Rockville Centre School District names Wilson Elementary School's new interim principal

Jim Duffy, a longtime teacher at Jennie E. Hewitt Elementary School with a variety of other roles in the district, was named interim principal of Francis F. Wilson Elementary School last week.

The Rockville Centre Board of Education officially announced the news at a meeting on Aug. 22.

“This is a really good day for Rockville Centre, for the Wilson School and for the Wilson children,” Schools Superintendent Dr. William Johnson said after the vote. “He’s a potential superstar, and we’re very pleased that he surfaced as the candidate for this position.”

Johnson added that district officials interviewed seven internal candidates before deciding on Duffy, noting that he “has prepared himself very well in all the different positions he’s taken on in the school district.”

Duffy, 40, who lives in Lindenhurst with his wife and three children — in third grade, first grade and pre-kindergarten —joined Hewitt School in 2003. There, he has served as a fourth- and fifth-grade teacher, as well as the school’s academic facilitator at Hewitt, handling certain administrative duties for the principal, like scheduling.

Hewitt Principal Elizabeth Pryke likened the role of an academic facilitator to that of an assistant principal. She called Duffy an “amazing educator” and a “creative problem-solver” who is ready to become Wilson’s interim principal.

“I wish him the best of luck,” she said, noting his thoughtfulness, wit and kindness. “I think he’s going to do great. I’m just going to miss him so much.”

Duffy has also served as a teacher for the district’s STELLAR — success in technology, enrichment, library, literacy and research — program. “Whatever topics they’re learning about in class, we’ll do something similar in STELLAR with technology,” Duffy said.

Additionally, he was the director of Project Great, a before- and after-school program in all five elementary schools, and has been principal of the district’s summer program for the last four years.

“I was very excited to hear that the position was open, and I really feel that all the experience that I’ve had as summer school principal and in the district made me a strong candidate for the position,” Duffy said. “I was thrilled when the board announced me.”

The news came about a week after the Board of Education accepted the resignation of Thomas Ricupero, who is set to retire at the end of October after 39 years in the district. Ricupero, 64, who had previously worked as a special education teacher at South Side High School and a principal at South Side Middle School, spent the last 15 years as principal of Wilson School. District officials said that Ricupero would help with the transition through October.

Ricupero said he has worked closely with Duffy in the past and looks forward to helping him adjust to a new school over the next couple months. “I think Jim’s an excellent choice,” he said. “He has all the qualities of a person who’s going to be caring, responsible, hard-working, non-exclusive, and he always wants to do what’s best for the kids and the family and his staff.”

A formal search for a permanent principal at Wilson for the 2019-20 year, with input from parents, teachers and staff, is set to take place this year, according to Robert Bartels, the Rockville Centre School District’s assistant superintendent for business and personnel.

“[We’re] very confident that even though it’s on very short notice, [he’ll] able to walk in there and there will not be any lost step or time for anything going on in that building,” Johnson said of Duffy. “He’s going to hit the ground running.”