The Board of Education unanimously approved the appointments of Suzanne Chaves as the district's new director of second languages, Constance Malcolm-Grant as New Visions School principal, Meg Sheehan as Columbus Avenue School principal, Jessica Romero as New Visions School assistant principal and Christopher Porciello as J.W. Dodd Middle School assistant principal, effective July 1, 2018.
Chaves comes to Freeport from the City School District of Albany, where she served as the bilingual ENL intake coordinator. She has 18 years of teaching experience, most of which focused on English as a New Language, but also Spanish and English in grade levels K-12. Chaves also has extensive experience as a facilitator of professional development in her most recent position, in addition to her prior work as a teacher trainer/bilingual resource specialist with both Questar III BETAC and Mid-Hudson BETAC at Ulster BOCES. She holds a bachelor's degree as a double major in English and Spanish from University at Albany, a master's degree in teaching English as a second language from Long Island University and another master's in educational administration with a concentration in instructional leadership from Canisius College.
Malcolm-Grant is no stranger to New Visions School, having served there for the past 16 years, beginning as a lead reading teacher until 2015, when she became assistant principal. She began her career in education in 1994, first as a third-grade teacher at PS 276 and then as a reading teacher and staff developer at Meyer Levin Junior High School, both in Brooklyn. Malcolm-Grant holds a Bachelor of Science degree from City College and Master of Science degrees in reading and administration from Adelphi University and Touro College, respectively. She also holds certifications in ESL, reading teacher and school district administration.
Sheehan comes to Freeport having most recently served as director of the North Shore Montessori School in Stony Brook since 2010. Her experience in education prior to that includes serving as an administrator at West Side Montessori School, teacher educator at Center for Montessori Education New York and administrative intern in the Three Village School District. Sheehan holds a bachelor's degree in nursing from Mount Saint Mary College, a master's degree in literacy education birth-6 from Dowling College and an advanced professional certificate in educational leadership from Stony Brook University. She also holds several additional certifications in areas including school building/school district administration, early childhood education birth-2 and literacy 1-6.
A former graduate of Freeport High School, Romero most recently served as an administrator in the New York City school system for the past 10 years. She holds a bachelor's degree from Queens College, a master's degree from LIU Post, and an administrative degree from The College of Saint Rose.
Porciello comes to the district from Junior High School 190 Russell Sage in Forest Hills, New York, where he served as a general education teacher and ICT teacher of mathematics since 2011, in addition to serving as chairperson of the School Leadership Team. He holds Bachelor of Arts degrees in elementary education and special education from Dowling College, and a Master of Science degree in school leadership from Touro College. Porciello also holds certifications in childhood education (grades 1-6), students with disabilities (grades 1-6) and school building leader - school district leader.