GCHS Principal Honored as BOCES Education Partner

Dr. Peter Osroff, principal of Garden City Middle School, was honored before more than 240 of Long Island’s most ardent public education supporters recently, as one of 14 honorees to receive the Nassau BOCES Education Partner Award.

The distinction is bestowed annually on those individuals or organizations that have made a substantial impact on public education in Nassau County.

The awards were presented during a gala held on March 21 by the Nassau BOCES Educational Foundation.

“Dr. Peter Osroff’s credo and his mission is to ‘make a real difference in the lives of children,’” said Nassau BOCES Board Vice District Clerk Michael Weinick. “During his tenure as principal of Garden City Middle School, he has fulfilled that mission by leading a monumental restructuring to improve academic achievement at every level.

"Under his tenure, the Garden City Middle School was re-designated a National Blue Ribbon School of Excellence, the only Long Island school in history to have earned that distinction. The United States Department of Education’s Office of Special Education Programs named the middle school a model school in Special Education. The middle school is also a National School to Watch and a New York State Support School for the Essential Elements. 

“The school’s co-teaching program has been validated as an effective practice by the New York State Education Department, and for the past several years, Garden City Middle School’s scores on the NYS assessments in math and English Language Arts have been the highest on Long Island. 

“A State Education Department middle-level liaison for the past ten years, Dr. Osroff is currently an application and site evaluator for the Department’s School to Watch Recognition Program. He has served as co-president of the Nassau County Middle Level Principals Association and is presently vice president of the Garden City Administrators Association. He earned the Leadership Award of Excellence from the Council of Administrators and Supervisors, the Garden City PTA Lifetime Membership Award, and the Garden City SEPTA Nancy Mahr Maxwell Award.”    

Submitted by the Garden City School District