Digital News Comes to Glen Cove District

If Glen Cove residents visit the corner of Forest Avenue and Dosoris Lane, they will now have much to read as they walk or drive by because a new electronic message board has been installed just near Robert M. Finley Middle School.  

The Glen Cove Parent Teacher Association Council spearheaded efforts three years ago to raise money to purchase the new board for the district. The board, which will display school community messages, replaced a manual black and white board that was on the corner for more than a decade. 

"It just took too long to change the message on the old board," said Donna Brady, president of the council's executive committee. "It turned into nothing but Board of Education meeting notices for weeks and it would never mention merit scholars or winning sports teams."

The new board, school officials said, is a state of the art digital data board that is controlled remotely from a computer in the administrative offices.

"The purpose was to help the school community and school pride flourish," Brady said. "We can now run as many messages as we want in one day. We can congratulate a winning team, announce a Board of Education meeting and caution people to drive safely."

There were many people involved in bringing this project to fruition. One major turning point was when the council received a matching grant from the Glen Cove Education Foundation for $10,000 in 2008. 

"The foundation decided to match any donation that anyone made," Brady explained. "We have a long list of donors including past PTA presidents, local community organizations, individuals and families. The sign cost about $17,000, but that's not including everything. We are in the middle of constructing a monument that will be a bronze plaque on stone and it will be placed in front of the sign. It gives recognition to all the people from the Glen Cove community who helped to make this happen."

Although the sign is up and running, school officials said, training for usage is still not complete.

"The company that put the board together for us is providing software templates," Brady said. "Right now we have two templates and the way the sign looks will be changing dramatically in the next week."

There is also a graphic designer who is creating art that the district can use to visually enhance the messages.

"It should all be completed by the end of July to early August," Brady said. "We will be completely finished with the project on Sept. 13 and we will have a ribbon cutting ceremony at the first Board of Education meeting."

The board, district officials said, will be used only for school community news and all messages must be approved by the administration.

"Any message has to go through the central office for approval," Brady said. "It is an accuracy checkpoint and they will be sure that everything that goes up is correct, even messages from teachers and principals."

And while the last parts of the project are being completed, council members said, they will continue to express their gratitude to the city community. 

"We'd like to say a real big thank you to so many people that have encouraged and supported us with this vision," Brady added. "We are excited for what I know will be a very pretty corner landmark."