For Deirdre Hayes, her nine years as assistant superintendent of instruction and curriculum in the Herricks School District has been a very satisfying conclusion to an education career that spans four decades.
“It’s a wonderful place,” said Hayes, who will retire at the end of this month. “It’s a wonderful group of teachers and students. It’s a district where there is a shared vision of excellence.”
She said that vision is also shared by the parents who support the school district’s academic initiatives.
Hayes, 63, was hired in 2005 by Herricks Superintendent John Bierwirth. He’ll retire next June. Hayes had been director of English and social studies in the Lynbrook School District prior to coming to Herricks, and was chair of English and social studies in the East Meadow Middle School before working in Lynbrook.
Bierwirth praised her demeanor and her knowledge of curriculum.
“She’s been an extraordinary pleasure to work with,” he said. “I don’t think a day goes by when I don’t learn something from her. Day after day she takes great joy in her work.
What’s he’s done to make the school district better has been spectacular.”
Hayes earned a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in English at Queens College before starting her career in the New York City school system in 1972 as an English and reading secondary school teacher.
“You have to just love learning and the chance to share,” she said. “You so directly feel you can make an impact on someone’s life. It’s wonderful to know you can touch people in that way.”
Hayes first became an administrator when the superintendent of the city schools asked her to take a position as reading coordinator for six middle schools to replace a woman on maternity leave.
“I was plucked out of the classroom. I had never thought of doing anything like that,” she said.
After several years of administrative work in the city school system, Hayes took time off to raise her two children, Matthew and Kara. Then she worked for several years as an adjunct professor at St. John’s University, teaching undergraduate education and writing classes and supervising student teachers.
Hayes earned a doctoral degree in administration while teaching at St. John’s and subsequently spent seven years working as a consultant in the New York City school system before taking the position in East Meadow. She said she enjoyed working with adults as an administrator as much as she enjoyed teaching.
But her work in Herricks has been the pinnacle of her career.
“Preparing students for their place in the world and to benchmark their role internationally is exciting,” Hayes said, in a school district that is “always on the cutting edge academically and always looking for that next level of excellence.”
Hayes said she is particularly proud of helping to facilitate Herricks’ participation in the Programme for International Student Assessment tests, annual exams that challenge 15-year-olds to apply knowledge they’ve acquired to solve real-world problems. She is also proud of Herricks’ alliance with the Foreign Policy Administration and New York University, which periodically sends professors to lecture to Herricks High School students in various subject areas.
Hayes also sees the Spanish language immersion program in the Herricks primary schools as a significant step in the school district’s academic progress.
“We are very excited that we have established a language immersion program in the district,” Hayes said.
She also takes satisfaction from the school district meeting the challenges of the last several years in maintaining academic standards while dealing with the state tax cap and the new Common Core curriculum. “Our eye has never left the ultimate goal of providing a top-notch education,” she said.
Hayes said beyond plans to travel with her husband, Peter, who retired from his job in finance last year, her retirement plans are uncertain. But she does expect to remain involved in education, perhaps in adult literacy.
“My hand will always be in the education field in some way,” she said.
