Washington School Still Standing Tall at 53
It’s been long rumored that Washington Elementary School was built with materials designed to last 20 years. But, 53 years later, the building is still filled with more than 300 students on a typical school day and it is maintained in pristine condition. 
Whether the rumors have any truth to them or not, Washington has served the Huntington School District well through the years and continues to do so today. Located on Whitson Road off of Park Avenue, south of Pulaski Road, the one-story school was erected in 1954 on 11 acres of land. Four years later an additional wing was built and the school has maintained those very same dimensions ever since.
Washington is nearly identical to Flower Hill and Southdown schools and was built using a very similar plan. During its history, the school has housed students ranging from kindergarten through sixth grade. Today it services youngsters enrolled in grades K-3. It features spacious fields, a well-stocked library, crisply painted hallways and is generally spotless in appearance.
Residential neighborhoods surround the school, which has a bus/car circle near its handsomely landscaped front entrance. Trees line the area located between the parking lot and the side of building. The school has been exceptionally well-maintained and its red brick exterior is classic in appearance.
Washington, like most post-World War II suburban school construction has a central hallway and a pair of wings. There are no stairs in classrooms or the hallways. The school has a stage located in the gymnasium, which doubles as an auditorium. The cafeteria overlooks Whitson Road.
Washington, Southdown and Flower Hill were all constructed in 1954 as part of a crash building program to meet the demands of skyrocketing enrollment. Each of the schools had two classes per grade for K-6. The kindergarten wing had its own outdoor, fenced in playground separate and distinct from the playground for older students. Kindergarten was a half-day program during the first four decades of the school’s existence.
According to a long range planning study completed by Western Suffolk BOCES last spring, Washington has “21 rooms greater than 550 square feet, with 16 currently used for self-contained instruction and five provided for support programs,” such as music, art, special education, reading and math. There are also smaller instructional spaces used for ESL, reading, speech, occupational and physical therapy and the social worker and psychologist. Core facilities include the gym/auditorium, library and cafeteria.
Washington operated at 82 percent of its functional capacity of 394 students this past year, according to the planning study. Current Huntington Superintendent John J. Finello served as Washington’s principal from 1991 to April 2000 when he joined the district office staff. Marsha Neville, a former music teacher at the school, will begin her second year as principal in September.
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