Oyster Bay High School

The first schoolhouse in Oyster Bay was built before the American Revolutionary War by Thomas Youngs, a short distance up Cove Hill from his homestead in Oyster Bay Cove. It was replaced in 1802 by the Oyster Bay Academy on East Main Street, led by the Reverend Marmaduke Earle. The first public school began in 1845, in a small wood building on South Street where Valley National Bank is currently located.[4]

It is no mistake that a street on the hill near St. Dominic's Church is called School Street; its name was changed from Petticoat Lane when a much larger public schoolhouse was built in 1872. By the 1890s it too had become overcrowded forcing some classes to meet in the dank basement and even in private homes. This led to the construction of Oyster Bay's first high school completed in 1901 on Anstice Street.[5]

The present high school building was built to replace the older one, and was completed in 1929. Though this school has been primarily used as a high school it was originally built to house grades K through 12. This imposing brick and stone building with its Art Deco styling, has some interesting details in the original facade, including gargoyle-like eagles and the letters “B” and “G”. These letters indicate separate doors for the girls and boys to enter the building. In February 1929, the children did just that, carrying their books and personal belongings from the old school building to this one. The new school had many modern features, including classroom loudspeakers, an auditorium with a balcony and projection booth, a central vacuuming system, and one of the most modern gymnasiums in Nassau County.

In 1986, after many years of being an "open campus" (students allowed to leave during free periods), Oyster Bay began to phase into being a "closed campus" (students not permitted to leave during free periods).[6] Sidney Freund, the superintendent, said that the district was responsible for students while they were in school, so they needed to stay in school.[6] Ninth graders, who came in from the eighth grade, were not allowed to leave, followed by each subsequent grade, and, as such, "open campus" was being grandfathered out.[6] Freund said that, in this manner, the new students did not feel that they had lost a privilege, since they never had it.[6]

Though it was modern in its day, after more than 70 years, the school's gym had become outdated; it was the oldest in Nassau County when the district replaced it in 2000 with a new, state-of-the-art gymnasium, dedicated to Howard Imhof. The 2000 additions also included a new library-media center with 18 computer stations, ushering the district's Art Deco high school building into the new century.[7]

• Marie Colvin (Class of 1974), journalist who worked for the British newspaper The Sunday Times. She died while covering the siege of Homs in Syria
• John Knowles, novelist, transferred to Phillips Exeter Academy
• Ken Labanowski (Class of 1977), American-Israeli basketball player
• Jackie Martling, comedian, starred on the Howard Stern Show
• Heather Matarazzo, actress[8]
• Thomas Pynchon (Class of 1953), novelist of Gravity's Rainbow and The Crying of Lot 49 once awarded "student of the year."
• Lee Ranaldo (Class of 1974), musician and writer, co-founder of Sonic Youth.
• Ken Rosenthal, baseball sportscaster and journalist
• Tage Thompson, professional hockey player

• List of Town of Oyster Bay Landmarks
• National Register of Historic Places listings in Nassau County, New York
• Oyster Bay History Walk

• Oyster Bay East Norwich School District