Huntington School Briefs
J. Taylor Finley Junior High School was constructed in 1964/65 at a cost of $3,048,000. The district paid off the debt it incurred to erect the building during the 1993/94 school year.
Finley actually consists of two separate structures connected by east and west connecting hallways. On the day it opened, the school featured six over-sized classrooms, 42 regular classrooms, 17 smaller classrooms, a cafeteria, gymnasium and large group instruction room, which has also served as an auditorium, complete with a small stage.
School Board Notes
The Huntington School Board approved numerous personnel moves during its meeting on August 4 in the J. Taylor Finley Middle School large group instruction room.
Trustees approved probationary teacher appointments for Tina Balducci (special education), Lisa Caparusso (special education), Jessica Castandea (music), Yesenia Cortes (elementary classroom), Matthew Liguori (science), Jason Rind (special education), Adam Sherrard (physical education), Karina Thepenier (guidance counselor), Paige Tyree (business) and Ronald Wilson (attendance).
Trustees approved part-time teacher appointments for Samantha Ahrens (math), Nadine Araoz (ESL), Maria Canino (physical education), Michael Ferreira (technology), Natalia Herrera (world languages), Karen Morea (art) and Mariantoniette Morello (English).
Trustees approved leave replacement teacher appointments for Matthew Bilello (science), Victoria Creighton (elementary classroom), Vincenza Famiglietti-Caruso (elementary classroom), Elizabeth Flanagan (elementary classroom) and Dena Mortell (art).
Trustees recalled from the district’s preferred eligibility list teachers Christina Droskoski (reading), Suzanne Knoerzer (elementary classroom) and Cindy Tietjen (librarian). Teachers Carlene Cournane (elementary classroom) and Debra Lawrence (special education) were authorized to return from leaves of absence.
Georgia D. McCarthy was appointed as the district’s driver education program coordinator. Stephen Henry was approved to work as Huntington’s physical education coordinator. Dr. Carmela Leonardi was appointed as the district’s family engagement coordinator.
Trustees also approved Angela Berner as Huntington’s ELA coordinator for grades K-6 and Kathleen McCourt and special education coordinator for grades 9-12.
Woodhull Facts
Nathaniel Woodhull Elementary School opened on Monday, January 30, 1967. Its entire student body had previously been attending Roosevelt Elementary School on Lowndes Avenue in Huntington Station.
A closing ceremony for Roosevelt was held on Friday, January 27, 1967. The ceremony was attended by various dignitaries, including Theodore Roosevelt’s son, Archibald, who also attended the school’s dedication in 1927 with his mother, Edith.
Woodhull’s first principal, Robert Fitzgerald, was Roosevelt’s last. Lowndes Avenue School opened in 1913. When its size was doubled, the Huntington Board of Education renamed it in honor of President Theodore Roosevelt.
In the 1950s when school officials were looking for property on which to erect a new high school, the land that would later be acquired for Woodhull was evaluated. The Woodhull, Village Green and R.L. Simpson High School properties were nearly contiguous.
Woodhull’s 24.9 acre site is more than eight times the size of what comprised Roosevelt’s grounds. In 1973 the state commissioner of education ordered that Village Green and Woodhull schools be closed and their students be dispersed to other schools in the district as part of an integration order.
The Village Green School, which was built in 1952, was closed and sold to the Town of Huntington. The sale of Woodhull was also arranged, but was rejected in a public referendum. Eventually, Woodhull was reopened.
Today Woodhull consists of 52,616 square feet of space following the addition of several classrooms. It houses fifth and sixth graders.
Huntington Awareness Day
The annual Huntington Awareness Day – Unity in the Community Parade & Fair will be held on Saturday, September 6 from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the commuter parking lots along New York Avenue in Huntington Station. The Huntington High School Blue Devil marching band will perform in the parade.
The event will include food, games, attractions and family fun. The parade will kick-off on New York Avenue at E. 15th Street and end at the Church Street fairgrounds. For more information call (631) 425-2640 or (631) 896-9748 or visit www.huntingtonawareness.org.
Remembering Huntington’s First Graduates
Huntington High School’s Class of 2014 continued the unbroken line of Huntington graduates dating to Friday, July 18, 1862 when Charles H. Baldwin, Ella J. Conklin, Emma F. Downs, James T. McKay, William G. Nicoll and John S. Sherill received the first six diplomas issued by the Huntington Union School during a 2 p.m. ceremony that included a valedictory address by Mr. Nicoll.
SCOPE Membership
The Huntington School District will once again be a member of SCOPE Education Services. The membership year runs from September through the following August.
According to its website, SCOPE is a not-for-profit, private organization permanently chartered by the New York State Board of Regents to provide services to school districts. Founded in 1964 by school superintendents, it is a cooperative venture for sharing resources to deal with common concerns.
The district will pay a membership fee of $3,264 for the year. Membership benefits include various publications, discounted tuition for School Board members, administrators and teachers at SCOPE conferences, seminars, workshops and special events, discounted fees for customized staff development program and School Board seminars, access to user-fee programs such as teacher and administrative placement, child care, management and demographic studies, longitudinal financial analysis, security-safe school assessments, fingerprinting of new employees, outdoor learning programs, child abuse prevention courses, continuing and adult education programs, paraprofessional training and assorted other programs and services.