Brett Gallini, who was credited with dramatically improving P.S. 165 during his tenure as principal, resigned earlier this month to help develop a new charter school in Harlem.
During his year and a half as principal, Gallini—who resigned Jan. 13—made many curriculum changes and saw the school’s Department of Education ranking soar from the 49th to the 93rd percentile of New York City schools. He told Spectator he was “very happy” at P.S. 165, which is located on 109th Street between Broadway and Amsterdam Avenue, and thought the school would continue to succeed.
“When I got to P.S. 165, my intentions were to stay … you know, as long as they would have me, I always joked with the parents,” Gallini said. “I didn’t have intentions to leave before this opportunity came my way.”
Gallini is now the head of school at the Neighborhood Charter School of Harlem, a stand-alone charter school that will open this summer. He said the Neighborhood Charter School’s unique model of educating autistic students alongside non-autistic students appealed to him.
“Though I loved being the principal of 165 and I valued my work there every single day, I very much am committed to education and education reform on the whole spectrum,” Gallini said. “I still think that I’m going to continue my work, you know, reforming education and creating a great school, it’s just going to be in a different setting.”
Gallini notified families of his departure a week before he left. His resignation surprised many parents.
“It all happened very quickly, like within two weeks,” Parents’ Association Treasurer Jean Stemm said. “There really wasn’t a whole lot of prep time.”
“It was almost like one week he was here, and one week he was not,” she added.
Gregory Morris, a parent of a fourth grader, agreed.
“My son came home from school and said, ‘The principal’s leaving,’” Morris said. “And I said, ‘He can’t be leaving. He just got here.’”
At a Parents’ Association meeting on Friday, DJ Sheppard, a Community Education Council family advocate, tried to address parents’ concerns. Sheppard said that, given the difficulty of school and district administrators’ jobs, turnover is not uncommon, and Gallini’s departure was not a slight to P.S. 165.
Esther Friedman, the superintendent of P.S. 165’s school district, is in charge of finding a permanent principal.
Some parents are worried, though, about the many leadership changes the school has seen. Morris, whose child has been attending P.S. 165 since kindergarten, noted that Gallini’s replacement will be the fourth principal the school has had in four years.
“The amount of turnover is difficult for the parents, is difficult for the teachers, is difficult for the kids,” Morris said. “Every time there’s a change, you’re starting all over again.”
Parents’ Association President Alicia Simpson said parents were disappointed by Gallini’s departure.
“I can speak on behalf of a lot of different parents … . Some felt misled because they thought he was going to be here for a long time,” Simpson said. “At the same time, we understand, like, opportunity knocks, so, like, it was just the surprise that had to sink in.”
But Simpson and Stemm were also confident that, with the continued efforts of parents, faculty, and staff, the school will not suffer due to Gallini’s departure. Both said that the curriculum changes Gallini implemented, as well as the growth he spurred, would continue even though he has left.
“There are some good things to this change,” Simpson said, referring to Gallini’s departure. “Everyone kind of rises to the occasion, and I feel like that has really, like, brought together a really good group of parents.”
Stemm added that although the timing of Gallini’s departure was unfortunate, she was not worried about how it would affect the school.
“We know what its backbone is, and it’s not one person,” Stemm said. “It’s more about calming the nerves of the rest of the parents, and that they don’t, because one person left, decide to pull their kids out … . It’s more of a having to reeducate the parents about that the school is perfectly great.”
Although Gallini said that he would have liked to have finished out the school year, he felt his responsibility to the Neighborhood Charter School made it necessary for him to leave midyear.
“Everyone deserves the right to be set up for success, and the Neighborhood Charter School does as well,” Gallini said. “And having a head of school come in six weeks before school opens would just not be set ting up the school for success.”
Gallini, who wants to continue serving as an advocate for P.S. 165, said that the school’s foundations were solid and that its curriculum—much of which he helped develop—would continue to improve. He added, though, that “change is always unsettling,” and that he will miss his students.
“I would never leave a school that wasn’t in good hands,” Gallini said. “I’m very confident that those systems and foundations that we built can very much be sustained by the wonderful teachers that are in the building.”
Although they have mixed feelings about his departure, parents, too, said they are confident the school will continue to succeed.
“I really firmly believe that, because of our teachers, our school doesn’t fall apart,” Simpson said. “I’ve been through this before. My kids are fine. It’s OK.”
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