Our community supported an educational program that provides our young people with opportunities for achievement that continuously put Bellmore-Merrick among the top Nassau County districts in terms of Regents diploma graduates and Advanced Placement Scholars. In 2001-2002, our school district was one of only nine in the county to make both Newsday "District of Distinction" lists and our three high schools have been listed by Newsweek as among the top 1 percent of schools in the nation.
As we begin the 2002-2003 school year, I am confident that we will continue to meet the challenge of maintaining high expectations of our students and fostering their achievement through excellence in teaching. Our reputation for excellence rests on the shoulders of every teacher in the district, and we take pride in the district's ability to attract the best teaching candidates available. Bellmore-Merrick's new staff members were selected through a rigorous interview process, and they will earn their places among the district's permanent professional staff only after a tenure process that includes a three-year staff development program and their mastery of the teaching strategies that have been the cornerstones of our success over the last decade.
This year we continue our commitment to providing our students with access to the most-current technology available. Over the summer, work on upgrading the district's network was accomplished, and 122 teachers honed a variety of skills in the effective use of technology through eight 15-hour courses offered at the Brookside School. I know these teachers will return to school eager to use what they've learned and enthusiastic about sharing their new expertise with colleagues.
We continue our efforts to enhance our science-research program to ensure that Bellmore-Merrick students have opportunities to maintain their competitive edge in research contests and competitions with others from Long Island's top school districts. This summer, for the first time, science-research students had the opportunity to work on their long-range research projects with a science-department mentor. This was a valuable opportunity for those students who, for a variety of reasons, were unable to participate in summer-research programs hosted by colleges and universities. The mentoring program keeps students on track to be ready to meet deadlines for submission of their entries into prestigious competitions such as Intel. Last year, Bellmore-Merrick boasted five Intel semifinalists and one finalist.
One of our goals for this year is to successfully adopt new strategies to include more special-education students in mainstream classrooms, in an effort to expose more students to Regents-level curriculua. Of course our overriding goal for Bellmore-Merrick is the same one it has always been - to provide the best possible learning experiences we can for our students.
In Bellmore-Merrick, we recognize that providing our students with a rich and full school life means more than focusing only on academics. Student participation in an abundance of extracurricular activities and athletic teams has never been better, and we maintain a strong commitment to supporting the arts. This year, we will continue to make enhancements in our music program. Our two middle schools will welcome a new orchestra teacher.
We will continue our efforts to strengthen what in recent years we have called Human Connections. Each of our school has programs in place to foster positive connections between students and their peers and between professional staff and students. We have heightened our teachers' awareness of the need to know the signs of adolescents in trouble, and we encourage our students to take appropriate action when they see the signs of trouble in a peer. We know that some young people need extra support and the presence of caring adults in their lives to successfully navigate their way through adolescence, and we are committed to identifying these students in need and helping them through those times when other factors in their lives make learning a low priority. This year, we will begin The World of Difference program in both our middle schools. The program involves training the students who are their school's unofficial leaders to promote tolerance of differences among students.
I am proud of the Bellmore-Merrick community's parent leadership. Our PTA leaders comprise a group of tireless, hardworking parents who support what's best for our children. The PTAs in our school district have strong partnerships with their schools and with the Central Board of Education. I know that, working together with our professional staff, administration, school board and parents, our students will succeed in the 2002-2003 school year, and I look forward to its start.
