Seven New Administrators Starting at HHH

It's a new beginning for seven administrators in the Half Hollow Hills School District.

Otsego Elementary School is getting a new assistant principal and their new principal started a few months ago after Sharon Stepankewich died following a two-year battle with a rare cancer; Sunquam and Chestnut Hill elementary schools are each getting a new principal; Candlewood Middle School is getting a new assistant principal; and the district is getting a new Director of Mathematics and a new Director of Social Studies.

Stacey Bernstein, the Otsego principal, is a HHH graduate. She attended district schools from kindergarten through grade 12. She joined the staff at Otsego in 2000 and worked for four years as a fourth and fifth grade special education teacher. She then spent one year as the assistant principal of Sunquam before returning as Otsego's assistant principal, a role she held for the last five years. Last spring she became the principal of Otsego and is looking forward to continuing the tradition of excellence that has been established at the school. She is also currently pursuing a doctoral degree in Education at Long Island University--C.W. Post.

Maryann Fasciana is the new assistant principal of Otsego. She is also a graduate of the HHH School District. She began her career at Sunquam Elementary School as a fourth grade teacher. She taught at Sunquam for five years and then moved on to West Hollow Middle School. At West Hollow, she taught sixth grade English Language Arts for four years. She is very excited to be starting a new phase of her career. 

Gayle Steele is entering her ninth year working in the district. She was a fifth grade teacher at Paumanok for eight years and is very excited about her new role as assistant principal at Sunquam. Prior to coming to the district, she taught sixth and third grades in the Elmont School District and eighth grade in Brooklyn. Before she began her teacher career she was a caseworker with a private foster care agency in Queens for seven years. She holds a master's degree in General and Special Education, a master's degree in School Leadership and is currently enrolled in a doctoral program for Educational Administration and Technology.

Chad Snyder, Chestnut Hill's new principal, began his teaching career as an educator in the Commack Union Free School District. While at Commack, he served as a fourth grade teacher, an intermediate enrichment teacher and he was the district lead teacher for Math, Science and Technology for grades K-5. Among his professional distinctions, he was named Teacher of the Year at Commack Schools. He began his administrative career in the HHH district as an assistant principal at Sunquam in 2008. He was named the principal of the Intermediate Summer School program in May 2009.

Traci Roethel is the new assistant principal of Candlewood. She is a former sixth grade math teacher from the Oyster Bay-East Norwich School District. She worked in a variety of positions within that school district for the past 11 years, including classroom teacher, math consultant and AIS provider in the Vernon School. Prior to working in that school district, she spent seven years within the Florida school system. She got her BA in Education from Stetson University in DeLand, Florida. She received her masters in Education from Queens College and her administrative degree from Stony Brook University this past December. 

Ian Dunst is the new Director of Mathematics. He comes to the district after serving five years as the math instructional leader at Mineola Middle School. There, working as a building administrator, he came to appreciate the various perspectives and collaboration required by all members of a school district in order to advance the education of all students. Prior to these experiences, he worked at three different high schools in New Jersey as a math teacher. Throughout his educational journey, his focus on maintaining high expectations for student learning while creating a comfortable and enjoyable learning environment has remained constant. Although the New York State math curricula is in flux, and new technologies continue to arise, Dunst believes that it is imperative to always remember why we are in this field of education...the students. 

Lorraine Lupinskie-Huvane is the new Director of Social Studies. Prior to coming to HHH, Ms. Lupinskie was the Social Studies Chairperson at Calhoun High School in Merrick, New York. During her seven years in the Bellmore-Merrick School District, her responsibilities included both teaching and supervision of the social studies department. Ms. Lupinskie worked closely with her colleagues and introduced a number of new programs, including Senior Experience, a senior-year humanities course that included an internship component, and the Gilder Lehrman Scholars Program, a four-year course of study that promoted a love for and a deeper understanding of American history. Ms. Lupinski got a BA in social studies from SUNY Albany and then went on to teach social studies at Harborfields High School in Greenlawn for seven years. She earned her masters in Secondary Education from Hofstra University, her professional certificates in school administration from SUNY Stony Brook, and successfully pursued National Board Certification.