Tag: Tappan Hill School

Tappan Hill Trail officially opens, while remaining closed . . .

Credit: Public Schools of the Tarrytowns.

On the morning of Friday, May 29, 2026, students from the Tappan Hill School gathered in the wooded area that is part of its campus. Joining them were Raymond Sanchez, Superintendent of the Public Schools of the Tarrytowns (TUFSD), members of the Board of Education, school administrators, and residents from Sleepy Hollow and Tarrytown. They were there for the official opening of the Tappan Hill Trail.

Tappan Hill students enjoying the trail, May 29, 2026. Credit: Public Schools of the Tarrytowns.

In the words of the TUFSD, the trail “gives students a dedicated outdoor space to explore nature, engage in hands-on learning, and build a real connection to the environment around them.” The school district also asserts that the winding path is “designed not just to connect nearby neighborhoods to campus, but to spark curiosity and a love of the outdoors in the students who walk it.”

“A new path is winding its way through Tappan Hill School—one designed not just to connect nearby neighborhoods to campus, but to spark curiosity and a love of the outdoors in the students who walk it.” —Public Schools of the Tarrytowns

The statement speaks to a key goal of the trail: to provide students, caretakers, and family members a safe and enjoyable walking route between Ichabod Lane and Rosehill Avenue and thus encourage more people to walk to and from the school. However, a barrier at the Rosehill end of the trail currently prevents this from happening.

Barrier at now-overgrown Rosehill Avenue end of the Tappan Hill Trail and the accompanying sign, June 29, 2026. Credit: Livable Tarrytowns.

Volunteers from various organizations first constructed the trail on May 31, 2025—almost exactly one year before the opening ceremony took place. This involved the removal of large amounts of trash, the elimination of invasive vegetation, and the marking and delimitation of the actual trail.

Volunteers constructing the trail on May 31, 2025. Credit: Livable Tarrytowns.
Trash removed from Tappan Hill woods, May 31, 2025. Credit: Livable Tarrytowns.

While minor work remained (and still does)—particularly, the building of a small set of stairs and a landing at the Rosehill end given the trail’s steepness there—the TUFSD and the Village of Tarrytown have failed in the 13 months since the trail was built to see through its completion.

In December 2025, for example, Tarrytown’s Board of Trustees passed a resolution asserting that the school district had to receive Village approval for construction of any connection between the school property and Rosehill Avenue. More than six months later, the school district has not yet submitted the necessary paperwork.

Installing a trail marker, May 31, 2025. Credit: Livable Tarrytowns.

Meanwhile, the Village of Tarrytown has aided and abetted the stalling by suggesting that the trailhead is unsafe due to the lack of sidewalks on Rosehill and a crosswalk near the point of access. It has also failed to implement measures that would bring about a safer pedestrian route to and from there—to remedy the very problems it decries in other words.

Livable Tarrytowns has played a major role in bringing about the trail. Indeed, Elizabeth Tucker, on behalf of Livable Tarrytowns, was a recipient of a 2025 Community Grant from the Greater Irv­ing­ton Land Trust (GILT) that paid for materials used to construct the trail and to purchase native trees that have been planted.

That the trail has now partially opened speaks to the support it enjoys among many nearby residents, families in both Sleepy Hollow and Tarrytown who have children at Tappan Hill, and individuals throughout the two villages. It also highlights the need to complete the trail before school opens in September so that students and those accompanying them, in addition to the broader public, will have full access to the wooded path.

Whether or not the trail is completed, people will continue to walk to and from the Tappan Hill School. The question is, will the school district (and the Village of Tarrytown) provide a safer, more enjoyable pedestrian route to and from the site than currently exists?

To ensure that it does, Livable Tarrytowns urges readers to contact the Board of Education (boe@tufsd.org), Superintendent Sanchez (rsanchez@tufsd.org), and Tarrytown’s mayor and members of the Board of Trustees (see below) to voice their support for the trail’s completion.

Mayor Karen Brown:  kbrown@tarrytownny.gov

Trustee Kenny Herzog:  kherzog@tarrytownny.gov

Trustee David T. Kim: dkim@tarrytownny.gov

Trustee Becky McGovern:  bmcgovern@tarrytownny.gov

Trustee Thomas Mitchell:  tmitchell@tarrytownny.gov

Trustee Effie Phillips-Staley: EPStaley@tarrytownny.gov

Trustee Paul Rinaldi:  prinaldi@tarrytownny.gov

Credit: Livable Tarrytowns

The Village of Tarrytown needs to act quickly to protect students attending the Tappan Hill School

Starting in September 2025, first-graders of the Public Schools of the Tarrytowns will attend the Tappan Hill School. Kindergartners will follow at a later date.

Tappan Hill School

Located on Ichabod Lane in the Crest neighborhood of Tarrytown, the Tappan Hill School is surrounded by busy commuter thoroughfares (Altamont, Highland, Marymount, Rosehill, and Union Avenues, and Crest Drive). None of these streets have sidewalks or bicycle lanes, making them inhospitable to pedestrians and cyclists.

When the school opens, increased traffic in the neighborhood will make the existing situation even more dangerous.  For this reason and more, concerned parents and Livable Tarrytowns have been in dialogue with officials in the Village of Tarrytown for almost a year to bring about infrastructure changes that will allow for walking and biking safely in the area surrounding the Tappan Hill campus. Thus far, such changes have not happened.

Only a little more than 3 months remain before school opens in the fall. As such, Livable Tarrytowns is pushing the Village of Tarrytown to implement low-cost, interim solutions by the end of August. The goal is to provide an alternative to transportation via school bus or private automobiles (and clogged roads and increased air pollution) for students and their caretakers.

Such a goal is consistent with the school district’s “Student Wellness” policy. The policy calls for, among other things, the promotion of “walking/biking to school (with proper storage of bicycles), safe routes to school, and ‘walking’ school buses.”

In this spirit, Livable Tarrytowns has proposed the implementation of various measures—ones that are within the purview of the Village of Tarrytown.

One entails the making of “quick-build” walking lanes by appropriating some of the space now fully dedicated to motor vehicles.  This would involve the installation of concrete or plastic delineators. 

Such changes, by narrowing the roads, would have the added benefit of slowing down drivers. (See image below.) It is well documented that wide roads encourage speeding

There are also things that the Public Schools of the Tarrytowns can do to facilitate safe passage to and from the Tappan Hill School.

Cars parked over the sidewalk at the Tappan Hill School.

One is to widen the sidewalks on the Tappan Hill campus so that they allow for strollers to pass and comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act. Another is the moving of parking away from the edge of the sidewalk. Currently, vehicles parked on the campus often intrude on the sidewalk, creating a hazard-prone situation.

To bring about such changes, Livable Tarrytowns has called upon Tarrytown’s Board of Trustees to hire a planner to propose low-cost, short-term solutions as well as a long-term transformation of the area around the campus.

What can people do to help?

Please email the members of Tarrytown’s Board of Trustees (see the list of members below) and voice support for walkable schools!

Karen Brown <kBrown@tarrytowngov.com>,

Kenny Herzog <kherzog@tarrytownny.gov>,

David Kim <DKim@tarrytownny.gov>,

Thomas Mitchell <tmitchell@tarrytownny.gov>,

Becky McGovern <bmcgovern@tarrytowngov.com>,

Effie Phillips Staley <EPStaley@tarrytownny.gov>,

Paul Rinaldi <prinaldi@tarrytownny.gov>.

And please look out for future notices from Livable Tarrytowns as our campaign to ensure safe pedestrian passage to and from the Tappan Hill School continues to unfold.