The Port Washington Union Free School District â also known as the Port Washington School District or simply Port Schools â is a public school district on the Cow Neck Peninsula within the Town of North Hempstead, in Nassau County, on Long Island, in New York, United States.
The Port Washington UFSD serves the villages of Baxter Estates, Manorhaven, Port Washington North, and Sands Point, and the unincorporated hamlet of Port Washington, as well as portions of the villages of Flower Hill and Plandome Manor.
The district's interim superintendent of schools is Dr. Christopher Shields. Shields was promoted to interim superintendent due to an incident involving former superintendent Dr. Michael Hynes, who had been arrested and charged with a DWI after hitting and seriously injuring a motorcyclist on November 24, 2024; Shields was promoted shortly after Hynes tendered his notice of resignation.
The district's mascot is the viking.
The Port Washington Union Free School District was founded in 1757, with the opening of a one-room schoolhouse. By 2025, the district had grown to include a total of seven schools.
The district's current high school, Paul D. Schreiber Senior High School, opened in 1953.
In September 1962, the Eggers & Higgins-designed Florence and Daniel Guggenheim Elementary School â located at the southern edge of the Village of Sands Point, adjacent to the Port Washington Terrace neighborhood of unincorporated Port Washington â opened. The school is located on a parcel of land donated to the school district by the Daniel and Florence Guggenheim Foundation.
The Port Washington UFSD operates the following schools:
As of the 2023-2024 school year, the district had a total of 5,177 enrolled students in kindergarten through 12th grade.
The tables below show the breakdowns of the district's demographics, as of the 2023-2024 school year:
Additionally, out of the 5,356 students, 463 (9%) are English Language Learners (ELL), 817 (16%) have at least 1 disability, 1,111 (21%) are economically disadvantaged, and 33 (1%) are homeless.