We cannot close this school year without expressing our deepest gratitude-
-to the Faculty who daily made this year as normal as possible for the students in their care,
-to the Staff who held together the structure of the School so the Faculty could perform their best,
-to the parents who patiently rolled with the changes and hardships of this year,
-and to the students who demonstrated resiliency daily.
Amazing things are happening on our campus! Groups of people are gathering! The PTA could be seen on the front lawn engaging with Ms. Fitzgerald’s movement challenge. In the Grade 8 play, Helene was sure Demetrius was mocking her with his love, while Titania was enamored of the Ass. The 10th-grade play incorporated international students from China as they discovered the pursuit of meaning and love in one’s life. All used our beautiful grounds to perform to live audiences.
The buzz of excitement is growing, along with an immense appreciation for what is now possible.
Coming soon are the 7th Grade Performing Arts Evening, year-end assemblies, the 8th Grade Promotion, and the Senior Commencement. Be sure to RSVP. We cannot wait to see you
Kelly O’Halogan Faculty Chair
Announcements
The Paul LeSueur Golf Classic
Thursday, June 17, 2021
We are eagerly looking forward to the celebration honoring the life of Paul LeSueur that will take place at The Garden City Country Club and benefit our newly renamed Paul LeSueur Golf Classic, on June 17th. We encourage all to attend, whether you plan to golf or just socialize during the Outdoor Cocktail Reception from 6:00 – 8:00 pm. Sponsorships and tickets are available on our Golf Website.
Thank you for your support!
Fond Farewells
As is common toward the end of each school year, some of our beloved employees decide to move on to another chapter in their lives. While we are always sad to say farewell, we can appreciate the difficulty the pandemic presented for many of our employees’ lives and understand the desire for a change. That being said, we would like to make you aware of four employees who will not be returning for the 2021-2022 school year so you can wish them a fond farewell.
Juliane Schneider – After 16 years as our Lower and High School German teacher, Juliane Schneider has decided to retire and spend time with her family. Not only has Juliane been tireless in instructing lower and high school students in the German language and culture, but she also inspired many to pursue these studies in college and beyond. Students often fondly remember the annual Sprachfest – a German Language Festival including competitions, from which they brought home many awards over the years under her tutelage and leadership. She was also instrumental in the outstanding achievements of High school students on the AATG National German Exam and the German language presentations during assemblies were always a highlight. Her passion for her subject, Waldorf Education, and kind attention to the education of her students have been invaluable. Juliane also led the TLC committee ensuring that every employee was celebrated for their birthday. We sincerely thank her for her years of dedicated service to the School and community. She will be missed, but we wish her great happiness in the next chapter of her life.
We are pleased that current Lower School German Teacher, Andrea Shimansky will be expanding her role to include Grades 1 – 8.
Thomas Jenkins – Thomas Jenkins joined us last summer as the Lower School Chair. He has been a calm and caring presence, always willing to lend a listening ear to colleagues, and he has brightened our days by adorning our hallways with his extraordinary chalk drawings. The mountains and rivers of Idaho are calling him to return. We appreciate everything he has done for the School and we wish him well in his future endeavors.
Pauline Seremetis – In 2015 Pauline began working in our Library. Over the years, whether she was Assistant or Lead, Pauline worked to update our resource offering and organization. Recently she also held Library classes for grades 1-6. Sadly, Pauline will not return next year to her position. Parent of one alum from the class of 2019 and a soon-to-be graduate of the class of 2021, Pauline has served our community with dedication, enthusiasm, and a smile. We are truly thankful for her years of service and wish her all the best in the future.
Hsinwen Chang – For the past several years, Hsinwen has brought great joy and warmth to her work as an assisting teacher in the Nursery, Kindergarten, and Garden Nest programs. Ms. Chang’s infectious smile, levity, and wide-open heart were a gift for both the children and her colleagues. We wish her and her family well, as they relocate to New England.
Sincerely,
Kelly O’Halogan Faculty Chair
12th Grade to Perform The Rules of Comedy by Peter Bloedel
It is the tradition at The Waldorf School of Garden City for the Senior class to perform a play at the end of their senior year, entertaining parents, peers, and the community at large. On June 3rd – 5th, the class of 2021 will perform The Rules of Comedy by Peter Bloedel.
The Rules of Comedy focuses on physical comedy and provides lessons in what is funny and what is not. To this end, it subverts the quintessential tragedy, Hamlet, and turns the final act into a comedy. The estimated run-time is 35-40 minutes. Guests will not be admitted without an RSVP and health check. See your e-mail for details and a link to rsvp.
Celebrating a Reunion This Year?
Calling our graduating classes ending in ‘1s and ‘6s! Have you started making plans for your big reunion this year? We’re here to help! Whether you plan on celebrating in the fall during Alumni Weekend or are looking to schedule something virtually on your own time, please keep us posted. We’d love to help in any way possible.
The Summer 2021 Crossroads Farm education program will offer a Summer Young Apprentice Program exclusive to Waldorf Middle Schoolers on Wednesday afternoons. The program would run from 4:00-5:30 for six weeks beginning July 7, 2021 To learn more, contact Delia at (516) 967-5058.
Sign Up Today for Early Childhood 2021-2022!
Parents who wish to enroll children in the Nursery and Mixed-Age Kindergarten for September 2021 are encouraged to submit a New Admissions Application now. Enrollment in these classes is currently underway. While priority is given to families who have siblings in the School, spaces are limited and fill up quickly. Please contact Carol Proctor at (516) 742-3434 ext. 301 or via email at proctorc@waldorfgarden.org with questions.
Read more about how the Waldorf Kindergarten Opens Pathways for Critical Thinking here. To learn more about our Early Childhood Program, visit the website.
62nd Commencement Exercises
The 62nd Commencement Exercises for the Class of 2021 will take place on Friday, June 11th at 10:30 am. Capacity is limited and an RSVP is required. To watch the ceremony via live stream click below or on the image. https://www.waldorfgarden.org/commencement2021/.
School News
Back on Campus!
This month we welcomed back on-campus events and we couldn’t be more excited!
In-Person PTA Meeting
We welcomed our families back to campus for our PTA Meeting on 5/14. Erin Fitzgerald opened the meeting by getting everyone on their feet to do a movement activity that had everyone laughing, jumping, and dancing in the “U.” Following the activity, the PTA Co-Chairs led a round of introductions, and Ms. D’Aleo, Development Associate-Alumni Relations, discussed the Virtual Silent Auction and the Paul LeSueur Golf Classic coming up on June 17th. Coach Flanagan closed the meeting by discussing the future of WSGC athletics and getting everyone up and out of their seats once more for a short workout.
8th Grade Performs A Midsummer Night’s Dream
As a pinnacle of their lower school journey, the 8th-grade performed A Midsummer Night’s Dream for the school community.
The comedy, written by William Shakespeare, addresses the workings of Love. Set in Athens, the play includes several subplots that revolve around the marriage of Theseus and Hippolyta.
Congratulations to the class of 2025 on a wonderful performance!
WSGC Fiber Arts Teacher Chosen for Philadelphia Museum of Art Exhibition
The Waldorf School of Garden City congratulates Fiber Arts Teacher, Sugandha Gupta who was selected to display her Sensory Textiles at the 45th Annual Philadelphia Museum of Art Craft Show! The juried exhibition and retail sale will be held in-person at the Pennsylvania Convention Center and online from November 5-7, 2021, with a Preview Party on Thursday, November 4. The jury has accepted 195 craft artists out of 600 entries.
Sugandha will be exhibiting Sensory Textiles that include wearable sensory art pieces as well as tactile visual wall art pieces. It will include felted tactile scarves, hand-sewn and embroidered pieces, and woven textiles. Images of her work as well as a short video of her process will be posted on the PMA Craft show website.
The 10th Grade Performs A Human Write
Click above for additional photos.
Annually, the Waldorf School of Garden City gives the sophomore class the opportunity to showcase their talents and collaborative work through a play. Last weekend, the Class of 2023 performed the award-winning play, A Human Write by Amy Sutton to the first live audience in over a year, with Covid health protocols in place. The one-act play looked at how we are creators of our own stories as the writer grappled not only with his writing but also with his personal life. The chorus revealed the writer’s inner thoughts – sometimes cogent, sometimes chaotic – come to life as the surreal became real.
Class of 2021 Presents their Senior Art Showcase
Click “read more” below to see the full slideshow.
The class of 2021 presented the culmination of their year-long work on their Senior Art Projects during a special reception on Saturday, May 8th. The artwork was diverse and creative and diverse ranging from an interactive book to guitars and a surfboard. View the slideshow by clicking the photo.
Students worked with one of our three art teachers throughout the creation of their project depending on their goals. Our woodwork teacher, Martin Somers, advised students with three-dimensional and wood projects, Fiber Arts teacher Saguhanda Gupta oversaw clothing and fabric-based creations, and Fine Arts Teacher Anne Cavallaro advised those creating more traditional drawing and painting pieces. Each student wrote an artistic statement to accompany their work and presented and shared their inspirations and processes during the reception.
Malverne Mayor Keith Corbett, Henry Bertoni ’21, and Assemblywoman Judy Griffin.
Waldorf Senior Wins IASTE Scholarship and Student Standout Award
Selection for the IATSE Award is based on excellent academic performance, test scores, and strong recommendations. The Student Standout Award recognizes students who exemplify leadership, kindness, inclusiveness, creativity, motivation, civic engagement, a strong work ethic, and/or focused career orientation. Assemblywoman Griffin presented the Standout Award during an Awards Ceremony at the Center for Science Teaching and Learning located in Rockville Centre, NY.
Virtual Silent Auction a Great Success!
We are immensely grateful for the support received during our Virtual Silent Auction and Special Live Appeal Honoring Our Employees. It was a wonderful evening filled with beautiful video presentations, student performances, remarks from faculty, staff, and trustees, Waldorf trivia, the live appeal, and bidding of course! We are thrilled to announce that the Employee Fund has raised $9,475!
Please enjoy the Employee Appreciation video shown during the live appeal.
Thank you all for joining us and supporting our School!
5th Grade Greek Olympics
Greek Olympics continues to be one of the most anticipated events for our 5th graders. It was a fun-filled day in which students showed great sportsmanship and competition with their classmates. The students competed in activities like javelin toss, discuss throw, and long jump!
The activity augmented the study of Greek mythology, geography, and Greece’s many different cultures. Click the gallery below to view more pictures from the event.
Virtual Soloist Concert
Students in grades 4 – 12 volunteered to perform for the community during a concert on May 21st. Shiori Chazono- DeBellis, Andy Fallu, and Steve DeBellis hosted the event and shared submitted recordings of student performances as well as some rehearsal time. “It was a great way to end the year, with beautiful music by talented students,” said a current parent. You can watch the event here.
Glen Brook
We’re delighted to announce that Grant Butler, long-time Glen Brook staffer and school alumnus, will be rejoining Glen Brook’s staff as our Facilities and Community Engagement Manager on June 1st!
We also bid a very fond farewell to Shai Rosenfeld, Gap Director, who will be moving back to New York City. Jake Lewis, who founded the Gap Program, will be directing that program once more, along with new Summer Camp leadership responsibilities
We’re hiring for a new Youth Program Director to lead our School programs and take a leadership role in Summer Camp! If you’ve always dreamed of joining the year-round staff at Glen Brook, you can read more and apply here.
Some Space Available
Our Summer Camp is quite full in many groups, but there are still some beds available. If you’re looking for a great opportunity for your child to get out of the house, away from technology, and to find a new part of themselves in this special community, we’d love to talk with you about our program!
We have just completed six weeks of Intramural sports clinics at the School, and it was wonderful getting back out on the field. Throughout the program, we worked on volleyball, baseball, softball, and soccer in preparation for the coming Fall and the resumption of our interscholastic Athletics program.
High school student-athletes, please note that pre-season will begin on Monday, August 30th, with more information to follow in the coming weeks.
7th and 8th graders, the first day of your soccer season will be on Tuesday, September 14th. Everyone and anyone, regardless of ability or experience, are encouraged to participate in our after-school soccer program. If you have any questions, please reach out to me.
Please join us for our annual Sports Night on Wednesday, June 2nd at 7:30 pm. This year’s event will be held virtually over Zoom, and we will be honoring the 18 Senior student-athletes who have represented our School over the past four years in High-School. It is sure to be a wonderful night with lots of athletic photos and some words from previous coaches. I hope you all can make it. Detailed email to follow soon.
Go, Waldorf Wolves!
Coach Flanagan
Alumni Notes
Leo Bruno ’07
Leo Bruno ’07 was featured in the Adelphi Magazine for his achievements throughout his years at the University. Leo graduated from Adelphi in 2011 with a bachelor’s degree in Health and Physical Education and earned his master’s degree in 2014 in Sport Management with a concentration in SBYD. For the full story, visit https://bit.ly/3fznqZL. Keep up the great work, Leo!
Meaghan Gallagher and James Sievert ‘09
Congratulations to Meagan Gallagher ’09 and James Sievert ’09 on their engagement this past March. The two have plans to get married out in East Hampton this upcoming October. Meaghan says, “It’s such a surreal time, and given everything we have all been through the past year and a half it is so nice to have something to look forward to.” James and Meagan started dating in High School at Waldorf after joining the School in 3rd grade. Their wedding party consists of 1/3 of their graduating class including WSGC faculty member Abigail Kim ’09, Rami Ismail ‘09, Joseph Yuan ‘09, Matthew Rivera ‘09, Orin Stuckenbruck ‘09, Kristin Sievert ’07, Chelsea Haedrich ’09, and Christina Butigian ‘09. Meagan says “I feel so fortunate that Waldorf brought me together with some of the most special and important people in my life. We are all truly family.
(Photos are from 3rd grade, 8th-grade graduation, and after their engagement, respectively).
Joseph Yuan ’09
Joseph Yuan ‘09 has recently received his Ph.D. in Physics for his work at the Center for Quantum Phenomena at New York University. His project covered the use of epitaxial superconductor-semiconductor systems as a platform for quantum computing. In the classical computers that exist in our phones and laptops all information is eventually stored and processed as series of 0’s and 1’s. The bits that store that information contain either a 0 or a 1. In a quantum computer, information is stored in a qubit (quantum bit) and it can contain both a 0 and 1 simultaneously. Joe’s project focused on developing a specific style of qubit, known as a “gatemon”, using indium arsenide paired with aluminum. Joe will continue this work as a postdoc and looks forward to exciting opportunities in the growing quantum industry. Congratulations, Joe!
Karnika Kisnadwala ’12
Mother and daughter duo, Sonal Kisnadwala and Karnika Kisnadwala ‘12, come from a family of art and fashion enthusiasts. To the Kisnadwala women, supporting true artisans and their art forms means indulging in the stories behind these timeless pieces. Their heritage-rooted approach to shopping sparked Sonal and Karnika to create KAANJJ – a curated collection from homegrown South Asian designers that are globally versatile. KAANJJ is for the cosmopolitan, global citizen who sees beyond boundaries in creating a statement. “Welcome to the Kisnadwala closet: welcome to KAANJJ.” Kaanjj will launch this upcoming Summer at www.Kaanjj.com. You can follow their Facebook & Instagram channels to stay up to date with the launch @bykaanjj.
Conchetta Bohm ’18
Congratulations to Conchetta Bohm ’18 for receiving Gold Stars at The Citadel! Gold Stars are given to students who receive a GPA of 3.7 and higher for the semester. This is the second semester Conchetta has received Gold Stars and automatically was placed on the Dean’s List. This year, Conchetta was inducted into two honor societies, Pi Sigma Alpha (The Political Science Honor Society) and Delta Phi Alpha (German National Honor Society).
Dear Waldorf Community,
As a close-knit school that values community, inclusiveness, and authentic opportunities to connect with the world in which our students are being prepared to lead, it is important that we lean into the difficulties that accompany conflict with open ears and open hearts. We encourage our community and our students to listen, empathize, and reflect in ways that foster inquiry, compassion, and a desire to contribute toward making our world a better place.
While we have been communicating over the past year about groups that have been marginalized because of their race and/or identity, and we remain vigilant in supporting our Asian and Asian American families in the face of hate speech and attacks, we now must share our concern regarding the rise of antisemitism and islamophobia in our country, and the renewed hate and violence appearing in our own cities. We understand that the devastating rise in violence in the latest Israeli-Palestinian conflict also weighs heavily on the minds and hearts of many in our community and we are deeply saddened about the trauma inflicted and innocent lives lost.
Today marks the one-year anniversary of George Floyd’s death. As we continue to wrestle with our history and our present-day systemic racial challenges, we understand the tension and trauma many of us feel in our communities as we continue to strive for diversity, justice, and equity in our School and beyond. We want to take this opportunity to reaffirm that we are standing squarely in our values by declaring that hate has no place in our School. We remain true to our mission to graduate diverse groups of young people distinguished by the scope and acuity of their minds as well as the depth and integrity of their character.
Also know that we are here to support our students emotionally, socially, and intellectually so that they develop into informed, compassionate, and caring adults who will strive to make a difference. Please reach out to us if your child(ren) requires support and know that we make every effort to ensure that every student, employee, and family is seen, valued, heard, and cared for in ways that highlight our community’s strength and commitment to the people within it.
If you feel your child might benefit from talking to one of our School counselors, please do not hesitate to reach out whether they are on or off-campus. For high school students contact Marisa Gelb at gelbm@waldorfgarden.org and for lower school students contact Emma Innella at innellae@waldorfgarden.org.
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Fond Farewells
The Waldorf School of Garden City congratulates Fiber Arts Teacher, Sugandha Gupta who was selected to display her Sensory Textiles at the 45th Annual Philadelphia Museum of Art Craft Show! The juried exhibition and retail sale will be held in-person at the Pennsylvania Convention Center and online from November 5-7, 2021, with a Preview Party on Thursday, November 4. The jury has accepted 195 craft artists out of 600 entries.
Virtual Silent Auction a Great Success!
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