By JOSEPH KELLARD
Dr. Thalia Venditti, a district coordinator of mathematics in Glen Cove School District, was appointed the school's new principal after Richard McMahon was hired by Manhasset Middle School in early June.
"All the elements [in the Island Park School District] are there: the collegiality, the collaboration, the commitment to the educational process, the sense of family, and the fact that it is a fifth-to-eight-grade middle school, which is my strength," Venditti said about her reasons for coming to Island Park to accept a promotion to principal. "Middle-level education is my strength, and was something I worked very hard at and developed an expertise in."
Starting in 1990, Venditti was an assistant principal of Intermediate School 171 in District 19 (East New York) for five years, where she was responsible for student services and curriculum articulation; the next five years she was assistant principal of the Robert Finley Middle School in Glen Cove, where she introduced interdisciplinary and thematic instruction.
Since no assistant principal positions exist in Island Park, Venditti's experience in this capacity, particularly at the middle school level, was highly attractive to Price, as were her leadership and disciplinary qualities, knowledge of curriculum, scheduling and other related areas.
"She has both a solid practical as well as theoretical background in these areas," Price said.
Also weighing heavily in Venditti's favor in Price's eyes was her doctoral work in educational foundations, leadership and policy studies at Hofstra University. She was one of 32 original applicants for the position, of which 16 met with Price. He narrowed the field down to nine for the district's screening committee to assess. The committee choose three candidates who then met with the board of education, and Price made a recommendation to the board.
In a letter to parents after her hire, Price wrote that Venditti "was the unanimous choice of the screening committee, school district administrators and members of the Board of Education."
One constant area of focus in Island Park is at the middle school level, where students nationwide "just don't fare as well" on any standardized test, Price said. He sees Venditti as an educator with the potential to help the district turn the corner in this area.
"We really need a person to come in and be a real instructional leader. We have great teachers, and they just need some leadership in moving forward to address these achievement issues that we face with middle school students throughout the country," he said.
Venditti said this long-standing problem has resurfaced in recent years after state assessment tests were introduced, and to correct it she applies a middle school philosophy that addresses both the academic and emotional needs, since middle school students "are going through some real difficulties in terms of their growth and development," she explained.
She first began work in this area during the mid-1908s as a mathematical staff developer in Community School (also in District 19), where she contributed to a comprehensive restructuring effort, the goal of which was to redesign the school to meet the needs of the middle-level student.
"In a school that had traditionally been a junior high school, where the focus was on curriculum and content, we modified that so that the needs of the child were incorporated and the curriculum was made more relevant to them," she said.
Among the projects that were employed were getting math students to conduct surveys in which they learned about their similarities and differences with their classmates, and getting English/Language Arts students to write autobiographies and share them with others.
"All of the content teachers got together to develop these thematic units, and it kind of brought the kids together and made instruction a little more meaningful," she said. "It was successful."
In addition to her academic goals for the district, which broadly includes identifying and developing the school's weakness and building on its strengths, Venditti is eager to get to know the students, staff, families and community.
"I will have an open door policy and welcome comments, feedback and communication," she said.
Venditti will officially become principal on Aug. 19, and a reception welcoming her to the district will be held at the board of education meeting at Lincoln Orens at 7:30 on Monday, Aug. 26.
