A Tradition of Excellence at

Finley Middle School

Finley Middle School Headlines

 Finley Middle School's Yorkers Club is for students who are history fans.
September 8, 2025

Finley’s Yorker Club is for History Fans

The J. Taylor Finley Middle School Yorker Club is for seventh and eighth graders who are fans of history. Veteran social studies teacher Jarrad Richter is the club’s faculty advisor.


Finley Middle School Important Information

About Finley Middle

Finley 7th graders

Student-Centered

A school is much more than bricks and mortar or a compilation of facts and information. At J. Taylor Finley Middle School, faculty and support staff members have purposely created a student-centered environment that is academically challenging, psychologically satisfying, and socially fulfilling.

Vital Roles

Because the adolescent period is an extremely important phase in every youngster’s development, the middle school plays a vital role in helping each student blossom into an independent and well-educated person.

Guidance through Critical Transitions

Finley relies on its excellent staff to ease students into and to guide them through this very critical transition from a self-contained elementary school classroom to a departmentalized program. Faculty members are aware of the importance of a close teacher-student relationship and of teacher-parent contacts. They foster growth in the ability of students to make decisions and to work independently. Teachers utilize a humanistic approach as they encourage and challenge students to set realistic and attainable standards of academic performance and social interaction.

Strong Foundational Skills

J. Taylor Finley Middle School has developed a program to build upon and emphasize the strong foundation of skills each student has acquired at the elementary school level, to pursue further the many different academic disciplines, to explore the creative and aesthetic areas of the fine and practical arts, to expand the awareness of career possibilities and to cultivate lifelong physical and recreational skills.

Flexibility, individualization and enrichment characterize the wide range of student experiences at J. Taylor Finley Middle School, which has been serving the community for more than four decades.

Finley 7th graders

Finley Leadership

Traci Roethel

Traci Roethel

Principal

Traci Roethel has been principal of J. Taylor Finley Middle School since July 1, 2019. She was Woodhull Intermediate School’s principal for 5½ years after coming to Huntington from Candlewood Middle School in Dix Hills, where she was an assistant principal.

Mrs. Roethel earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in elementary education at Stetson University in Florida in 1992. She obtained a Master of Science degree in education with a specialization in math at Queens College in 2003 and completed an advanced graduate certificate in educational leadership at Stony Brook University in 2009.

Mrs. Roethel has completed numerous educational workshops related to curriculum and improving instruction, including Columbia University Teacher’s College seminars.

Prior to embarking on an administrative career, Mrs. Roethel worked as a sixth grade math teacher and fourth grade classroom teacher in Oyster Bay and as a math consultant to the Oyster Bay-East Norwich, Shoreham-Wading River and Hicksville school districts. She was a fourth grade teacher in Volusia County, Florida for seven years before moving to New York.

Mrs. Roethel and her husband, Guenther, a captain with JetBlue Airways, are the parents of three children.

Mrs. Roethel is a member of the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

Alexis Estrada

Alexis Estrada

Assistant Principal

Alexis Estrada has been J. Taylor Finley Middle School’s assistant principal since July 1. She earned an undergraduate degree at SUNY Old Westbury in childhood education/English language arts with a concentration in multicultural/US and British literature. She obtained a Master of Science in English as an Acquired Language at CUNY Queens College and an Advanced Graduate Certificate in Educational Leadership at Stony Brook University.

At the time of her appointment in Huntington, Ms. Estrada had been serving as assistant principal at PS 143Q – The Louis Armstrong Elementary School in Corona since August 2019. She earlier worked as a teacher at PS 16Q – The Nancy DeBenedittis School in Corona from September 2015 to June 2019.

Ms. Estrada also taught at IS 93Q – Ridgewood Junior High School in Ridgewood from September 2012 to June 2015. She has enjoyed a variety of educational experiences from coordinating a grant for an after-school Queens Botanical Garden program to implementing the Common Threads program.

Over the course of her career, Ms. Estrada has worked as a dual language teacher, classroom teacher, English as a new language provider and English/ENL integrated co-teacher. She was the liaison for the ENL student identification intake process at Ridgewood Junior High School in 2013/14.

Ms. Estrada is fluent in reading, writing and speaking Spanish. She has experience in leadership and supervision, testing coordination, operational management and community engagement and events coordination.

Finley Faculty and Staff Directory

Finley Videos and Galleries

Into the Woods

Finley Drama Club's 'Into the Woods' Performance Video by Darin Reed

8th Grade Parent Night

8th Grade Parent Night Guidance Presentation Workshop

Battle of the Grades

Weeklong competition aimed at fostering school pride and teamwork among the different classes through a series of engaging challenges

Finley Galleries and Slideshows

Finley Middle School Events

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Finley Moving Up Ceremony

June  2025

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Once Upon a Mattress, Jr.

March  2025

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8th Grade Concert

December 2024

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Moving Up Ceremony

June 14 2024

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Into the Woods

March 15 2024

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8th Grade Concert   

May 26 2023

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Cinderella

March 17 2023

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Finley Honors Concert

March 2023

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Our Partners in Excellence

Finley Middle School Vitals

Contact Info


20 Greenlawn Road, Huntington, NY 11743

Additional Information


School Hours

8:05 AM - 2:55 PM

Established

1965

Grades

7-8

Mascot

Blue Devils

Attendance

1-631-673-2025

Attendance Voicemail

1-631-425-4747

Attendance Email

Nurse Hotline

1-631-673-2026

Nurse FAX

1-631-425-4746

200+

Challenging Academic Courses

14

Academic Departments

30+

Interscholastic Athletic Teams

90+

Colleges and Universities accepting 2020 HHS Graduates