The new school year has presented us with many new additions to our building administration. As most of you know, Dr. Cardone is our new principal, and Ms. Rodriguez and Dr. Vineyard are our new assistant principals, but another new change in our administration is Mr. DeCarlo, our most recent administrator, whom I had the pleasure of interviewing.

Let’s start with Mr. DeCarlo’s background.

Mr. DeCarlo grew up in East Patchogue with both of his parents. As he was growing up, he went to Bellport High School in which he took part in sports. He played JV and Varsity baseball, and even if he and his team didn’t win any trophies and weren’t that successful, he told us that they still had a lot of heart and determination in every game they played. Plus, those times in high school, playing for the baseball team, were one of his favorite memories, he stated.

After graduating from Bellport High School, Mr. DeCarlo went to NYIT to graduate in pre-med, since he wanted to become a physician assistant. During his studies at NYIT, he started to work with special education students, which led him to change his degree from pre-med to special education. He achieved his Bachelor’s degree from NYIT in mathematics and behavioral sciences. But Mr. DeCarlo didn’t stop there, he also accomplished his Master’s in Adolescent Education in NYIT and earned another Master’s Degree at Stony Brook in educational administration. Even though he is now an administrator in our high school, Mr. DeCarlo has experience as a teacher. He has worked at Eastern Suffolk BOCES, teaching special education in mathematics for 12 years, which is a lot of experience for him.

And right now, as you know, Mr. DeCarlo forms part of our school staff as an administrator, his experience right now has been positive so far. He thinks that Amityville High School has a great foundation to become a great school. But what inspired him to become an administrator? He told me that it is the ability to use his experience for the better, to guide students into success, supporting them throughout their high school journey and beyond. And even if it is a new environment for him, he wants to use his vast experience in order to enhance the Amityville community.

And what are Mr. DeCarlo’s main goals at our high school? They are to enhance security and safety so every student feels safe every single day, to support students and staff so students have the support of teachers and other staff, and to create a strong student-centered environment where teachers and other staff act as facilitators, guiding and encouraging students. To achieve this, Mr. DeCarlo proposes to have much more student-centered activities. For example, Mr. DeCarlo proposes to have a fun staff vs. student volleyball game in the future. An important thing is to also make sure that students and staff have a voice in certain important affairs regarding the school, so they can be heard by the administration which creates stronger bonds between students and staff.

Another topic of importance that arose during our interview was the college application process. Luckilly for seniors, Mr. DeCarlos is there to support us into this new phase of life we are about to enter. With his experience, we can be sure that Mr. DeCarlo can provide us with valuable advice regarding college. He wants to have a lot of opportunities that we can utilize in order to become the people we want to be. So, if you’re in need of advice, Mr. DeCarlo, with all of his experience, can provide you with support, just try to reach out.

And this is the most exciting part about Mr. DeCarlo’s job is to influence and teach students about life, and ensure that they are prepared for the next step in life. But there is always that boring part of work, and for Mr. DeCarlo, it is the paperwork. So if you want to make his job much more exciting, reach out to him and he’ll be sure to help you.

And after a long day at work, supporting students and doing all of the necessary paperwork, Mr. DeCarlo goes home to his family and plays with his kids, which is his perfect way to relax after a busy day at school.

As we came to the end of our interview, Mr. DeCarlo let us in on some of his potential future plans, hopefully rising to principal or director. But as of right now, he will stay at Amityville High School with us, and we will gladly have him here with us.