The College Board has honored 84 Deer Park High School students for their outstanding academic performance in Advanced Placement coursework, recognizing them as 2025 AP Scholars. These designations celebrate students who have demonstrated college-level achievement through exceptional performance on rigorous AP exams.

The College Board’s AP Scholar Program honors several levels of distinction based on student performance across multiple exams.

AP Scholar recognition is awarded to students who earn scores of 3 or higher on three or more AP Exams. Thirty-eight Deer Park students earned this designation, including seniors Daniel Aguilar, Ilayda Avcu, Brandon Bailey, Baileigh Braithwaite, Arianna Chowdhury, Bailey Corcoran, Abigail Cullen, Skylar Gavin, Aubrey Goetz, Natalie Hample, Jordyn Hasemann, Abrar Hossain, Parleen Kaur, Isabel Khemraj, Abdulllah Latif, Jessica Lema, Matthew Morace, Julia Neilson, Sophia Paduano, Mia Rodriguez, Antonio Rosado, Saad Salman, Sophia Sheeler, Hayden Snyder, Vincent Vela, Nicholas Velasco and Salwa Waseem, and juniors Abrar Ahmed, Kimberly Cho, Chelsea Cornelia, Ashhad Fadel, Aubrey Hyney, Aditya Kataria, Sophia Lindsay, Connor McGuinness, Gianna Montes, Gofur Moral and Noah Olthoff.

AP Scholar with Honor recognition is granted to students who earn an average score of at least 3.25 on all AP Exams taken, with scores of 3 or higher on four or more exams. Twenty-two Deer Park students earned this designation, including seniors Elizabeth Boyle, Emily Cannet, Olivia Corrado, Addison Costanza, Sebastian Garcia, Carsyn Goetz, Matthew Hennessey, Mason Jones, Jack Lanteri, Jonathan Manzanares, Aubriella Nunez, Aubrey Pottinger, Jayna Singh, Nathan Trifu and Brian Williams, and juniors Emily Dong, Nia Elias, Adan Herrera, Abbas Meersyed, Kevin Mostriansky, Nobin Nath and Ali Zorakhsh.

AP Scholar with Distinction, the highest level, is presented to students who earn an average score of at least 3.5 on all AP Exams taken, with scores of 3 or higher on five or more exams. Twenty-four Deer Park students achieved this elite distinction, including seniors Tanin Ahmadzai, Hiba Amin, Hasan Asif, Kayla Cruz, Gavyn DeFour, Lucas Di Vanna, Maxwell Ferguson, Nicolas Flores, Madison Griffin, Raquibul Hasan, Ubaid Iqbal, Ruby Kappel, Lauren Marable,  Bertrand Mondelus, Onwuka Offiah, Angel Oliva, Ceica Pierre, Ava Sacarin, Jaidyn Schabe, Sidra Syed, Jasmine Uppal, Eve Valentine and Thomas Wesnofske, and junior Vincent Cacciola.

Through the AP Program, students engage in college-level coursework while still in high school, gaining valuable experience and the opportunity to earn college credit. The district congratulates all of Deer Park's AP Scholars for their hard work and success in achieving this important national recognition.

Date Added: 10/7/2025

Deer Park High School has been recognized as a 2024-2025 Scholar-Athlete School of Excellence by the New York State Public High School Athletic Association. This prestigious designation required that 75% of the high school’s varsity teams received the NYSPHSAA’s Scholar-Athlete Team Award for the prior school year. To earn the Scholar-Athlete award, 75% of a team’s players must have a grade-point average equal to or greater than 90%. 

Deer Park was one of only 77 Long Island high schools and 331 statewide to be awarded School of Excellence or School of Distinction honors this year.

“I am truly proud that our student-athletes are as dedicated and work as hard in the classroom as they do on the fields and courts,” Director of Athletics, Physical Education, Health and Recreation Dominick Fontana said.

Date Added: 10/3/2025

Deer Park High School senior Jaidyn Schabe officially joined the Deer Park Board of Education at the Sept. 30 meeting as an ex officio student member. This uncompensated position, as mandated by New York State law, permits high school students to serve in an non-voting advisory capacity on their district’s board of education, providing a valuable student voice on school issues. Schabe’s duties will include attending future board meetings, participating in discussions and making recommendations.

“My first meeting was a really cool experience,” Schabe said. “I’m excited to be able to represent students and their ideas to the Board, and it’s a great opportunity to have this sort of communication with the Board members.”

Schabe serves as president of the school’s Class of 2026 and PEN Society, and is a member of the DECA, lacrosse and cross-country teams. She was recently named a Commended Student in the 2026 National Merit Scholarship Program for her performance on the PSAT. As a junior, she earned a Gold medal in the Suffolk County Legislature’s Distinguished Youth Award program, which recognizes civic involvement, volunteer service,and personal development. 

Date Added: 10/3/2025

The Deer Park School District has named Richard Santoro as an associate principal at Robert Frost Middle School, effective Sept. 26. He replaces James Henry, now the district’s director of math and business.

Santoro comes to Deer Park from the West Hempstead School District, where he served for the past two years as assistant principal at West Hempstead Secondary School. He previously worked as dean of students at Islip Middle School and as a sixth-grade special education teacher, junior varsity girls soccer head coach and varsity baseball assistant coach in the South Huntington School District.

A Massapequa resident, Santoro obtained his bachelor’s degree in communications from SUNY Farmingdale, his master’s degree in childhood education from Dowling College, his special education certificate from Touro College and his school leadership advanced graduate certificate from Stony Brook University.

“As a middle school assistant principal, my goal is to create a safe, supportive and engaging environment where every student feels valued, challenged and inspired to reach their full potential,” Santoro said.

Date Added: 9/26/2025

Five exceptional Deer Park High School student-musicians were recently chosen to participate in the New York State Council of Administrators of Music Education’s High School All-County Festival, to be held Nov. 14 at Hauppauge High School. William Fox (bass) and Kaiya Pierson (alto) will perform with the All-County Chorus, Sophia Sheeler (soprano) will perform with the All-County Treble Choir, and Ryan Hughes (tenor sax) and Nobin Nath (flute) will perform with the All-County Band.  

“We are incredibly proud of these five students for their outstanding efforts and accomplishments,” Director of Fine and Performing Arts Bradley Murphy said. “Their passion and dedication to music are a true reflection of the excellence we aim to nurture within the Deer Park community, and we eagerly anticipate their upcoming performances with NYSCAME.”

Additionally, Hughes was selected to participate in the All-State Symphonic Band at the New York State School Music Association’s 89th annual Winter Conference, to be held Dec. 4-7 in Rochester, and Fox was selected as an All-State Chorus alternate.

Date Added: 9/25/2025