National Merit Scholarship

DFHS has six students in the Class of 2020 who have been recognized this year by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC) for their performance on the last year's PSAT. Of the 1.6 million students who took the exam nationally, 34,000 were designated as Commended Students and 16,000 were designated as Semifinalists. Congratulations to Semi Finalists Zachary Cohen and Corbin Velonis and Commended students Nicolas Checa, Daniel Schwartz, Rachel Shornick and Grace Woodin!

Dear Parents and Community,

On behalf of the Dobbs Ferry Board of Education, our teachers, staff, and students - thank you for coming out to vote in such an overwhelming response to the Capital Projects Bond Vote. Your resounding “YES” enables us to begin the exciting design work that will bring the projects to life. As we develop the plans, we will be meeting with our architects and a variety of groups who use the spaces that are being redesigned. We will keep you posted along the way as we work to submit our plans to the Department of Education for approval before bidding the projects. This phase is a lengthy part of the process, and the bulk of the work is not scheduled to begin until 2021.

As this year is unfolding, we are continuing to focus on our programs and services that support student’s social and emotional health and learning. In September, we surveyed our students in Grades 3 - 12 to better understand their needs as based on the Social Emotional Learning Core Competencies. Our Board of Education will conduct a Work Session on November 19th, where we will take a look at Mindfulness and how this is playing out in our schools and in schools across the country. We will also discuss the correlation between mindfulness and adolescent mental health. In mid-October, we also held our first very successful Staff Wellness Day. We recognize that health and wellness must be a priority for our District - both staff and students - to continue to create the culture of caring, which is a hallmark of our Dobbs Ferry Schools.

At the end of October, the Board of Education conducted a Work Session on Career and Technical Education, where we discussed the importance of the trades and other technical skills-based careers. We also examined whether a four-year college is the right or best path for all students. This Work Session was our best-attended topic-based meeting ever with both parents and students attending, which further demonstrated the growing interest in this subject matter. Our Board of Education routinely reads and studies issues of importance to our schools and to the educational landscape in New York State and beyond. We were happy to have the opportunity to recognize their leadership during School Boards Recognition Week on October 29th.

With the holidays approaching full speed ahead - we want to take this opportunity to wish you happiness and health. Schools will be closed on November 28th-29th for Thanksgiving and for two weeks - December 23rd-January 5th for the Holiday Recess.

Best wishes!

Lisa Brady, Ed.D
Superintendent