The education of children in the early years of our nation was principally the responsibility of parents. The oldest high school in the U.S. is the Boston Latin School, founded in 1635, predating Harvard by one year. The William Penn Charter School was founded in 1684 in Philadelphia by the Society of Friends and is still in existence. The oldest Catholic school is the Ursuline Academy, founded in 1727, in New Orleans. Thomas Jefferson proclaimed the benefits of public education but his fellow Founding Fathers saw no need for the federal government to be involved. The Constitution places education squarely in the hands of the states and municipalities and no school affiliated with a religious institution is publicly funded.
By the early 19th century, communities were enacting laws to provide education for all and schools began opening in many areas, including Port Washington. The one-room Flower Hill School, believed to have been located on the corner of what is now Bogart Avenue and Port Washington Boulevard, was founded in 1757. In 1819, the town was divided into two school districts—District 4, the Flower Hill District in the Upper Neck, and District 5, in Down Neck. The dividing line was a bridge known as Baxter’s Bridge spanning Shore Road and Baxter Pond and Manhasset Bay.
A second school, known as the Little Red School House, opened around 1841 at the base of Pleasant Avenue and Mill Pond Road. The poorly built little school was cold and drafty in winter. A wood burning stove helped to warm the children sitting on their benches. The only desk was occupied by the teacher. Girls swept the floor and boys brought water in from the well. The privy was out in back. Discipline was harsh and the rod was not spared. In addition to the three R’s, reading, writing and ’rithmetic, there were the three B’s, the Bible, the bench and the birch switch. Attending school was an expense for parents even though an early record shows that a teacher was paid only $12 a month. In 1858, the school was moved across the street to make room for Port’s first church, the Free Church, open to whites and African Americans, which was later demolished. The building that had housed the school burned down in 1926.
In 1870, a new school opened at the top of School Street and was named the Sands Point School, but it was more commonly known as the Green Schoolhouse. In 1884, four teachers and a librarian were educating 128 pupils in daily attendance. Male teachers were paid $90 a month and women $35 to $50. The second Sands Point School opened in 1898 at a cost of $20,000 and was located at the top of School Street overlooking Mill Pond. It was an impressive white building with double chimneys and a cupola. There were eight classrooms, a library, a reception room and a gymnasium in the basement. It was replaced in 1929 by Sands Point School Number 3, located on Rockwood Road, now named the John Daly School after its first principal. What became of the two earlier Sands Point school buildings? The Green Schoolhouse was saved initially from demolition by a civic-minded citizen, Susan Brunner, who had it moved to her property across the street, but in 2014 it was sold, torn down and replaced by a newly constructed house. The beautiful Sands Point School Number 2 was razed in the 1940s. Private dwellings are located on the site.
In the Up Neck part of town, a second Flower Hill School was built in 1869 on the site of our present police headquarters. The original building had two classrooms but was enlarged in 1898 and again in 1904. Good behavior was strictly maintained with the help of a rubber hose carried by an early principal. In 1924 the school caught fire and was abandoned.
In 1907, the two school districts were consolidated into one, District 4. There was intense rivalry between the Up Neck and Down Neck boys. Many a battle was fought on Baxter Bridge resulting in black eyes and bruises. After consolidation the boys united, formed ball teams and competed in a more sportsmanlike manner.
One school unknown to many was the Hempstead Harbor School on West Shore Road, which opened in 1916 to educate the children of sand miners who lived nearby. It continued operating until 1930 when it became a private residence and after was torn down.
After the railroad reached Port in 1898, there was a significant population growth. The Main Street School was opened in 1909 to much fanfare. Six hundred students and members of local organizations paraded down the street accompanied by three marching bands. One news reporter wrote that, “It was the greatest event in the history of the community.”
The impressive front of the school faces South Washington Street although the Main Street entrances are mainly used today. It was Port’s first high school but part of the building was also used by elementary school students with a principal for each section. There were four high school graduates in 1910. As there was no cafeteria, students brought their lunch to school. Elementary
students ate at their desks but high school students were relegated to
the basement.
Eventually an arrangement was made with the home economics department to send soup and warm drinks in kettles to the chilled students downstairs. In 1917, the building was expanded to twice its size and included a cafeteria and a first floor auditorium with a stage. Paul Schreiber, who came from Milford, NY, was hired as principal of the high school in 1917 and in 1920 was named superintendent of schools, where he remained until his retirement in 1953.
In 1926, the third Flower Hill School opened at the southwestern end of the Monfort Farm, with a playing field in the front, facing Port Blvd. Three years later the Port Washington High School was built adjacent to the Flower Hill School with an interior corridor connecting the two buildings. In 1953, when what we now know as Schreiber High School opened, Superintendent Schreiber, an avid proponent of junior high education, oversaw the conversion of the 1929 building to a middle school, now the Carrier Palmer Weber Middle School.
During almost 200 years from 1757 to 1953, 11 school buildings were constructed. Three are still functioning as schools. In more recent years, four additional schools, Guggenheim, Salem, Sousa and Manorhaven, were opened. Our early educators would be pleased and amazed to know that our highly ranked schools are currently educating 5,451 students.
