Sunquam Elementary School is one of seven elementary schools in the Half Hollow Hills Central School District. It is located on the most western side of the district and across the street from the Melville Branch of the Half Hollow Hills Community Library. Sunquam is a family of students, teachers, staff and parents also known as the "Sunquam Stars."
Sunquam Elementary school was closed during the years of 1991 and 1999. On March 18, 1991, the Half Hollow Hills School Board voted to close Sunquam due to a significant reduction in state aid. Sunquam was the smallest school in the district and needed the most repairs. Closing the only school in the Western portion of the district, however, created an uproar in the community. Backed by the foresight, passion and dedication of Mrs. Alissa Sue Taff, the then current president of the Civic Association of Sweet Hollow, many attempts to sell Sunquam were thwarted. In March of 1999 the Half Hollow Hills School Board, faced with an influx of new housing, and a lack of classrooms, voted unanimously to reopen the school in the fall of 1999.