Superintendent Welcomes Students, Staff With Marathon First Day

The first day of school was undoubtedly a busy one for West Islip students and their parents. But the day also proved to be somewhat of a marathon for new Superintendent Richard Simon.

"It was a very busy, exiting day that went very well," Simon said. "It started at the high school. I got there about 7 a.m. and managed to visit all nine schools by 2:30.  I definitely slept well (Tuesday) night."

Simon's initial first day of school in West Islip comes a little more than a month after officially taking the superintendent position. Joining the school district from Cold Spring Harbor where he served as that school district's assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction, Simon replaces Dr. Beth Virginia Blau, who served as West Islip School Superintendent for the past nine years.

On day one of the 2010-11 school year, Simon carried out his plan to make stops at every school in the district. At the schools he visited classrooms, introduced himself to the staff and spoke with students. Part of his first-day-of-school plans was visiting elementary schools early enough to catch the kids depart from their parents.

"My first two elementary schools, I was there at the drop-off time, so I got to see the parade of parents with their cameras, and the little kindergarteners getting dropped off, they were very excited," Simon said.  "I think some of the parents were the ones who were upset.

"It was very touching to see so many parents want to record their kid's first step off the bus and into the hands of the school. The excitement on both the parents and kids parts, that was really great."

Simon's morning continued with a 30-minute PTA Presidents Council meeting at 11 a.m., then it was back on his trip across West Islip. In fact, he had so much on his plate that when asked what he had for lunch on Tuesday afternoon, he replied, "to tell you the truth, I don't remember."

Simon said his goal throughout the year is to be in the schools as much as possible, although district meetings and other obligations will call for his attention. In the next six weeks, he plans on visiting each elementary school—one per week—and spending full mornings at each. He'll also visit the high school and middle schools twice each in the same six-week period. 

"I'll see how that goes," he said, "And if it works well, I'll continue that pattern,"

Generally on the first day of classes, there tend to be minor mishaps within the schools, such as scheduling errors. But Simon reported that things appeared to go smoothly throughout West Islip schools this year. 

"Knock on wood, we had no glitches that I'm aware of within the buildings," he said. "Everybody worked really hard to make sure the schedules, the teacher schedules and the facilities were ready for the kids. It seemed to really go well. In fact, almost everyone I spoke to said they can't think of a smoother start."