Assistant Principals Join
Huntington’s Faculty
Just hours after being appointed as assistant principals, Joseph DiTroia and Gamal Smith were on the job at Huntington High School, familiarizing themselves with the building and meeting with faculty and staff members.
Huntington School Board members appointed the administrative duo during a public meeting this past Tuesday night in the Jack Abrams STEM Magnet School auditorium. Messrs. DiTroia and Smith were in the audience for the meeting and accepted congratulations from the crowd.
“I am ecstatic with the addition of Mr. Smith and Mr. DiTroia to the administrative team at Huntington High School,” Principal Brenden Cusack said. “These two gentlemen rose to the top of an extensive pool of talented candidates by not only demonstrating their educational expertise, but also by showing their ability and sincere desire to help our kids reach their full potential. Both Mr. DiTroia and Mr. Smith share the philosophy that all of our students matter and that they are all capable of great success. I am very eager to begin our important work together.”
Mr. DiTroia holds a Bachelor of Arts in history from the University of Delaware and a Master of Science in secondary education from CUNY Queens College, where he also studied for his state administrative certification.
Prior to coming to Huntington, Mr. DiTroia worked as a teaching assistant at Plainedge High School for two years and as a social studies teacher at William Maxwell Career and Technical Education High School in Brooklyn for nine years. He later served as dean of discipline at the school for three years before departing for Alfred G. Berner Middle School in Massapequa, where he was dean of students. He most recently was assistant principal at North Babylon High School, serving as lead evaluator of the business, technology and family consumer science departments, leading the scheduling team and the school safety committee and handling all staff and student issues.
A Long Island baseball umpire since 2000, Mr. DiTroia has also coached baseball and soccer. When free of his professional responsibilities he enjoys traveling, sports, music, playing guitar, carpentry and being a husband and father of four.
Mr. Smith obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in biology and pre-med studies at Clarkson University in Potsdam, New York, where he also played on the varsity basketball team for four years. He earned a Master of Science degree at Mercy College in the Bronx and studied for his state administrative certification at Touro College in Manhattan.
Prior to joining Huntington’s administrative ranks, Mr. Smith worked as a teacher and lab instructor at Richmond Hill High School and John Adams High School, where he also served as dean of students. He was assistant principal at John W. Dodd Middle School in Freeport, dean of students/discipline at Brooklyn Lab School, assistant principal and science department chairman at Dr. Richard Izquierdo Health & Science Charter School in the Bronx, assistant principal at PS 212 in the Bronx and dean of students and a science teacher at PS 254 in the Bronx. He was also principal of Nassau BOCES PATH (Positive Alternative Twilight High School) for a year.
Over the years Mr. Smith has helped spearhead many initiatives at schools where he has worked, including Saturday, after school, extended day and early college awareness programs and science fairs and expos.
Appointed at Tuesday night’s Huntington School Board meeting, Messrs. DiTroia and Smith sat down early Wednesday morning with Mr. Cusack and got right down to work.