Surprise filing leaves first-time candidate unopposed in Manhasset school\u00a0board race<\/a><\/p>\nWhile classrooms have shifted from slate boards to iPads and from religious sisters as the sole educators to a mix of clergy and lay teachers, the foundation has endured.<\/p>\n
In its earliest years, the student body was almost entirely Irish and taught by the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Today, the school reflects the diversity of the broader Manhasset community.<\/p>\n
\u201cNow we\u2019re ethnically very diverse\u2026 we have students from almost every ethnic group you can imagine,\u201d Coogan said. \u201cOur boys and girls live together with no awareness of race or ethnicity as being an issue.\u201d<\/p>\n
That evolution has been matched by a strong sense of continuity within the parish itself. Unlike many Catholic schools that have struggled to remain open, St. Mary\u2019s has endured, in part because of its enduring ties to the evolving<\/p>\n
neighborhoods in the area.<\/p>\n
\u201cManhasset is the kind of community where people have deep roots,\u201d Coogan said. \u201cMany people pass on the tradition their parents gave them of supporting the school.\u201d<\/p>\n
That multigenerational connection remains central to the school\u2019s identity.<\/p>\n
Theresa Kemp, principal of St. Mary\u2019s Elementary School, said the school\u2019s enrollment of about 260 students helps foster an intimate environment.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are blessed with a tight-knit community where parents are deeply involved through the PTA and constant engagement. Our faculty is incredibly warm; teachers go out of their way to build the student experience and often stay for many, many years, which preserves that sense of family.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"StMES](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/StMES-100_0004.jpeg\")
The celebration will culminate in a 100th anniversary gala later this month.Photo provided by St. Mary\u2019s Elementary School<\/p>\n
This sense of belonging serves as the foundation for a rigorous academic program that seeks to develop the whole child. Those values extend into the classroom. The school\u2019s STREAM curriculum integrates science, technology, religion, engineering, art and math, with an emphasis on guiding students both academically and morally.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith technology today, students have access to so much information,\u201d Kemp said. \u201cWe have to guide our students to think critically and to analyze what is true.\u201d<\/p>\n
Despite the changes in resources and technology, Kemp said the core of a St. Mary\u2019s education remains consistent.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you put a student from 1926 and a student from today in the same room, they would recognize one another,\u201d she said. \u201cThe virtues would be the same. Faith, respect, responsibility, service to one another.\u201d<\/p>\n
As part of its centennial celebration, the school has spent the past year inviting both parishioners and the wider community to take part in its history.<\/p>\n
Events have included a cornerstone carnival, a centennial Mass and an open house that transformed the building into a walking museum, with each grade researching a different decade and hallways lined with class photos spanning generations.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was almost like a walking museum,\u201d Kemp said.<\/p>\n
The celebration will culminate in a 100th anniversary gala later this month, with invitations extended to alumni, former teachers and the broader community.<\/p>\n
\u201cEveryone is welcome,\u201d Kemp said. \u201cWe are very inclusive.\u201d<\/p>\n
For Coogan, the centennial is not only a time to reflect on the past, but to look ahead.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a real possibility that some of our 3-year-old students could be present at the 200th anniversary,\u201d he said. \u201cThe truths we teach will still guide them.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When the first students walked through the doors of St. Mary\u2019s Elementary School on Feb. 1, 1926, much…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":219456,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[9,24,63,122,124,123],"class_list":["post-219455","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-queens","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-queens","tag-queens-headlines","tag-queens-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/219455","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=219455"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/219455\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/219456"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=219455"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=219455"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=219455"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/IMG_9099.jpeg\")
The cornerstone of the school building was laid on Sept. 14, 1925. In January 1926, the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary moved to campus.Photo provided by St. Mary\u2019s Elementary School<\/p>\n