MacArthur’s ‘general’ calls it a career

Every time Kathleen Valentino has left MacArthur High School, she has found her way back. This time, however, it will be permanent, as she retired on June 30 as principal of the Levittown high school.

Valentino served three stints as MacArthur. She arrived in 1992 as an English teacher, before moving across the parking lot to Jonas Salk Middle School to serve as chairwoman of the English Department. She returned to MacArthur for a similar position, while also serving as dean. Following a promotion to assistant principal, she moved to the north end of the district as principal of Division Avenue High School, a post she held for five years.

When the principal job opened up at MacArthur in 2010, she became a General again. “I wanted to come home,” she said. “I liked ending my career where I started it. MacArthur gets into your blood.”

Valentino spent 23 years in the Levittown School District, and 31 total in education.

As principal, Valentino always took pride in the accomplishments of her students. She is proud of the fact that three-quarters of this year’s graduating class earned Advanced Regents Diplomas.

There were several events she particularly enjoyed each year including Homecoming, the Pink Out football game to raise money for breast cancer research, and Cutting for a Cause, in which students donated some of their hair to make wigs for people with cancer. Every event at the school is special, Valentino said, and the students at MacArthur are very spirited.

So are the teachers and staff members, she explained. She described MacArthur’s staff as hardworking and generous. “I can’t say enough good about them,” she said. “I was honored to work with them.”

Valentino said that her key to being a good leader has been to surround herself with good people, and let them do their jobs. She noted that her primary role as principal has been to support her teachers.

She said her legacy as principal was that she fostered the creativity of her staff. Initiatives that have been implemented in the past five years include the creation of a memorial brick walkway near the turf field, and broadcasting the morning announcements — ideas that came from her teachers.

Superintendent Dr. Tonie McDonald described Valentino as a person the teachers wanted to work hard for. She said Valentino brought an atmosphere of teamwork and collegiality to the building, and was a true professional.

McDonald also noted Valentino’s compassion for students. She said that was evident when McDonald’s own children were attending MacArthur during Valentino’s tenure as assistant principal.

“As a mom, I always respected her for what she did for the students of that school,” McDonald said. “I’ll miss her. I care very deeply about her.”

Valentino’s children also attended MacArthur. She raised her three sons in Seaford, and they attended Seaman’s Neck Elementary School and Jonas Salk Middle School. They went to high school during Valentino’s time as a teacher there. “They perfected the art of avoiding me,” she joked.

Valentino now lives in Massapequa, but one of her sons bought her old house, so her grandchildren are on a path to attend MacArthur in the future.

While MacArthur may have a Levittown address, students from Wantagh and Seaford also attend the school, which serves the southern half of the district. Coming from three separate communities has never been an issue for the students, Valentino explained. “They become a family, they really do,” she said.

With more than three decades in education, Valentino saw a lot of changes. She has welcomed the raising of standards for students, but decried the “devaluing of teachers” through what she described as a flawed evaluation system. “You can’t put a number on some of the things that they do for kids,” she said.

McDonald said that Valentino’s replacement is expected to be named at the July 15 Board of Education meeting. Valentino’s advice for her successor is to “appreciate every day, make the teachers feel appreciated, and the rest will fall into place.”

Valentino says she has no plans for retirement yet, but said she will find some way to keep busy. Wherever she goes, she will look back fondly on her nearly quarter-century in the Levittown School District, which she described as “the best kept secret on Long Island.”

She spoke of how lucky she was to have a job she loved going to every day. When asked what she would miss most, she simply said, “Everything.”