N. Merrick district dedicates school courtyard to former superintendent

With her office window overlooking the courtyard in the center of Old Mill Road Elementary School, former North Merrick superintendent Dr. June Irvin often found herself staring into it. In fact, she loved the courtyard so much that she would often eat her lunch there, and sometimes her husband, Bill, himself a superintendent, would join her in the courtyard, where the two would talk about their days after school.

That is why North Merrick School District officials could not think of a better way to honor Irvin’s memory than to dedicate the courtyard in her name, said current North Merrick superintendent David Feller. “She used to just love to look at the courtyard,” said Feller. “She loved to see the children out there, so it just seemed like a natural idea to name the courtyard after her."

Irvin served as principal of Old Mill Road Elementary School from 1973 to 1975. Soon after, she became superintendent following the death of her predecessor, Harold Fayette, becoming the first female superintendent in Nassau County. She held the position until 1992, when she retired.

Irvin lived in North Merrick with her husband until her death in April 2010, when she died of natural causes. She was 76.

Work to refurbish the courtyard began in July, including the installation of a patio in the center, surrounded by four benches. The patio was designed by Jim Saitta, the district’s director of school facilities. He worked with Island Greenery, a Bellmore landscape design company, on the project.

“It’s very nice to see it come to fruition,” said Saitta. “The focal point of it being in a circular fashion was to allow classes to sit out here and look at each other and allow everyone to communicate to make it more of a social area."

Saitta said that he hopes to complete construction of the Dr. June Irvin Memorial Courtyard by the end of September. He said the final step would be to install two stones at opposite sides of the patio, engraved with words to commemorate Irvin.