Washington Drive Primary School, located in the Harborfields Central School District, serves pupils in kindergarten through second grade. Our early childhood program is designed to help children move with ease from home to our school environment. This first school experience is an important introduction to the sequential program of elementary education. Our curriculum is uniquely designed to enhance each child's academic skills, language, and social competency.

Our program, which is specifically for 5- to 8-year-olds, provides a wide variety of developmentally appropriate opportunities in which children can create, explore, discover and learn. The staff uses an ever-growing array of materials and equipment to support instruction. Among the important aspects of the program are activities which foster self-reliance and a positive attitude toward school and learning. Throughout the program, children continue to acquire thinking and problem-solving skills. Most importantly, we nurture the individual personalities and specific learning characteristics of each child.

Our Programs
The library at the Washington Drive Primary School is a focal point for the entire school. Built to resemble the inside of a ship, there are port holes in the two-story structure, and nautically-themed decorations throughout.

A new state-of-the-art computer lab has been built in the center of the Washington Drive Primary School. Here, our youngest students are using software especially designed to reinforce the skills that they are learning.

Washington Drive Primary School is a Literacy Collaborative School affiliated with Eastern Suffolk B.O.C.E.S. and Lesley University. The overall goal of the Literacy Collaborative is to significantly raise the level of literacy achievement for all children. Curriculum is designed around a balanced literacy framework in reading and writing. It encompasses themes of cultures, seasons, holidays, space, plants, animals, and friendship. Teachers participate in extensive training and coaching to enable them to support children at their individual levels of development.

The Scott Foresman Mathematics program provides our students with the necessary skills to help them master math concepts. Students are also taught reading strategies for problem-solving techniques. Ongoing staff development is an essential component of the program.

The science program at Washington Drive Primary School is discovery and inquiry-based and reflects the New York State elementary science syllabus. Science units emphasize integration of language arts, math, and science. Teaching activities for each objective include direct hands-on experiences for students. The process skills that we focus on are observing, comparing, sorting and grouping. Some of the science topics explored are measuring, buoyancy, weather, matter, plants and animals. Themes nurture children's natural curiosity and capitalize on their interest in the environment.

Music and art are part of our students' weekly schedule. Services are also provided by reading specialists, a school psychologist, speech therapists, and a school nurse.

Activities
Learning and enjoying go hand in hand. Throughout the school year our children participate in many schoolwide activities, such as our 100th day celebration, transportation day, Earth Day and read-ins. We hope and expect our children's enthusiasm for learning will last a lifetime. We are proud of our school, our staff, and our youngsters!

The goal of physical education is to create safe, enjoyable, positive experiences for students through physical activity. Each child is a unique individual and needs to be recognized for his/her own strengths. The objective of physical education is to create physically fit individuals with a desire to lead physically active lifestyles. We aim to teach children the benefits of activity so they can share their knowledge and cooperatively work with others.