The Friday Five - October 23, 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. 

We continue to receive questions regarding our school lunch program. Most of these questions center on meal quality, cost, and our determination that we were unable to join the free school lunch program this year (subsidized by the Federal Government and NYS). As a reminder, a summary of the process we followed last year appears on our Food Service website. Unfortunately, the challenges of running a program across seven schools with their various constraints made reaching the conclusion to enroll in the program this year infeasible. We simply could not have pulled it off successfully this year.

With that said, we remain committed to making feasible adaptations and to reviewing our program with an eye toward revisiting the question. We are working toward a strategic roadmap that identifies what feasibility would require, and how we would need to structure a request for proposals from food service vendors to accomplish this. We will be sharing a series of updates at upcoming BOE meetings, starting with an overview of the work ahead on Monday evening during Cabinet Updates. 

Elementary parent-teacher conferences will take place on December 4, 8, and 11 for grades K-5. We are using PTC Wizard for online conference registration and scheduling. Please visit the PTC-Wizard Elementary Parent Guide for instructions on how to register.

PTC Wizard opens for registration Monday morning, October 26, and closes on Friday, November 6, at 4 PM.

Students accepted into the University of Chicago Class of 2030 were asked to nominate an educator whose guidance has helped them along the path toward intellectual growth. Responses were received from hundreds of students in recognition of educators who have positively impacted their lives. SHS math teacher Dr. Kumaresan stood out among a field of incredible, capable, and inspiring educators. We are proud that he was recognized for the University of Chicago’s Outstanding Educator Award! Congratulations, Dr. K!

Halloween weekend is when many younger teens first try alcohol and older teens binge drink or use drugs. Every year, Scarsdale teens are hospitalized due to drinking too much alcohol. Even one drink can be riskier than you think. Scarsdale Action for Youth encourages parents and caregivers to start the conversation at home now. SAY's Don't Be Scared Be Prepared campaign provides key tips for parents on how to Beware, Prepare, and Take Care.