The Mineola School District selected Janet Gonzalez to fill the open principal’s post at Jackson Avenue School. Outgoing principal Patricia Molloy retired on June 30.
The district interviewed candidates at a closed meeting on June 27. It is unknown who else met with Mineola.
Gonzalez will start her new position on Aug. 5 but could not be reached for comment because she was on vacation, district reps stated. She currently serves as assistant principal at the Stratford School in the Garden City School District.
According to Mineola Superintendent Michael Nagler, Gonzalez still has commitments to Garden City, hence her late summer start date.
“We’re very excited,” he said at a recent meeting. “I get a very good feeling when I speak to someone on Friday saying ‘you have the job’ and on my Monday morning, they’re in my office with a list of 20 questions for me about all sorts of things.”
Nagler indicated that Gonzalez took “a copy of Jackson’s data” with her on vacation, which she plans to comb in preparation for her new job next month.
“We’re off to a good start,” Nagler said of Gonzalez. “That’s a person after my own heart. If you can be on vacation and get into data to see where kids are performing, we’ve made a good choice.”
School Board President Artie Barnett spoke glowingly of Gonzalez.
“I want to thank the committee who worked on finding her for us,” Barnett said. “I have full confidence and I’m absolutely looking forward to her taking over there. I think all the parents and students are going to benefit from it.”
