Hewlett-Woodmere celebrates 125 years of educating

As a student in the Hewlett-Woodmere school district, Gaelyn Rosenberg knew early on that she wanted to become a teacher. After she graduated from Hewlett High School in 2011, she pursued her dream in college.

Rosenberg is now a teacher at Woodmere Middle School, where she once walked through the hallways as a student, and is instructing the next generation.

“I knew from an early age that I would be a teacher,” she wrote in an email. “I also knew from an early age that it would be an honor, privilege and humbling experience to teach in the same district that kindled my love of learning.”

Rosenberg’s is just one name on a very long list of students who have attended Hewlett and Woodmere schools, and the teachers who have educated them, in a district celebrating its 125th anniversary.

“When I think back,” Rosenberg wrote, “I remember the sheer magic of learning in a place that values unfettered curiosity and play. My teachers integrated these pillars of imagination into our lessons, and my fellow classmates and I learned how to capitalize on our collective creativity through projects and assessments and all sorts of inquiry-based endeavors.”

The district comprises five buildings: Franklin Early Childhood Center, Hewlett Elementary School, Ogden Elementary School, Woodmere Middle School and Hewlett High School. Hewlett High was named in honor of the former president of the Board of Education, George Hewlett, who served from 1934 to 1969.

The first known school in the Hewlett and Woodmere communities was a one-room schoolhouse in 1850, at Broadway and Prospect Avenue in Woodmere, a site now occupied by the Keystone Yacht Club.

As the area developed, the State Legislature created Union Free School District Number 14 in 1898, which took in students not only from Hewlett and Woodmere, but also from parts of Hewlett Bay Park, Hewlett Harbor, Hewlett Neck and Woodsburgh as well as Lynbrook and Valley Stream.

The first “official” District 14 building was constructed at Johnson Place and Broadway, also in 1898. Students from kindergarten to 12th grade attended school there.

But the communities’ growth eventually made clear the need for another school, and Woodmere High School opened 28 years later, on Conklin Avenue in Woodmere. The building on Johnson Place became an elementary school. It’s now called the Woodmere Education Center, and it serves as the district’s administration headquarters.

Hewlett Elementary School, on Broadway in Hewlett, was built in 1929, and has undergone two renovations, in 1949 and 1993.

After elementary school, students now move up to Woodmere Middle School.

Longtime Hewlett resident Maryann Ferro, Hewlett High class of 1990, attended the district starting in pre-kindergarten. She recalls that heading into a school with students from two other elementary schools wasn’t easy.

“It was a harder adjustment entering the middle school,” Ferro said. “All students from the three buildings were then combined, and you really only knew the kids you knew.”

Ferro, a mother of three children who also attend district schools, said the difference from then to now is significant. “Now it’s much better,” she said. “All kids pretty much at Franklin Early Childhood, Hewlett Elementary and Ogden Elementary have more events to tie into each other. So when they reach Woodmere Middle School, they’re more familiar with students and can reconnect.”

Mia Shapiro Rosenberg, Gaelyn’s mother, moved to District 14 from Manhattan, and the school district was a major reason.

“I moved here 32 years ago due to the district’s top-notch reputation,” Shapiro Rosenberg said. “Hewlett-Woodmere District 14 gave my three children an excellent education, that prepared them for their futures.”

Across the district, educators have celebrated its anniversary by hosting a number of events that honored its history, including an art exhibit in January at the education center, and a dance party the same month at Hewlett Elementary.

The district is ranked the sixth-best in the state and the 19th-best in the United States, according to Niche, a website that focuses on schools and colleges in the United States.

“The district’s upcoming 125th anniversary is remarkable,” Shapiro Rosenberg said, “and I hope it continues to thrive for many more years.”