Eastchester Union Free School District Superintendent Dr. Alison Villanueva gathered the district's full staff at Eastchester High School on Saturday, Aug. 29, to launch the 2026-27 school year with a convocation built around her "Elevate Eastchester" initiative.

The annual event brought together teachers, aides, administrators and support staff from all five campuses for workshops, employee recognition and a keynote address on inclusive learning, according to the district.

Villanueva used her address to outline the next phase of the district's "Four Campuses, Four Pillars, One Vision: Elevate Eastchester" framework, which she introduced during the 2025-26 school year. The four pillars are Experience, Space, Wellness and Community.

"We tried on the jacket for size and I'm happy to report that the jacket fits," Villanueva told staff. "… Now, the next part of the work is that we're going to define it further in order to calibrate one another."

The superintendent said the district will form committees to examine instruction, learning environments and health-and-wellness partnerships across its five schools: Eastchester Senior High School, Eastchester Middle School, Anne Hutchinson School, Greenvale School and Waverly Early Childhood Center.

The district serves 3,033 students and reports a 94% graduation rate.

Keynote speaker Aaron Lanou, an inclusive education consultant who previously led New York University's Nest Support Project for autistic students, challenged teachers to build classroom routines that account for different learning styles. He pointed to written instructions, choice-based tasks and movement-based tasks as examples of supports that can reach more students.

Lanou said those strategies help beyond the students they target. They "really have the potential to benefit every student," he said, according to the district's account.

The convocation also recognized employees who reached 20, 25 and 30 years of service in Eastchester.

Staff returned to buildings on Tuesday, Sept. 1, and Wednesday, Sept. 2, for two Superintendent's Conference Days to prepare classrooms. Students arrived Thursday, Sept. 3, the district said.