Athletes See the Light!
School Officials Power HS Lights at Pep Rally to Kick Off
Homecoming Weekend
On Friday, October 23, under the night sky, Deer Park School District officials turned on the lights at Deer Park High School’s athletic field for the first time. It was all part of a “Friday Night Lights” Pep Rally to kick off Homecoming weekend and celebrate all of Deer Park’s athletic teams.
Superintendent of Schools Eva Demyen introduced the Deer Park High School Women’s Chorus, who performed the National Anthem. Board of Education President Dennis Ryan thanked the community members who packed the stands for their ongoing support and demonstration of Falcon Pride, even sharing a conversation he had with former U.S. Senator Bill Bradley about how great a community Deer Park is.
The Board of Education also thanked Tanger Outlet Center and the Town of Babylon for their financial contributions that made the new lights possible. Tanger General Manager Curt Fickeisen was presented with a plaque and Town Supervisor Steve Bellone (who admitted he attended North Babylon Schools) was given a framed Deer Park Falcon jersey.
One by one, each Deer Park athletic team (Robert Frost MS, DPHS JV and DPHS Varsity) were introduced and marched around the track to great applause. It was a festive night that started what will be many exciting triumphs under the lights to come. In addition to providing Falcon fans with nighttime games, the lights will alleviate scheduling conflicts by extending the athletic day.
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District Continues to Optimize Schools’ Energy Use
School officials continue to research and implement initiatives to achieve energy conservation. Most recently, the district partnered with experts in the energy industry to further their “green” agenda for school facilities and community resources.
As a leader among school districts in the area of green initiatives, the Deer Park School District has already installed light sensors with automatic shutoff controls at the high school, with Robert Frost Middle School installation to be completed this spring. These sensors will conserve the use of light in these buildings, resulting in utility cost savings. The anticipated immediate savings will pay for the sensors within three months of their activation.
Cogeneration Units (Cogens) are being utilized throughout the schools, including two at the high school, one at the middle school, and one at John F. Kennedy Intermediate School. Cogens use natural gas to generate electricity and these units produce up to $120,000 per year savings for the district. In addition, high efficiency boilers were installed at the high school and have reduced the yearly bill by a substantial $350,000 dollars and achieved a 50% reduction in therm usage, otherwise known as units of heat.
Johnson Controls, a nationwide leader in optimizing energy use and providing solutions for plant facilities, is currently conducting an energy audit on the remaining school district building systems to determine other areas to be addressed to achieve even greater efficiency. Various components will be analyzed, including boiler controls, computer management systems, heating and ventilation systems, and solar panels and other options and ideas will be considered to reduce energy bills.
“We realize that in order to become a truly green environment, we must do our due diligence and review all of our school buildings,” said Superintendent of Schools Eva Demyen. “The district is benefiting from the savings produced by our recent efforts in this area, and we will continue to explore new technologies to bring our facilities into the 21st Century for the benefit of our entire community.”
Deer Park Board of Education President Dennis Ryan, Board Trustee and Chairman of the district’s Energy Committee Keith Rooney and district administrators hosted representatives from National Grid, Clean Cities Coalition, and Engineered Energy Solutions to discuss the opportunities to further reduce costs at Deer Park schools through the implementation of natural gas buses. Various aspects of the project were highlighted, including installing a natural gas pumping station at the district’s transportation facility and converting the district’s bus fleet to natural gas. The first Long Island school district to convert to a completely ‘clean-air’ fleet of buses was the Long Beach City Schools in 2003. They purchased natural gas buses and retrofitted several existing buses with converters to run cleaner and more efficiently.
“We are already saving money through lower operational costs, which then allows us to redirect budgetary funds for educational programming,” said Mr. Rooney, who has spearheaded many of the district’s energy projects. “Our efforts, many of which have become realities thanks to the diligent work of Plant Facilities Administrator Kirk Gostkowski and his Buildings & Grounds crew, are also simultaneously supporting positive global change, while educating the students of Deer Park within an optimal environment.”
Eva Demyen Named Superintendent
The Deer Park Board of Education has unanimously appointed Eva J. Demyen as
the next Superintendent of Schools. Ms. Demyen has served as Deputy
Superintendent in charge of Curriculum and Instruction in Deer Park the last
three years.
As the chief curriculum leader for the district, Ms. Demyen oversaw the
entire K-12 program and supervised the intensive revamping of the curriculum
(across all disciplines and grade levels) to focus on the more rigorous New
York State core curriculum. She has worked collaboratively with principals,
teachers, and parents to redesign lesson plans, enhance instructional
techniques in the classroom, and institute a variety of other initiatives to
improve teaching and learning. As a result, student performance levels have
increased in ALL targeted areas.
“In conjunction with the community, my focus continues to be on providing
every student with exemplary programs within a safe, healthy, and nurturing
environment,” said Ms. Demyen. “It’s a shared vision that our students
achieve academic excellence, mastering those concepts, skills, and processes
that will enable them to become thoughtful, productive citizens in our
society. I look forward to the opportunity to improve upon the successes we
have achieved in recent years and thank the Board and Ms. Marino for their
confidence in me.”
In addition to enhancing the program, Ms. Demyen was instrumental in
devising a new organizational structure to provide stronger building-level
support to students – making administrative functions more instructional in
nature. She also led efforts to infuse more technology into the classroom,
as well as in operational areas such as the payroll department, student data
management, and parent notification. As Deputy to Superintendent Marino, she
has also been involved with managing several districtwide emergencies.
Prior to becoming Deputy Superintendent, Ms. Demyen served as Director of
Mathematics in the district, taking a student population with grade-level
passing rates below 55% and elevating them to passing percentages in the 80s
and 90s. As a chairperson at the high school, she was also instrumental in
establishing college-level and Advanced Placement courses. As a result,
there are now 18 AP courses at Deer Park High School, when there was once
none.
“When Betsy Marino announced her retirement, Eva was the first person that
came to mind,” declared Board of Education President Dennis Ryan. “Given her
successful track record here, her familiarity with the staff, program, and
the community, we expect a seamless transition. She is the logical choice
and most qualified to keep our district moving in a positive direction.”
Prior to working in Deer Park, Ms. Demyen headed the Department of
Mathematics and Science in the Valley Stream Central School District. She
also taught math at North Babylon High School, Bethpage High School, and
Holy Trinity High School during her 30+ years in education.
Deer Park Students Show Their Knowledge
District-wide Scores Rise; Double-Digit Gains in Many Areas
The Deer Park School District’s commitment to educational excellence can be seen in the latest New York State Assessment results. Deer Park student scores have improved, or remained at a high level, across the board in grades 3-8 on the 2008-2009 Math and English Language Arts (ELA) exams. Many of the impressive gains over the 2007-2008 school year can be attributed to the cooperative hard work and dedication of the district’s students, teachers and administration.
“Greater emphasis was placed on using individualized student reports and teacher reports,” said Deputy Superintendent Eva J. Demyen, who led the effort. “Curriculum was rewritten in both disciplines to strengthen student attention in areas where they showed prior deficiencies. The key was not to teach to the test, but to focus on New York State core curricula and use the best practices to deliver the concepts, skills and processes that are needed at that particular grade level.”
The district-wide effort has been implemented and its positive effects are already benefiting students and their academic careers. The following are the percentages of students meeting or exceeding the New York State standard by scoring in Levels 3 and 4 of the respective exams.
Grade Level ELA 07-08 ELA 08-09 Math 07-08 Math 08-09
3 83––––> 83 97––––> 98
4 75––––> 87 90––––> 90
5 83––––> 87 87––––> 93
6 80––––> 90 90––––> 93
7 72––––> 90 92––––> 97
8 61––––> 74 74––––> 94
“We are all very proud of our students and the fact that they are achieving a significantly higher level of success on these exams,” added Superintendent of Schools Elizabeth Marino. “It’s a testament to the many hours of staff and curriculum development our educators put in. Our goal is to continue to improve teaching and learning; so that we can be the best we can be and help the children of Deer Park achieve their full potential and exceed expectations.”
ntendent of Schools Elizabeth Marino, Board of Education President Dennis Ryan, Tanger at the Arches General Manager Curt Fickeisen, Assistant Superintendent of Business and Operations Marguerite Jimenez, Varsity Football Coach Ron Langella, Booster Club President Fran Theiss, Athletic Director Anthony Amesti with Varsity Football players kneeling.
