CDCH Proudly Commences 2007-2008 School Year on Unified Campus

CDCH has been a flurry of activity during the summer months in preparation for the 2007-2008 school year, when its Preschool and Charter School (Kindergarten – Grade 8) programs will begin operating as a unified school on CDCH’s Stephen Hands Path Campus.  Since 1997, the CDCH’s Preschool Program had previously operated in the former Most Holy Trinity School building in East Hampton.

New construction and the retrofitting of the CDCH’s Stephen Hands Path facility was completed last week and a modular addition is scheduled to be added at the end of this month.  New classrooms and additional learning spaces have been provided to accommodate the two programs on one campus.

The returning staff members were joined by newly hired staff for professional development workshops, unpacking and setting up of classrooms on August 29th, 30th and September 4th. The professional development workshops addressed such topics as "Closing the Gap in Student Performance"; "Understanding the Committee on Special Education Process"; Raising the Curriculum Expectations in Literacy, Mathematics and Physical Fitness" and finally, "The Workplace Environment".  In between the various presentations, staff members worked cooperatively preparing all the classrooms for the students' arrival on Wednesday, September 5th.

The Child Development Center of the Hamptons (CDCH) is the only inclusionary Charter School in the State of New York, servicing children from a long list of communities in Suffolk County, from Mastic/Shirley to Montauk on the South Fork and from Riverhead to Greenport on the North Fork.  Both the Preschool and Charter School programs maintain small classes, providing individualized learning for all students.  The programs are supported with a variety of related services to accommodate the learning needs of students and provide successful experiences in achieving the New York State Standards in all areas of the curriculum.

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And they lived happily ever after…

On Saturday, July 28th The Child Development Center of the Hamptons welcomed more than 250 special guests of all ages to its 11th annual summer benefit, “Fairy Tales & Dreams”. Guests mingled amongst the trees within an enchanted forest created on the grounds of CDCH’s campus on Stephen Hands Path in Wainscott for cocktails and then enjoyed a magical reading hour featuring local celebrity parents Emma Walton Hamilton, Jacqueline Woodson and Troy Roberts of CBS News.

As dinner began, Ted Conklin, a CDCH parent and owner of The American Hotel, challenged his fellow guests to match a $5,000 scholarship to the CDCH’s preschool program to which he was met not once, but five times! The scholarships were pledged in honor of Dorothy Fishelson, a founding Trustee of CDCH, who passed away earlier this summer after a courageous battle with cancer.

Following dinner, and despite the heat wave, guests took to the dance floor non-stop until the evening’s end!  Among the revelers were Stewart Lane and Bonnie Comley, Melissa Cohn, Bobby Campbell, Joann Ross, The Pashby Family, Donna Colonna, Antonella Bertello and Bob Rosen, East Hampton Town Supervisor Bill McGintee, Joy and Steven Bunson, Eugenia Au Kim, Gopa and Jay Dobson, Laura Scott, Dan Wassong, and Larry and Connie Randolph. The Fairy Tales & Dreams benefit raised over $130,000 for The Child Development Center of the Hamptons marking a very happy ending for all!

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