Editing Wyandanch, New York (section)

==Education==
The [[Wyandanch School District|Wyandanch Union Free School District]] operates the community's public schools, including LaFrancis Hardiman/Dr [[Martin Luther King Jr.]] Elementary School, [[Milton L. Olive]] Middle School, and Wyandanch Memorial High School.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Wyandanch Union Free School District / Homepage|url=https://www.wyandanch.k12.ny.us/|access-date=2020-08-17|website=Wyandanch UFSD|language=en}}</ref>

Wyandanch was part of the Deer Park school district until 1923. Deer Park built the first permanent school building in Wyandanch, on Straight Path at 20th Street, in 1913. A modern Wyandanch grade school opened in September 1937, built for $120,000, $54,000 of which was provided by the New Deal Public Works Authority.<ref>"Two Long Island Villages Approve Propositions for New School Buildings," ''Suffolk County News'' (Sayville) October 25, 1935: 9; "Activities of School Supervisory Dist. 3," ''The Long Islander'' (Huntington) November 19, 1937: 12; "Deer Park Wyandanch," ''Lindenhurst Star'', September 11, 1937; "Wyandanch Dedicates Its New PWA School," ''Lindenhurst Star'', November 12, 1937: 9</ref>

In 1967, seven Wyandanch parents petitioned Dr. Gordon Wheaton, the Third Supervisory District principal, to dissolve the Wyandanch School District No. 9. The parents, supported by the [[National Association for the Advancement of Colored People|NAACP]], also asked Dr. Wheaton to order the 2,295 students in the Wyandanch schools (86 per cent of whom were African-American) to be divided equally into the more affluent and predominantly white surrounding Half Hollow Hills, Deer Park, North Babylon, West Babylon and Farmingdale school districts. The Wyandanch school board (consisting of five African-Americans and one white man) opposed, and noted that the recently hired Superintendent of Schools had proposed a "$1,000,000 program designed to make Wyandanch a model school district." The superintendent noted that "the uprooting of culturally disadvantaged students to schools where the educational program is planned for the middle class would have damaging effects on our community's children." Rather than wait for a decision by Dr. Wheaton, the NAACP appealed directly to Dr. Allen, the chief of the State Education Department. On July 24, 1968, Allen rejected the petition to dissolve the Wyandanch School District; he told ''The New York Times'' that "serious obstacles imposed by existing law" prevented "dissolution of the district," which the ''Times'' reported "is now 91.5 per cent non-white."<ref>C. Geral Fraser, "L.I. District First Target," ''New York Times'', November 16, 1967; Jim Toedtman, "NAACP Bids State Act On Wyandanch", ''Newsday'', November 16, 1967: 5; "Wyandanch Split By N.A.A.C.P. Plan," November 17, 1967: 38; John Childs, "School Board In Wyandanch Rejects Plan," ''Newsday''; Gurney Williams, "What's Good For Wyandanch?" ''Newsday'', January 8, 1968: 6-8W; Frances X. Clines, "State Weighing L.I. School Plan," ''New York Times'', July 14, 1968: 32; Frances X. Clines, "Wyandanch Plan Refused by Allen," ''New York Times'', July 26, 1968: 34.</ref>

A [[liberal arts college]] was started in Wyandanch, with evening classes for over 200 students, in early October 1969, but soon closed.<ref>"Propose College in Wyandanch To Train Ghetto Teachers," ''New York Daily News'', March 6, 1969; "College Gets Moral Support," ''Long Island Sun'', March 6, 1969; "Wyandanch College Plan Goes To State in 6 Weeks," ''Newsday'', March 6, 1969; "Wyandanch Center 'Dream' Becomes Reality Wednesday," ''Long Island Press'', September 29, 1969.</ref>

Following the August 1967 disturbances, the Wyandanch Day Care Center was opened on Commonwealth Boulevard. The Wyandanch school district first provided space for 35 children in a classroom in the Straight Path Elementary School and later provided room in an empty building adjacent to the Milton L. Olive Elementary School. Ground was broken for the new center on September 13, 1970, and the Wyandanch Day Care Center opened on February 25, 1973. The two-story, red brick, eight-classroom [[day care]] center was constructed with a $1 million loan from the New York State Social Services Department.<ref>Kent D. Smith, "Day Care Group Breaks Ground", ''Newsday'', September 14, 1970</ref><ref>Ahmid-Chett Green, "Helping Mothers Get Off Welfare," ''Newsday'', July 23, 1973: A11</ref><ref>"The 'mayor' of Wyandanch", ''Newsday'', February 4, 1973; Harriet Rosenberg, "Open Wyandanch Day Care Center," ''Babylon Beacon'', March 1, 1973: 1,6; http://open.nysenate.gov/openleg/api/1.0/html/bill/J390</ref>

On March 12, 2012, ''Newsday'' reported that the Town of Babylon will be building a larger, more modern [[Head Start Program|Head Start]] facility at 20 Andrews Avenue in downtown Wyandanch. The new Head Start building, financed by $850,000 in State of New York funding and $1 million in U.S. Community Block Grant funding, will be larger than the current {{convert|4000|sqft|adj=on}} facility on Long Island Avenue near the LIRR station, which serves about 100 pre-schoolers. Head Start has served the children of Wyandanch since the late 1960s.<ref>Denise M. Bonilla, "Head Start To Get New, Bigger Site," ''Newsday'', March 12, 2012, A29.</ref>

===Public library===
[[File:Wyandanch library.jpg|thumb|The Wyandanch Public Library]]
In April 1974, the construction of a public library was approved. Initially operating from two rented portable classrooms, the permanent building eventually opened in 1989.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.suffolk.lib.ny.us/libraries/wyan/ |title=Wyandanch Library |publisher=Suffolk.lib.ny.us}}</ref>