Sewanhaka, F.S. supers get settled

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Both the Sewanhaka Central High School and Franklin Square School Districts saw their new superintendents officially take the helm during each district’s respective reorganizational meetings in July. Although he was barely a week into the job, SCHSD Superintendent James Grossane said he had already begun meeting with officials from all five high schools to get acclimated to his new job.

“I’ll be taking official tours of the school with the principals and assistant principals soon,” Grossane said. “This is a wonderful district and I can’t wait to really get started.”

Grossane came from previously serving as the superintendent of the Smithtown Central School District. Although he worked at Smithtown for the past five years, most of his career has taken place in Nassau County. He’s worked as the superintendent of schools for the Levittown Public Schools District, the assistant to the superintendent for student support services at Massapequa Public Schools and as principal for the Massapequa High School and Washington Street School, in Franklin Square. WSS was where he first acted as a principal and earned a certificate of appreciation during Founders Day in 1999.

Jared Bloom, the new Superintendent at Franklin Square, was also making tours around the neighborhood, stopping by the three elementary schools and making an appearance at the grand opening of the Franklin Square Public Library’s new teen center.

Bloom, 42, first began working as a district administrator covering Instructional Technology and English Language Arts in the Deer Park School District. He then moved on to the South Huntington School District, where he has served as the assistant superintendent of Curriculum and Instruction for the past five years, pushing for innovations in the district’s science technology engineering and math programs. In 2017, The Western Suffolk BOCES named Bloom “Administrator of the Year” for his leadership work in South Huntington. Bloom said he was thrilled to be joining the Franklin Square community and eager to put his skills to the test when it comes to budgeting.

“I was very involved in the budget at South Huntington … and I’ve brought in about $2.5 million through competitive grants,” Bloom said. “My skill set involves looking at creative sources to fund districts so that they can sustain and expand their programs.”

Both superintendents hope to maintain the excellence of their school districts while fostering improvements along with their respective board of education trustees.