Parents support Great Neck North Middle principal’s tenure

Adam Lidgett

Parents of Great Neck North Middle School students filled the Great Neck North High School auditorium at Monday’s Board of Education meeting to endorse North Middle School Principal Anael Alston for tenure – apparently in response to Alston being considered for a job in another school district.

A letter of support for Alston – who was hired as North Middle School principal in 2012 – was read to the board by Bali Lerner, the former president of the Great Neck North Middle Parent Teacher Organization, who presented 500 copies of the letter signed by parents.

Lerner said parents have wanted to show their support for Alston for long time, and because they have not yet heard what the of status of his tenure is yet, they decided to come to the meeting Monday.

“Dr. Alston has demonstrated the values of a true Great Neck School leader. He has fostered a partnership with faculty and staff, parents, students and the community at large,” Lerner said, reading from the letter. “He has provided new and ample opportunities for parents to participate in the educational process. This has resulted in parents gaining an appreciation and deeper understanding of what teachers are doing in the classroom.”

Lerner went on to say school spirited and pride have grown at North Middle since Alston had taken over.

“From the moment you walk in to the building, you are greeted by a staff picture with the tagline, ‘Everyone Is Important and Everyone Matters,’” she said. “Physical and emotional safety is paramount to Dr. Alston and his leadership. This is evident from the moment you pull up to the school in the morning and continues throughout the day.”

The Oneida Daily Dispatch reported on March 9 that Alston was one of two final candidates for superintendent of the Hamilton Central School in Hamilton.

The story said Alston and Johnathan Retz, current superintendent of schools in the Greene Central School District in Greene, were the final two candidates being considered.

Alston deferred all comment to Great Neck School District Superintendent Tom Dolan.

Board of Education Vice President Larry Gross said neither the board nor the superintendent could comment on Alston as it is a personnel issue.

Lerner was joined in speaking in support of keeping Alston by 11 students and parents.

One mother said she and her husband had the choice of sending their child to either Great Neck North or South middle school in the fall and choose North because Alston was the principal.

“We’re not the type of parents to make a decision on a whim – we did our due diligence and spoke to many parents and students,” the parent said. “Alston has improved the level of education and has created a safer school environment – we’d like to see that positive momentum continue.”

A Great Neck high school student who was a North Middle School seventh grader when Alston took over said his former principal instilled in him a sense of leadership, responsibility and motivation.

“I expressed to him in the eighth grade I wanted to be a student officer in high school,” the student said. “Seeing him recently, he asked me if I made it – he remembered.”

Students would often feel more embarrassed or ashamed if they got in trouble at had to be sent to the principal’s office, the student said, because they had so much respect for Alston.

“If we did get in trouble, he would lift us up to our feet,” the student said. “He had a different approach to kids – he motivated us to act better and learn better.”

One parent of four children in the school district said Alston has always made parents feel as though educating North Middle School’s children has always been a partnership between Alston and the parents. She said Alston has taken every one of her phone calls and has attended to every one of her concerns.

“In the past three years, Dr. Alston has helped make North Middle School into an unbelievable community of pride, he has raised school spirit, advocated for more help for students and brought about significant academic change,” the parent said.

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