The New Hyde Park-Garden City Park school board voted to confirm an elementary school principal at the Board of Education’s Monday, Jan. 12, meeting.
Colleen Toppin was appointed to the Manor Oaks position after serving as the acting principal following the retirement of Jane Ruthkowski.
“I feel grateful and excited. Being the principal of Manor Oaks feels like being home,” she said. “I’m so excited to take on the role and work with the students, staff and community.”
Topping said she got her start at Manor Oaks, where she taught for 18 years in the fifth and sixth grades. She was joined at the meeting by a score of faculty from the school who celebrated her official elevation.
“She has focused on instructional leadership, data-informed decision making, professional development, and fostering positive student culture,” Superintendent Jennifer Morrison-Raptis said.
One of the Manor Oaks teachers, Lisa Santos, was honored by the board for receiving the Nassau Zone Elementary Physical Education Teacher of the Year Award.
“I think I have a way of teaching to all students to get them interested and motivated,” Santos said. “I have a lot of passion for the field. I love continuing to learn.”
She said she has the best students in the world, hands down.
Students and administrators from the Garden City Park School attended the event to celebrate the centennial of the elementary school. Principal Areyana Schmitt and members of the student council spoke about the school, generational changes throughout its life and its future.
“I am profoundly proud to be a small part of this hundred-year story,” Schmitt said. “May GCP always be a place where children are lifted, where families are welcome, where values are lived.”
The Board of Education voted to ratify a memorandum of agreement with the United Public Service Employees Union for a collective bargaining agreement for cafeteria workers and monitors. The agreement starts retroactively in July 2025 and extends until June 2028, and includes yearly wage increases.
The school board said it has begun budget discussions and met in an executive session before seeking public comment. No members of the public offered budget input.
The district had 1,419 students as of last academic year, across four elementary schools, according to the New York Department of Education.
