The history of Oceanside Middle School: tumultuous and hard-fought

Each of the ten schools in the Oceanside School District has its own unique history and characteristics. Oceanside Middle School is no exception. OMS recently paid homage to its history when Principal Allison Glickman-Rogers turned a faculty meeting into a local history

lesson.

From 1963 to 1983, students who graduated sixth grade went to a junior high school – either Merle Avenue Junior High School or Boardman Junior High School. They were assigned to a junior high based on a geographical boundary of where they lived. The students attended junior high for seventh, eighth, and ninth grades before all being combined, along with students from Island Park until 1970, upon entering high school in tenth grade.

This format changed in the early 1980s when the Merle Avenue school was closed. The entire ninth grade was moved to the high school and OMS was officially opened in place of Boardman Junior High School for all seventh and eighth grade students.

The significance of these changes went far beyond determining building space; they formed the framework for a seismic shift in educational philosophy. While taken for granted today, the district’s decision to create the middle school did not happen overnight nor was it met without resistance. It involved years of planning, persistence, and a confluence of circumstances in order for it to occur.

During the 1970s, the Oceanside School District experienced a tremendous shift in the community’s population. After more than a half a century of unprecedented growth and expansion, the community’s student population was on a steady decline. The school board closed two elementary schools and even accepted bids to sell the properties altogether. School 4 was closed with its students rezoned into other neighboring schools and School 1 was closed with the sixth grade moved into a self-contained floor of the Merle Avenue building.

Superintendent Victor Lecesse devised a method to use the declining student population as an opportunity for restructuring the district’s format. Lecesse promoted a burgeoning “middle school” paradigm for Oceanside.

The middle school concept was designed to specifically address the social, emotional, and behavioral needs of early adolescents; students have more choices and freedoms than an elementary school, but also have a more nurturing environment than a high school. With students organized into teams and staying with the same teachers and administrators, the plan was for these years to be more than a “mini” high school. Instead, the middle school was designed to serve as a bridge in a student’s educational journey from elementary school to high school. Lecesse saw the values and benefits of this concept and was determined to implement it in Oceanside.

Despite the anticipated improvement in the quality of education, there was much opposition to this change. Many residents preferred the more traditional model that they had personally experienced. Others opposed the recommendation of closing the Merle Avenue school and housing the proposed middle school at the Boardman site because of its rich history as a both a senior and junior high school.

Finally in 1980, after years of garnering the support of an indisposed community, the school board unanimously voted for the reorganization. And with the appointment of Enid D’Arrigo as OMS’s first principal, Lecesse effectively fulfilled his dream of establishing OMS.

Although D’Arrigo lacked supervisory experience, she had thoroughly researched the middle school concept and became its most effective advocate. While D’Arrigo’s energy, passion, and commitment to OMS makes it difficult to imagine anyone else in that role, her appointment was not without controversy.

“This was a much debated decision as we had some very experienced principals who were very interested in the position,” explained Howard Groveman, a former school board trustee who was closely involved in the decision-making process.

Maryanne Lehrer, a school board trustee since 1977, remembers “the creation of OMS and the selection of Enid D’Arrigo as its principal were two of the toughest issues I’ve been involved with during my time on the school board.” Despite all initial obstacles, OMS officially opened its doors in 1983 and the community has never looked back.

Now in its 27th year, Principal Allison Glickman-Rogers recently assembled the school’s current and former faculty members, including D’Arrigo, who chronicled the school from its inception until her retirement in 2001. She outlined her challenges and OMS’s successes. The highlight of the event was the presentation of a plaque to D’Arrigo to be displayed in OMS’s lobby.

Glickman-Rogers recognized the positive impact that stems from honoring an organization’s institutional history. She instantly reinforced a sense of pride, community, and learning. The ongoing challenge is to devise interesting and innovative ways to continue incorporating the past into the present. The OMS staff deserves tremendous credit for paying homage to the school’s history and acknowledging the tireless efforts of those who made it the exceptional institution that it is today.

Seth J. Blau is a volunteer with the Oceanside Education Foundation (OEF), a non-profit organization with goals of helping students of the Oceanside School District obtain a sense of local history by discovering, preserving and displaying the history of our community. Anyone who wishes to share stories, memories and experiences involving life in Oceanside is welcome to contact OEF at 145 Merle Avenue, Oceanside, NY or e-mail at oef@schoolhousegreen.org