BOE Profiles: Annmarie LaRosa

In May, Annmarie LaRosa was elected to another term on the West Islip School Board. This election didn't come as easy.

"I ran unopposed then. This time I had to campaign. You can't take anything for granted," she said.

That seems to be a rule LaRosa lives by. She lives in a very good school district, yet she doesn't take that for granted, either. She is not only on the Board of Education, but she is also a co-director of the West Islip Summit; a founding member of the PAWS Foundation; a member of the Islip Youth Services Board; the Victims Information Bureau; the West Islip Beach Task Force; the Westbrook and Udall Road PTA and SEPTA. She is also a certified teacher and a community business owner, a wife and a mother of two girls. Can you say full plate?

"I have a passion for education. It's my background , my business and because of my kids, I felt the need for an educator on the Board. I felt the curriculum needed to be updated," she said.

LaRosa moved to West Islip in 1984 with her parents, but was able to finish her last year of high school in Copiague to graduate with her class in 1985. She attended West Virginia University for her undergraduate studies, then returned to home to earn her Masters at Stony Brook University. She taught elementary school in Elmont for 15 years before she and her business partner opened the South Shore Children's Center in West Islip and East Islip. Now, as she gets ready for a new term on the Board, she reflects on the one behind her.

"One big accomplishment in my first term was having the Board approve my request for an Education Committee. I felt we needed to look at the progress we were making, reviewing the curriculum," she said. "We also established the Bully Awareness Committee which is a very relevant issue right now."

LaRosa also credits her husband for all that she has taken on.

"My husband is very supportive. We're a team," she said. "We choose to spend our time this way. Plus, we can include our kids with a lot of it, like the food drives we do through the Summit. My kids are there with me. I am very proud of that."

As for her next term, LaRosa said the entire Board's main focus will be helping the new Superintendent, Richard Simon, with whatever he needs to settle in.

"A big part of our job is to help him get acclimated, meet the community and get the feel of the job. And one of my main goals over the next three years will be to find ways to update the districts technology infrastructure and use of technology in the classroom. I will be advocating for smartboards in our classroom and wireless technology in the schools."