Wallingford Dag Hammarskjold Middle School principal leaving; schools’ turnover high

As published in the Record Journal on Tuesday March 19, 2013

By Eric Vo
Record-Journal staff
evo@record-journal.com
(203) 317-2235
Twitter:@ericvoRJ

WALLINGFORD -

At the end of the school year, Principal Ann Cocchiola will be leaving Dag Hammarskjold Middle School.

Cocchiola will leave her post in Wallingford and return to Cromwell, where she was an assistant principal at Cromwell Middle School before becoming principal at Dag in 2010, according to Board of Education Chairwoman Roxane McKay. Cocchiola will become the principal of Cromwell Middle School.

Assistant Superintendent for Personnel Jan Guarino said Cocchiola will be missed for her dedication to the school and community and how she “went out of her way to reach out to parents and students.”

“Ann was an excellent principal at Dag. She was a very positive person and very upbeat,” Guarino said. “She was very knowledgeable about curriculum and was very hard working.”

Cocchiola replaced Enrico Buccilli as principal at Dag after he retired with 18 years in the district. Prior to holding administrative positions, she was the English department head in East Hartford and taught English at North Haven Middle School for 18 years.

Her dedication and ability to lead the school through a change in leadership — a new assistant principal was also hired at the same time Cocchiola became principal — resulted in her being named the school system’s administrator of the year in 2012.

Cocchiola did not return calls for comment.

This weekend, a listing to fill the vacant principal position at Dag was posted on the Wallingford Public Schools website, Guarino said. As of Monday morning, she was unaware if there were any applications submitted, but she did say it’s unusual for anyone to submit something so soon.

With Cocchiola leaving, administrators are finding themselves in a familiar situation. Cocchiola is the most recent administrator leaving Wallingford schools since Salvatore Menzo was named school superintendent in 2009. Since then, there have been new principals or assistant principals hired at both middle schools and five of the eight elementary schools, according to a Record-Journal article on July 7, 2012.

With the increasing number of individuals leaving their administrative positions, there hasn’t been too much of a challenge finding someone new to hire. But Guarino said certain positions are more difficult to fill than others. Hiring a new principal in the high schools is the most difficult, followed by middle school principal positions, Guarino said.

“The demands of the job are incredible. School administrators have long days, many nights out at parent events and student events,” she said. “There’s an impact on family life ... and they’re working with hundreds of students and hundreds of staff members.”

Administrators are planning to look both internally and externally for the new Dag principal, Guarino said. However, in the past, as with Cocchiola, many of the new administrators were hired from outside the school system. Despite this, Guarino said the goal is to have a “balance of internal and external” teachers and administrators.

While it may be challenging to find someone to replace Cocchiola at Dag, Guarino said she doesn’t anticipate “running into any problems.”

“We’re in a good place. It’s not midsummer, where people are unwilling to leave a position at last-minute notice,” she said. “Wallingford is a wonderful place to be. Geographically, it’s in the center of the state, which is helpful. It’s got a lot going for it.”