Archives for October 2019

The 2018 – 2019 school year is in full swing on Staten Island with some notable leadership changes. NYC Schools Chancellor Richard Carranza has realigned Department of Education leadership, appointing nine executive superintendents across the city. The changes include a new Staten Island executive superintendent, district superintendent, and five principals.

Executive Superintendent Anthony Lodico began his professional career as an English and Drama teacher at Port Richmond High School. He later served as assistant principal of Port Richmond High School, principal of Edward R. Murrow High School in Brooklyn, and superintendent of high schools in the Bronx and Manhattan. He has been superintendent for District 31 and Staten Island high schools since 2014, where he oversees 69 schools and three pre-k centers.

Superintendent Mrs. Vincenza Gallassio has 31 years of experience with the DOE. She has served as a Principal Leadership Facilitator (PLF) for the past three years in District 31. She was a principal for eleven years at PS 16 in Tompkinsville, during which time she moved the school from the State designation of Restructure to its current state of Good Standing. Under her leadership, the school showed progress in both the State ELA and Math in the subgroup of Lowest Performing Students.

Interim Acting Principals:
 
P.O. Rocco Laurie IS 72 – Jessica Jackson started her career 17 years ago as an English teacher at I.S 75 where she later became literacy coach, then AP of English and Special Education. She spent 15 years as a middle school educator. She has spent the past two years as a TDEC for the superintendent’s office supporting principals and assistant principals around the Danielson Framework for teaching. She has also been facilitating the rollout of Impact Teams in District 31 as well as contributing to many of the other initiatives and professional learning.
 
Port Richmond HS – Andrew Greenfield has lived and worked on Staten Island for most of his life. In 1993 Andrew began his career in education teaching social studies and serving as Dean of Students at Fort Hamilton High School. In 2001, Andrew returned to his alma mater, Port Richmond High School, where for 17 years he served as Assistant Principal of Administration supervising all the administrative tasks of the school, including budget, personnel, facilities, safety, and security. Throughout his 25-year career, Andrew has dedicated his time in helping at-risk teens and their families to improve their lives.

Public School 78 – Jodi Contento started as a classroom teacher in 2001 in District 20. She joined the PS 78 team the year the school was founded. She distinguished herself as an instructional leader and served as an instructional coach in her second year at the school. In 2014, Jodi became an assistant principal.  She has led the work of impact teams and has ensured that community partnerships and teacher leadership correlate directly with the social-emotional wellbeing of students.

Dreyfus Intermediate School 49 – Lou Bruschi was the Founding Principal of Public School 78. The school has moved forward steadily in significant performance measures. Under his leadership the school attained the designation as a Community Learning School by the United Federation of Teachers followed by the additional designation of a Department of Education Community School. Mr. Bruschi has consistently ensured that community partners are the fabric of school. Prior to his principalship at PS 78, he worked in the Office of School Improvement serving as a School Improvement Liaison and then director. He started his career in District 21 as a teacher and then assistant principal in District 20.    
  
Future Leaders Elementary School 74 – Hanin Hasweh has been an educator with the NYC Department of Education for 13 years. She started her career in Brooklyn, NY and became a founding teacher in 2010 when Future Leaders Elementary School opened as a new school. She continued to serve the learning community as a Math Coach and then as the first Assistant Principal. She will lead the school community as the acting principal for the 2018-2019 school year.
 
By Mike Reilly, District 31 Community Education Council President

The Staten Island Children’s Museum’s Circle of Friends Business Luncheon, now in its 27th year, recognizes people and organizations that have significantly contributed to the lives of Staten Island’s children. At the Luncheon, the Children’s Museum honors a “Kid of Achievement,” and is seeking nominations from the public as part of the selection process for 2018.

Who’s eligible to be nominated?

Children and teens up to age 17 who are involved in volunteerism, have overcome obstacles and challenges to help others, and who display leadership qualities are what the “Kid of Achievement” award is all about.

Last year, the Children’s Museum honored two “Kids of Achievement:” Bridget Helbock, a Notre Dame Academy student and Sophia Mostovoy, a student from Staten Island Academy. Bridget was recognized for her commitment to community service activities throughout her high school years, notably volunteering with Habitat for Humanity of Appalachia in Tobbins TN, where she helped renovate homes for needy families. Sophia was honored for her passionate advocacy for individuals who have autism spectrum disorders. She has organized student groups from her school to volunteer at the annual Autism Speaks Walk in Staten Island. Sophia has also volunteered at the Center for Discovery, an organization in New York State that serves children who have disabilities, including autism.

Submitting “Kid of Achievement” Nominations

The public is invited to send their recommendations to the Children’s Museum no later than Friday, October 12. The Nomination Form is available online and should include the nominee’s name, contact information and a brief description of their accomplishments. Entries may be submitted:

By mail:
Attn: Jennifer Dudley
Staten Island Children’s Museum,
1000 Richmond Terrace
Staten Island NY 10301

By email: jdudley@sichildrensmuseum.org

After a Committee review, the honoree will be selected and announced at the Circle of Friends Business Luncheon on Wednesday, November 14, 2018 at the Hilton Garden Inn.

Read Next | Health and Wellness Resources for Your Staten Island Child

It turns out bigger isn’t always better when it comes to your child’s birthday.

Planning a birthday party for your child can seem to get more and more stressful and time consuming year after year, but those big birthday bashes we see online (we’re looking at you, Pinterest!) may not be what your child really wants for their celebration. We spoke to event planners and area parents to find out what their kids really wanted at their birthday parties this year—turns out, bigger isn’t always better when it comes to celebrating the birthday child.

Take it from parents who know: Your kids may say they want a huge birthday blowout at the local arcade, but what they really want is a celebration that’s far more meaningful—and less chaotic.

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Am I the only one who has that single spot in their home that is a constant, infuriating reminder of how epically they are failing as an adult? For me, that spot is a hopelessly disorganized counter in my kitchen.

When it’s clean (semi-annually), it’s supposed to where you’ll find kitchen utensil storage and perhaps a place to store a few pieces of new mail. There is a little stack of post-it notes and a pen or two nearby for scrawling messages, like people in tidy homes do for each other when one isn’t home. There’s a calendar hanging up, not buried under a plethora of reminder notices and kids’ homework assignments. It’s an orderly, functional area of the home. Or at least, it’s supposed to be.

The thing is, this kitchen counter is more than just a ridiculously cluttered spot in a home that is almost equally disordered. It’s more than an inside-out junk drawer that seemingly threw up on itself.  It’s more than a mere representation of my messy personality.

It’s like…… a symbol of adulthood as I’ve come to know it.

If you were to look at it closely, you would see there isn’t just random junk mail and school art projects strewn carelessly about (though you will find an abundance of those too).

There are actual important documents in that pile. Things that should be dealt with immediately, or at least put away neatly. Things like unpaid bills. Important school notices. Insurance paperwork. My income taxes. My daughter’s first ever “report card” from preschool. Copies of the magazine in which my own words were literally published in print for the very first time in my life. Like, seriously important stuff.

It’s as though everything that is vitally significant to my existence resides within a chaotic stack on my kitchen counter, sandwiched between loose crayons and old Costco catalogues.

It’s not like I really have time to clean it. I sometimes distractedly stop what I’m doing and grab one or two things off the top to either toss in the recycling bin or file away somewhere safe. But then I take a second look and think “who am I even kidding?” and give up to stick my head in the fridge to find something to snack on.

So the stack just grows higher and higher with each passing day, more and more art projects and potentially important documents piled on top on a regular basis.

Sometimes I walk by that counter and I’m just like, wow. If being an adult were a class in school I would be seriously flunking out. If growing up were a video game, I would lose one life every time I added another “Final Notice” to top of the mound. If the fate of the entire free world hinged on my ability to be an actual, mature, grown, human being, there would be a crisis of apocalyptic proportions.

That kitchen counter represents the apocalypse of my ability to have my stuff together.

When you’re young, you have this overly optimistic faith in yourself, this notion that someday you’ll enter adulthood and just automatically grow up. Like it happens overnight or something. Maybe the domestic goddess fairy will sprinkle some fairy dust on your pillow one night and you’ll wake up the next morning as June Cleaver, or at the very least, Monica Gellar.

How silly, right? No one ever seems to realize that keeping your life together is hard enough when you only need to care for yourself, but it’s exponentially more difficult when you’re suddenly taking care of others as well. Why did no one ever tell me this???

Here’s a funny thought: I just realized that the time I’ve devoted to writing about my messy kitchen counter could have been spent ACTUALLY CLEANING IT. Oh well!

By Jeannine Cintron, a Staten Island mom of two and domestic goddess in training.

Ten ways to make your child’s workspace more conducive to finishing homework

Kids need a dedicated space to do their homework, whether it’s in their rooms, a common room in the house, or at the dinner table. But if it seems like your kids find any excuse not to sit down and do their homework, it could be their workstation is lacking in the right light, the right inspiration, or even the right chair. These quick and easy fixes will get your kids to focus on their homework—and ensure it gets done.

Annie Draddy, a professional organizer and co-founder of Henry & Higby, a professional organizing company in New York City, shares 10 ways to get your kids to actually sit down and get their work done—plus products that will help enhance their space.

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**This article and its content was published originally in NY MetroParents Magazine and on nymetroparents.com.**