Highlights from the 2019-2020 school year:

September
•Seniors Julianne Lampert and Arpie Bakhshian were recognized by the Long Island Arts Alliance Scholar Artist program as two of only 20 Long Island Scholar Artists for 2019-2020.
•The district proudly unveiled its new Voyager room at West End Elementary School.
•Senior Anna Rath was selected as a National Merit Semifinalist in the 2020 National Merit Scholarship Program.
•Seniors Sara Bahri, Charles Gebbia and Julianne Lampert were designated as Commended Students in the 2020 National Merit Scholarship Program.
•Six student-musicians earned All-State music honors from the New York State School Music Association.
•115 exceptional students from Lynbrook High School’s class of 2019 and 2020 were designated as Advanced Placement Scholars.

October
•Students and staff from the Lynbrook Kindergarten Center and Waverly Park Elementary School teamed up to host a “Peds for Peru” drive. Together, the school communities collected more than 220 pairs of shoes to donate to students in need at the Primaria 50896 San Isidro Labrador Publica in Huayllabamba, Peru.
•Students from West End Elementary School and Lynbrook North and South middle schools celebrated the importance of inclusion with the Start With Hello program, sponsored by Sandy Hook Promise.
•Students and staff throughout the district joined together to celebrate Unity Day. Unity Day is recognized nationally as a stance against bullying and sheds light on the importance of kindness, acceptance and inclusion.
•Members of Lynbrook High School’s National Art Honor Society hosted their annual Night of the Pumpkins event. They raised more than $7,400 for the Lynbrook Excellence in Education Foundation and the National Art Honor Society.

November
•17 string musicians were selected to perform in the Long Island String Festival Association’s Nassau intermediate and secondary festivals.
•Waverly Park students and staff hosted their annual “Bring a Veteran to School Day.” The special event honored local veterans for their service.
•Members of the West End Elementary School Student Council facilitated an “Operation Sweet Tooth” candy drive where they collected more than 200 pounds of Halloween candy to donate to Operation Gratitude.
•Senior Djellza Pulatani was selected as a girls panelist for the nonprofit advocacy group She’s the First, in partnership with Akili Dada and MAIA. She was one of six girls to travel to the United Nations to present the first Global Girls’ Bill of Rights.

December
•Six seniors made their college commitments to play their sport of choice at their desired colleges.
•Student council members at Marion Street Elementary School organized their annual toy drive to support the Children’s Heart Foundation and the children at South Nassau Communities Hospital. They delivered more than 300 toys to the hospital and performed holiday songs with chorus and band students.
•Seniors Camden Hetrick and Aidan Smithwick earned the Nassau Zone Outstanding Physical Education Students Award.
•West End Elementary School Student Council members facilitated their annual toy drive. They collected more than 150 toys and generously received toy donations from the Lynbrook Police Department to support West End families in need during the holiday season.

January
•Senior Arpie Bakhshian was selected by the New York State Education Department as one of only 25 seniors from throughout the state to be nominated in the prestigious 2020 U.S. Presidential Scholars Program.
•Senior Sara Bahri was among 300 semifinalists in the 2020 Regeneron Science Talent Search, one of the nation’s most prestigious science and math competitions for high school seniors.
•Lynbrook North Middle School opened its new Wellness Room to serve as a calming space in the building for students.
•Members of Horizon, Lynbrook High School’s school newspaper, earned 26 awards at the annual Empire State Scholastic Press Association awards ceremony.
•For the second consecutive year, senior Dominick Barbuto was selected to the New York State Sportswriters Association Class A All-State team for football.

February
•The Lynbrook High School Key Club, along with club adviser Dr. Benedict Tieniber, received a proclamation from New York State Sen. Todd Kaminsky and New York State Assemblywoman Judy Griffin for their exemplary service to the community.
•Members of Lynbrook High School’s newspaper, Horizon, attended Adelphi University’s Press Day and took home top awards during the annual Quill Awards portion of the day. While competing against 25 schools from across Long Island and the tri-state area, the Horizon staff took home first and second place awards in five out of the six categories that they submitted entries into.

March
•The district officially broke ground on the 33,274 square-foot high school extension.
•Eighth grader Naiya Stephens from Lynbrook South Middle School earned third place in the middle school category of the annual Monologue Competition, sponsored by the Carol Farber Honors Program at Nassau Community College.

April
•For the eighth consecutive year, the district was recognized with the 2020 Best Communities for Music Education by the NAMM Foundation.
•Six fifth grade students from the district’s Voyager Program were named ExploraVision honorable mention winners in the 2019-2020 Toshiba/NSTA ExploraVision competition.
•Senior Kiera Derrig and junior Ursula Ratkiewicz were honored as 2020 Scholastic Art and Writing Award recipients by the Alliance for Young Artists and Writers.
•During distance learning, elementary school students participated in weekly virtual STEAM challenges at home with the help of their school’s library media specialist.
•Members of Lynbrook High School’s Horizon, the school’s newspaper, received four individual awards and first place for Best Website in the 2019 New York Press Association Better Newspaper Contest.
•During distance learning, Lynbrook High School art teachers Tom Sena and Michael Kunz started a podcast called “The Drop.” They would interview an artist live using the video conference platform Zoom, edit the live feed and upload the episode to their YouTube channel for their students and others to watch.
•Senior Ami Carey received the inaugural Dr. Charles Krauthammer Memorial Scholarship from FOX News, in partnership with the National Merit Scholarship Program. She was awarded $2,000 per college year for a maximum of four years.

May
•Chorus members from Lynbrook High School performed a rendition of “Stand By Me” by Ben E. King by recording themselves singing at home. The video recordings were carefully pieced together to create a video tribute to those on the frontlines.
•For the eighth consecutive year, Lynbrook High School was designated a 2019-2020 Recognition School for high achievement and high progress during the 2018-2019 school year. The school was recognized by the New York State Education Department under New York State’s Every Student Succeeds Act Plan.
•Members of Lynbrook High School’s Virtual Enterprise Company, Checkmate, were crowned the winners of the Youth Business Summit: Reimagined social media competition.
•Four student-athletes from Lynbrook High School committed to play their sport of choice at the collegiate level.
•Marion Street Elementary School and Lynbrook North Middle School were designated 2019-2020 No Place for Hate schools by the Anti-Defamation League.
•Junior Christina Franco earned a Certificate of Nomination in the Achievement Awards in Writing Program, sponsored by the National Council of Teachers of English.

June
•The district received a favorable analysis from Moody’s Investors Service. Moody’s assigned the district a bond rating of Aa2 for the district’s bond sale.
•Three Lynbrook South Middle School eighth graders were recognized as honorable mention winners in the NPR Student Podcast Challenge.
•The Lynbrook Kindergarten Center, Marion Street, Waverly Park and West End’s Class of 2020 were celebrated with graduation drive-thru ceremonies.
•Eighth graders from Lynbrook North and Lynbrook South middle schools participated in graduation caravans to mark the end of their middle school careers.
•Lynbrook High School seniors were honored during a special parent photo, yearbook and award event in the high school gymnasium.