Westonite of the Week: Sal LaRusso

Sal LaRusso, the band and jazz director at , realized he wanted to teach music when he was in sixth grade.

"I walked into my band director's office, and [saw] him with a coffee and his feet up on the desk," LaRusso laughed. "It wasn't until he became a good friend that I realized it wasn't about the coffee. He was learning about life as well as music."

For 31 years, LaRusso has taught the finer points of music — and life — to Weston students. Originally, LaRusso taught in Norwalk, but when he realized that his chances of becoming the band director there were slim, he took an opportunity in the Weston district, and has been here ever since.

"I've stayed for so long because as the community changes, the quality of the students has stayed the same," he said. 

"Parents here advocate for their kids, and I find it refreshing," he added.

LaRusso, a Fairfield resident, sent his own children to Weston schools because he believed strongly in the district. With impressive resumes of their own, LaRusso's daughters, subsequent to graduating from Weston High School, attended Harvard University and Amherst College.

LaRusso believes in "working as a team to educate the whole child," and embraces technology as a way to help communicate and educate.  

An enormously popular teacher, LaRusso believes that flexibility and the ability to quickly adapt are skills that help him thrive with the sometimes challenging environment that Weston kids navigate.

"Students in Weston are multitalented," he said. "What makes Weston unique is that it's an engaged and involved community."

Still, 31 years is a long time. But LaRusso insists that "tomorrow" is his favorite part of his job.

"The wonderful ability to shape where you're headed" is a key element, he noted. "The audience is always new, and the music is always new. Every time I work with a group of kids, it's new to them and it's new to me, because I haven't seen what they'll produce."

Plus, LaRusso laughed, "I can tell the same jokes!"