— people like School Counselor Rosemarie Alario, who received the Exemplary Guidance Practice Award for 2006 from the Nassau Counselors’ Association. Alario earned the prestigious award for her school-to-work Career Day program, aimed at teaching Atkinson students that “their actions and efforts will determine their future.”

“The committee was impressed by the amount of work that goes into this program and your meticulous attention to detail,” wrote Exemplary Guidance Practice Committee Chair Salvatore A. Brescia in a letter of congratulations to Alario. “It is Clear to us the Career Day has been embraced by students and faculty alike.”

Another key to Atkinson’s success is its exemplary programs, such as Family Math Discovery Night – a sort of Math, Science and Technology fair in which students and their families from Atkinson, along with their peers from Dodd Middle School, come together to share and discuss new methods and techniques being used in their classrooms, and to explore how these subjects are being infused into the curriculum to better prepare Atkinson students to exceed the New York State Learning Standards.