School-One-on-One: Joe Mastropietro, Educator, Coach and More

Welcome to a new feature on Patch where we profile the many individuals who make up the school community.

This week we sit down with Joe Mastropietro, teacher, coach and a whole lot more.

Although Joe Mastropietro wasn’t born and raised in Hasbrouck Heights it’s become his hometown in a lot of ways. Teaching all day and coaching at night, not to mention going to other sporting events to watch his students play, Mastropietro finds he does spend more time in Heights than he does at home.

Mastropietro has been a teacher and a coach since he first started with the district nine years ago. He wears many hats, currently still teaching three math classes for the sixth, seventh and eighth grade classes and coaches girls soccer. He is also the supervisor for math and technology and the test coordinator for the district.

A typical day starts around 7:30 a.m. working with some students on extra help followed by hours of answering emails from teachers and making calls to the state to order tests for the district. He spends the rest of the day in the classroom and then he’s on the field with the girls varsity soccer team into the evening.

Many ask him if he is from Hasbrouck Heights but he was born and raised in Bloomfield and now lives in Wayne.  “I enjoy the town so much,” he says about Heights. Where he grew up there were so many kids not everyone had a chance to get to know each other but here everyone does know each other. He walks down the hallways and he knows every student.

“It’s really just one of those special little towns,” he commented adding that he enjoys working with the staff and the place is a great work environment.

It was meant to be that Mastropietro came to work in Hasbrouck Heights. He was almost ready to agree to work in the Nutley district when he received a phone call from the Heights superintendent at the time asking him to come in and interview. He was offered a chance to teach math and coach and he’s been here ever since.

In high school he played soccer and tennis and earned a full academic scholarship and a scholarship to play tennis at Caldwell College. When he came to Heights the started coaching soccer and he also coached tennis for five years. Previously he coached junior varsity soccer.

His love for Hasbrouck Heights even helped lead him to his true love. One of his colleagues Kara Doyle introduced him to her sister Karly and they hit off. The couple was just married this past June. His wife, who grew up in town, still has family living in the borough so he says it’s nice to visit with family sometimes after a long day and head home with his wife at the end of the day.

Weekends are when they really get to enjoy some relaxation together. A typical Sunday morning finds them walking through Saddle Brook Park, he says. They also enjoy travelling.

Mastropietro has also spent the past several years furthering his education earning his masters in administration and sees himself working on that level someday. 

When he’s not teaching or coaching, Mastropietro can be found at many of the other sports games and functions in town. He enjoys seeing the students outside of school as well and it means a lot to them to attend their games.  He also works at all the football games pointing out that he will be at the last home game this Friday night.

He refers to his own soccer team as family. They kids always stick together and go out to eat and many times a team member’s parents will host a dinner for the team and Mastropietro is always sure to be in attendance.

He really enjoys seeing former students come back to visit. “It’s great watching them grow up,” he says.