Friday, October 16, 2026
After a long career of working in general and special education, Patricia Scollo is settling into her new job as Cornwell Avenue Elementary School principal. She started in Sept. of this year and has helped students “hit the ground running.”
Scollo grew up in Malverne and went to high school at Valley Stream North. She attended SUNY Plattsburgh for undergraduate, majoring in childhood education. She cites the “New Kid on the Block” program at Valley Stream North as part of her inspiration.
The program was a puppet show that students would participate in, depicting one of the puppets as a new kid at school with a disability. The students would go to elementary classes and put on the shows.
“It let the younger students understand that it’s okay if we’re different, this is how you could be a good friend and support one another,” Scollo said. “That message really resonated with me.”
She attended Molloy College for her masters in special education before starting her career in teaching. She taught at private special education schools, including the Tiegerman School in Glen Cove and Little Flower school in Wading River.
Before coming to Cornwell, she was a faculty member at Nathaniel Hawthorne MS 74 in Queens. She started as a special education teacher before becoming part of the Individual Education Program.
She worked with students who were not classified as part of the IEP but still needed help, as part of what’s called “IEP intervention.” They helped children by providing math intervention and small group readings without having to go through the process of getting classified.
“Special education in general gave me very specific strategies to support all learners,” Scollo said.
Before becoming principal, Scollo was assistant director of Pupil Personnel Services at Cornwell. She did work to try and decrease the number of students that were classified with a learning disability, as West Hempstead School District had an overclassification problem at the time. According to her, what teachers needed was more tools and resources to work with students.
“I wanted to get down to the building level for this reason,” Scollo said. “I want to classify less kids, help more teachers and share the best practices all around.”
As principal, Scollo has honed in more on helping children advance their reading skills, following the path the school has taken for the last few years.
“We are thrilled to welcome Ms. Scollo to her new role as principal of Cornwell Avenue Primary School,” superintendant Daniel Rehman said. “Patricia has been a valued member of the RamFam for several years, and she has already shown that she puts students first and understands that great schools are built on strong relationships with children, families, and staff. Her passion and vision, paired with her deep roots in our community, make me confident that our students will thrive under her leadership. We are RamProud to see her step into this role.”
Scollo and Chestnut Street School principal Lisa Minicozzi record videos highlighting literacy strategies for kindergarteners and first-graders that are shared with parents to help their child read at home. It includes games for parents to play with their children to help them learn phonics and other key reading skills.
This is a part of Scollo’s greater plan to increase the “home-school connection,” specifically with reading.
“It’s something fun that parents don’t have to feel like they have to have a ton of strategies or materials for, but that they can easily do at home for a few minutes to engage with their child,” Scollo said.
