Longwood Central School District

Longwood Central School District
Type and location
Type	Public
Established	1959
Country	United States
District Info
Superintendent	Allan Gerstenlauer, Ed. D.
Students and staff
Other information
Website	http://www.longwood.k12.ny.us/

Longwood Central School District covers 53 square miles (140 km²) in central Brookhaven Town, Suffolk County, New York, United States. It serves the hamlets of Ridge, Middle Island, Coram, and Yaphank, and parts of Shoreham, Shirley, Medford, Miller Place, Mount Sinai, and Upton (Brookhaven National Laboratory). During the 2005–2006 school year, there were 9,518 students enrolled and 836 teachers employed at Longwood CSD.

Allan Gerstenlauer, Ed. D., is the current Superintendent of Schools.

History

Longwood Central School District was formed from a merger of the Coram, Yaphank, West Yaphank, East Middle Island, West Middle Island, and Ridge school districts in 1959. It was originally called the "Middle Island Central School District" before the Longwood name was adopted in the 1980s.

Schools

There are four primary schools in Longwood CSD, each serving grades 2, 3, and 4 in the main building and kindergarten through first in an annex:

• Ridge Elementary School
• Charles E. Walters Elementary School in Yaphank
• West Middle Island Elementary School in Middle Island
• Coram Elementary School

There are three secondary schools in Longwood CSD:

• Longwood Middle School (approx. 2000 students), part of the "open school project" in the 1970s, serves grades 5-6.
• Longwood Junior High School (approx. 2000 students) serves grades 7-8.
• Longwood High School (approx. 3000 students) serves grades 9-12.

The land on which the High School (now the JHS) was built was donated by Elbert Smith from the Longwood Estate.

Renovations

During the 1999–2000 school year, fences went up surrounding each school property. Construction adding four new wings in the high school, two new wings in the junior high school, one new "house" in the middle school, and complete renovation of the primary buildings and various additions to the intermediate buildings of the elementary schools was underway. The new wings of the high, junior high, and middle schools and the intermediate buildings of the elementary schools were complete and ready for the 2000–2001 school year. During the 2000–2001 school year, construction crews demolished all but one hallway in each primary building of the elementary schools. Major additions were completed while school was in session. The hallways that were left ended up being gutted during the summer of 2001, and they were fully restored for the 2001–2002 school year.

Grade Switching

For the 2001-2002 school year, when most of the buildings were finished, the grades housed in each school building changed. The elementary schools went from housing grades K-5 to housing grades K-4; the middle school from grades 6-7 to grades 5-6; the junior high school from grades 8-9 to grades 7-8; and the high school from grades 10-12 to grades 9-12. Because of this change, from 2000 until 2005, the first day of classes was different for every grade. Grades K-2, 5, 7, 9, and 10 went one day, and the second day only grades 3-4, 6, 8, and 11-12 attended classes

Academics

According to 2007 data, 82% of Longwood graduates earn a New York State Regent's diploma. 44.9 percent of graduates plan to attend 4 year college, and 40.7% plan to attend a 2 year college. In 2005, 86% of the class went on to college, with 8% going on to serve in the military or directly into the workforce, and 78% earned a Regents Diploma.

Athletics

Longwood schools feature football, cheerleading, track, baseball, wrestling, basketball, volleyball, softball, soccer, tennis,lacrosse, cross country and many other athletic opportunities.

Student Profile

During the 2009–2010 school year, 60% of students were white, 20% black, 18.8% Hispanic, 1.25% Asian, 0.3% American Indian, and 0.75% Pacific Islander.

Notable alumni

• Kerry McCoy, United States Olympian Wrestler
• Bryant Neal Vinas, convicted Al Qaeda supporter

Board of education

The Board of Education is made up of seven members:

• Michael A. Loguercio, Jr. - President
• Daniel Tomaszewski - Vice President
• Robert L. Dickerson
• William K. Miller
• Philip Reany, Jr.
• Genine M. Schwinge
• Marueen E. Silvestri

External links

• Longwood CSD Official website - includes a history of the district.