First Day A Success at Montauk School

The first day of classes went according to plan on Wednesday at the , where a new dramatic arts program for fifth and sixth grade students will kick off this year.

According to superintendent Jack Perna, state mandated 90 minute scheduling blocks for reading and English Language Arts will be packed with drama, in the form of American plays for the fifth grade students and classical theater for the sixth grade. The theater studies will also be tailored to match the students' social studies curriculum.

Mr. Perna said that class sizes in the lower grades were not unusually large but certainly heartier than the upper grades, with two prekindergarten classes boasting 20 students each and two kindergarten classes of 19.

"The classes are slightly bigger but not as big as they were years ago," he said.

In the meantime, smaller classes in the middle school grades will be easy on the pockets of Montauk taxpayers, who are obliged to pay tuition to the tune of $25,000 per student to the East Hampton School District for the education of high school students.

"High school enrollment for the next four years will be going down," said Mr. Perna.