CCS School Board Chooses PreK – 4th Grade Co-Principal February 16, 2010 The CCS School Board has approved the hiring of Gregory Marino to be the new PreK – 4th grade co-principal.

Marino was unanimously recommended by a hiring committee consisting of parents, staff and school board representatives. According to CSSU Superintendent Elaine Pinckney, "Greg is bright, engaging, thoughtful, articulate and an experienced administrator. Everyone who interviewed him knew immediately that he was exactly the right match for CCS. His sense of humor, focus on students, and dedication to doing whatever it takes to ensure success for each and every student was evident in every response. We all look forward to working with him in realizing CCS’s potential."

Marino is currently in his third year as the principal of the Essex Town Elementary School. He has BS and MS degrees in Music education from Ithaca College and SUNY Queens College and earned his Certificate of Advanced Studies in Administration from SUNY Stony Brook. He has experience at the elementary and middle school/ junior high level. He lives in Williston with his wife and four children.

The decision to hire Marino was made at the School Board’s meeting Tuesday evening. They said that the hiring committee has not yet come up with a recommendation for the 5th – 8th grade co-principal.

When asked about the cost of having two principals, board member Sue Thibault pointed out that up until this year there have been three full time administrators, now reduced to 2.5. During the current year that includes a full-time principal, a half-time principal and a full-time special educator. For next year there will again be 2.5 administrators: two full-time principals with an education focus on their specific grade levels, and one half-time special educator.

Essex Town Elementary has 421 students in PreK through 2nd grade. Here is an interesting look at the work Greg Marino is doing there, as posted recently on his “principal’s blog:”

Community to School Connections:

Here's an update on what our Community to School Connections Committee (CSCC) has been working on. The mission of this committee is to work towards establishing and nurturing connections between EES and the surrounding community. This year’s areas of focus for the committee include an ambitious list: Continuing to sponsor and help coordinate an Earth Week / Day celebration at EES ** help implement a lunch-time compost program at EES ** stay connected with Farm to School committee, exploring ways to possibly connect school gardens to cafeteria and curriculum ** explore ways for the EES community to provide support to communities in need ** Currently, the committee is busy with the 2nd grade lunch-time composting initiative with the help of EES teacher, June Golato, and Virginia Yandell (as well as others!!)

http://eesprincipal.blogspot.com/

Updated February 17, 2010