| Mamaroneck Schools Foundation Enhancing educational excellence in the Larchmont/Mamaroneck Schools |
MSF GRANTS
2008 – 2009 ($270,000)
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
Podcasting to the World Hommocks
In order to keep up with technological advances and take advantage of students’ strong interest in
technology, a mobile state-of-the-art mini podcasting recording studio will be created to serve the 400
eighth-grade Earth Science students. Students will complete research outside the classroom and then
use various software platforms to create, record and edit podcasts, which will then be uploaded to a
classroom website. A deeper and more meaningful connection to the content of their studies should result
in a higher level of creativity, motivation, and possibly, test scores.
The Digital Classroom Hommocks
This grant will create a model digital classroom complete with a student workstation, thirteen laptops and a
teaching station with multiple monitors to view and share students’ work. Specific curriculum units have
been targeted for a fully digital experience: the Public Speaking Unit, which will take advantage of a
database of over sixty speeches, and the Short Story Project, which will allow students to access digital
libraries and dictionaries, and write and share their pieces instantaneously for peer review. While this will
initially be piloted in an individual seventh-grade classroom, the vision is to create a rotational system to
expose every seventh-grade English student to this model classroom and its technological tools and
resources.
Data Collection Technology High School
This project will improve the quality of laboratory experiments by introducing new, cutting-edge equipment
for data acquisition and analysis in the chemistry labs, serving all 300 students at the High School who
take Chemistry. The equipment includes laptop computers, “Stir Stations,” and Labquest chemistry
packages and will be used to record chemical parameters such as pressure, temperature, concentration
and pH values.
SMART Board for 7th Grade Math Hommocks
This grant will provide a SMART board for use in a seventh-grade math classroom at Hommocks. SMART
boards connect a “blackboard” to a classroom computer to allow work viewed on the board to be saved,
manipulated and shared. SMART board lessons will be incorporated into the current curriculum with the
hope that they will eventually be shared with all seventh-grade mathematics teachers. The grantee also
plans to collaborate with an eighth-grade math teacher on the same team who also has a SMART board.
SMART Board Chatsworth
This grant funds a SMART board for a fifth-grade classroom at Chatsworth, to be used across a variety of
curriculum areas. The grantee will work with other teachers in third and fourth grades as part of a
collaboration of SMART board users.
LITERACY
Beyond the Textbook: High-Interest Nonfiction Hommocks
This grant provides for the compilation of a class library of “Reading Expeditions” from the World History
Series from National Geographic School Publishing. The books correspond directly with the New York
State 6th grade social studies curriculum, serving as a nonfiction supplement to the textbook. These books
are interesting, visually appealing, and very readable, making history more relevant to today’s readers. The
books help students learn to navigate different types of nonfiction texts while gaining a deeper
understanding of the material.
Listen While You Read Murray Ave.
This grant will provide a collection of “Playaway” books to the Murray Ave. School library. Playaways are self-
contained audio books that will allow elementary students to enhance their listening, learning and reading
skills. A simple set of buttons allows them to listen at several speeds, fast-forward, reverse, and bookmark.
There are no CDs to scratch, tapes to rewind, or downloads to manage.
Play It Again Sam Central
This similar grant will provide “Playaway” books to the Central School Library, as well as print copies of the
same titles, so students can follow along as they listen.
Interactive Reading Chatsworth
Under the direction of the reading specialist, an interactive computer program, along with the coordinating
books, will be purchased to serve students in grades K - 2, students with reading difficulties in other
grades, special education students and ESL students. This system will be used to supplement the current
reading program.
READ with LEXIA Central
This grant funds a pilot project for the first grade to provide computer software designed to build confidence
and proficiency in reading and thinking skills. The software addresses the five critical components of
reading instruction identified by the National Reading Panel: phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency,
vocabulary and comprehension. Funds also include professional training in using the software.
Exploring Our World, Expanding Our Horizons Chatsworth
The grant funds the purchase of about 100 up-to-date social studies books for the school library. (The
average age of books in their current collection is over 20 years old; in that time many countries have
dissolved and been renamed, and many discoveries made.) The books will enliven instruction, research,
and student-driven inquiry and support the district’s nonfiction literacy initiative.
Jump Start to the 21st Century District-Wide
This grant will expand on the new core collections of science and technology books in each of the district’s
six school libraries. Recognizing that keeping current is crucial in this curriculum area, each librarian will
choose books based on the specific needs of their schools. This award supports a second year of this
grant, originally funded by MSF last year, through donations raised at the 2007 MSF Spring Gala.
MUSIC AND THE ARTS
PACE Computer Music Studio High School
This grant will fund the establishment of a computer music studio for the high school’s PACE program. It
will include seven computer music stations, each of which will have a computer, workstation synthesizer,
iPod and headphones. Within these workstations, students will be able to work with music in a variety of
ways: They may play back and edit musical samples, create beats and harmonies in diverse musical
styles, explore electronic sounds and simulated instruments, and work with recording, performing and
improvisation. This grant will make it possible for all PACE students, whether or not they have had prior
formal music training, to successfully compose, arrange and direct their own creative works.
Audio Enrichment Equipment High School
The music department finally has a beautiful new home and this grant will outfit the eight new practice
rooms with equipment for performing (keyboards and stands), recording (CD recorders) and playback
(receivers, CD players and speaker sets). This grant will serve the 240 students in the music department,
including the band, choir and orchestra, as well as 13 different ensemble groups. At times, all six schools
in the district rehearse in this space for events.
Music Lending Library and Digital Recording All Elementary
This grant will provide for the acquisition of a sheet-music lending library consisting of instrumental solos
and ensembles for all band instruments, to be shared by all four elementary schools. In addition, this grant
will provide digital recording equipment to allow student analysis of performance.
Digital Video for Musical Performance Central
A digital videocamera will be purchased to document, analyze and assess musical performances by
students at Central. This grant also covers the cost of a DVD-R/VHS recorder/player to create DVDs of all
“filmed” performances and a High-Definition TV for viewing those performances. The feedback this system
gives students will enable them to analyze themselves as a band, choir, orchestra or ensemble.
Expanding the Three-Dimensional Art Program Hommocks
To enhance the sculpture component of the art curriculum, two display cases will be purchased and placed
in the hallways outside the Hommocks library to showcase three-dimensional student work.
ENRICHMENT
Lunchtime Activity Programs Hommocks
This program will pilot the development of a winter lunchtime program at Hommocks for all three grades. A
project coordinator funded through this grant will develop a menu of elective “classes,” recruit volunteers
and organizations from the community to teach the classes, and supervise the implementation of the
program through the winter of 2008-09. The grant also covers materials and stipends.
A Well-Rounded Globe High School
This grant is designed to promote and teach good journalism to students working on the high school
student newspaper, The Globe. The grant will cover a pre-season offsite workshop with local professional
journalists for a day; a spring trip to attend the Columbia Scholastic Press Association’s one-day
workshop; and a laptop for the new advisor and the Globe’s top editors. It is a goal for the Globe staff to
learn through these workshops how to make the newspaper pay for itself through subscriptions and ads.
Academic Literacy and Literacy Assistance District-Wide
The CAP (Community Action Program) Center in Mamaroneck will provide free home- work help in the
evenings for the at-risk population that the CAP center serves. This grant will help pay for staff to provide out-
of-school support to students whose families cannot provide adequate academic support at home.
Homework help will be provided by appointment and on a walk-in basis. This grant is funded by the
Barbara Bennett-Rones Endowment.
Kindergarten Fine Motor Centers All Elementary
Following a successful pilot program, fine-motor centers will be set up in all of the district’s kindergarten
classrooms to help children develop the underlying skills required for tasks such as handwriting and
cutting. Kindergarten teachers and occupational therapists will work collaboratively under the direction of
Dr. Laurie Olson (the district’s supervisor for occupational therapy) to set up this early-intervention program.
Water and Sand Tables for Kindergarten Classrooms Chatsworth
The five kindergarten classes at Chatsworth will be equipped with new water/sand tables and accessories
including pulleys, funnels, multilevel flow pans, and extensive tubing networks. As part of the science
curriculum, this equipment will allow children to explore cause-and-effect relationships and make
connections to real-world experiences, i.e., the natural flow of water in a sink or bathtub, the waves in the
ocean and the basic properties of sand and water.
PHYSICAL EDUCATION
Creative and Contemporary Dance All Elementary and Hommocks
This district-wide grant will expose all K – 8 students to the performing arts through instruction by
professional dance teachers from Dance Cavise, a reputable local studio. The program enriches the
physical education curriculum by utilizing music and dance as a creative and enjoyable alternative to sports
for physical activity.
Music for Movement Chatsworth, Mamaroneck Ave. and Murray Ave.
An iPod and docking station, along with music in the form of gift cards or internet credit, will be purchased
for use by the traveling phys. ed. teacher. As music is an integral part of the elementary school physical
education program, this will allow for the purchase, cataloging, programming and play of music for
movement in the Chatsworth, Mamaroneck Ave. and Murray schools.
Softball Complex Enhancement District-Wide
This grant will provide enhancements to the softball field at Central School. Since its opening, this field has
been used by both varsity and JV girls’ modified softball, as well as Little League softball and baseball
teams throughout the spring, summer and fall. The grant will be used to create easy-access walkways
along the first and third base sides of the field, clear and level the spectator areas, and remove unwanted
weeds and vegetation. MSF was a major source of funding for the creation of this field, and this grant helps
put the finishing touches on this well-used school and community resource.
SPECIAL EDUCATION
Music Therapy Mamaroneck Ave.
A six-week program will be funded to evaluate the use of music therapy with some of the school’s most
disabled students. The Music Therapy Institute at the Music Conservatory of Westchester will offer group
and individual sessions with students, teacher training, and parent workshops. Musical instruments and
recording equipment are included in the funding.
Manhattanville College Partnership for School Aides and Teaching Assistants
District-wide
This grant funds full-day training workshops for Special Education aides and teaching assistants, to be
held on the four Superintendent Conference Days during the 2008-09 school year. The workshop
sessions will be run by professors from the Special Education Department at Manhattanville College.
MISCELLANEOUS
“Stay Connected With Your Teen” Parenting Group Hommocks & High School
As a complement to current parent workshops conducted in English, this grant will provide a parent support
group/workshop for Spanish-speaking parents led by a Spanish- speaking counselor. There will be
separate groups for Hommocks and High School parents. The objective of this program is for parents to
improve communication with their children, increase their understanding of adolescent issues and
become more effective at managing behavior issues at home.
Class Amplification Through Microphones Murray Ave.
This grant funds six wireless microphone systems at the Murray Avenue School to be piloted in two
classrooms each for grades 1, 3, and 5. These amplification systems are used throughout the country to
help enhance the audio quality in the classroom and improve the learning environment. Students benefit
from the use of sound-field amplification as the level of the teacher's voice over the ambient noise is
increased. Long-range benefits include improved student attention, higher test scores, and a reduction in
special education referrals.
Fiscal Accountability: Expenditure Projections District-Wide
This grant will pay for training for the members of the Citizens Financial Advisory Committee (CFAC) to be
able to make reliable, ongoing five-year projections of expenditures for the school district. This will help
fulfill the community’s request that the district make more reliable budget projections and share them with
the community.
Indoor Seating High School
Six benches will be placed in pairs in the Post Road building, on the third-floor landing, outside the
computer room, and near the counselors’ offices. The benches will promote conversation between
students in a more congenial environment and improve the overall aesthetic appearance of the campus.
Mamaroneck Schools Foundation Post Office Box 123 Larchmont, New York 10538
copyright 2009 Mamaroneck Schools Foundation
Privacy Statement
2008 – 2009 ($270,000)
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
Podcasting to the World Hommocks
In order to keep up with technological advances and take advantage of students’ strong interest in
technology, a mobile state-of-the-art mini podcasting recording studio will be created to serve the 400
eighth-grade Earth Science students. Students will complete research outside the classroom and then
use various software platforms to create, record and edit podcasts, which will then be uploaded to a
classroom website. A deeper and more meaningful connection to the content of their studies should result
in a higher level of creativity, motivation, and possibly, test scores.
The Digital Classroom Hommocks
This grant will create a model digital classroom complete with a student workstation, thirteen laptops and a
teaching station with multiple monitors to view and share students’ work. Specific curriculum units have
been targeted for a fully digital experience: the Public Speaking Unit, which will take advantage of a
database of over sixty speeches, and the Short Story Project, which will allow students to access digital
libraries and dictionaries, and write and share their pieces instantaneously for peer review. While this will
initially be piloted in an individual seventh-grade classroom, the vision is to create a rotational system to
expose every seventh-grade English student to this model classroom and its technological tools and
resources.
Data Collection Technology High School
This project will improve the quality of laboratory experiments by introducing new, cutting-edge equipment
for data acquisition and analysis in the chemistry labs, serving all 300 students at the High School who
take Chemistry. The equipment includes laptop computers, “Stir Stations,” and Labquest chemistry
packages and will be used to record chemical parameters such as pressure, temperature, concentration
and pH values.
SMART Board for 7th Grade Math Hommocks
This grant will provide a SMART board for use in a seventh-grade math classroom at Hommocks. SMART
boards connect a “blackboard” to a classroom computer to allow work viewed on the board to be saved,
manipulated and shared. SMART board lessons will be incorporated into the current curriculum with the
hope that they will eventually be shared with all seventh-grade mathematics teachers. The grantee also
plans to collaborate with an eighth-grade math teacher on the same team who also has a SMART board.
SMART Board Chatsworth
This grant funds a SMART board for a fifth-grade classroom at Chatsworth, to be used across a variety of
curriculum areas. The grantee will work with other teachers in third and fourth grades as part of a
collaboration of SMART board users.
LITERACY
Beyond the Textbook: High-Interest Nonfiction Hommocks
This grant provides for the compilation of a class library of “Reading Expeditions” from the World History
Series from National Geographic School Publishing. The books correspond directly with the New York
State 6th grade social studies curriculum, serving as a nonfiction supplement to the textbook. These books
are interesting, visually appealing, and very readable, making history more relevant to today’s readers. The
books help students learn to navigate different types of nonfiction texts while gaining a deeper
understanding of the material.
Listen While You Read Murray Ave.
This grant will provide a collection of “Playaway” books to the Murray Ave. School library. Playaways are self-
contained audio books that will allow elementary students to enhance their listening, learning and reading
skills. A simple set of buttons allows them to listen at several speeds, fast-forward, reverse, and bookmark.
There are no CDs to scratch, tapes to rewind, or downloads to manage.
Play It Again Sam Central
This similar grant will provide “Playaway” books to the Central School Library, as well as print copies of the
same titles, so students can follow along as they listen.
Interactive Reading Chatsworth
Under the direction of the reading specialist, an interactive computer program, along with the coordinating
books, will be purchased to serve students in grades K - 2, students with reading difficulties in other
grades, special education students and ESL students. This system will be used to supplement the current
reading program.
READ with LEXIA Central
This grant funds a pilot project for the first grade to provide computer software designed to build confidence
and proficiency in reading and thinking skills. The software addresses the five critical components of
reading instruction identified by the National Reading Panel: phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency,
vocabulary and comprehension. Funds also include professional training in using the software.
Exploring Our World, Expanding Our Horizons Chatsworth
The grant funds the purchase of about 100 up-to-date social studies books for the school library. (The
average age of books in their current collection is over 20 years old; in that time many countries have
dissolved and been renamed, and many discoveries made.) The books will enliven instruction, research,
and student-driven inquiry and support the district’s nonfiction literacy initiative.
Jump Start to the 21st Century District-Wide
This grant will expand on the new core collections of science and technology books in each of the district’s
six school libraries. Recognizing that keeping current is crucial in this curriculum area, each librarian will
choose books based on the specific needs of their schools. This award supports a second year of this
grant, originally funded by MSF last year, through donations raised at the 2007 MSF Spring Gala.
MUSIC AND THE ARTS
PACE Computer Music Studio High School
This grant will fund the establishment of a computer music studio for the high school’s PACE program. It
will include seven computer music stations, each of which will have a computer, workstation synthesizer,
iPod and headphones. Within these workstations, students will be able to work with music in a variety of
ways: They may play back and edit musical samples, create beats and harmonies in diverse musical
styles, explore electronic sounds and simulated instruments, and work with recording, performing and
improvisation. This grant will make it possible for all PACE students, whether or not they have had prior
formal music training, to successfully compose, arrange and direct their own creative works.
Audio Enrichment Equipment High School
The music department finally has a beautiful new home and this grant will outfit the eight new practice
rooms with equipment for performing (keyboards and stands), recording (CD recorders) and playback
(receivers, CD players and speaker sets). This grant will serve the 240 students in the music department,
including the band, choir and orchestra, as well as 13 different ensemble groups. At times, all six schools
in the district rehearse in this space for events.
Music Lending Library and Digital Recording All Elementary
This grant will provide for the acquisition of a sheet-music lending library consisting of instrumental solos
and ensembles for all band instruments, to be shared by all four elementary schools. In addition, this grant
will provide digital recording equipment to allow student analysis of performance.
Digital Video for Musical Performance Central
A digital videocamera will be purchased to document, analyze and assess musical performances by
students at Central. This grant also covers the cost of a DVD-R/VHS recorder/player to create DVDs of all
“filmed” performances and a High-Definition TV for viewing those performances. The feedback this system
gives students will enable them to analyze themselves as a band, choir, orchestra or ensemble.
Expanding the Three-Dimensional Art Program Hommocks
To enhance the sculpture component of the art curriculum, two display cases will be purchased and placed
in the hallways outside the Hommocks library to showcase three-dimensional student work.
ENRICHMENT
Lunchtime Activity Programs Hommocks
This program will pilot the development of a winter lunchtime program at Hommocks for all three grades. A
project coordinator funded through this grant will develop a menu of elective “classes,” recruit volunteers
and organizations from the community to teach the classes, and supervise the implementation of the
program through the winter of 2008-09. The grant also covers materials and stipends.
A Well-Rounded Globe High School
This grant is designed to promote and teach good journalism to students working on the high school
student newspaper, The Globe. The grant will cover a pre-season offsite workshop with local professional
journalists for a day; a spring trip to attend the Columbia Scholastic Press Association’s one-day
workshop; and a laptop for the new advisor and the Globe’s top editors. It is a goal for the Globe staff to
learn through these workshops how to make the newspaper pay for itself through subscriptions and ads.
Academic Literacy and Literacy Assistance District-Wide
The CAP (Community Action Program) Center in Mamaroneck will provide free home- work help in the
evenings for the at-risk population that the CAP center serves. This grant will help pay for staff to provide out-
of-school support to students whose families cannot provide adequate academic support at home.
Homework help will be provided by appointment and on a walk-in basis. This grant is funded by the
Barbara Bennett-Rones Endowment.
Kindergarten Fine Motor Centers All Elementary
Following a successful pilot program, fine-motor centers will be set up in all of the district’s kindergarten
classrooms to help children develop the underlying skills required for tasks such as handwriting and
cutting. Kindergarten teachers and occupational therapists will work collaboratively under the direction of
Dr. Laurie Olson (the district’s supervisor for occupational therapy) to set up this early-intervention program.
Water and Sand Tables for Kindergarten Classrooms Chatsworth
The five kindergarten classes at Chatsworth will be equipped with new water/sand tables and accessories
including pulleys, funnels, multilevel flow pans, and extensive tubing networks. As part of the science
curriculum, this equipment will allow children to explore cause-and-effect relationships and make
connections to real-world experiences, i.e., the natural flow of water in a sink or bathtub, the waves in the
ocean and the basic properties of sand and water.
PHYSICAL EDUCATION
Creative and Contemporary Dance All Elementary and Hommocks
This district-wide grant will expose all K – 8 students to the performing arts through instruction by
professional dance teachers from Dance Cavise, a reputable local studio. The program enriches the
physical education curriculum by utilizing music and dance as a creative and enjoyable alternative to sports
for physical activity.
Music for Movement Chatsworth, Mamaroneck Ave. and Murray Ave.
An iPod and docking station, along with music in the form of gift cards or internet credit, will be purchased
for use by the traveling phys. ed. teacher. As music is an integral part of the elementary school physical
education program, this will allow for the purchase, cataloging, programming and play of music for
movement in the Chatsworth, Mamaroneck Ave. and Murray schools.
Softball Complex Enhancement District-Wide
This grant will provide enhancements to the softball field at Central School. Since its opening, this field has
been used by both varsity and JV girls’ modified softball, as well as Little League softball and baseball
teams throughout the spring, summer and fall. The grant will be used to create easy-access walkways
along the first and third base sides of the field, clear and level the spectator areas, and remove unwanted
weeds and vegetation. MSF was a major source of funding for the creation of this field, and this grant helps
put the finishing touches on this well-used school and community resource.
SPECIAL EDUCATION
Music Therapy Mamaroneck Ave.
A six-week program will be funded to evaluate the use of music therapy with some of the school’s most
disabled students. The Music Therapy Institute at the Music Conservatory of Westchester will offer group
and individual sessions with students, teacher training, and parent workshops. Musical instruments and
recording equipment are included in the funding.
Manhattanville College Partnership for School Aides and Teaching Assistants
District-wide
This grant funds full-day training workshops for Special Education aides and teaching assistants, to be
held on the four Superintendent Conference Days during the 2008-09 school year. The workshop
sessions will be run by professors from the Special Education Department at Manhattanville College.
MISCELLANEOUS
“Stay Connected With Your Teen” Parenting Group Hommocks & High School
As a complement to current parent workshops conducted in English, this grant will provide a parent support
group/workshop for Spanish-speaking parents led by a Spanish- speaking counselor. There will be
separate groups for Hommocks and High School parents. The objective of this program is for parents to
improve communication with their children, increase their understanding of adolescent issues and
become more effective at managing behavior issues at home.
Class Amplification Through Microphones Murray Ave.
This grant funds six wireless microphone systems at the Murray Avenue School to be piloted in two
classrooms each for grades 1, 3, and 5. These amplification systems are used throughout the country to
help enhance the audio quality in the classroom and improve the learning environment. Students benefit
from the use of sound-field amplification as the level of the teacher's voice over the ambient noise is
increased. Long-range benefits include improved student attention, higher test scores, and a reduction in
special education referrals.
Fiscal Accountability: Expenditure Projections District-Wide
This grant will pay for training for the members of the Citizens Financial Advisory Committee (CFAC) to be
able to make reliable, ongoing five-year projections of expenditures for the school district. This will help
fulfill the community’s request that the district make more reliable budget projections and share them with
the community.
Indoor Seating High School
Six benches will be placed in pairs in the Post Road building, on the third-floor landing, outside the
computer room, and near the counselors’ offices. The benches will promote conversation between
students in a more congenial environment and improve the overall aesthetic appearance of the campus.
Mamaroneck Schools Foundation Post Office Box 123 Larchmont, New York 10538
copyright 2009 Mamaroneck Schools Foundation
Privacy Statement