Panico is Glad to Be at the Helm of Paramus High School

Anthony Panico is glad he found Paramus High School.

The interim high school principal says he didn’t realize how much he missed being principal until he took a seat behind the desk once again, coming out of retirement to take the helm of the high school for a one-year term.

Being at the high school is the best place to be in education, he says.  Throughout his entire 40-plus year career, Panico has spent all his time working at this level.

He started his career at River Dell High School teaching Biology. Later he became principal of the regional district for 20 years. He then moved on to serve as principal of Northern Valley Regional High School Old Tappan for another two decades until he retired about five years ago.

Even during his retirement, Panico never steered away from education. He spent the past five years working as a consultant in Clifton school district. He calls the experience  enlightening as it gave him a chance to work with the students at the elementary level which was something new to him as he has spent most of his career at the high school level.

As fate would have it, the opportunity to come back to a high school came along when he found out about the need for an interim principal at PHS.

The longtime educator says there are challenges ahead but sees more positives than anything else. Some of the things taking place this year includes the piloting of a new teacher evaluation system, in preparation for the 2013-2014 school year when it will be mandated by the state.

The district chose the Strong model evaluation tool, which will evaluate what is effective and not effective in different categories, he explained. This model was chosen as it was found to be the method that most closely matched the system the district was already developing on its own, he says.

Administrators were trained over the summer and teachers will be trained throughout the course of the year. Panico says the teachers, parents and board of education have all been a part of this and working together.

There are also changes happening in curriculum which is being revised to keep materials and methods current, the interim principal explained. One example is the addition of a new physics course at the ninth grade level. 

He says it’s a whole new way of looking at how science is taught bringing in physics which concepts are used throughout all science, into the beginning of a student’s high school career rather than later. Also an engineering course involves teaching these concepts earlier in the high school career.

The district continues to comply with HIB policies.  So far in this first month of the school year there have been no reports of any bullying incidents at the high school level, Panico was proud to say. 

Panico has found the students here at PHS to be very serious about their education and the parents have been very supportive. He says he enjoys talking to the students about their interests, both academic and extracurricular, as he finds the interests people develop most times lead them to their future careers and goals.

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