New York State United Teachers president praises Riverhead pre-K program

It’s all fun and games in Riverhead’s pre-K classrooms — and that’s exactly the point.

The district’s play-based approach to early childhood education is earning high marks from one of the state’s most influential education leaders, New York State United Teachers President Melinda Person, who got a chance to observe the “trailblazing” pre-K curriculum.

“The pre-K program at Riverhead is precisely the model that we should be striving for across the state,” Ms. Person said during her Sept. 30 visit. “It is amazing how vested the entire district is in this program. The working relationship between the teachers, administration, and Board of Education is remarkable.”

Ms. Person joined a roundtable at Riley Avenue Elementary School, where they discussed every aspect of developing the robust program. They spoke about instructional planning, staffing considerations, facilities modifications, and relationship building.

She then toured classrooms, observing students learning through play at various activity centers and joined them in their activities.

“The work that has gone into developing this program has been a coordinated effort,” Riverhead Superintendent Dr. Robert Hagan said. “This herculean effort extends across the classrooms to the building principals, through the district office and the Board of Education. Riverhead is at the forefront of groundbreaking change that is about to take the state by storm.”

Riverhead began offering in-house pre-K taught by certified teachers and grounded in play at the start of the 2023-24 school year. In September 2023, the program was housed at Phillips Avenue Elementary School and launched with just three sections and 54 seats.

As of this school year, it’s offered in each of the district’s K-4 buildings, with a total of seven sections and 126 students.

Riverhead’s kindergarten staff have noticed significant improvements in students’ school readiness behaviorally, socially, and emotionally. The early intervention is expected to reduce Riverhead’s long-term special education costs by declassifying IEP-eligible students earlier in their academic careers.

“When 4-year-olds have access to a robust pre-K program grounded in structured play, there is a quantifiable and measurable difference in independence, socialization, language development, vocabulary, and cognitive skill development,” Riverhead Central Faculty Association 1st Vice President Jennifer Simões said.

The association has played a pivotal role in year-over-year increases in funding, authoring a resolution at the 2025 NYSUT Resident Assembly calling for fully funded pre-K across New York State taught by certified teachers. Ms. Simões served as a key author of the resolution. This school year, New York State has increased pre-K funding to $10,000 per student, almost doubling funding from the previous school year. Funding is expected to increase again in 2028.

“Children who are part of the pre-K program are integrated into our school community well before they set foot in a kindergarten classroom,” Ms. Simões said. “Riverhead pre-K students are equipped with many reading readiness skills before the end of the school year. Furthermore, students with special needs who require additional support are identified earlier, receiving interventions before entering kindergarten.”