.

PRES brings Image, Sound and Story to 4th and 5th Graders

In collaboration with JBFC, PRES will implement a hands-on program that enriches current curriculum by allowing students to view literacy through a creative lens and examine literacy and storytelling from new perspectives. Through this program, students will learn how to capture images, sound clips, and eventually to tell a story through the visual medium of film. The opportunity gives students a new, creative, and experiential format with which to embrace literacy-- emphasizing their skills of observation, comprehension, and analysis when viewing media, while also developing imagination, intention, and production skills in creating media.

FLMS DLBE Flamenco

As an enrichment opportunity for the DLBE students, FLMS will welcome Sol y Sombra Dance Company for a presentation. As a supplement to their current reading of El Quijote de la Mancha, the presentation will allow students to truly experience the culture and dance of flamenco, illustrating how the history of Spanish is intertwined in the flamenco dance, furthering their understanding of their current curriculum.

FLMS Mindful Foxes

In order for students to be present and ready to learn their curriculum, there must be mindfulness and attention to their wellness. FLMS is creating a mindfulness center in their Spanish classroom, to teach strategies to middle school students (and teachers) on how to calm their minds and bodies. With the supply of materials the Foundation funded, students will have access to books, yoga mats, calming jars, calming sand boxes and other options all within a mindful environment. A simple mindful check in and the students will not only feel better, they will do better.

UDL at BVES

Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is an educational framework based on research in the learning sciences, including cognitive neuroscience, that guides the development of flexible learning environments that can accommodate individual learning differences. What does that mean? Students’ needs and different styles of learning are being addressed in the classroom at BVES. We were able to help support the purchase of tools, equipment and furniture to be used throughout the school, that will help increase work production and makes students feel competent and confident.

WPES Schoolwide Enrichment Module

Having helped to kickstart a school-wide enrichment program, piloted by WPES in 2014, the Foundation has fully funded the program for the 2019/2020 school year. Based on its success over the past six years, WPES has expanded the program to all of its students K-5. That’s 268 students reached! The program continues on the principle that by providing new learning opportunities through student choice models, the academic process will be one of increased enjoyment, engagement and enthusiasm for its students and ultimately a higher level of understanding on the subject matter.

MKES Newbery Club

On Friday mornings, a group of fifth grade students meets to discuss how and why picture books are nominated for a Newbery Award. They are learning the importance of picture books and what the Newbery Medal is. Who decides the winner? What criteria is used? Where and when is the award announced? As a group, they then decide which book they would pick. Once the winner is announced, they read the book together to further discuss why it was the winner.

The club provides students with an understanding and appreciation for the medal process, exposing them to high quality and just published literature, while also enriching their literacy education in a shared reading experience, expanding their love for literature and the ability to analyze what makes a book award worthy.

Bee Bots Coding incorporated into the BHES curriculum

Coding incorporated into the BHES curriculum through the use of Bee Bots (robots designed for use by young children). Bee Bot’s are exciting new robots designed for use by young children which are easy to operate and teach directionality, sequencing, estimation and problem-solving. At the core of this grant is the understanding that students need to not only learn foundational reading, writing and math skills, but also need to understand and work with the technology that surrounds them. As a result of participating in activities using Bee-Bots, young students are able to design structures relating to coding activity and anticipated results, provide specific directions and through coding, program the Bee Bot, for example, to start and end at a specific destination. Activities around coding support building group communication skills, team building and participation, creativity, confidence on an individual level and problem solving. Bee Bots can be used in any curriculum area so teachers have flexibility in their use and application. Grant supports purchase of Bee Bot units and online resources.

"Brain break" activities in classes at all elementary schools

Professional development around ‘Brain Break Activities’ in classrooms for all elementary school teachers. This grant funding supports a certified yoga professional to provide instruction around age-appropriate and suitable yoga practices for elementary school students to be incorporated by classroom teachers during the academic day. Generally, brain breaks is a simple technique in which young students are given a short mental break- sometimes at regular intervals- and are usually performed in a classroom setting. Most brain breaks are a few minutes and often include physical activity that can complement sustained, mental energy. Students can feel more focused and in a better mental space to work or complete an activity. Brain breaks are also shown to reduce stress levels in young students while providing, over the longer term, higher engagement levels.

Bilingual news broadcasting station at MKES

Launch of a bilingual news broadcasting station at MKES School of Choice to strengthen reading, writing, speaking and listening skills and give students a real world media experience that complements and supports classroom instruction. The grant is for one-time production and broadcasting equipment to enable all students- but initially targeting 4th and 5th graders- to create a year of planned activity including a broadcast to introduce the station to faculty and students, a broadcast storyboard for the year, departments such as content creation, editing and production, as well as job descriptions which students will apply for. After each broadcast is completed, students will turn-key their responsibilities to other students for the next broadcast. MKES students will benefit from the use of their L1 language but within the context of the broadcasting station, will also work to develop and strengthen their L2 language. The school and community will benefit from broadcasts showcasing MKES School of Choice happenings. The broadcasting station is envisioned to be ongoing and students and faculty will provide ongoing survey feedback and suggestions for improvement.

Experiential learning with PRES Bit of Heaven Horsemanship Project

PRES ‘Bit of Heaven Horsemanship Project’, provides an experiential learning opportunity for 3rd grade students which links curriculum in the areas of literacy, math and science to hands-on activities in a local barn setting. The shared experience involves multi-sensory learning opportunities designed to support various learning styles in keeping with the District’s commitment to inclusivity while giving teachers a framework of experience to build on and support expressive language and vocabulary development, non-fiction writing targeting students’ social/emotional experience as well as opportunities to apply math concepts such as measuring, comparing, sequencing, and problem solving. The Foundation’s support leveraging other funding from the PR PTA, Manhattanville College, the Dutchess County Agricultural Society, the EQuus Foundation Equine Experiential Learning Initiative and NY Agriculture in the Classroom.

Capstone projects at FLMS focusing on multidisciplinary research

Capstone projects at FLMS for 6th and 7th grade students. A capstone project is a multi-disciplinary research project that results in an in-depth understanding of a specific topic and culminates in a hands-on experience. Students are asked to identify an area of personal passion that connects to their learning. The topic they choose is integrated throughout the curriculum (including ELA, Social Studies and Science). Within the context of individual exploration, the focus for 6th graders is on developing invaluable research and note-taking skills and designing a website to showcase their work to build both technology and communication skills critical to their high school success. Building on the 6th Grade program, 7th graders learn to present their research and take action in ways reflective of real world opportunities- for example advocacy or other engagement. Each year, the capstone experience culminates with a trip to places like the Capital Building in Albany to meet with legislators and understand the legislative process or, the Liberty Science Center where students interact with immersive exhibits and professionals in the field.