By Laura Lane
Working as an educator for many years before becoming a principal, she was the first resource-room teacher in the district and was often referred to as an innovator. Donohue called Bowling Green "her family" and instilled the same commitment from her staff.
"Maureen set a tone for the school," assistant principal Rosemary Baum said. "Her feeling of creating a family in the school made us feel we were all working toward the same goals and allowed us to develop."
Donohue has been a long-time East Meadow resident. She had attended the Front Street School, which was where the East Meadow Library is today, Newbridge Road School and Meadowlawn School, now called McVey Elementary.
When she was a child, she played school and was always the teacher. Donohue began her education career during the 1960s as a third-grade teacher in Syosset. She later took a leave of absence for 16 years to raise her daughter and son.
In 1980, Donohue came back to East Meadow as a resource-room teacher and worked in Bowling Green, McVey and Meadowbrook schools. In 1983, the special-education program was expanded.
Donohue became the full-time resource room teacher at McVey. She was offered the job of assistant principal at Parkway Elementary in 1987, and in 1989 began her career at Bowling Green as an assistant principal. In September of that year, she became the principal.
"I felt it was like fate that I should be at Bowling Green," Donohue said. "They had so many self-contained special-education classes and a resource room."
Over the years, Donohue was responsible for many innovative programs and philosophies. One of the first things she did upon becoming principal was to have special-education children mainstreamed into general classes.
Mainstreaming, which allowed special-education children to leave their classrooms for certain subjects and enter the general population, was considered a revolutionary concept. Her idea soon caught on, though, and other schools followed her lead.
"Maureen brought patience and understanding to Bowling Green," said special-education teacher Janet Peterson. "She taught her staff to do likewise with special-education children. Patience and understanding are the gifts you need for any child, and even more so with special-education children."
Peterson added that Donohue was available anytime to assist her if a child experienced a problem while in the general classroom. She said since it was a new concept, she would need advice from time to time, and Donohue was always supportive.
Donohue not only changed the lives of special-education children, but also introduced "looping" to Bowling Green. She even attended a conference in Rochester with eight of her teachers to be sure everyone was prepared for the new program. Before looping, children would receive a different teacher each year and the classes would change as well. Looping carries a teacher and the entire class from one grade to the next for a two-year period.
"The looping program at Bowling Green became a model program, and people from all over Long Island came to see it, it was so successful," Donohue said. "Bowling Green was one of the first schools on Long Island to do this program."
But Donohue was not only concerned with the academic side of being a principal. She also wanted school to be fun. On Halloween, one of her favorite holidays, she would dress up in costume and make-up and march alongside the children in the Halloween parade.
"Maureen made Halloween an event at Bowling Green," said Jane Pesant, her secretary. "I made her costume each year, and we all participated. I won't miss making those Halloween costumes, but I will miss her sense of humor."
Also a theater buff, Donohue acted in several of the school plays. They were popular and provided funding for the school, but also gave both children and teachers a memory they would never forget.
"Her plays encouraged camaraderie among all of us," Pesant said. "They also gave a spirit to the building."
Donohue was a hands-on principal. Not content to send memorandums or sit in her office, she would often accompany teachers or students to events she believed were important.
"When we went to NYSSMA (New York State School Music Association) in the 90's at Hofstra, she went on the trip with us," said music teacher Jonathan Ross. "She wanted to show the kids how important it was for Bowling Green to participate."
Gym teachers Peter McGloin and Leslie Murray praised Donohue for her continual support and open-door policy.
"She was always game to do anything to support a program. She would judge events like the Jump Rope For Heart, which we hold each year," Murray said. "And her door was always open to discuss anything," McGloin added.
This year Bowling Green honored Donohue on Staff Appreciation Day. They hired a bagpipe player, rented a band shell, and invited several guests from the principal's past.
PTA President Pat Brace said that Maureen Donohue had taught everyone that learning is fun. For an hour elected officials, staff members, and former friends and colleagues shared fond memories confirming Brace's assertion.
Donohue appeared touched by the compliments and well wishes, but she never stopped looking at the students who sat before her on the lawn. At the end of the ceremony, she directed her attention solely to them. Smiling with a voice that quivered, Donohue spoke to the students. She spoke with familiarity, and her manner was warm and affectionate. It seemed like she was speaking to her own children.
"I'll remember the little things I did with you children," Donohue said. "Boys and girls, just looking at you, this is what I'm going to miss."
