The theme this year at Cantiague Elementary in the Jericho school district is “Together We Can” and that sentiment was on full display Wednesday morning as the children arrived for their first day of the school year.
Parents, teachers, staff and even the Jayhawk mascot waited under a balloon arch to welcome the roughly 400 children enrolled at the K-5 school. The Jericho district is the first on Long Island to open for the 2023-24 school year.
“It’s great to have the kids back in the building We missed them so much over the summer,” said music teacher Pete O’Malley.
Most of Long Island’s 124 systems start next week after Labor Day with the largest group of 59 districts starting on Tuesday. Only a handful of districts begin classes this week including in East Williston where students return Thursday.
Districts are required to offer at least 180 days of instruction, but several will offer more. The Jericho district, which enrolls about 3,200 students, provides 186 days of instruction.
There are several holidays affecting the school calendar this year. Most systems schedule time for the Jewish holidays. Some districts have added days off to recognize the Islamic holiday Eid al-Fitr in April and India’s Diwali festival in October.
Superintendent Henry L. Grishman said the district celebrates many of the cultural and religious holidays.
On Wednesday, parent Andre Valadas stopped outside Cantiague Elementary’s front entrance to take a photograph of his 5-year-old daughter, Olivia, who was about to start kindergarten. The family recently moved to Jericho — attracted there by its schools. The Jericho district often appears at the top of national rankings and the high school was named earlier this week as one of the nation’s best by U.S. News & World Report.
“It is going to be a great day today,” Valadas said. His daughter was looking forward to school. “She could barely sleep because she was so excited to go to kindergarten.”
Children…
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