The Friday Five - October 16, 2026

The Scarsdale Public Schools is excited to be partnering with Common Circles to create The Common Circles Experience: Scarsdale. The Common Circles Experience is unique in that it is customized to reflect the community in which it is displayed. Rather than simply bringing an exhibit into a school, Common Circles partners with educators, students, staff, families, and community members to create an experience that celebrates the people, stories, artwork, and perspectives that shape each community. While SMS and District educators have been planning since last spring, this message serves as our official Call for Participation. There are three ways to participate, and members of our community can register interest in one or more aspects of the exhibit. While not every interested party will be able to be included in the final physical exhibit, there will be opportunities to include interested community members through digital components of the exhibit.

If you would like more information about the exhibit, please read this message from May, and/or visit commoncircles.org.

The Scarsdale Public Schools are grateful for the support of the Scarsdale Schools Education Foundation (SSEF) to help bring this to our community. 

This component of the exhibit is a portrait series featuring members of the Scarsdale community (School and Village). Each participant is photographed in five different portraits using clothing, accessories, and meaningful objects to reveal different roles and aspects of their life and selects approximately 20 words they would use to describe themselves. Together, the portraits illustrate the many dimensions of each person while encouraging others to look beyond first impressions. Nominate yourself and/or someone whose kindness, compassion, leadership, creativity, resilience, service, or everyday actions have made a lasting impact. It could be an educator, coach, librarian, friend, shop keeper, volunteer, or any other community member whose contributions to Scarsdale might not be widely recognized but make a lasting difference. There will be a total of 34 individuals from our School and Village communities featured in this series, with additional opportunities for digital representation. 

Help us celebrate the people and stories that make Scarsdale feel like home. Every community is shaped by people who help others feel welcome, connected, and valued. The Common Threads portion of the exhibit  allows us to look for the connections that exist between people across Scarsdale and across the globe.These connections help unite people who may appear very different on the surface, but in reality share so much in common.  Nominate yourself and/or someone in our community whose story might help others discover a common thread—a shared experience, value, passion, relationship, tradition, or connection. Personalized exhibit cards highlight the many roles, passions, interests, experiences, values, and perspectives that make each person who they are while  revealing the unexpected connections we share. Customized cards are displayed on the Common Threads: What Do We Have in Common? Tower.

Personal and family stories connected to members of the Scarsdale community bring history to life through the experiences of real people. Stories may be connected to the Holocaust, World War II, and Jewish communities around the world, including experiences of persecution, war, displacement, immigration, resistance, rescue, survival, rebuilding, resilience, courage, and hope. The individuals and families featured do not need to have lived in Scarsdale. Their connection may be through a student, family member, educator, staff member, resident, friend, neighbor, or another member of the Scarsdale community who carries and shares their story. Together, these personal narratives illuminate history through individual lives and experiences and connect the lessons of the past to the present through stories of courage, perseverance, and moral responsibility. Click here to indicate your interest or identify someone who might share a story of hope and survival.

Unity Day, started by PACER’s National Bullying Prevention Center in October 2011, is the signature event of National Bullying Prevention Month. It is the day when we come together to send a visible message of building community through kindness, acceptance, and inclusion. The call to action is simple: wear and share the color orange. This vibrant statement becomes a conversation starter, showing support for students who have been bullied and for bullying prevention.