Rockville Centre UFSD awards Edith McIntosh scholarship, thanks voters for passing school budget and spotlights arts programs

Katie Mark, director of the arts for the Rockville Centre Union Free School District, opened a sixth-grade spring concert at Southside Middle School and announced that the Edith McIntosh Memorial Scholarship will go to Emma Lombardo. "The minute I picked up a violin in third grade, my whole love for music began," Mark said, quoting Lombardo's application.

The announcement came alongside a thank-you to residents for passing the district's school budget, which Katie Mark described as enabling continued support for arts education across the district. The district did not provide vote tallies or further budget details at the concert.

The scholarship is awarded annually to one middle school, one high school and one elementary student, Mark said, and is intended to help students who wish to pursue private instruction. Mark read excerpts of the winning applicant's narrative, which said the recipient planned to use scholarship funds for private violin lessons to play more difficult pieces and to prepare for higher-level participation in NYSMA.

District arts programming was a focal point of the evening. Mark noted a district-wide art show at the Rockville Centre Public Library displaying works by students in grades K–12 and invited families to view the exhibits. She also described curricular and extracurricular jazz ensembles: a middle school jazz band that rehearses Thursday evenings, and two high-school-level ensembles (stage band for all levels and an audition jazz ensemble) that can earn high school credit.

Performers at the concert included a sixth-grade band, orchestra, jazz band and chorus. Mark said students were recording the performance so those on stage could review and assess their skills later. She named student participants and the staff who directed them, including teacher Monica Daley and Dr. Brandon Beyers Grover. Tri-M Music Honor Society students helped the parent organization, the Rockville Centre Sponsors of the Arts, sell concessions to raise scholarship funds.

Mark alerted attendees to two QR codes printed in the program: one linking to the ArtsRBC Instagram account and one linking to membership information for the Rockville Centre Sponsors of the Arts. She encouraged families to consider membership and donations to support future scholarships and arts activities.

The concert concluded with logistical directions for student pickup and a reminder to remain seated until students had safely exited the stage and building.