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Vol. 30 No. 13
MARCH 23 - 29, 2023
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Ryder appointed to Town Board D’Esposito’s 4th District seat is filled after being vacant for months By BEN FIEBERT bfiebert@liherald.com
Tim Baker/Herald
The seniors take the trophy! Gerald Ortiz celebrates winning the 95th annual Class Night at Lynbrook High School with his fellow seniors. Story, more photos, Page 3.
Village of Lynbrook Trustee Laura Ryder was unanimously appointed by the Hempstead Town Board on March 14 as councilwoman for the 4th Councilmanic District seat vacated by former Councilman Anthony D’Esposito. Ryder’s appointment came four months after D’Esposito was elected to Congress. Her work as trustee in Lynbrook hasn’t gone unnoticed by community members. She worked with the board to increase humanitarian efforts in Lynbrook, and she vows to continue that work as council-
woman. “We are proud to welcome Laura Ryder as the newest member of the Hempstead Town Board,” Supervisor Don Clavin said. “Laura is someone who cares deeply about her community and has worked with local municipalities, chambers of commerce, developers, and civic organizations to make our neighborhood a better place. We on the Town Board believe Laura Ryder is the perfect person for the job, and I am confident that residents of the 4th Councilmanic District will agree.” “I thank Supervisor Don Clavin and the Hempstead Town Continued on page 17
Universal pre-K to be expanded under proposed budget By BEN FIEBERT bfiebert@liherald.com
The Lynbrook School District has received a boost in state funding to offer an additional 90 eligible students full-day prekindergarten in the 2023-24 school year, according to the district’s proposed budget. The Barry and Florence Friedberg Jewish Community Center and the Tiny Tykes Early Learning Center will be operating the pre-K programs for Lynbrook, which will host a total of 156 students in the upcoming school year. Both sites will offer a full-day pre-K program that will provide
children with the educational experience they need to prepare for kindergarten and the following grades. Starting in September of 2023, the pre-K program will be expanded into the Tiny Tykes center to accommodate the increase in eligible students for the program. Chrissy Balchaitis, director of early childhood education at Tiny Tykes, will be overseeing the program. “We’re thrilled that we’re going to be able to collaborate with the Lynbrook School District,” Balchaitis said. Balchaitis’s goal for the program is to prepare the youngest learners for success in subse-
quent schooling. “The cost for full-day preschool is so high, especially on Long Island,” Balchaitis said. “Many families just cannot join a high-quality program, so by having UPK within the Lynbrook district, it’s going to be amazing for children of all socioeconomic and racial backg rounds to attend a welldesigned, high-quality preschool program.” With 156 students eligible to enroll, Tiny Tykes will host either one or two full classrooms of students. “We’re going to be following the New York state pre-K foundation curriculum,” Balchaitis said. “That curricu-
lum covers approaches to learning, physical development and health, social and emotional development, cognitive knowledge of world communication and language.” The JCC’s early childhood director, Andrea Ahearne, who oversees the pre-K program there, said, “It’s a very playbased environment where they
are learning through their own experiences and exploring their own environments. A lot of the learning is through play and sensory, as we definitely get messy in pre-K.” The play activities include painting, arts and crafts, and science experiments using manipulatives. “We also have impleContinued on page 18