July 3, 2023
Dear Sewanhaka District Community,
I’d like to take a moment to introduce myself to you and to express my joy in being re-affiliated with the Sewanhaka Central High School District. I will have the opportunity to serve as the Interim Superintendent of the District until a permanent Superintendent can be appointed by the Board of Education. I am excited to be able to serve in this capacity, and I know the District from my previous service as a Central Office administrator here and Principal of one of the District’s High Schools. In the time I have been away, serving as Superintendent and Interim Superintendent of other Long Island Districts, and Interim President of Nassau Community College, I have continued to regard the Sewanhaka District as one that has a vast array of opportunities for students, a staff that is dedicated to their success and several communities that take great pride in their schools.
My immediate attention will fall upon the appointment of new Principals at Elmont Memorial High School and H. Frank Carey High School. Those searches have been underway for weeks and it is my hope that candidates for the position will be recommended to the Board of Education within the next few weeks. An update on those searches will be given at the July 11 Re-Organizational meeting of the Board. There are some other teaching vacancies that are also being addressed, but finding the next instructional leaders for these two buildings is a high priority.
We will also continue to conduct various summer programs for students and prepare for a successful opening in September. July and August represent opportunities to assess, re-energize, and re-group. These months will be put to good use and updates on those programs and our preparations will also be offered as September approaches.
The recruitment, selection and appointment of the next Superintendent will be some of the most important work done this year and the community’s involvement will be described as that process begins. I look forward to working with the Board of Education and hope that the process can begin quickly.
I look forward to becoming a part of the school community and especially to my visits to our five schools. I have already been in each school during the spring and those brief visits remind me that the important work we do is focused there and is executed by our students and staff. I have always been energized by being a part of that, and I am certain that will be the case in Sewanhaka as well.
I am anxious to meet you, get to know you and work with you. That work we do in our schools is vitally important. I am proud to partner with you in this enterprise.
Sincerely,
Tom Dolan
Interim Superintendent of Schools
For a .pdf version of this letter, please click here: https://5il.co/1yo7s