Melodic voices filled the ballfield as the sixth grade chorus at Dayton Avenue and Eastport Elementary took to the field to sing the national anthem at a Long Island Ducks baseball game. Before a cheerful home team crowd, the students proudly performed and celebrated a fun-filled family event with ESM attendees.  

Congratulations to the following students who took part in the Night at the Ducks event: Charlotte Alotta, Bria Baumann, Greyson Baumann, Tessa Betner, Paige Buckshin, Francesca Capozzi, Jenna Chandler, Michael Davis, Jason Dobrie, Finley Dunne, Eleanor Ferrara, Paige Fiori, Peyton Fox, Nathan Franco, Kenzie Fritzen, Zoe Gieser, Lyla Hansard, Viera Hermanns, Ella Iannaccone, Kamryn Jackson, Mya Johnson, Piper Karpin, Annmarie Kearns, Lily Kopf, Kaylee Larson, Gavin Litchult, Gisele Luciano, Laura Mauro, Grace McGuire, Lucas Mendez, Lincoln Miller, Bailey Munoz, Giovanna Napolitan, Keira Peters, Skylar Porter, Patrick Roberts, Riley Romaniello, Olivia Sarin, Sara Stolworthy, Mateo Toro, Aaron Vona, Olivia Weber, Julianna Wheaton, Arianna Wood and Jade Yakaboski.

Date Added: 5/26/2026

Congratulations to Principal Dr. Shelita Watkis and the entire staff, students and families at Dayton Avenue School for being named a Leader in Me Lighthouse School earlier today. This distinguished honor is awarded to schools that demonstrate a strong commitment to student leadership, academic excellence and a culture of empowerment.

According to the Leader in Me website, this honor is earned by schools that demonstrate the following: 

* The principal, school administration and staff engage in ongoing learning and develop as leaders, while championing leadership for the school.
* Leadership principles are effectively taught to all students through direct lessons, integrated approaches, and staff modeling. Students are able to think critically about and apply leadership principles.
* Families and the school partner together in learning about The 7 Habits and leadership principles through effective communication and mutual respect.
* The school community is able to see leadership in the physical environment, hear leadership through a common language, and feel leadership through a culture of caring, relationships, and affirmation. 
* Leadership is shared with students through a variety of leadership roles and student voice leads to innovations within the school.
* Schoolwide, classroom, family, and community leadership events provide authentic environments to celebrate leadership, build culture, and allow students to practice leadership skills.
* The school utilizes the 4DX process to identify and track progress toward Wildly Important Goals (WIGs) for the school, classroom, and staff.
* Students lead their own learning with the skills to assess their needs, set appropriate goals, and carry out action plans. They track progress toward goals in Leadership Notebooks and share these notebooks with adults in student-led conferences.
* Teacher planning and reflection, trusting relationships, and student-led learning combine to create environments for highly engaged learning.

Dayton Avenue is the second school to earn this honor, joining South Street in holding this global recognition. Congratulations! 

Date Added: 4/23/2026