By:Nicole Falco
On Sept. 9, Scrocco will enjoy her first day of school as principal of the Forest Road School, succeeding Carol Kingsley, who retired in June.
"[The first day of school] is like a breath of fresh air," Scrocco said. "I have a mental picture of kids bursting through the door with their backpacks and lunchpails, waving goodbye to their parents on the front steps."
Scrocco may have always known she wanted to teach, but she didn't always know she wanted to be an administrator. After graduating from SUNY-Cortland in 1983, she taught first grade at the First Steps Discovery Center in Setauket. Next she worked as a one-year leave-replacement teacher at a couple of Long Island schools before settling in the Lawrence School District, where she was a gifted-and-talented program teacher at the Number 1 and Number 5 schools. She was the district's gifted-and-talented program coordinator until the position was dissolved, and she was a grade-leader at the Number 5 school, organizing testing schedules and building programs.
While teaching, Scrocco earned a master's degree from LIU-C.W. Post and a degree in administration from Hofstra. With her coursework complete and having gained experience as both a program coordinator and grade-level leader, she started looking for a job as an assistant principal, but such jobs are hard to come by at the elementary level. Scrocco might have continued as a gifted-and-talented teacher were it not for her principal at the Number 5 School. With his encouragement, she soon began applying for principal positions, and found herself interviewing in District 30, which happens to be her home district.
"There were always a lot of things going on at the same time," Scrocco said of simultaneously teaching, earning a degree and being a grade-level leader. "It helped prepare me for the same kinds of extensive opportunities I'll have here as a building principal - having to wear many different hats during the course of the day."
Scrocco has lived in Valley Stream for nine years - actually in the zone of the Clear Stream Avenue School, which is also welcoming a new principal this year. "It's nice [working in the community where you live] because you'll get to see familiar community faces when you're out and about in town or shopping," she said.
Scrocco spent several days with Kingsley at the end of the school year, getting to know the building and meeting some of the teachers and students. Her first official day at the school was Aug. 1, and she has spent the past month preparing and organizing for the first day of school. She said she hopes to begin outlining her vision for the future, one that she will create with the staff.
"The first year is going to be a lot of looking and listening, learning as I go, as I get to know the culture of the building," Scrocco said. "Teachers may be wondering, What is she going to change or What is she going to make different? The things that are working or worked well here, there's no reason to change them. I might modify them a little, but you always do that as an educator."
