Principal Returns after Four Decade Absence
Jack Abrams returned to Washington School as its principal after a more than 40 year absence. He was there for two days last week, serving as a substitute for Marsha Neville, the current principal, who was at a training conference.
“I really enjoyed it,” Mr. Abrams said about his time in the building. He was seen in hallways, the cafeteria and gym, classrooms and even ate lunch in the faculty room. Several teachers requested he stop in their rooms to observe students at work.
Mr. Abrams was principal of Washington Elementary School for three years in the 1960’s before serving in a similar role in several other locations in the district. He was also Huntington’s elementary science coordinator for three years, providing teachers with training and frequently working with students in classrooms, including those at Washington. So, he knows the school well, especially since he has stopped at the building many times over the years for talks with students and to say hello to friends.
“It’s a great school, immaculate inside, with hard working teachers and staff and happy students,” Mr. Abrams said. On both of the days he served as the substitute principal, he issued a full-page memo of interesting announcements and school related items, placing it in teacher’s mailboxes. He frequently could be seen chatting with parents and was quickly brought up to date on various classroom developments and practices.
Mr. Abrams has served as curator of the Huntington School Heritage Museum for more than two decades. Beloved by current and former students alike, his half-century record of service to the community was recognized when the Board of Education voted to rename Huntington Intermediate School in his honor, effective July 1, 2008.
Born during the Great Depression, Mr. Abrams is a graduate of Andrew Jackson High School in St. Albans, Queens. After serving in the U.S. Army Special Service and Signal Corps in Korea and graduating from New Paltz Teacher’s College with a B.S. in Education, he began his career at the Newbridge Road School in North Bellmore before joining the Huntington school family in 1955. Along the way he added advanced degrees from Hofstra and Columbia universities.
The first of many assignments saw Mr. Abrams work as a sixth grade teacher at Woodbury Avenue Grammar School. As the years unfolded, his Huntington career included stints as elementary science coordinator and principal of Nathan Hale, Woodbury Avenue, Washington, Village Green, Toaz/Finley’s 6th school and Woodhull.
In 1975 Mr. Abrams initiated the unique sixth grade outdoor education program that annually sees hundreds of students trekking to Camp Greenkill for four days and three nights of hands-on educational activities. He even spent a year teaching fifth grade in Great Britain with the Fulbright Teacher Exchange Program. Another year was spent as a third grade teacher in Northport while on a sabbatical from Huntington.
Mr. Abrams served the last six years of his career as principal of Jefferson Elementary School before officially retiring in 1987. It wasn’t long before he was busy establishing the district’s museum, which today is filled with more than 1,500 items.
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