Kennedy assassination, 60 years later: How Long Island schools named for JFK will mark anniversary

Declan McGuire, 13, an eighth-grader at John F. Kennedy Middle School in Port Jefferson Station, says the 35th president of the United States "means quite a bit to me, to be honest. He did so much for the country."

And when he walks into the school building that bears the former president's name, Declan added that "thinking about his name every day we go to school, it reminds us about all the things he did for us in the short period of time."

Declan's classmate, Jack Salembier, 14, says he's talked about the former president with family members "since many were alive the day he was assassinated. … A lot of them were little children, but they did tell me a couple of them went into the city that day" and saw that "people were crying in the street."

Kennedy, who was sworn into office in 1961, was assassinated on Nov. 22, 1963.

As the 60th anniversary of that day approaches, some of eight Long Island public schools that bear his name have planned special lessons, including the Port Jefferson Station middle school. Officials at other schools say an announcement would be made to mark the anniversary and that discussions of it likely would be in social studies classes.

'Ecstatic to learn about Kennedy'

The Port Jefferson Station school, which is in the Comsewogue school district, will highlight some of Kennedy's best-known quotes, delving into their meaning and "using them to connect them to our current life and times," Superintendent Jennifer Quinn said. For example, she noted President Kennedy's emphasis on space exploration, the man on the moon achieved in 1969, "and tying it into all of the things we have done as a result of that."

Amanda Prinz, the school's principal, said teachers have created large poster boards with some of Kennedy's famous quotes that students will study on Tuesday, since there are no classes on the anniversary date itself, which is a parent-teacher conference day.

Prinz said students at the school "will do mini-lessons in social studies classes … They'll have an opportunity to pick one of those quotes and in small groups take a deep dive into it. What does it mean to them? How it relates to the present day, our current world, and how does it relate to our school community and our community around us?"

Some students were eager for those discussions.

Declan said, "I'm ecstatic to learn about Kennedy and the things he did. His legacy is just so powerful. … He was pro-integration and against segregation" during a time when the Civil Rights movement was ascendant, as its leaders sought equal rights for Blacks. "He saved people's lives when he was in the Navy. … My grandma used to talk a lot about him."

Jack added he was "glad for him keeping us out of nuclear war during the Cold War," referencing the Cuban missile crisis.

Several communities on Long Island chose to name schools that were under construction after Kennedy following his assassination; others, such as John F. Kennedy Intermediate School in Deer Park, were renamed to honor the fallen president. At the John F. Kennedy Elementary School in East Islip, which opened in 1964, a cornerstone was laid including quotes by Kennedy, and a scroll containing the signatures of all of the pupils attending the school, according to a contemporaneous story in the Islip Bulletin.

A Kennedy quote in yearbook messages

At the Port Jefferson Station middle school, displayed in its entryway are a magazine cover of Kennedy, his portrait and a bust of him.

There's also a portrait of the president in the entryway of John F. Kennedy Elementary School in West Babylon. School Principal Denisha Van Liew said she keeps several items related to the school's dedication on Nov. 7, 1965, when it was named for the president.

"Today, I keep the program from the Dedication Ceremony and the engraved tool from the groundbreaking on display in my office as a constant reminder of the opening of our school and President John F. Kennedy's legacy," Van Liew said. "I also keep his legacy alive by including a John F. Kennedy quote in my yearbook messages to our graduating classes."

In a message to the school's graduating fifth-graders in 2022, she wrote: "As John F. Kennedy once said during his remarks at a National Youth Convention in 1963, 'I congratulate you on what you have done, and most of all I congratulate you on what you are going to do.' "

A Newsday article from Jan. 20, 1964, noted the appearance of the president's brother-in-law, Stephen Smith, as the featured speaker at the dedication of the John F. Kennedy Junior High School in Bethpage — now John F. Kennedy Middle School. About 1,200 people attended.

"This dedication is fitting for, perhaps more than any other president, John Kennedy was a president of and for young people," said Smith, who had a weekend home in Old Westbury with his wife, Jean, Kennedy's younger sister. 

"I wanted to be here. It's an honor and, after all, we're practically neighbors."

Correction: An earlier version of this story did not correctly identify the present-day name of the former John F. Kennedy Junior High School in Bethpage.

By Olivia Winslow

olivia.winslow@newsday.com@newsollie