Summer is coming to an end and children and young adults across Long Island are preparing for the start of the new school year.
Clockwise from top left: In 1991, kindergarteners at Babylon Elementary greet the school year with a variety of expressions. In 1985, June Isaacson gathers her second-graders at Gribbin Elementary School in Glen Cove. In 1960, tears stream down the face of kindergartener William Ferrara of Bethpage as teacher Evelyn Molinoski pins a name tag on him. In 1974, students line up for buses outside Pulaski Road School in East Northport on the first day of school. And in 1980, at Westbury High School, the district’s new principal, John M. Franco (right), speaks to students watching football practice. Photo credits: Jim Peppler, Alan Raia, Jim Nightingale, Stan Wolfson and Cliff De Bear
It is a time of new beginnings – new teachers, new classmates and new adventures – but also new challenges.
Lisa Rogers runs to her mother at the end of her first day of kindergarten at Forest Road School in Valley Stream on September 3, 1980; and the little ones head to Pulaski Road School in East Northport on September 3, 1974. Photo credit: Bob Luckey, Stan Wolfson
Newsday photographers were on hand to capture everything from a kindergartener’s tears on his first day to more meaningful moments like the integration of local schools.
From left: First-graders Mark Johnson, Tommy Haberle and Tommy Woodward work together on a puzzle on their first day of school at Munsey Park School in Manhasset on September 9, 1964. A federal court had ordered the integration of the school. Photo credit: Newsday/Marvin Sussman
For more scenes from Long Island’s past, all curated by Newsday’s librarians, visit the Vintage Newsday Instagram account.
Clockwise from top left: Margaret Kelly, 5, reluctantly walks with her mother to the school bus stop on her first day of kindergarten at W.S. Mount School in Stony Brook in 1973; Danielle Papsidero, 6, spends time one-on-one with her teacher, Carmen Cicero, at Gribbin Elementary School in Glen Cove on September 2, 1980; transportation budget cuts led to a buildup of bicycles outside Robert Cushman Murphy Junior High School in Stony Brook on September 4, 1968; Syosset Assistant Superintendent of Schools John Kalish checks stacks of books intended for high school students on August 29, 1973. Photo credits: Bob Luckey, Naomi Lasdon, Walter del Toro and Alan Raia
You can recognize it by the round photo taken by Newsday’s first photographer, Edna Murray, in 1945. — Kim Predham, LI Life editor
