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

The future is now at John G. Dinkelmeyer Elementary School, where fifth graders are immersed in robotics.  

Computer science teacher Catherine Schlaich introduced students to Lego SPIKE kits to build and program carnival games. Working in teams, the young engineers had six options, such as bowling, hockey and mini-golf. They had to following the building instructions, install a battery, motor and sensors, then program movements in the SPIKE app on iPads. 

Students worked with Blockly, a visual programming editor, to write the code using drag-and-drop blocks. She said it builds upon their knowledge of Scratch coding, which they learned in fourth grade. After getting the movements to work, students had to modify and enhance their code.   

In the Avoid the Edge carnival game, students included a motor and color sensor, and had to program a bat to hit a ball, but not so hard that it went over the edge of the Lego base. The mini-golf game required programming a club to hit a ball and a light to go on when it reached the hole. A-Maze-Ing used a gyro sensor to tilt the entire base so a ball worked its way through a maze.  

As a culminating project, students will then create their own carnival games, which must use at least two electronic components. They won’t have instructions to follow then, so they must use their creativity while also following the engineering design process. The success will come from collaboration.  

“They have to work as a team in order for their robots to work,” Ms. Schlaich said. “Everybody’s got to be participating and helping each other out.”

 

Click here to view the Brick by Brick, Dinkelmeyer Students Build Bots slideshow.

 

Date Added: 11/25/2025

On a sunny but chilly morning that certainly felt like football weather, more than 30 students from the North Bellmore School District gathered to put their athletic skills to test. On Saw Mill Road Elementary School’s back field, the district held the final round of its annual Punt, Pass, Kick competition.

Preliminary rounds took place in physical education classes, with the fourth, fifth and sixth grade boys and girls winners from each school advancing to the championships. North Bellmore’s physical education teachers James Breslin, William Green, James Mulvey, Anthony Novello, Alyssa Parker and Michael Weiner coordinated the event.

With distance lines set up on the field, every participant got one turn throwing, punting and kicking off a tee. They were also allowed to try for a better score in one of the three challenges. After all of the scores were tabulated, grade level winners were announced and medals were handed out.

Punt, Pass, Kick is based on competition that was previously sponsored by the NFL and North Bellmore’s physical education department has kept it as an annual districtwide fitness activity.

Click here to view the All Fun and Football at Annual Skills Competition 2025 slideshow.

Date Added: 11/4/2025

The North Bellmore School District will be conducting its annual central registration process for incoming kindergarten students for the 2026-2027 school year. Eligible students must be 5 years old on or before Dec. 1, 2026, in order to register for kindergarten. 

Registration for the upcoming school year will commence on Nov. 17, 2025, and will run through Feb. 6, 2026. Registration is by appointment only at the North Bellmore’s District Office located at 2616 Martin Ave. in Bellmore (westside of the Martin Avenue School). Parents and guardians may access the district’s registration packet online at www.northbellmoreschools.org. under the Central Registration department. Please complete the registration packet and attach all required documentation prior to your registration appointment.

No child will be fully registered for kindergarten until all the required forms have been completed, received, and verified by the district. To schedule an appointment or for questions relating to registration you may contact the district registrar at 516-992-3000, ext. 3821.

 

Date Added: 10/31/2025