As you all are aware, this year our school switched from eSchoolData to Synergy for our grade portal, which was very unpopular among students and teachers. Whenever I asked teachers why, they just said eSchool went out of business.

But this never sat right with me. eSchool was still up, and the parent company still had the portal on their products page. I thought maybe they were just migrating everything off, but the other day I checked again, and it said ©2023 at the bottom of the page. If they were really out of business, they wouldn’t have the copyright still. So I looked into it.

It turns out, the parent company of eSchool, Illuminate Education, suffered a data breach last August, which caused them to be kicked off the Student Privacy Pledge (basically a standardized privacy policy). The school probably switched to Synergy following that news. In fact, in an email sent by the school (the subject was attendance letters), they mention switching to Synergy in August, which as mentioned earlier, is when the data breach happened. 

However, jumping to conclusions is always a thing to avoid, especially when writing a newspaper article, so I asked the BCSD Technical Director, David Gee about his thoughts on my research. And I was completely wrong. 

According to Gee, the process is much more complicated than that. The whole switch goes back to 2019,  “when under state law we’re required to go out to bid on products over a certain cost, every five years.” He formed a committee with teachers and administrators and seriously asked the question: “Did we want to look at other options or were we hoping we would keep eSchooldata?” After months of researching their options in Spring of 2020, they had a whole bunch of products come and give them demos. When I say “Spring of 2020,” you may experience some PTSD, and indeed, the process was delayed due to the pandemic: “we had picked a product that we were gonna make the move away from eSchool data. Not knowing what the future would be, we put the process on hold, and we delayed it a year.” At this point, the committee had already decided that Synergy was the “right product for the district to move to.” After comparing it to a few other products again in the fall, the decision was locked in. They didn’t want to stick with eSchoolData because “eSchoolData was bought three times at this point… and we were seeing support get worse with each purchase.” (What my teachers said, then, wasn’t super far off. Although eSchoolData is still up and running, it’s on the way 

Imagine this: You’re calmly sitting in the theater and everything is dark when suddenly, you hear an ominous overture coming from the pit band as smoke descends from the stage.  This is exactly how the audience of Fox Lane Player’s Production of the Addams Family Musical was welcomed.    

Friday, April 21st marked opening night, the first of three performances of the Addams Family Production, directed by drama teacher, Tom Slot. The Addams Family, a comedic musical about a death-obsessed family that endures much conflict, heartache, and love, had the audience hysterically laughing and engaged.  Wednesday, the lead, has a little secret. Everyone knows her for her goth style and love for inflicting pain on Pugsley, her brother.  Unexpectedly, Wednesday has fallen head over heels for a seemingly normal, sweet boy, Lucas Beineke. Wednesday, nervous for her mother’s reaction, secretly confides in her father, Gomez, informing him about their plan of marriage, but begs him not to tell Morticia, her mother.    

Behind the scenes, Fox Lane students were hard at work from January to April. Actors were tirelessly rehearsing ten weeks in advance by learning choreography, lyrics to the tracklist, memorizing lines, and improving their performance skills. The crew spent hours learning how to correctly use the spotlights, cue sounds, control the actors’ microphones, do quick scene changes, and create the set, under the management of Rob Martin.  Students also helped with the creation of personalized outfits, accessories, and makeup for each character.  All the ancestors had their faces caked in white makeup to portray a zombie effect. The pit band, conducted by Leigh Tooker, was the first in many years to have the majority of musicians be students.  Many hours of individual practicing, ensemble rehearsals, and sitzprobes took place to make it possible.   

All the effort and time everyone contributed brought the cast and crew together.  When asked about their favorite part of the show, the actors and technicians described the warm, welcoming atmosphere and strong bonds they formed over their common love for theater.  Junior Noreen Malec, the technical director, enjoyed her experience because of “the community that (was) built along with the show.” Senior Joe Cicchelli, who played the male lead, Gomez Addams, “loved mingling and working with this cast.” He said, “Every single person; crew, actors, teachers, all have such a special place in my heart.  Without them, there would be no chance that I would’ve been able to play Gomez.” Many people eagerly agreed they would audition for the play next year. Sophomore Jesse Rabloy, who played Uncle Fester said, “Absolutely.” Cicchelli said, “I’m a senior, so no, but I absolutely would be if I wasn’t.”

After an eventful life of travel and an ever evolving career, Principal Ostrofsky will be retiring this year.  Unlike most, this is her third attempt. Third times the charm!  

This year, Ostrofsky was called out of retirement to fill the role of Interim Principal at Fox Lane High School. She joined the high school community mid year during a time when many people were upset and hurting. With very short notice, she stepped up to the plate, leading everyone toward a smooth transition. 

Even though being head of Fox Lane High School was an experience like no other, Ostrofsky was prepared and dove straight into it with a positive attitude. Her philosophy is “a leader is a leader, no matter what grade level.”  

For her, “the kids were the easy part” because she already knew many of them and watched them grow up.  She remembers some from Mount Kisco Elementary School and others from the Fox Lane Middle School where she was principal of both.

Upon reentering the district, she immediately began building relationships with her colleagues and students, making a great effort to get to know people on a personal level. Everyday, Ostrofsky waits at the school entrance and greets kids as they come off the bus. In rain, shine, wind, or any weather in between, she is always there with a warm smile and a cheery “good morning!” 

Throughout her time at Fox Lane High School, Ostrofsky noticed the pressure students face, especially the juniors as they navigate high school and start the college application process.  Before she retires, Ostrofsky wants students to know that “there's an opportunity and journey for every student in our school.  It doesn’t have to be what your parents want of you or what society is saying they want of you.  It’s your path.” 

In following her belief that there's a “”journey for every student in our school,” Ostrofsky allowed senior Graeme Banks the opportunity to intern with her as part of the ASPIRE program. Over the past weeks, Banks has gotten to know Ostrofsky really well and has nothing but kind things to say about her: “Mrs. Ostrofsky is a born leader, a kind soul, and a principal who looks out for and fights for all students.  I am lucky to have had her in middle school and high school.  She is an inspiration to us all, and everyone at Fox Lane High School will miss her desperately.  Mrs. O, thank you for everything.”