Under the baton of music teacher Cara Navaretta, Dayton Avenue’s and Eastport Elementary‘s sixth grade choral students were invited to sing “God Bless America” during the seventh inning stretch at the June 4 Long Island Ducks baseball game. It was a family event where many Eastport-South Manor families attended to support the students singing. This was a great event for music education in our schools.

Congratulations to the following Dayton Avenue students: Tenley Albert, Mason Burke, Tanner Carr, Olivia Cefaloni, Benjamin Cressman, Courtney Dietz, Ryann Fontanetta, Maia Garcia, Olivia Goncharuk, Braiden Hickey, Peyton Keen, Scarlett Krygier, Olivia Luck, Alex Martinez, Julia Mazovec, Izabella Moore-Kopek, Liam Penkower, Morgan Skidmore, Kayla Sperandio, Avery Tepper, Mason Tonn, Mackenna Tria and Natalia Wisniewski.

Congratulations to the following Eastport Elementary School students: Valentina Aiello, CJ Bancroft, Jonah Brown, Iyla Bruno, Vicki Cloughen, Adam Degnan, Lincoln Donato, Bria Drnek, Colton Geisen, Peyton Geisen, Jake Giallorenzi, Jackson Hansen, Alessia Hauser, Colin Hogan, Taylor Lostritto, Sophia Madison, Anabella Marzillier, Daniel Pajan, Eric Ramirez, Mia Reehil, Aubrie Rodecker and Parker Salvatore, William Toscano and Jasmine Wimberly.

Date Added: 6/18/2025

Winners of the District’s elementary-level science fair winners competed in Brookhaven National Laboratory’s Elementary Science Fair, held on June 7. Dayton Avenue fourth grader Mabel Gross received the Judges Choice Award, a special recognition that acknowledges specific qualities that stand out to the judges and highlight unique aspects that might not be captured by the standard judging rubric.

Mabel’s project, Rainbow Reaction, discovered that using red or yellow balls resulted in faster reaction times for players, making athletes better players. Her project also confirmed that red and yellow lights on traffic signals result in faster reaction times. Through her research, Mabel also noticed that the color white has a faster reaction time than green and suggested that green traffic lights should be replaced with white lights.

The district also congratulates the following students who were winners in the school-level science fairs. First-place winners qualified to compete at BNL.

First place: Thomas Carr (Grade 1) – Tuttle Avenue School; Colton Christian (Grade 3) – Dayton Avenue School; Hadley Christian (Grade 6) – Dayton Avenue School; Hattie Gross (Grade 1) – South Street School; Evan Gulde (Grade 4) – Eastport Elementary School; Crawford Little (K) – South Street School; Paxtyn Mann (Grade 5) – Dayton Avenue School

Honorable Mention: Dominick Bellezza (K) – South Street School; Shize Chen (Grade 1) South Street School; Harper Conrad (Grade 3) – Dayton Avenue School; Alanna Rachel (Grade 1) – Tuttle Avenue School; Morgan Skidmore (Grade 6) – Dayton Avenue School

Date Added: 6/16/2025

Dayton Avenue School fifth grade student Annika Bisagni was the elementary winner in the Marine Science Poster Contest sponsored by the New York State Marine Education Association and Nassau Science Teachers Association of New York State. Her winning poster entry about the effect of invasives in the ocean was selected for its creativity, research and problem-solving through her investigation of local marine phenomena.

Annika and her classmates in Danielle Savino’s class all participated in the Marine Science Poster Contest in March. The students were challenged to design a poster that linked the New York State Science Learning Standards to a marine phenomenon or problem in the local area. This contest provided a wonderful opportunity for students to demonstrate their scientific understanding by modeling, explaining or suggesting solutions for marine-related issues in their community.

The district congratulates Annika for this outstanding accomplishment.

Date Added: 5/13/2025

Dayton Avenue and Eastport Elementary students drew packed audiences during recent stage performances of “Mary Poppins, Jr.” and “Beauty and the Beast,” respectively.

Under director Tori Gonzalez, stage director Peter Edwards and musical director Kaitlyn Somerville, the colorful and talented cast performed the beloved classical favorite “Mary Poppins, Jr.” on April 25 and April 26, which included a similar storyline, cast of characters and playlist as the Broadway and television versions. Likewise, Eastport Elementary School thespians wowed the audience with their rendition of the beloved fairytale “Beauty and the Beast” on March 28 and March 29, under the direction of Melanie Mauriello. The students also kept to the main storyline of the Disney version and included the same familiar and beloved characters and songs.

Mr. Gonzalez spoke for both schools when she said the students worked really hard for weeks to prepare for their opening nights on stage. Borrowing a line form the show, she said, “They certainly deserve recognition for their efforts. The show [“Mary Poppins, Jr.”] was practically perfect in every way.”

Click here to view the Elementary Students Wow Audiences with Musical Productions slideshow.

Date Added: 5/9/2025