Sachem School District Explained

Sachem Central School District
Established:1955
Type:Public
Superintendent:Christopher J. Pellettieri [1]
Country:United States
Mascot:Flaming Arrows

The Sachem Central School District is one of the largest school districts by population on Long Island and among all suburban school districts in New York, United States. Founded in 1955, the district now encompasses residents of the Census-Designated Places of Holbrook, Holtsville and Farmingville, as well as some parts of the Incorporated Village of Lake Grove and the CDPs of Lake Ronkonkoma, Ronkonkoma, Nesconset, Bohemia and Bayport.[2] As of 2011, its district office is located in Lake Ronkonkoma at Samoset Middle School.

Enrollment

As of 2015, Sachem School District has nearly 15,000 students enrolled annually.[3]

School colors

Sachem School District's colors are red, black and gold. Though each school uses the same fight song which starts out with "Here's to Red, Black, and Gold...", since the split in 2004, Sachem High School North has used black and gold while Sachem High School East uses red and gold as its principal colors. Both schools proudly kept the Sachem team name "Sachem Flaming Arrows".

Reconfiguration

As voted upon by district constituents in 1999, the district built two new schools and reconfigured its current schools at the start of the 2004-2005 school year.[4] The elementary schools, which formerly housed grades Kindergarten through 6th, are now K-5. Seneca and Sagamore junior high schools (formerly grades 7 and 8) became middle schools (grades 6 through 8). The former Sachem High School South, the 9th and 10th-grade facility, was converted into Samoset Middle School. Sequoya was built as a fourth middle school for the purpose of reconfiguration. Sachem High School North, formerly home to all 11th and 12th-grade students in the district became a 9-12 facility for students in the western and northern portions of the district. Sachem East was built as a 9-12 facility for students in the southern and eastern portions of the district. Sachem East is also the second largest suburban high school in New York state.[5]

District Cuts

On September 16, 2015, the Sachem School District Board of Education voted to cut custodial staff, athletics, clubs, and other extracurricular activities in order to reallocate $2.5 million for Special Education services and worker compensation costs. The board declined to cut $345,000 in Kindergarten aides. Changes will affect over 14,000 students across the district.

Three months later, on December 17, Sachem School District announced, due to declining enrollment and a $1.3 million budget gap, that it would close down Sequoya Middle School as well as Tecumseh and Gatelot Elementary Schools.[6]

Schools

Elementary schools

Middle schools

High schools

Unbuilt

In addition to the schools mentioned above, a number of schools were once proposed, but never built.[8]

Board of education

As of the 2020-2021 school year, Sachem's school board consists of the following members:[9]

Sachem CSD Board of Education!Board member's name!Position
Robert ScavoPresident
Sabrina PitkewiczVice President
Alex PiccirilloTrustee
Matthew BaumannTrustee
Michael IserniaTrustee
Stephanie VolpeTrustee
Laura SlatteryTrustee
Vincent ReynoldsTrustee
Meredith VolpeTrustee

Notable alumni

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Superintendent's Office . Sachem Central School District . March 5, 2018.
  2. Web site: Long Island Index: Interactive Map . 2022-07-21 . www.longislandindexmaps.org.
  3. Web site: Sachem Online. sachem.edu . February 14, 2011.
  4. News: Mead . Julia C. . 2005-09-18 . Bulking Up, Slimming Down . en-US . The New York Times . 2022-07-21 . 0362-4331.
  5. Web site: 2016 Largest Public High Schools in New York - Niche. K-12 School Rankings and Reviews at Niche.com. 2016-05-23.
  6. Web site: Sachem school board votes to close 3 schools News 12 Long Island . longisland.news12.com . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20151218184359/http://longisland.news12.com/news/sachem-school-board-votes-to-close-3-schools-1.11238479 . 2015-12-18.
  7. Web site: Sachem Schools. Sachem Central School District. April 23, 2011.
  8. Web site: 2012-12-27 . Map shows original elementary suggestions Sachem Report . 2022-07-21 . en-US.
  9. Web site: Sachem Central School District - Board of Education. 2020-08-23. www.sachem.edu.
  10. News: Pukalo. Mark. November 12, 1993. For UConn, Ferguson Finds a Way. Hartford Courant. live. August 24, 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190825013655/https://www.courant.com/news/connecticut/hc-xpm-1993-11-12-0000002103-story.html. August 25, 2019.