Early history
The predecessor to the modern district makes Bay Shore the oldest district in all of Islip Town, this being School District #1 of Islip Town. Bay Shore schools history dates back before 1820. The original district originally took up all of Bay Shore, and some historians believe the early district reached all the way to West Islip and even into the Town of Babylon. In 1836, District #8 took the eastern half of the district away from District #1, and also included part of Islip hamlet. The first school in the original District #1 was built around 1825, and had just one room. The West School on Clinton Street in District #1 opened nearly 50 years later in 1874. District #8's school was built in 1837, and was considered as one of the worst in the Town of Islip, until District #8 built its second school in 1874. District #8 became Union Free in 1865 and District #1 became Union Free in 1866. In 1892, Districts #1 and #8 came back together, forming the modern district. [5]
The modern district
The current district was founded in 1893, coinciding with the first school being built. It was built between the original two districts, which was a swamp. This made sanitation completely impossible. The predecessor of Bay Shore High School was built nearby in 1922. The original school was an elementary school, and the original Bay Shore High School became one too in 1939. The schools would be closed in 1945 and 1954 due to the sanitation problems that had been present from the start. The Brook Avenue and Fifth Avenue schools were both built in 1928 and have been open since 1929. [5] [6] [7] There was major expansion of the district in the late 1950s and early 1960s, as many schools in the modern district were opened or experienced growth in this time. [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] South Country Elementary, which today serves students in grades 3-5, originally opened in 1957 as a K-6 school. [8] Similarly, Gardiner Manor Elementary (originally opened in 1959) served grades K-5 at first and now serves grades 3-5 after serving grades K-6 and 4-6 at other points in their history. [9] Bay Shore Middle School was opened in 1957 and has been a middle school since 1985. [10] Mary G. Clarkson Elementary was opened in 1963, and Brook Avenue Elementary and Fifth Avenue Elementary both added major extensions in 1957. [6] [7] [11]
In 2015, Joseph C. Bond became the interim superintendent; he previously was superintendent of the Brentwood Union Free School District. [12]
In 2019 the district acquired electric school buses. [13]
