Wantagh Union Free School District

High academic achievement, a positive school climate and a commitment to growth are a few of the reasons why Wantagh Middle School was recently named an Essential Elements School to Watch, an initiative of the National Forum to Accelerate Middle Grades Reform. Following an extensive application process and a two-day site visit by experienced educators, the school was granted the prestigious designation.

Where else besides Wantagh Elementary School can you find the first, 16th, 18th and 35th presidents of the United States at the same time? Together, they stood, along with dozens of other famous figures at the fifth grade’s annual living wax museum on March 10.

Wantagh Middle School students want everyone to have a healthy heart. That’s why they collectively raised more than $9,000 for the American Heart Association in the annual Hoops for Heart competition.

World Compliment Day was celebrated on March 1, and at Mandalay Elementary School in the Wantagh School District it served as a reminder about the kindness that should spread year-round.

The Harvard Club of Long Island recognized two Wantagh High School educators with the Distinguished Teacher award. Math teacher Jason Apfelbaum and art teacher Natalie Douglas were nominated by a Wantagh graduate from the Class of 2021, who now attends Harvard University.

Fourth graders have a unique way of storing all of their work in Michele Anszelowicz’s class at Forest Lake Elementary School in the Wantagh School District. Their pizza box portfolios are filled with classwork and projects that reflect the vast amount of knowledge they have gained this year.

Based on the popular Disney Channel Original Movies, the Wantagh Middle School Drama Club will present “Descendants: The Musical” from March 3-5. A cast of 50 students will delight the audience with comedy, adventure and hit songs during four shows.

It was a special day for kindergarten and first grade students at Mandalay Elementary School on Feb. 9. They reached the 100th day of the school year, making them that much smarter.

Whether they were preparing for a future career or just looking to take a trip down memory lane, it was a successful day for Wantagh High School students who participated in Shadow Day on Feb. 2.

A celebration of reading spanned all ages in the Wantagh School District on Feb. 1, as students and teachers from all five schools took part in World Read Aloud Day. The district participated in the 14th annual event, which featured connections between the elementary and secondary schools.

They may have been taking part in the Hour of Code initiative, but students at Wantagh Elementary School have been doing way more than an hour of computer programming. STEAM teacher Kaitlin Humphrey said students in kindergarten through fifth grade are doing coding activities throughout January and February.

It’s hard to stump Wantagh Middle School sixth grader Max Mihalik about his knowledge of the world, and that’s why he emerged as the winner of the school’s annual Geography Bee on Jan. 12.

The Kindness Squad at Forest Lake Elementary School has some words of encouragement for their peers. The group of fourth graders recently created inspirational posters to hang around the school.

Whether it’s having her students construct and destroy gingerbread houses to test the forces of wind or do scavenger hunts around the school, Wantagh High School science teacher Samantha Gordon is known for her exciting, hands-on projects.

If there’s a concert happening in the Wantagh School District, Matthew Lin is probably there tickling the ivories. It is unique for a student to serve as a piano accompanist for school concerts, but the Wantagh High School senior has leant his talents for more than a dozen elementary, middle school and high school performances for the past four years.

They may still be pretty young, but fifth graders at Mandalay Elementary School have lots of stories to tell. They recently wrapped up their memoir writing unit by publishing personal narrative pieces.

The most anticipated moment of the week for kindergartners and fifth graders at Wantagh Elementary School is the time they get to spend together. Students in Patricia Magoloff’s class are regularly visited by their older peers from Traci Weiss’s class.

Creative Minds, a sixth grade elective at Wantagh Middle School, is filled with hands-on challenges that teach students about the engineering design process. Recently, students had to build a car that could keep on egg from breaking as it traveled down a ramp.

Wantagh High School’s boys volleyball players set the bar high for good sportsmanship, and that did not go unnoticed this past season. The team received the Sportsmanship Award from the Nassau County Volleyball Officials Association and were presented with their trophy at an end-of-season dinner.

Trial and error was a practice used by many famous inventors, so that’s the model that students are following at Wantagh Elementary School. Children in grades 3-5 are immersed in an inventions unit in STEAM classes with teacher Kaitlin Humphrey.

A day before the big balloons and floats traveled through the streets of Manhattan, students at Mandalay Elementary School put on their own Thanksgiving display. The morning kicked off with a float parade outside of the school. Each class built a float for the special event.

The new Video Game Club at Forest Lake Elementary School in the Wantagh School District is the quintessential way for students to develop 21st century skills. They learn how to work as a team, to display good sportsmanship, to solve problems and to understand modern technology.

Wantagh High School celebrated National Signing Day with a celebration for 16 college-bound athletes on Nov. 9. They were joined by administrators, coaches and family members who proudly watched as the seniors signed their letters of intent.

Parachutes were falling at Wantagh Middle School on Nov. 1 as seventh graders explored the principles of aerodynamics. As the culminating activity in the forces and interactions unit, students in Ashley Azzata’s and Elyse Longo’s science classes built parachutes.

The fall drama production will be a new show on the Wantagh High School stage, as student-actors are getting ready for the upcoming production of “Radium Girls,” which will feature four performances from Nov. 18 to 20.

Wantagh High School sophomores Jayla George and Kayla Spisto wanted to do something to help others, so they partnered with the Crayon Initiative to provide coloring supplies to children in hospitals. Jayla and Kayla first reached out to Principal Dr. Paul Guzzone, who was thrilled to support their project so they could begin collecting crayons at school.

The school day ended at Wantagh High School on Oct. 27 and students immediately began transforming the building into a spooky Halloween destination. Then, the clock struck 5 and elementary-age children came inside for an evening of crafts, games and trick-or-treating at the inaugural Spooktacular.

The Wantagh School District showcased two newly renovated art rooms at its middle school during a visit by New York State Sen. John Brooks on Oct. 4. Sen. Brooks secured $684,000 in state municipal grant funding for the district.

The Helping Hands food pantry at Mandalay Elementary School in the Wantagh School District has been freshly stocked thanks to the generosity of students. The first food drive of the year was held from Oct. 3-14, with students donating non-perishable items.

Under bright sunshine, the Wantagh homecoming parade glided triumphantly past thousands of supporters on Oct. 15. Led by a color guard and the Wantagh Pipe Band, the parade featured the Wantagh High School marching band, cheerleading squads and the creative floats designed by each class based on this year’s theme: music genres. The juniors took first place with their country music design.

In September 2010, Katherine Killian and Nora Toscano entered the same kindergarten classroom at Forest Lake Elementary School. Nearly 13 years later, they will graduate together as the top-ranked students in Wantagh High School’s Class of 2023. It’s been a long journey for the two friends since they met on the other side of the pedestrian bridge that crosses the Wantagh Parkway to link the schools.

Every year, two Wantagh High School students get the privilege of sitting up on the stage during board of education meetings, tasked with informing the community about the school’s vast array of programs, events and accomplishments. This year, that honor has gone to general organization co-presidents Sean Browne and Nyla Lester.

Wantagh High School ninth graders took a short break from their studies to get some exercise and fresh air, bond with their classmates and enhance their teamwork abilities during Freshmen Field Day on Sept. 23. The turf field inside the track was the center of the action, in which the high school’s newest students rotated through 10 stations.

International Dot Day is a celebration of creativity, and students at Mandalay Elementary Schools showed just how powerful their imaginations can be. To kick off the school year, students in kindergarten through fifth grade worked on dot-themed projects during STEAM classes with teacher Alexa Del Piano

Five Wantagh High School seniors were honored in the 2023 National Merit Scholarship Program, including one semifinalist and four commended students. Natasha Meagher was named a semifinalist for her outstanding academic achievements. She was one of approximately 16,000 students nationwide to be selected as a semifinalist by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation.

Wantagh High School’s graduating Class of 2022 included 25 recipients of the Advanced Placement Capstone diploma, which acknowledges their success in challenging college-level courses. Nine students in the current senior class have also qualified for the diploma when they graduate in June 2023.

The Wantagh School District welcomes Christopher Kozak as the new director of STEM. He replaces Carol-Ann Winans, who was promoted to executive director of curriculum and instruction.

Schools in Wantagh opened for the start of the 2022-2023 school year on Sept. 1 with a renewed sense of optimism, as students arrived on buses, in cars and even by bike with smiles on their faces.

Wantagh Middle School welcomes Rachel Quattrocchi as the new assistant principal, who assumed the role on Aug. 29. She replaces Dr. Stephanie Scolieri, who held the position for eight years before becoming the district’s director of human resources.

Two administrators from the Wantagh School District will be moving into new roles in the central office for the 2022-2023 school year. Carol-Ann Winans has taken on the position of executive director for curriculum and instruction K-12 while Dr. Stephanie Scolieri is the new director of human resources.

The 189 graduates of Wantagh High School’s Class of 2022 will be remembered for their many achievements, their perseverance in the face of adversity and, most importantly, their value. As the sun slowly made its descent behind the stage, the senior class was celebrated for the last time as a group during the graduation ceremony on June 24 on Wantagh’s turf field. The scoreboard was lit up with “2022.”

The Wantagh School District welcomes veteran educator Alison Hazut as its new director of elementary curriculum and instruction, effective July 1. She was appointed to the position at the Board of Education’s June business meeting.

Perseverance was a major theme at Wantagh Middle School’s crossing-over ceremony on June 10, which celebrated the hard work of the district’s 209 eighth graders. When they start high school in September, they’ll just be on the other side of the connecting overpass, and will have to get up a little earlier each morning. Middle School Principal Anthony Ciuffo is confident that they will succeed.

Wantagh High School Principal Dr. Paul Guzzone was recognized with the Administrator of the Year award by the Nassau Counselors’ Association for his support of the guidance program. He was nominated by Wantagh’s director of guidance, Frank Muzio, and was honored at the association’s end-of-the-year dinner on June 6.

Kindness is a valued virtue at Mandalay Elementary School and 17 students were recognized for being kind and considerate throughout the 2021-2022 school year. Near the end of the school day on June 2, Principal Marie Pisicchio announced the winners of this year’s kindness awards.

More than 70 seniors were recognized at Wantagh High School’s senior awards night on May 31, with school and community leaders coming together to celebrate the Class of 2022. The soon-to-be graduates earned awards for their academic successes and community service, along with dozens of scholarships.

Some very important people made their way to Forest Lake Elementary School on May 20, and it brought a smile to face of every student. VIP Day returned as an in-person event for the first time since 2019, with parents, grandparents and other special guests invited to get a taste of life at the school.

Young artists are adding their creative touch to Wantagh’s schools with the addition of new several new murals. Wantagh Elementary School and Wantagh Middle School are both being beautified with student masterpieces.

Two students from Wantagh High School were recently recognized for their successes in business education classes. Senior Jennifer Rosen received a scholarship, while junior Ashlee Favata earned an award for a video submission.

Third graders got to explore their roots at Mandalay Elementary School while also improving their technology skills. Each student selected a country reflecting his or her ancestry and created a digital book using Google Slides.

The Wantagh School District Board of Education celebrated the hard work, dedication and promising futures of 10 administrators and teachers who were granted tenure on May 5. During a tenure reception, Superintendent John McNamara and Assistant Superintendent for Instruction Dr. Marc Ferris talked about the accomplishments of the tenure recipients. They noted that this is a significant milestone in their careers and wished them much success is the years ahead.

A study on the memory of fruit flies earned Wantagh High School senior Julia Froese recognition from the Nassau County chapter of the Science Teachers Association of New York State. She will accept her award at a dinner on May 17.

The microphone was on, and more than 30 Wantagh Middle School students and staff stepped in front of it on the evening of April 12 for the seventh annual Word on the Street literacy celebration.

Acceptance is the theme for Autism Awareness Month at Wantagh High School, with an educational campaign spearheaded by the general organization. The morning announcements every Monday and Friday in April include facts and myths about autism spectrum disorder. Additionally, students and staff learn about the accomplishments of different celebrities who are on the autism spectrum.

About three dozen environmentally conscious students arrived early at Forest Lake Elementary School in the Wantagh School District on April 8 for some good old fashioned spring cleaning. By the time classes started, they had filled several bags with litter found around the back of the school.

The winter 2022 sports season at Wantagh High School featured some of the best individual athletic performances in school history, including its first individual Nassau County champion bowler, Seth Braum. It capped an undefeated season for the senior.

Treating others with kindness is an important lesson, and at Mandalay Elementary School, students also learned to treat themselves kindly. Mirror Talk Mondays is a new initiative to help children build confidence, be proud of who they are and understand all that they can offer.

Students at Wantagh Middle School are all about heart health, whether it is getting exercise for themselves or raising money to help others. This year, the school continued a long-standing fundraiser by participating in Hoops for Heart, to benefit the American Heart Association.

After raising more than $110,000 in 2021 for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, the Warriors for a Cure team is determined for another big year. Two of the team leaders, Skyla Marchesi and Joey Labo, are seniors at Wantagh High School and say they are well on their way to meeting and hopefully eclipsing this year’s fundraising goal.

“Crazy For You,” which made its debut on Broadway 30 years ago, is coming a little closer to home, with upcoming productions at Wantagh High School from April 8-10. A cast of 35 student-actors will perform the feel-good musical comedy.

In a few months, Andrew Diano will graduate from Wantagh High School as one of the most accomplished swimmers in school history. As a senior, he set three school records, including breaking his own marks in two separate events.

Former Wantagh Elementary School teacher Karen Kerge couldn’t stay away for too long. After retiring in June following a 33-year career as an educator, she returned as a published author for a series of assemblies on Feb. 28 and March 1.

Wantagh Elementary School STEAM teacher Kaitlin Humphrey has been accepted into the New York State Master Teacher program, which will provide her with additional professional development opportunities as well as connections with educators across the state.

A creative photo of a friend turned into an award-winning venture for Wantagh High School senior Brooke Bellia. A picture for her Advanced Placement Photography class, “Euphoria,” was accepted into The Art Guild’s Into the Light photography competition and exhibition, earning third place in the student category.

Wantagh Middle School’s theater students are ready to showcase their talents for the community with the upcoming musical production of “Matilda." The show, with four performances from March 4-6, is based upon the book by Roald Dahl.

Acceptance, empathy, respect and tolerance are among the core values of Wantagh Middle School, which reinforced those principles during No Place for Hate day on Feb. 17. This year’s theme was “Be Inclusive.”

Students certainly know how to give it their all at Mandalay Elementary School. Principal Marie Pisicchio presented perseverance awards to 28 children on Jan. 31. Ms. Pisicchio explained that the awards are presented annually to students who never quit and give “110 percent.”

The winter Olympics are being held about 6,000 miles away in Beijing, but children at Mandalay Elementary School are still getting in on the action. Students are taking part in Olympic-inspired games during their physical education classes throughout February.

More than 30 Wantagh High School students got a glimpse of education through a different lens, as they were paired up with elementary teachers throughout the district for shadow day on Feb. 2.

Readers of all ages came together in the Wantagh School District to celebrate World Read Aloud Day on Feb. 2. Elementary students were treated to virtual guest readers from Wantagh High School and Wantagh Middle School throughout the day.

Students at Wantagh Elementary School kicked off the new year by gaining some background knowledge about the devices they use every day. Throughout January, children in kindergarten through fifth grade are working on computer programming activities during their STEAM classes.

The Wantagh High School football team continues to shine on an off the field. Not only did the team advance to the conference semifinals in the fall 2021 season, the players were also recognized for their community service work with two awards.

When Wantagh Middle School eighth grader Paul McHale correctly answered “Vermont” as the lone New England state that doesn’t border the Atlantic Ocean, he was crowned the winner of the annual Geography Bee.

There are so many good things happening at Wantagh High School, that it is hard to list them all. But seniors Emma Alexander and Angelina Maciak do a pretty good job during their monthly reports to the board of education and the Wantagh community.

The inaugural day of giving at Forest Lake Elementary School was a huge success, with students filling about 350 treat bags. The donations will be given to the nonprofit Interfaith Nutrition Network in Hempstead, which helps the hungry and homeless on Long Island.

By putting their engineering skills to the test, students at Forest Lake and Mandalay elementary schools got to make themselves part of popular holiday tale. Children were tasked with a fun building project to aid in the escape of the Gingerbread Man.

A partnership between students, an animal rescue group and a coffee shop are helping cats and dogs find new homes. About 40 student-artists from Wantagh High School created portraits of animals up for adoption at Last Hope Animal Rescue, right across the street. And those drawings and paintings are on display a mile up the road at Starbucks.

Wantagh High School’s cross-country team wants everyone to stay healthy and fit. Knowing that some children might face physical limitations to do so, students recently held a fundraiser to help them overcome these challenges.

Fifth graders at Wantagh Elementary School are thinking like inventors. That’s because they are. They were recently tasked with taking simple, everyday problems and coming up with solutions to make life a little easier. Some of their inventions included a super caddy, school supply catcher and cookie dunker.

Seven Wantagh High School seniors will continue their athletic careers at colleges throughout Long Island, New York State and the country after making their commitments during an afterschool National Letter of Intent signing ceremony on Nov. 10, hosted by the district’s Athletic Department.

In the course of a year, children spend more than 1,000 hours in their school, and they should feel like it’s their second home. That’s why the student council at Forest Lake Elementary School is given great opportunities to make positive differences.

Team-building was the goal as Wantagh Middle School hosted a series of competitive events for eighth graders on Nov. 22 and 24. Students were divided into two teams, Skittles and Starburst, and could earn points in different challenges.

Veterans Day served as a reminder for students at Mandalay Elementary School about the sacrifices that have been made by countless Americans through their service in the different branches of the military. Children showed their appreciation to those who have served, past and present, by wearing red, white and blue attire to school on Nov. 10.

Wantagh High School is doing its part to spread kindness around the community. To mark World Kindness Day on Nov. 13, students are placing kindness rocks with personalized designs around the community. The initiative was spearheaded by librarian Catherine Mottola.

Wantagh High School will stage its first live theatrical performance in more than a year and a half with “The Outsiders.” Audiences are welcome to see the show in person, with four viewings from Nov. 19-21. The lead actors are Anthony Lerro as Ponyboy and Riley Wood as Johnny.

To honor a classmate who died of a rare form of cancer, students at Wantagh Middle School are doing their part to boost funding for pediatric cancer research. In his seven years, James Lodato made a huge impact on everyone around him, including his classmates at Forest Lake Elementary School.

Fifth graders at Wantagh Elementary School gained insight into the valuable support that canines provide humans during a visit from the Guide Dog Foundation on Oct. 8. On the back blacktop, students met with Tracey McCarthy and Emily Tullo, as well as guide dog ambassador Harper and guide dog-in-training Lola.