Achievements for Hicksville, And Also for Miss Farley
Early on, Mabel was an advocate of the town's creating its own four-year high school program. Support grew rapidly, and such a program was introduced in the autumn of 1914. She would always remain proud of the role she had played in establishing true high school education in Hicksville.
Huntington Long-Islander, May 2, 1913
I believe that the cost estimate quoted here,
$1,000 per annum, refers not to the cost per taxpayer, but instead
to the net total increase in the village's school budget.
In hindsight, it seems odd that the School Board was willing to expand the number of classes in the building without also making plans to add more classrooms. As the newspaper article states, adding the new grades would mean more Hicksville students in the school, and also adding students from Bethpage and Farmingdale, which still lacked their own high schools.
The 1920s brought significant changes. New classroom space finally became a reality, first in 1925 with the opening of a purpose-built secondary school on Jerusalem Avenue, which originally housed both Junior and Senior high school classes (the structure, much expanded over the years, now is the home of Hicksville Middle School). You can read about how it came to be built in the May 2018 Ancient Hixtory, which is available online by clicking this link.
In 1927, even more space was created by the construction of a new primary school on East Street.
Nassau Daily Review-Star
May 9, 1941
The decade was also a period of great personal achievement for Mabel Farley.
At long last, she completed her undergraduate work, and was awarded a Bachelor of Science degree by New York University in 1923.
Two years later, with the opening of the new high school, she became Hicksville's first female Principal. It is probably relevant that George Duke, elected President of the Board of Education on the basis of his intention to finally end high faculty turnover in Hicksville, sanctioned her appointment. She had a knack for dealing with people.
In 1929, Miss Farley attained another milestone which she had long sought, earning a Masters degree, again at NYU.
Despite her having accomplished so many of her lifetime goals by 46, she did not lose her determination to excel - nor did she let the school system sit on its heels. Speaking some years later at an event that marked the twenty-fifth anniversary of Hicksville's four-year high school program, in part she said:
"We cannot be content with what we have accomplished. We must dedicate ourselves to a speedy beginning for another twenty-five years of progress. We must be united in promoting hopefulness in our youth. We must make a concerted effort to uncover new opportunities for our graduates... [who] must make the necessary adjustments to the situations in which they find themselves when leaving school."
Note that the picture of Miss Farley used at the beginning of this article appeared in the Nassau Daily Review-Star on May 9, 1941. Reportedly, it was taken in Hicksville shortly after she first arrived. Like all the photographs used here, it has been digitally altered by the author.
