Public schooling in North Hempstead began during the colonial period, and was similar in nature to that offered throughout Queens County at the time.

[3][4][5] Beginning in 1869, a new school building at Plandome Road and Memorial Place replaced the old schoolhouse built in 1826.

[8] Manhasset students were previously authorized to study at Flushing High School or in Great Neck per inter-district agreements.

From 1929 onwards, the Munsey Park and Plandome areas of Manhasset saw increased luxury residential development.

In 1939, Munsey Park Elementary School was opened to accommodate increased population in that portion of the district.

The Spinney Hill neighborhood was near an established black community founded in Lake Success in the mid-1800s (in what was then the bordering Lakeville School District, now part of Great Neck Public Schools), including an African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church founded in 1821.

Furthermore, socioeconomic disparities between residents of the Manhasset Valley School's attendance area and the residents of the other two rendered the parts of the school district outside of the Manhasset Valley area unaffordable for most of the families living in what was by that time a predominantly black neighborhood.

[16][17] According to the American Community Survey Education Tabulation (ACS-ED) for 2015–19, the Manhasset UFSD has a population of 16,847 residents total across 5,547 households.

The median household income of all residents is $207,198, with 5.7% below the poverty line and 0.5% receiving SNAP benefits.