Schools

School Board Approves Rhodes as Next Greeley Principal

Rhodes will officially start on July 1, coming from Millennium High School in lower Manhattan.

Unanimously and without hesitation, Chappaqua's school board approved to become the next principal of .

After the vote, held at Tuesday's board meeting, Rhodes made his first appearance before the general public in Chappaqua.

“I’m very thrilled to be here," he said.

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Rhodes noted that he has gotten to meet some in the community. He added: “I’m looking forward to the opportunity to getting to know a lot of people a lot better.”

Superintendent Lyn McKay had nothing but praise for Rhodes.

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“After spending some time with Robert, it became quite evident that he has a deep knowledge of instructional and systems approaches," she said. "He has a strong understanding of high school academics, extensive experience reaching out to students and teachers and parents and community. And most critically, he has a great sense of humor.”

McKay described Rhodes, who is coming to Chappaqua from being principal at lower Manhattan's Millennium High School, as someone who interacts well with students.

“One of the enjoyable moments for me was watching Robert throughout his visit at Greeley pull up chairs, classroom after classroom, and sit and talk extensively with our students about their work and about their lives. Clearly students are first on his list.”

School Board President Alyson Kiesel described it as an "honor and a privilege" to welcome him to the district.

Kiesel, a Greeley alum herself, noted the constrast between being a student as and a board member.

“Little could I have guessed back when I was just a student at Greeley that one day I would be involved in a process of hiring a new principal."

Leslie Kuhn, former president of Chappaqua's PTA, also had praise.

“Having been part of the search process, I can say that I personally am very excited to have you come aboard and really look forward to seeing what you’ll do for us here at Greeley and to having a great working relationship both with parents generally and with the PTA, so welcome to Chappaqua.”

Rhodes is set to start on July 1. He is succeeding Andrew Selesnick, who is being promoted to assistant superintendent for human resources.


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