BEACON RECORD THE VILLAGE
Volume 31, No. 33
Guiding F amilies H ome for O In ThRIVER verCOUNTRY Three Deca MOUNT SINAI • MILLER PLACE • SOUND BEACH • ROCKY POINT • SHOREHAM • WADING e Heart •o LEISURE f The Thre de s e Villages March 10, 2016
Commiss io as low as ns
Scott Sa Lic. Real nders Esta Broker te
631-360
$1.00
2%
Please if your ho disregard me is curr ently listed for sale.
scott@sh - 0 0 04 x 103 eaandsan ders.com
PJ Documentary series returns
Also: BNL Science Bowl winners, ‘The Adventures of Peter Rabbit’ at Theatre Three, Colors of Long Island
PAGE B1
Movers & Shakers Photo above from Rocky Point school district; photo below from Scott O’Brien
Above, Rocky Point Middle School Principal Scott O’Brien was named Administrator of the Year, below, by the Council of Administrators and Supervisors.
Rocky Point principal soars to new height BY DESIRÉE KEEGAN
Rocky Point improves bond
Capital projects added, removed
PAGE A4
When Scott O’Brien read his favorite childhood book, “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs,” to an elementary school class during college, he had no idea how important that moment would be to the future of his career. “I remember reading the book to them and leaving and saying, ‘I want to do this for the rest of my life. This is what I’m meant to do,’” he said. “I think I always knew.” The landscape architect major switched his field of study to education. Since then, the Rocky Point Middle School principal has been named Administrator of the Year by the Council of Administrators and Supervisors. “I love every minute of being a principal,” he said. “I feel so honored to get this, and privileged to get it, but I just love my job. I love coming to work. I love what I do, and I think it’s just an added bonus to get honored by the people that you work with, that they also feel that that love of my decisions
comes through and they value what I’m doing here for them, the staff, the students and everyone in the building.” The faculty told O’Brien of the nomination in a very unconventional way. “They had tricked me, of course,” O’Brien said, laughing. The principal’s staff was adamant about reminding him multiple times of a department meeting in the library one afternoon. When he entered the packed library, he knew something bigger was happening. They presented O’Brien with a wrapped box. Inside, were the nominations by each teacher who wrote a supporting statement, poem or a note of congratulations. “Before they nominated me for the award, I was well aware that I have a very special staff,” he said. “I feel extremely fortunate to work with not only dedicated and kidsfirst teachers and staff, but to be able to work together with them to implement change and make our building continuously better for
kids. I have reflected on that moment in the library and how grateful I am to be recognized in such a meaningful manner. The work continues and the acknowledgement further signifies the importance and continuation of my role as an educational leader.” The principal is in his eighth year at the helm of the school, but has been in the district much longer, serving as a special education teacher, assistant principal and
principal at the Frank J. Carasiti Elementary School — working in that building for more than a decade. The St. James resident, who attended to John F. Kennedy Middle School in Port Jefferson Station, also worked out-of-state for four years, in Fairfax County, Virginia. O’Brien’s grandparents lived in Rocky Point, so he said he was familiar with the area when he received his first teaching job there. SCOTT O’BRIEN continued on page A9