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Partly Cloudy District 24 welcomes new principal
When Rosario Iacono applied to District 24 for the open principal job, he got a sense that it was the right fit for him. As the new leader of the Robert W. Carbonaro School, Iacono is enthusiastic about the upcoming year and is looking to make a difference in his first administrative position.
Iacono replaces Dr. Lisa Conte, who has been named the district’s curriculum director after serving as principal for the past nine years.
With Conte’s promotion, Iacono got his chance to become a principal after several years of teaching in New Jersey. But he’s no stranger to the responsibilities of administration, as Iacono became a leader in his old school, Albert Payson Terhune in Wayne. He chaired an Earth Day committee, introduced a science fair for fourth graders, led the pilot of new math and science programs, created schedules, handled discipline issues and even dealt with the media.
“I’ve been involved in all aspects of leading the building,” he said. “There really isn’t something I will be doing for the first time. I’ve been exposed to many of the responsibilities of a building principal.”
Iacono didn’t graduate college expecting to have a career in education. After earning his bachelor’s degree in finance from Kean University in Union, N.J., he went on a job interview with a financial resources company and said it was evident right then that the business world wasn’t for him. Instead, he got a job as a substitute teacher in Bergen, N.J., and while doing that earned his master’s degree in education.
St. Elizabeth’s College gave him a student teacher placement in Wayne, N.J., which ultimately led to a job where he taught first and third grade before coming to Valley Stream.
When he came in to meet with Superintendent Dr. Edward Fale and Assistant Superintendent Dan Onorato, he got a good feeling about District 24, noting how welcoming the two were. “It was if I had known them for years,” he said.
Now that he has the job, Iacono is excited to get to work. He said he will spend the first few months getting to know the school and the community, and listening to the concerns of teachers, staff members and parents.
Iacono said he has a cooperative leadership style, and wants teachers to be a part of the decision-making process. “For anyone to come and have that top-down mentality, that’s not going to work, and I’m not built that way,” he said. “If I don’t have faith in the people that are working with me, we’re not going to succeed as a school.”
He added that he sees himself as a resource for teachers, and his biggest fear would be letting the staff, the students and the parents down.
Fale doesn’t see that happening. He said Iacono’s leadership style is just right for District 24. “I think he’s an ideal match for that school,” Fale said. “He radiates a general caring for children.”
He added that one of the reasons he chose Iacono, who won the Board of Education’s approval earlier this month, was because he can see Iacono building a career in the district.
Iacono says that is the plan. In traveling around Valley Stream during his first few days on the job, he said everyone had good things to say about the community. “This feels like the right place for me,” he said. “My loyalty is very strong. Having this opportunity here, I don’t take that lightly.”
He lives in Westchester with his wife and three children, a 4-year-old daughter and 10-month-old twins, a boy and a girl. “Wife being from Queens, me being from New Jersey, we settled in the middle,” he said, adding that he would now like to move to Long Island with his new job. “I always knew that I was going to pursue education in New York, but wasn’t sure where life would take me.”
Outside of work, he loves soccer and was once a coach at a summer soccer camp. He also enjoys cooking and worked at his family’s restaurant while growing up.
Iacono said he looks forward to the first day of school, and plans to be at the front door greeting students and their parents that day and every morning after.
