Find out how Lynbrook is making learning fun

The floors are shining, the lockers are freshly painted and the library is resplendent — Lynbrook High School finally has a finished look that matches the quality of its students and educators.

“It’s hard to believe it’s the same physical space,” Principal Matthew Sarosy said. “It’s just transformative.”

The warped walls and outdated color schemes of the school’s hallways have been replaced and newly painted, and there are new lockers more befitting a National Blue Ribbon School. The tiles throughout the hallways and lunchroom are freshly waxed. And the crown jewel of the improvements is undoubtedly the library.

“We ripped everything out, and rebuilt from the ground up,” Jim Saitta, the district’s director of facilities, said. “Everything is brand new.”

Light pours into the library from the ceiling’s new light fixtures. Large HD television screens, which can be used for presentations, display tranquil autumn images while not in use. Students — some alone, others speaking in hushed tones while working on group projects — sit in ergonomic rolling chairs at spacious round tables. Some opt to do their work in the new quiet study room, a soundproof area where classes can gather or students can find silent refuge.

“It really is a nice atmosphere,” Saitta said. “Really conducive to learning.”

Maureen Bertolini, the school librarian, said that the improvements are beyond what she expected. “They walk in and they behave differently,” she said of the students. “Our mission is to get them ready for a career or college. And the minute they cross that threshold, it’s like, ‘wow, how can I get there?’”

Bertolini added that the library’s occupancy is much improved: There are not only more seats, but more diversity of space, so students can choose the environment that works best for them.

The quiet study room has been particularly helpful, she said. When students come in to work on group projects, they grow animated while brainstorming ideas or collaborating on presentations. The soundproof room offers the perfect solution, so students won’t feel the need to stifle their enthusiasm in order to avoid distracting others.

“Kids hold themselves a little differently,” Sarosy said. “They present themselves a little differently if they have an environment around them that looks the way this building does.”

The library is just one of the many improvements across the district. The high school also has a new classroom dubbed the Drones Lab, where students learn to code and to program drones to perform complex tasks. North Middle School is getting a new artificial-turf field, and its courtyard has been remodeled, so students can now sit at picnic tables under trees.

The West End School’s kitchen has been renovated, and Waverly Park School has new tennis and pickleball courts. Marion Street’s parking lot has been redone, and the school has a new playground, and a canopy for shade over the equipment. Nearly two dozen trees were planted near the playground last Sunday.

The improvements have been a long time coming, Saitta said. Though everything in the district remained functional despite its age, updates were much needed and much deserved. Parents and other voters in the community have played an invaluable role: The $101.8 million district budget passed with overwhelming community support this spring — with 77 percent of district voters saying “yes.”

“Lynbrook community support is the difference-maker,” Sarosy said. “This is a community that values education and values its children.”

Now, in a true 21st-century learning environment, district students can comfortably focus on what’s most important: their studies.