Spirits were high, with good reason, at the 2012-2013 school year kickoff meeting of the Hampton Bays Board of Education, held on Tuesday, Aug. 14, at 7 p.m. at the Hampton Bays Public Library.
“All schools in the district—the elementary school, the middle school and the high school—are in good academic standing for next year,” District Superintendent Lars Clemensen told the large crowd, comprised of current staff and many of the district’s newly hired employees. Mr. Clemensen said the achievement was due to “no less than an amazing effort by teachers and administrators” who worked hard in “closing the academic gap.”
   
Another big reason for celebration was the hiring of several new district employees. The elementary school had the most positions to fill this year. Principal Marc Meyer said that he approached the process in a way similar to how a baseball team fills its roster.
“We wanted to put the best team on the field…We’ve got a combination of our number one draft choices, our free agents and the best from our own farm team,” he said.
New hires at the elementary school include Nicole Paga, Mary Lyons, Anthony Schmidt, Linda Schmidt, Nicole Neroulas, Josh Haight, Jonathon DellaSperanza, Michelle Racywolski, Nicola Matzner, Victoria Greenridge, Kaitlyn Roche, Andrea Casserly and Jacqueline Borusso.
   
Assistant Middle School Principal Mike Carlson said that he and Principal Dennis Schug had so much talent to sort through that they had to make some tough choices. They ended up with two “very big team players,” Elizabeth Lanni and Amy Spinelli.
   
At the high school, Principal Christopher Richardt said that teamwork proved to be especially important for him in filling the available positions. He credited administrators and teachers for helping him in the vetting process while he was recuperating from back surgery. He reported that he is still completing the hiring process, which will be finalized soon, but that so far he’s seen “great team building from everyone.” The new hires at the high school include Michelle Edwards, Samantha Spehler, Babette Paul, Rachel McGregor and Dennis Murphy.