Fourth graders at John G. Dinkelmeyer Elementary School are making a crosstown connection with their future classmates. In the beginning of January, students in Janine Steinert’s class wrote letters to peers in Ashley Vella’s fourth grade class at Martin Avenue School, who then responded back. 

Children from the two classes at the district’s northern-most and southern-most schools are now pen pals. On Jan. 22, Ms. Steinert unveiled a large brown envelope, sent via interoffice mail, that contained the first letters from Ms. Vella’s class. The class gathered and individual envelopes were handed out. Together, Ms. Steinert’s students opened and read their letters, then began work on their own responses.  

Ms. Steinert said the plan is for the two classes to remain pen pals for the rest of the year, and hopefully have a meeting over Zoom in the spring. The letters will remain hand-written. She added that it is a great way for them to make connections with other students they will go to middle school and high school with.  

Letter-writing is a lost art among a tech-savvy generation of students, Ms. Steinert said. Before sending their initial letters, she led a class discussion about information that should be included. Ms. Steinert noted the importance of writing conversationally and asking questions that would evoke thoughtful responses from their pen pals. Students also learned how to address an envelope and although they weren’t sent through the actual mail, each still had the recipient’s name and school address, sender’s name and school address, and drawing of a stamp.  

Click here to view the JGD, Martin Fourth Graders Become Pen Pals slideshow.

Date Added: 1/26/2026

More than 30 students from the North Bellmore School District were selected for this year’s All-County music festival, hosted by the Nassau Music Educators Association. Rehearsals and concerts are taking place from Jan. 7-18. 

Fifth and sixth grade students from the band, chorus and orchestra were selected based on NYSSMA solo performance scores and teacher recommendations.  

Congratulations to the following students: 

John G. Elementary Dinkelmeyer School: Ethan Andreu, Elliana Fidacaro, Arianna Lettieri,Brooke Murphy, Ella Piazza, Brooke Sheehan and Ella Sjoberg. 

Martin Avenue Elementary School: Alex Caba, Isabelle Dang and Lylah Jakubowski. 

Newbridge Elementary Road: Cecelia Barone, Andrew Boylan, Nina Cannistraci, Marion Chelsea DeJesus, Hunter Outsen, Arielle Zhang and Maya Zucker. 

Park Avenue Elementary School: Marco Artale, Veronica Calise, Anaya Chandhok, Caleb Cheung, Hadley Hollander, Elora Rosello and Destiny Zosike.  

Saw Mill Road Elementary School: Sienna Burmann, Ryan Diaz, Judith Guzman, Kerha lorvena, Vincent Merle, Gianna Toledo and Eliana Weissman. 

Five orchestra students will also participate in the Long Island String Festival Association’s Nassau Intermediate festival from Feb. 27-March 1. Those students are Arianna Lettieri (Dinkelmeyer), Marion Chelsea DeJesus (Newbridge Road), Lucia Rodriguez and DestinyZosike (Park Avenue) and Vincent Merle (Saw Mill Road).

Click here to view the North Bellmore Musicians Bound for Regional Restivals slideshow.

 

Date Added: 1/12/2026

 

Kindergartners and first graders are taking an international journey from the confines of their classrooms at John G. Dinkelmeyer Elementary School. Students are exploring the customs and traditions of winter holidays around the world.

In Kelly Navin’s first grade class, children studied Christmas, Diwali, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Las Posadas, Lunar New Year and St. Lucia Day. Each holiday gets its own day of study, during which students watch a video, hear a song, listen to a story and do an activity such as a completing a word search or making a craft.

Ms. Navin’s students learned about traditions in the countries where the holidays either originated or are largely celebrated. They then got a stamp in their passports upon learning about each holiday, and found each country on a map.

At home, students worked with their families on a short writing piece and drawing highlighting their own holiday traditions. Students proudly shared with their classmates.

Stephanie Meehan’s kindergartners focused on Christmas, Diwali, Hanukkah and Lunar New Year. As a class, students shared facts they know about these celebrations to create an anchor chart. Each child then received a suitcase to “travel” to nations that observe each holiday.

String students from North Bellmore’s five elementary schools came together for the annual District Orchestra Winter Concert on Dec. 8 at the Brookside School. Proud parents, siblings, teachers and administrators filled the auditorium to enjoy holiday and winter tunes. 

The young musicians learned the concert music together during early morning districtwide rehearsals over the last several months, as well as during their small-group lessons. The fifth grade ensemble was conducted by Patrice Ryan and the sixth grade group was led by Lisa Uckardes. Individual school winter concerts are also taking place throughout December. 

Date Added: 12/9/2025