There’s a fine line between being a tough administrator and a friend to the students. Somewhere in the middle is new Cornwall-on-Hudson Elementary School principal Darren Corsetti.
“I’m definitely not the stern principal sitting in my office all day,” Corsetti said. “I think they [the students] would see me as fair and approachable. My past practice has been to almost keep the middle of my day free so I can be at lunch and recess with them. I think you get to know the students in a different light when you see them in that unstructured type of environment, as opposed to being in the classroom.”
As a principal at an elementary school in Middle Hope, Corsetti would hold DJ dance parties when recess was held indoors.
“They saw me in a different light. However, they knew there was a line that shouldn’t be crossed. I think that comes from respect. if you respect them, they will respect you.”
Corsetti was hired last month by the Board of Education. He succeeds Gail Duffy (Wehmann) who is now the assistant superintendent for instruction.
Following in the footsteps of his father, a guidance counselor, and his mother, a social studies teacher, Corsetti chose a career path in education.
He earned his Bachelor of Science degree in education from Iona College, as well as his Master’s in elementary education with a specialization in science.
Corsetti’s career began in a Catholic school in the Bronx where he taught departmental science and math for three years. He then moved to Iona Grammar School, a private Catholic school in New Rochelle, where he taught departmental math and computer science. After four years he began making the transition to an administrator and went back to Iona College for a degree in administration. Corsetti spent another five years, at the grammar school, as assistant headmaster.
“I wanted to have an impact on more than one class,” Corsetti said of his transition. As a teacher he was already taking on a leadership role, so administration seemed like the next logical step.
At Marlboro Middle School, Corsetti spent six years as the assistant principal before becoming principal at one of the elementary schools in Middle Hope. Unfortunately he was only there a year because the district decided to combine the two elementary schools. Instead he was given back his previous position as assistant principal, this time at Marlboro Elementary School. He stayed there two years before applying for the opening in Cornwall.
For his first year at Cornwall-on-Hudson Elementary, Corsetti plans to get a pulse of the school building and the district before setting any goals or introducing new programs.
The new principal has already met the teachers who came in to set up their classroom, as well as the students who were in the summer camp program.
Working with the Parent Teacher Association, he hopes to hold a “meet the principal night” before the first day of school so he can start learning the names of the 250 students.