Mrs. Castiglie Takes on AP Position

Mrs. Mary Castiglie, assistant principal, greets senior Dean Borsella. She is in charge of test administration and making sure that everything runs smoothly in the school.

Interim Assistant Principal Mrs. Mary Castiglie joined SWR’s staff last month after Dr. Michael Winfield resigned.

Mrs. Castiglie has experience in the education process, as she worked as a math teacher in Miller Place for 19 years as well as working in Three Village schools in Stony Brook and Setauket for 12 years as a math director and assistant principal. Mrs. Castiglie has been retired for four years but came to aid the district, which was a big help for her former Ward Melville High School co-worker, Mr. Frank Pugliese, SWR principal.

“The staff and the students have been very welcoming.” -Mrs. Castiglie

Mrs. Castiglie said she likes SWR in addition to where she has worked in the past. “The staff and the students have been very welcoming. It is a much smaller school, but it is nice,” she said.

Another difference between her previous districts and her current situation is discipline. It is one of the core jobs of an assistant principal. “For the most part, the students here are good kids. Sometimes they just make poor decisions,” she said.

Mrs. Castiglie’s educational philosophy, or what she believes is an important value in the education process, is “I’ve always tried to encourage students to make the most of every opportunity given in their high school years with the hope that they expand their options for post-secondary education.”

Her position, despite being temporary until the end of the year, involves much more than many expect. According to Mrs. Castiglie, her largest project currently entails making sure everything runs smoothly during AP test administration and Regents field test administration. The College Board has specific requirements that must be followed precisely or tests can be invalidated. Individual tests, or worse, an entire school’s AP tests, can and have been invalidated by the College Board for not following their rules.

Mr. Pugliese said, “Dr. Winfield gave in a resignation and that was it. It was a personal decision on his part.” Mr. Pugliese said he was grateful that Mrs. Castiglie was available for the position, especially since the two have worked together in the past.

While Mrs. Castiglie is happy to help the district, she said, “I look forward to getting back to golf.”

There is an extensive process for finding a new assistant principal for the next school year. According to Mr. Pugliese, the committee who narrows down the candidates is comprised of the principal; assistant superintendent for curriculum, instruction, and assessment; the assistant superintendent for human resources; the president of the teachers’ union; the president of CSEA; a building teacher representative from the teachers’  union and a parent representative from the  PTSA who “go through applications, do a screening, and then narrow it down.”

The process is selective, and only a small pool of applicants will make it past the screening. During the screening, three interviewers are present, and those being interviewed have five questions they will answer. Once these questions are answered, the interviewers will select a few of those screened to be interviewed more specifically as opposed to the general questions asked during the screening.

According to Teacher.org, “Vice principals, often referred to as Assistant Principals, work beside school principals to manage the administrative and educational aspect of elementary, middle, and high schools.”

 

Republished from Shoreham-Wading River’s print newspaper, The Wildcat Pause (April 2019 Issue).