At the orientation held prior to the opening of the Great Neck Public Schools, new faculty was welcomed by Board of Education President Barbara Berkowitz and Board Trustees Donna Peirez, Rebecca Sassouni and Jeffrey Shi; Superintendent Dr. Teresa Prendergast; Assistant Superintendents Dr. Joseph Hickey, Dr. Stephen Lando, Kelly Newman and John Powell; Great Neck Teachers Association (GNTA) President James Daszenski; Association of Supervisors and Administrators (SAGES) President Sharon Applebaum; and other administrators.
New Administrators
Three principals, Daniel Holtzman at North High School, Dr. Christopher Gitz at South High School and Emily Zucal at Lakeville School, have joined the Great Neck Public Schools. Neepa Redito is the new assistant principal at Lakeville. Look for profiles of these administrators in an upcoming issue.
Elementary Teachers
Newly hired teachers at E.M. Baker School include Alyson Bonura (special education), Bryan Dombrowski (grade 5) and Meaghan Zuniga (special education).
Rebecca Schapira (grade 5) is a new teacher at J.F. Kennedy School.
Lakeville welcomes Meagan Baker (special education) and Debra Conboy (reading).
Michelle Friedman (prekindergarten) and Francesca Hanson (special education) are new teachers at Parkville School.
Additions to the Saddle Rock School are Renee Remi (special education) and Ariel Rothbaum (reading).
Secondary Teachers
New North High teachers include Barbara Arnold (science), Melissa Baldassarri (special education), Jordan Barbach (science), Samantha Barratt (art), Samantha Bindrim (mathematics), Susan Chung (study skills), William Corrao (English), Jason Fiermonte (science), Linda Haase (art), Eileen Madigan (English), Lauren Maksym (social studies), Thomas McDonald (social studies) and Rachel Rahr (study skills).
Newly hired teachers at North Middle School are Katie Carmody (mathematics), Paul Derych (TV studio), Crystal DiMarco (English, also at South Middle School), Kandisse Kis (Language Other Than English), Eugina Mazzolla (special education) and Tayla Plotke (social studies).
South High welcomes Daniel Chiu (mathematics), Christie Merrick (special education) and Francis Miata (mathematics).
Additions to South Middle include Samantha Kramer (special education) and Dawney Pang (family & consumer science).
Lisa Holz (social studies) is a new teacher at SEAL, an alternative high school.
for a school district that prides itself in and announces its diversity every chance it gets, what a lack of diversity in its new teachers. overwhelmingly women and very few minorities. it looks like there is maybe 2 African American teachers hired. and overwhelmingly white. it looks to me like the Great Neck school district might be ripe for a discrimination lawsuit due to its hiring practices. if that happens will it be money well spent to defend that lawsuit?