By DEBBIE ROSEN
She is friend first and principal second. Enid D'Arrigo wouldn't have it any other way.
For 16 years she headed up the Oceanside Middle School as principal, serving as the educational cornerstone, bringing the middle school philosophy to Oceanside and making it one of the best in the state. After the announcement came that she would retire at the end of this school year, she sat in her office and reminisced. And while looking back over the years, tears came to her eyes when she spoke about what it is she will miss most of all.
The kids. It's all about the kids. It's always been about them, never about me, she said. I've always tried to get to know as many of them as I could and to listen to them. I wanted to know how life is going for them.To hear their concerns. I've always loved this age... you know, teens. They keep you young.
For 34 years, D'Arrigo has also resided in Oceanside where she was appointed to her current position as principal by then Superintendent Victor Leccese, a man she said was her mentor. Prior to coming to Oceanside, she taught fourth and fifth grade at PS128 in Brooklyn. After her husband, James, came home one day announcing he bought a home in this warm neighborhood named Oceanside, D'Arrigo decided to seek employment in her new hometown.
Her first position came after interviewing with Boardman Elementary School Assistant Principal Barbara Brodie. She landed a job and taught sixth-grade math, until she became pregnant. While raising her children Jennifer, Brian, and Dana, D'Arrigo took courses in administration at Hofstra University. She returned to the workplace in 1978, teaching sixth grade in Rockville Centre, until Leccese asked her to return to Oceanside. In September of that same year, she began to teach math at Boardman elementary.
Leccese realized some administrators in the district planned to retire over the course of the next six years and recruited D'Arrigo into a paid administrative intern program. After a year and a half, with then school 8 principal Mary Bombara, coupled with a decline in numbers at the two junior high schools, the district moved ninth graders to the high school. The stage was set for a middle school to be housed on the north side of school 9. A task force headed up by D'Arrigo examined the idea of a middle school philosophy, extensively visiting other middle schools and conducting research. She presented a report to the superintendent who then asked for volunteers to come work at the middle school, among them D'Arrigo.
We had 500 students that first year on the third floor of the school, all seventh graders, she said.The kids in eighth and ninth grades stayed in the junior high, easing the transition for the children, she said. That first year, back in the 1983/84 school year, the team teaching philosophy made its debut, an idea that the collective wisdom of many teachers far exceeds the wisdom of one, D'Arrigo said. And the innovations of the middle school continued to blossom.
We all wanted to build the middle school philosophy which deals with the sense that young adults need an environment that accommodates social, emotional, and academics at this age of rapid growth and change in a child's life, D'Arrigo said. During the course of the years young adult is in seventh and eighth grade, there is incredible peer pressure and kids need to be helped along in solving problems. We wanted to provide a relationship with adults for them, one with trust.
At its inception, the middle school had six periods, as opposed to the current eight-period day. In 1993, the school furthered its team-teaching philosophy by giving students the same teachers for both years they would be in middle school.
The philosophy was a mark of educational excellence, being awarded the New York State Award of Excellence by the state education department. But it is the math awards, the writing awards, the school concerts, team spirit times and her staff that D'Arrigo holds dear to her heart. And she never takes credit for the work she has done, saying none of it could have been done without a team effort. Everyone here is important from the custodians, to the kitchen staff, security people, teachers, team leaders, guidance, everyone... all have contributed to the success of the school, D'Arrigo said, emotionally.
But all good things must come to an end and D'Arrigo, who is known to be at school from before sunup to well after sundown, said it is time to move on. We've built a great school, she said. It's been a labor of love, but the job takes an inordinate amount of time and I'd like to spend more time with my grandson, Jake, and travel with my husband.
Although D'Arrigo never takes full credit for the success of Oceanside's middle school, staff members think differently.
I think she has made the middle school what it is today, said Les Milch, science chairperson. It just won't be the same without her.
Social Studies chairperson and assistant to the principal, Bob Fenter called D'Arrigo his mentor. My way of describing Enid is inspiring, he said. Her biggest contribution to the school is creating a child centered educationally excellent school. She is guided by a middle school philosophy.
I think from a professional point of view, she's not just an administrator, but an educational leader, said Language Arts Chairperson Kathy Cicerani. She's always reading professional journals and whatever innovation comes here, comes from Enid.
For 10 years, Sue McConnell has worked as secretary for D'Arrigo. Leading by example is one of two legacies for which she will be remembered. I think what has made her unique is she never expected anything from anyone that she wouldn't expect from herself, McConnell said. But more importantly, she is one person who never forgot that we are here for the kids.
