L.V. welcomes new assistant superintendent

Students in the Locust Valley Central School District will have someone new greeting them at their schools this fall. Janine Sampino is joining the school district as the assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction, and was scheduled to start work on Friday.
Sampino currently serves in the same role in the Rockville Centre Union Free School District, and has been working in academia for 30 years. The 51-year-old Bethpage resident was a curriculum coordinator in Rockville Centre for 18 years before being named assistant superintendent two years ago.
Sampino explained that she has always had a passion for education, and intended to bring that passion with her to her new academic home.
“I was one of those kids who always wanted to be a teacher,” she said. “I even had a chalkboard in my room at home. I think it’s an exciting time to be in education, and I can’t wait to begin this new journey at Locust Valley.”
Managing curriculum and instruction, Sampino will have several major responsibilities. She will plan, implement and evaluate the district’s curriculums. She also will oversee its syllabuses while providing students with career and vocational development. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg.

Most important to Sampino and the district, she will act as a bridge between the district’s faculty and administration and its students and families.
This, she said, was what she was looking forward to most.
“I think the most important part of the role of assistant superintendent of curriculum and instruction is really to build a sense of community by being a link between the schools and the families in the district,” she said. “I feel that whatever challenges may come, if we work together as a community, I think we’ll be OK.”
District superintendent Kenneth Graham echoed those sentiments, saying that despite the number of highly qualified candidates for the job — more than 70 in all — Sampino proved to be the right choice, because he and the district’s education board believe that building relationships, and the sense of community among faculty, students and the families, is key.
“The primary personal attribute we were looking for was somebody who would look to develop deep relationships with all our stakeholders,” Graham explained.
“Our community, our students and parents and families, our leadership team, our staff — and take the time to build those relationships.”
After whittling down the list of candidates to 30, district officials interviewed them, and then a committee made up of teachers, administrators, district staff and parents selected the finalists, each of whom gave a presentation detailing their plans and goals for the district.
Then, after a final round of interviews, it was clear, school board president Brian Nolan said, that Sampino was the right fit for the job. Nolan reiterated that it was Sampino’s desire to build community relationships that led Nolan and the other trustees to agree that she was the best choice.
“We were really looking for someone to further the relationships between the teachers, the staff, the students and the parent community,” Nolan stressed.
“Janine rose to be the top candidate because we believed she could build these solid relationships, and of course oversee all aspects of the instructional program of our district. We’re really excited to work with her.”