Students Party In The Park As They Prepare For The New School Year

The Public Schools of the Tarrytowns hosted its second annual Back to School Bash, which brought families together for a final celebration before the beginning of the new academic year. The community-wide event took place on Monday, August 26 at Patriots Park in Tarrytown.

The idea behind the bash was to celebrate the transition from summer break into the upcoming school year. It was meant to spark excitement for returning to school and provide children and their families an opportunity to connect with one another, as well as district staff and community partners.

“Returning back to school may not be an exciting time for all. The Back to School Bash has become a great way of infusing that excitement into the entire community to set the stage for the upcoming school year,” said Dr. Audrey Brutus, Supervisor of Social Emotional Learning and Community Engagement for the Public Schools of the Tarrytowns. “It literally unites the Tarrytown and Sleepy Hollow communities around one goal - supporting the children and families of the Public Schools of the Tarrytowns!”

Throughout Patriots Park various organizations set up tables and distributed information regarding their services and insights into what they have to offer the community. Families received giveaways, which varied from stickers and pens, to food to take home. Children enjoyed dancing to music provided by a DJ, the Bubble Bus, inflatables, face painting, books and activities.

Local elected officials stopped by to share encouraging words. Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stew­art-Cousins presented The Public Schools of the Tarrytowns with a grant for $350,000 to assist in upgrading the outdoor classroom space that connects the middle school and high school.

“Investing in our chil­dren’s education is one of the most im­por­tant things we can do for our fu­ture. Sup­port­ing the Pub­lic Schools of the Tar­ry­towns with this fund­ing will en­sure that stu­dents have ac­cess to safe, mod­ern, and in­spir­ing learn­ing en­vi­ron­ments,” said Stew­art-Cousins. “By im­prov­ing these out­door class­rooms, we are not only en­hanc­ing our schools but also fos­ter­ing a love of learn­ing and re­spect for the en­vi­ron­ment. I re­main com­mit­ted to sup­port­ing school dis­tricts across Westch­ester and New York State as they work to pro­vide the best pos­si­ble ed­u­ca­tion for our chil­dren.”

Superintendent of Schools Dr. Raymond Sanchez was in touch with the Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins' office to make the request.

“By step­ping out­side the con­fines of four walls, stu­dents can con­nect with the en­vi­ron­ment, fos­ter a sense of cu­rios­ity and won­der,” said Dr. Sanchez. “We want to thank the Ma­jor­ity Leader for her sup­port of our schools. The fund­ing pro­vided will help us cre­ate out­door spaces that en­gage with na­ture, pro­mot­ing ex­pe­ri­en­tial learn­ing and sen­sory ex­pe­ri­ences that can­not be repli­cated in­doors.”