By:Nicole Falco
"I was becoming disenchanted with how far away I was from the classroom," Kusulas said. "I've always seen myself as a teacher - whether a teacher of children or of other teachers."
For two years before he joined the Valley Stream community, succeeding Bruce Alster, who retired in June, Kusulas was associate superintendent for elementary education in Clarkstown. He had been that district's director of curriculum and instruction for the previous seven years.
A history and culture buff, Kusulas had planned on earning a doctorate in social history and anthropology, and began teaching to earn some money in between degrees. After graduating from Staten Island's Wagner College with a degree in history and from the University of Connecticut with a master's in American studies, Kusulas accepted a position teaching history at the St. Dimitrius Greek-American School in Astoria. He never went on to earn that doctorate.
"I never left the classroom," Kusulas said. "I got hooked."
In the 11 years he spent at the Astoria elementary school, Kusulas was a teacher, grade advisor, department chair, assistant principal and principal. He even helped develop a high school program for the school. He also married and had a son. His wife, Angela, is a retired elementary-school principal. His son, Matthew, recently graduated from Cornell University and, like his father, took a year off between degrees to teach. However, Kusulas said, his son has every intention of starting medical school next fall.
In 1986, Kusulas accepted a position as principal of Prospect Hill Elementary School, where he worked until 1995. In the meantime, he completed his teaching certification and earned a professional diploma from Hunter College. He also taught as an adjunct professor at Mercy College in Westchester.
As soon as he arrived at Brooklyn Avenue, Kusulas noticed the school's "quaint family atmosphere" and "character." "Every time I came to Valley Stream and went to the Brooklyn Avenue School, I became more and more connected," he said. "I started to see this as the right fit. From the reception I'm getting from the community, the Board of Education, staff, central administration, parents and, most importantly, the children of Brooklyn Avenue, my perceptions were right. It feels good."
His first official day was Sept. 1, but Kusulas spent a few days before that working in his new office. He wrote letters to parents, faculty and staff, and students, introducing himself and detailing some of his goals for his first year. Since then he has been spending time getting acquainted with the school and what he calls its "stakeholders." Whether it's popping into classrooms to say hello to teachers and students or greeting parents as they drop their children off for school, Kusulas has been meeting people to "get a sense of who and what they are and what their needs are.
"Building relationships takes time," he said. "But it is time well spent.". "But it is time well spent."
