The “car-mencement” ceremony on June 17 proved a very special graduation celebration for fifth graders at Bayview. As the students and their families drove by the school, staff congratulated them on their move up to middle school.

Fifth graders moving up from all four of the district’s elementary schools were honored during May and June with special lawn signs placed by school staff to honor the young graduates.

The annual tradition of Field Day continued in West Islip during the pandemic, as elementary physical education teachers coordinated the district’s first Virtual Field Day.

From opening day on June 3 to the experience’s conclusion on June 10, students wore their West Islip blue and gold while participating in up to 20 activities. The Virtual Field Day activities were designed to take place in each child’s living environment with common household items and props, and provided students total flexibility in modifying the activities if they had trouble replicating them.

“Field Day is an important tradition here in West Islip,” said Tim Horan, the district’s director of health, physical education, athletics and recreation. “While a Virtual Field Day may not be the same experience as our traditional Field Day, it is our sincere hope this event minimized disappointment and provided families an opportunity to create lasting meaningful memories.”

In honor of May being Better Speech and Hearing month, two West Islip deaf students – James Montrony of Bayview and Nicholas D’Avanzo of Beach Street – participated in a Zoom session to meet and learn more about each other. D’Avanzo had also attended Bayview and like Montrony, studied at the Cleary School for the Deaf as a prekindergartner, and he shared his experience growing up as a deaf student in the same school district.

“It was a great experience for both of them and we plan to do it again,” said Meredith Eskridge, a hearing service provider for the district through ESBOCES.