East Meadow Welcomes New Administrators As School Year Begins

EAST MEADOW, NY — The East Meadow School District welcomed seven new administrators for the start of the 2021-22 school year.

Betsy Lashin was named the district’s director of special education/pupil personnel services. Lashin joins East Meadow from the Glen Cove City School District, where she served as the assistant director of special education since 2015, as well as the interim director for almost a year. In this role, Lashin supervised pupil personnel and special education staff, served as the chairperson of the committee of special education, and created programs that challenged and addressed the diverse learning needs of students with disabilities, while focusing on the least restrictive environment. Prior to her time in Glen Cove, Lashin worked for the Island Trees School District as a special education teacher in integrated co-taught classrooms, resource room and special class classrooms.

Amelia Garcia has been appointed the new principal of Parkway Elementary School. Garcia is a familiar face to the East Meadow community, having served as a vice principal within the district for the past nine years. In her past role, Garcia assisted in designing a new arrival and dismissal procedure to keep students and staff safe, assisted in the creation of a distribution system for 1:1 student devices, and produced and maintained building-level COVID-19 contact tracing information, among other duties. She also provided daily leadership and supervision to more than 100 staff members and 850 students. In addition, Garcia has experience as a teacher, and as a staff developer/coach, as well as the interim acting principal of C.S. 102 in the Bronx.

The district welcomes Jaime Assortato as the new assistant principal of Bowling Green Elementary School. Assortato has worked within the district since 1999, holding a variety of roles including math lab teacher, classroom teacher, literacy coach, systems operator and technology specialist. She most recently served as an administrative intern for the district, assisting in the development of the master schedule, facilitating class placements, coordinating professional development opportunities and supporting staff during the transition to fully remote instruction during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Francesco Baglivo, the new chairperson of English and social studies at East Meadow High School, is also a familiar face to the district, having worked as a social studies teacher at the high school for the past six years. Prior to coming to East Meadow, Baglivo taught in the Levittown School District for three years. He has taught a variety of social studies courses, including U.S. History, global history, government, economics, ENL global gistory and numerous electives. In addition, Baglivo has taught AP Seminar, an English and humanities course through which students learn research, collaboration and communication skills in a variety of areas.

Caitlin Hale has been appointed the new chairperson of music at Woodland Middle School. Hale served as the choral director at East Meadow High School since 2012 and as the director of the high school’s Theatre Guild musical production since 2015. She most recently co-chaired the district’s summer music program, where she planned and supervised students and teachers throughout the month-long program. Hale has also dedicated time to various leadership roles within the Nassau Music Educators Association for the past 12 years and has served as a new teacher mentor for the past year.

Dr. Gustavo Loor, new dean of students at W.T. Clarke Middle School, joins East Meadow from the Glen Cove City School District, where he served as an instructional technology coach for the past two years. Loor has also worked as a classroom teacher within the Great Neck School District and Albany City School District. During his time in Albany, Loor also served as the dean of discipline of Albany High School, where he addressed and managed disciplinary referrals.

Finally, East Meadow welcomes Kelly Xylas to the role of assistant principal at W.T. Clarke High School. Xylas previously served as the chairperson for English and social studies at W.T. Clarke High School, where she was responsible for supervising instruction, leading monthly department meetings and evaluating teacher performance through observations. Prior to joining the East Meadow School District, Xylas served as the assistant principal at Rockaway Park High School for Environmental Sustainability. She also has eight years of experience as a social studies classroom teacher at University Heights High School in the Bronx.

“We are incredibly fortunate to appoint these outstanding administrators,” said Superintendent of Schools Dr. Kenneth A. Card Jr. “Whether they are familiar faces or are new to our district, we congratulate them on their new roles and look forward to their contributions!”