Amazing Turnout at Jefferson PTA Block Party

The Jefferson Primary School PTA threw a block party last Friday night, bringing the community together at the start of the 2025/26 school year.

“We were thrilled to see such an amazing turnout at the PTA block party,” Jefferson Principal Valerie Capitulo-Saide said.

The Jefferson School PTA is led by co-presidents Jessica Buttafuoco and Alexis Rosas; vice presidents Asia Keck and Lauren Moss; corresponding secretary Amanda Perfetto; recording secretary Stephanie Bellew; treasurer Jennifer McLoughlin and PTA Council delegates Nicole LaBanca and Andrea Rocca.

“This past week, our students and staff honored September 11th Day of Remembrance by wearing red, white and blue and observing a moment of silence during morning announcements,” Ms. Capitulo-Saide said. “We are deeply thankful for the many community helpers, including firefighters, police officers, EMTs, doctors, nurses, and others, who courageously served on that day and continue to serve us today.”

Sensing the need to add another elementary school to meet the needs of a growing community, the Huntington School District purchased an eight acre tract of land on Oakwood Road and in 1961/62 erected what would later be named Jefferson School, in honor of Thomas Jefferson, the third president of the United States and the author of the Declaration of Independence.

Jefferson was the fourth building named for a U.S. president, with the others being Lincoln, Roosevelt and Washington elementary schools. The district had earlier decided to name any new school south of 25A in honor of a former president and schools north of that boundary after the area in which they were built.

Construction began in the fall of 1961. The cornerstone was laid in 1962. J. Taylor Finley was the superintendent of schools and Louis C. Bernst was the board of education president at the time.

The design that was ultimately chosen included a central courtyard visible from the front door and main lobby, a timeless fieldstone façade, extensive interior brick walls, dynamic utilization of massive, exposed wood beams in the cafeteria and very liberal use of terrazzo-type floors. These features combined to give the new school a stunningly attractive look.

Construction of Jefferson Elementary School completed a longtime plan to place one school in each of the four corners of the district. The project cost $1.171 million. The bond that funded the work was paid off in 1991. As originally constructed, Jefferson included 18 regular classrooms, one “special” classroom, one remedial reading room, two kindergarten rooms, two music practice rooms, a combination gymnasium/auditorium, a library the size of a regular classroom, a main office with an administrative area, a nurse’s office and a 200 seat cafeteria with a large kitchen. The building measures 45,400 square feet. There is no useable basement.

While Jefferson was under construction, a citizen’s advisory committee consisting of two PTA representatives from each of the district’s elementary schools was formed to help develop recommendations for a redistricting of attendance zones. Eventually students from Woodbury, Lincoln and Roosevelt elementary schools, all of which would eventually close, were placed in the Jefferson zone.

Jefferson’s founding principal was J. Allen Matthews, who served in the post through June 1967 when he went on an extended sick leave. He was succeeded by Frank J. Marlowe, who served only until October 1967. Philip Nardone, who was a fifth grade teacher on the original faculty of the school, then stepped into the post and remained as principal until June 1980. The school has had only eight principals in its 64 year history.