LI schools get a jump on Halloween fun

Dozens of Long Island schools celebrated Halloween for students this month in activities that ranged from in-school trick-or-treating to costume sales.

In Deer Park, John Quincy Adams Primary School hosted a Halloween parade on Friday in which classes separately marched around the school's playground at designated times to show off their costumes.

In Smithtown, East and West high schools each hosted Safe Halloween programs on Friday in which K-5 students from the district's nine elementary schools trick-or-treated in the hallways and enjoyed Halloween-themed crafts, a haunted house and "spooky storytelling." Student clubs and athletic teams manned various booths and handed out candy.

"There's a huge turnout every year," said Morgan Woods, a leadership mentor and social studies teacher at Smithtown East. "This highlights positive interaction between younger and older students, while giving kids an alternative to trick-or-treating in the streets."

In Middle Island, Longwood High School's Late Afternoon Program also hosted a Safe Halloween for K-5 students from the district's four elementary schools that included a "corn maze" made of burlap walls. The price of admission was one nonperishable food item.

"We know that Halloween is a period of mischief for some people," said the program's assistant facilitator Bryan Makarius. "This provides a safe well-lit environment for kids."

In Farmingdale, Albany Avenue Elementary School held a second annual Halloween costume sale of dozens of donated gently-used costumes were donated by local families and resold at low prices. The sale netted $253 for the school's fifth-grade classes.

SAYVILLE

New appointments

Walter Schartner is the new superintendent of Sayville Public Schools. He replaced Rosemary Jones, who retired.

Schartner most recently served as principal of Sayville Middle School and has been replaced in that position by Tom Murray, who was the middle school's assistant principal.

COUNTYWIDE

Cancer awareness

Dozens of Suffolk County schools raised funds for breast cancer research in activities for Breast Cancer Awareness Month in October.

In Miller Place, the high school raised $3,300 through a volleyball tournament in which the school's varsity and junior varsity teams played against teams from Shoreham-Wading River High School. The event included raffles of items donated by local businesses to benefit The Side-Out Foundation.

In St. James, Smithtown High School East's leadership classes raised more than $200 through a bake sale to benefit the Breast Cancer Research Foundation's Long Island Chapter.

In Cold Spring Harbor, the high school's field hockey team hosted a home game in which spectators could buy pink pretzels and wristbands for charity.