Juan Pablo Rivera Garza
Reporter
This new school year saw the rise of a new administration under a new principal, Dr. Bryan Luizzi. Dr. Luizzi originally came from Brookfield High School where he served for two years as the assistant principal, and then five years as the principal. He has also worked as the assistant principal of Whisconier Middle School, the dean of students in Litchfield High School, an English teacher and master of technology operations for Newtown Public School. He has degrees from Columbia University, Sacred Heart University, Western Connecticut State University and Clemson University. Here, he reflects on what his transition has been like.
“In all honesty I don’t think I could have come to a better place, [or]made a better transition,” he said of NCHS. “The students have been great, [the]faculty and staff have been wonderful.”
Before the school year started, rumors circled about the fear of what changes the new administration was going to implement. Speculations included the possibility of a closed campus and a stricter approach to discipline than the one taken during the Pavia administration, but have been proved to be untrue. “I didn’t come in with an agenda,” Dr. Luizzi said. “Certainly our school is not a school that someone has to come in and fix.”
Even with these rumors dispelled as falsehoods, there is still uncertainty among students about whether or not there are any plans to change the way the school is run in a drastic way. Dr. Luizzi was quick to dispel this idea. “At no point did I say to myself or anybody else that I’m going to close the campus, we’re going to be harsher on students, because that’s not what I believe,” he said. But he claimed that the uproar was not unhelpful as it “helped me understand what people value, so I learned from that.”
In the beginning of the year, some felt Dr. Luizzi had proven those rumors of extreme change true by banning the tradition of writing on the windows in the lounge. But Dr. Luizzi said that he depended on those around him who know the community better than he does to make the decision. “Know that I take a lot of advice and feedback from my assistant principals before we all make a decision together,” he said.
That’s not to say that he does not think some changes can be made. “Some of the smaller technical things may seem silly, but I think they’re important, like the lounge,” he said. “I would love to speak with some people about putting a plan together so that it’s clean, so that after lunch every person is responsible for his or her items on the table.”
Dr. Luizzi also said that the self-study performed by the school in anticipation of the New England Association of Schools & Colleges re-accredidation will be a vital component in the process of bettering the schools. “I think we’ll have some action items that will come out of [the accreditation report]”
Dr. Luizzi said that he values improving upon the already proven model of New Canaan. “My belief around leadership in schools is that, no matter how good you are, there is room for improvement,” he said.
