East Meadow students create paintings for the 2024 solar eclipse

While schools in East Meadow were let out slightly early on Monday afternoon, ahead of the 2024 solar eclipse, that didn’t mean students didn’t embrace the astronomical event in their classrooms.

Creating artwork that involved the earth, which was a child’s handprint, the moon and the sun, elementary aged students learned about how an eclipse happens — and what makes it so special. The next time a solar eclipse will be visible in the New York-area is 2079 — 55 years from now.

Even though yesterday’s eclipse only involved the moon covering the Earth by about 90 percent, the spectacle was nonetheless awe inspiring to see.