Garrison superintendent joins Villanti in end-of-year departures
By Kevin E. Foley
Gloria Colucci, superintendent of the Garrison Union Free School District, announced her resignation to the school board last Wednesday (July 10) effective Dec. 31, 2013. In doing so Colucci joined Haldane School Superintendent Mark Villanti in offering year-end retirement messages to their respective districts. Villanti did so just last week. Colucci has served as superintendent for nine years.
In an interview with The Paper, Colucci said she was definitely retiring from education after having started teaching in January of 1969. “It just seemed natural to finish at the end of the year. I felt it important to get the school year started and running smoothly and give a new superintendent time to get acclimated to the Garrison culture and be able to plan appropriately for the following year,” she said.
Colucci said her decision took a long time to make and that she made it with very mixed emotions. “My family and friends have been very patient with me over the years and now I feel it is time to give back to them,” she said.
“Throughout my tenure at Garrison, I have had the privilege and good fortune to work with a dedicated and supportive board of education; an accomplished, knowledgeable, student-centered administrative team; and a collaborative group of conscientious teachers and staff who always hold the best interests of the students as their first priority,” wrote Colucci in her formal statement to the board.
Further she wrote: “I have appreciated and enjoyed the opportunity to work with warm, welcoming parents and community members who truly value the importance of high quality education and energetically volunteer their time and support. Without a community like ours, Garrison’s unique programs may have never come to pass.”
