Hewlett-Woodmere District Appoints Administrators To New Roles

WOODMERE, NY — Hewlett-Woodmere Public Schools announced the appointment of four administrators to new roles as part of a restructuring of its leadership, which the district says will connect academic disciplines more closely and provide a “more cohesive experience” for students in grades K-12.

For Kimberly Thompson, Joseph Virgilio, Becky Kim and Krista Albrecht, that restructure is coming with new titles. Thompson will serve as the district’s director of STEM; Virgilio will serve as director of business and P-12 college and career pathways; Kim will serve as director of humanities and Albrecht will serve as director of technologies.

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The appointments are effective Jul. 1, and represent what superintendent Dr. Dina Anzalone called a “bold step forward” for the school district.

"These appointments represent a bold step forward in our commitment to preparing students for a future we are only beginning to imagine," Anzalone said. "The world our students will enter, the careers they will hold, and the problems they will solve all look very different from the world of today, and it is our responsibility to ensure that our Portrait of a Graduate and our Strategic Plan are not simply aspirational documents, but living frameworks that shape every decision we make.”

These appointments fill four of the six director positions that the district has created, a new role that comes instead of a more traditional department chair model. The other two director roles are in special education and ENL and world languages.

While the model is new, the superintendent to whom these directors will report said she’s confident in their ability.

“By reimagining our organizational structure around the areas of greatest impact, we are creating the alignment, the innovation, and the support our teachers and students deserve, not incrementally, but in ways that are transformative,” Anzalone said. “We are proud to welcome these leaders and are confident that together, we will build something worthy of every child who walks through our doors."

Thompson has served as the district’s mathematics chair since March of 2023, presiding over math curriculum and instruction as well as math faculty professional development; she worked as a math and special education teacher in the Floral Park district form 2020 to 2023 and as a special education lead teacher and mathematics teacher in Amityville from 2013 to 2020.

Virgilio, meanwhile, joined Hewlett-Woodmere in 2019 to teach business education, becoming grades 6-12 business and computer science department chair in 2023. THe’s also the district liaison to the Hewlett-Woodmere Business Association, coordinator of the Business Advisory Board and the assistant principal of the summer school. Prior to joining Hewlett-Woodmere, he taught physical education and health in East Williston, then moved into a business education role when another faculty member went on leave and has been teaching business courses since.

Kim, the new humanities director, will be joining the district as part of this reorganization, coming over from Farmingdale UFSD where she has been an ELA instructional coach since 2023. Prior to that, she was an English teacher at Farmingdale High School and a special education teacher at Hillcrest High School.

Finally, there’s Albrecht, the current director of instructional technology and data protection for the South Country Central School District. Albrecht has held that role since 2023, presiding over technology initiatives at a district-wide level. Prior to that role, Albrecht was an instructional technology specialist in the Elwood UFSD from 2013 to 2023, and in Wantagh UFSD from 2005 to 2013. Her first teaching role was in South Ozone Park at Our Lady of Perpetual Help School, where she was a math and science teacher.