Huntington Welcomes New Director of Guidance
When school reopens in September, a new director of guidance and testing will be at the helm in the Huntington School District. School trustees approved the appointment of Peter Paternostro to the post at an August 14 meeting. He will take over from William Kramer who held the position for the past two years before resigning to assume a similar post in the Deer Park school district.
Mr. Paternostro, who is conversationally proficient in Spanish, earned his Bachelor’s degree at Hofstra University in 1988. He later obtained three Master’s degrees at Hofstra, including an MBA in December 1989, a Master of Arts in speech language pathology in December 1993 and an MA in school counseling in June 2006. He also earned a Professional Diploma in educational leadership at the City University of New York – Queens College in December 2002.
“We are very pleased to welcome Mr. Paternostro to our faculty and administrative team,” Huntington Superintendent John J. Finello said. “We believe he will be a wonderful addition to our district and students, staff and parents will benefit from his presence here.”
Prior to coming to Huntington, Mr. Paternostro worked at Kings Park High School since February 2003 as an assistant principal and acting chairman of the guidance department where he was responsible for testing, building the master schedule, coordinating the student mentoring program, attendance and discipline for two grade levels, teacher observation and evaluation and teaching professional development workshops, among other duties.
While at Kings Park, Mr. Paternostro was a member of five separate teams, committees and councils dealing with a variety of academic and school related issues. He also possesses extensive computer literacy.
Mr. Paternostro also worked as a teacher and senior speech language pathologist at St. Mary’s Hospital for Children in Bayside, Queens from May 1994 to January 2000. He was director of child development services at St. Mary’s from February 2000 to January 2003.
From September 1993 to September 2001, Mr. Paternostro served in the United States Army National Guard, D Company, 1/69th Infantry, rising to the rank of sergeant and leading an infantry team to combat operations.
Mr. Paternostro has served as president of the St. Aidan School Board in Williston Park. He enjoys spending time with his children, playing the saxophone, gardening, camping, weightlifting, coaching, running and other outdoor sports.
Huntington school officials reviewed nine applications, pre-screened eight candidates and then conducted full scale interviews with two individuals before recommending Mr. Paternostro for appointment.
Mr. Paternostro’s probationary period will begin on August 20. He will be eligible for tenure on August 20, 2010.
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