Lew-Port High School principal

Casseri brings enthusiasm, high ambitions in new role

Casseri aims to improve on Lew-Port’s excellence

by Terry Duffy
Lewiston Porter Sentinel, December 10, 2005

He may be South Park High School’s loss, but he is certainly Lewiston Porter’s gain.

That summarizes comments heard in various circles thus far to the naming of Paul J. Casseri as the new principal of Lewiston Porter High School. Casseri, who formerly served as principal of South Park High School in the Buffalo Public School system, assumed the new title at Lew-Port on Nov. 28. He succeeds Mike Gallagher, who resigned from Lew-Port to take a position in the Hamburg School District. And gauging the impressions thus far from district officials, parents and students, Casseri is already having a favorable impact.

And with good reason.

In a nutshell, Casseri presents an open, very much hands-on administrative style that appeals not only to staff but also particularly to students. He likes to involve himself in daily student school life and thus far has strived to become a fixture in high school life --- even prior to his officially coming on board at Lew-Port.

“I’m extremely impressed, both with the reception I received from the faculty and staff; the reception I received from the students has been tremendous,” Casseri said of Lew-Port thus far.

Buffalo Roots

So just who is Paul Casseri?

A St. Joe’s Collegiate High School grad, Casseri who resides in Kenmore with his wife and children, is a graduate of University at Buffalo, and completed advanced graduate level degrees at Buffalo State as well as UB. He is currently pursuing his doctorate at the University of Toronto.

Career-wise, he has served as a social studies instructor in the Buffalo Public Schools, had assistant principal titles at Greece-Arcadia High School near Rochester and with the Sweet Home Central School District, was human resources director for Frontier Central Schools, and until very recently, served as principal at South Park. He is also currently an adjunct professor with the Canisius College department of undergraduate education.

“I’ve had a great opportunity to establish myself with the community,” said Casseri as to his past experiences. “It’s something that I have come to value.”

Commenting on his experiences with the Buffalo Public Schools, Casseri said recent changes in district philosophy promoted him to look elsewhere. “For better or worse I think the new superintendent (James Williams) is trying to take the Buffalo Public Schools in one direction. I was ready and set to take South Park High school in another direction. I didn’t see the two directions were running parallel.”

Focusing on Lew-Port, Casseri said he intends to bring that same type of dedication and focus of community that he practiced at South Park in his new working relationship with Lew-Port students. He very much values their input. “I’ve had a chance to meet with all the classes and really had some small meetings with them and some close interaction,” said Casseri. “I’ve enjoyed it greatly. They’ve given me a good sense on what they feel about Lewiston Porter and what their expectations are for a principal, and what their expectations are for their school. It’s been a good experience so far.”

Philosophy

Touching base on his educational philosophy, Casseri, who this past week held an informational meet-and-greet session with Lewiston Porter parents, discussed a number of areas, from raising and maintaining higher expectations for students, parents and staff, to the need of providing not only a stable, progressive learning environment for students, but one that is also fun.

“We continually need to raise the bar,” said Casseri. He added students need to be presented higher expectations to achieve and maintain, and he called on the high school staff and parents to work with him as a team to get it done. “I feel it’s vitally important” for students to fulfill the many requirements of high school. It’s our responsibility to give them that inter-responsibility to be successful.”

Focusing on how he intends to pursue this, Casseri outlined an approach of community involvement – one that involves stakeholders such as high school administrators and instructors, parents and parent groups such as Lewiston Porter’s Partners in Education – and utilizing their advice. “We need to be collaborative, look to the community stakeholders.

“I’m a strong proponent of the professional learning communities model for school reform,” he continued. “When you got something that’s good, very good, and you want it to become great (referring to his focus on student performance) … that’s when things can get tough – what needs to be tweaked, what direction do you need to go in. I think that one of the key pieces will be collaboration, particularly amongst the professional staff. We start by thinking about where the kids are at in terms of their success, and how we can make them more successful.“

Improve on Excellence

Key to this is maintaining and ever improving on Lew-Port’s focus on educational excellence. “Bringing in more rigorous programs and really encouraging all students and raising the level for all students … and also the level for all students to approach some these rigorous courses. I think it’s critical whether that’s AP courses or articulation agreements (working relationships) with various colleges and universities. I think it’s absolutely critical – particularly when you’re looking at success at all levels.”

He called on all stakeholders to not be afraid to make decisions, not be afraid to admit mistakes. “If there’s a need to change. We’ll alter for the best interest of the school,” he said.

And key is maintaining a school environment that’s progressive as well as enjoyable for students. Saying that school must be focused but also fun, Casseri said, “I believe you have to be accountable, but you have to do it with a wink and a smile.”

“I want students to be aware of this, to appreciate this,” he said.

Pointing out how he recently had Lew-Port students fill out a questionnaire gauging their views of the high school, and its staff, Casseri came away impressed. “The overwhelming majority of students said it was a very caring faculty, one that was very interested in their success.”

And his views of the students? “They’re really positive, outstanding, intense,” Casseri reflected, also making note of the wealth of Lew-Port’s supportive mechanisms – its faculty, resources, the community. “How do you take something (this good) and make it better? I’ll continue to work hard to do that.”

Casseri closed by stating, “I’m just very excited about being here. It’s certainly my hope that I can bring all the knowledge and skills I have and apply them here at Lew-Port so that we can reach a positive impact on students.”

Saying, “I want to be part of Lewiston Porter,” Casseri emphasized once again his ambition to foster tradition, foster high expectations and set the stage for success.

“I expect to stay here for awhile,” he closed.