Superintendent of Schools Dr. Bill McKersie has announced the appointment of Mr. John Grasso as Interim Principal for Parkway School, effective July 1, 2016. Prior to his retirement from the Greenwich Public Schools in 2012, Mr. Grasso held a leadership position at Riverside School for eighteen years. He is currently serving as Interim Principal for Royle Elementary School in Darien.
Dr. McKersie said, “I welcome John back to Greenwich in this important leadership role. He is a highly qualified and effective elementary school principal with extensive experience in and knowledge of the Greenwich community.”
Parkway School’s current principal Patty Allen announced her resignation in February 2016 to accept the position as Principal of the Smith College Campus School, a K-6 school on the campus of Smith College in Northampton, MA. A search for a new Parkway School Principal was conducted this spring. Two candidates were recommended as finalists for the position by the Parkway interview committee; both subsequently withdrew their applications. A new search for Principal of Parkway School will be conducted at the start of the hiring season in January 2017.
Bio Brief: John Grasso
John Grasso began teaching in 1975 for the Stamford Public Schools, Stamford as a fifth grade teacher at Rogers International School. In 1979 he moved to the Westover Magnet School as a Community Liaison and Team Leader. He left teaching in 1982 to work in the private sector, returning to field in 1988 as a sixth grade teacher at Roxbury Elementary School in Stamford where he remained for six years. In 1994, he came to the Greenwich Public Schools as Assistant Principal of Riverside School where he maintained a leadership role for eighteen years, becoming Principal in 2000. In 2010-11, Mr. Grasso took on the role of the Advanced Learning Program Coordinator, while maintaining the leadership of Riverside School, in order to assist in the transition of leadership for that position and oversee a program review. After retiring from the Greenwich Public Schools in 2012, Mr. Grasso has held a number of consulting and interim leadership positions in Fairfield County schools, including his most recent position as interim principal at Royle Elementary School in Darien since 2014.
Mr. Grasso received a bachelors degree from St. John’s University, Queens, NY; a masters degree from City College of New York (CCNY) in Curriculum Development; and a 6th Year Administrator Certificate from Fairfield University in Fairfield.
