Students enrolled at Dayton Avenue, Eastport Elementary, South Street and Tuttle Avenue Schools celebrated the Thanksgiving season with an array of memorable activities.

On Nov. 21, Tuttle Avenue first gradersparticipatedin a Thanksgiving celebration, which recognized and honored all essential workers in their school along withthe veteransand active militaryin their community. It was a morning of poetry and song as each of the grade’s classrooms donned turkey and pilgrim headdresses and took to the stage to perform a variety of Thanksgiving holiday music and to recognize the important work that the faculty and staff do each day.

Dayton Avenue and Eastport Elementary School students in grades 3-6 flew “balloons” in individual Macy’s Department Store-like parades. A collaboration between STEAM and library classes, students worked on their balloon designs for the past two weeks. In library class, the students read Melissa Sweet’s “Balloons Over Broadway: The True Story of the Puppeteer of Macy’s Parade” and developed a concept and theme for their own balloons. During STEAM class and in the schools’ MakerSpace rooms, students created a balloon and paraded their designs through the perimeter of their school’s gymnasium.

South Street second graders also harvested the spirit through participation in Thanksgiving stations, which included Thanksgiving Bingo, making a turkey placemat, Model Magic turkey creations and balloons for a similar afternoon Balloons Over South Street parade.

Date Added: 11/26/2025

The energy in the Dayton Avenue School gymnasium was hair raising as students, faculty and staff collected funds for the school’s longest-running fundraiser, No Shave November. The fundraiser was held to benefit the American Brain Tumor Association.  

The  school’s 28th annual event follows the national movement where participants raise awareness and funds for cancer, particularly men’s health issues, by forgoing their razors for the entire month of November, only to be shaved by students. At Dayton Avenue, however, women also joined the movement by donning shower caps and cloaks while receiving a gentle whipped cream pie in the face, followed by a proverbial shave.    

The event was electric as students shouted from the bleachers for their favorite participants and joined in a movement that will hopefully, one day, raise enough funds to eliminate all types of cancer. 

Click here to view the Dayton Avenue School Holds No Shave November Event slideshow.

Date Added: 11/26/2025

Five of the Jr.-Sr. High School’s top student-musicians were selected to participate in the New York State Council of Music Educators/Suffolk County Music Educators Association All-County Music Festival held at Hauppauge High School on Nov. 14. The students were selected among 2,000 nominees across Suffolk County and represent the best of the best on their instruments and with their voices. 

Chelsea Gallagher (alto 1), Paige Mannese (soprano 2) and Logan Penkower (tenor 1) were selected to sing in the mixed chorus, while Jayden Dell'Isola (viola) and Bennett Leselrod (oboe) were selected toplay in the orchestra. 

The district congratulates the students on this outstanding accomplishment.  

 

Date Added: 11/25/2025

Our District Social Workers are here to assist families in need at the Holidays. Please reach out to the social worker in any building for community outreach referrals.  

JHS  
Lori Franchi, LCSW 631-801-3282  
Pamela Camacho, LMSW 631-801-3294  
Alyssa Marinelli, LMSW 631-801-3275  

DAS  
Corey Briggs, LCSW 631-801-3111  

EES  
Nina Leonard, LCSW 631-801-3183  

SSS  
Helen Gardella, LMSW 631-801-3101  

TAS  
Alyson Heimann, LMSW 631-801-3072 

Date Added: 11/25/2025

Tuttle Avenue students, faculty and staff made the world a little sweeter by celebrating Kindness Week from Nov. 10-14 with activities that emphasized that kindness can make a difference in a person’s life.

Throughout the week, the students received various kindness challenges, such as giving out compliments, saying hello and thank you, and helping a sibling at home. When they completed a kind act, they were encouraged to share their actions on a leaf that was then added to the school’s Kindness Tree. Students also took a gratitude walk to reflect on the things they are grateful for. On Nov. 13, World Kindness Day, students decorated and wore kindness crowns. The week culminated in a Kindness is a Chain Reaction activity in which classrooms connected their chains with other classrooms to symbolize that kindness can spread throughout the school.

Most importantly, students learned the message that they can continue kindness challenges each day.

Click here to view the Tuttle Avenue School Celebrates Kindness slideshow.