DR. O'HARA TO LEAD DISTRICT

The Hauppauge School District Board of Education yesterday appointed Dr. Dennis P. O’Hara to serve as superintendent of schools effective July 1, 2016. O’Hara will replace Neil Lederer who has served with strong and experienced leadership as the District’s interim superintendent of schools since January 2016.

“Dr. O’Hara was chosen from a highly qualified field of impressive candidates,” stated David Barshay, Esq., Hauppauge Board of Education president. “We commend the comprehensive efforts of the Superintendent’s Search Committee, which was comprised of District administrators, teachers, parents and Board members. We thank them for their service and believe that we could not have selected a better candidate for our District’s new superintendent of schools.”

A resident of Farmingville, New York, O’Hara brings a wealth of teaching and administrative experience and leadership skills to the Hauppauge School District – from both the secondary education and the collegiate levels. He most recently served as principal of Oyster Bay High School and as an adjunct professor at St. John’s University, School of Education. He also previously was a member of the Hauppauge School District community – serving as Hauppauge High School assistant principal and as Science Department chairman – from 1998 to 2003.

According to O’Hara, the people of the Hauppauge School District community changed his life. “From my first day in the District in July of 1998, my learning and career took on a new, and never-before imagined, trajectory,” he stated. “Eighteen years later, I feel prepared for this leadership opportunity, and I am eager to return to Hauppauge to repay a debt of gratitude and to give back to the community that has had a profound effect on my career and life.”

O’Hara received a Doctor of Education from the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education, a Professional Diploma in Educational Administration from Dowling College School of Education, a Master of Science in Technological Systems Management from SUNY at Stony Brook School of Engineering, and a Bachelor of Science in Biology and Secondary Education from SUNY College at Old Westbury. He has received numerous professional awards and recognitions, published several articles in educational publications, presented on a variety of educational topics nationwide and serves on a number of professional organizations.

“We know that Dr. O’Hara’s skill set, combined with his unique knowledge of our District and community culture, will enable our students to reach new heights of achievement and open wide postsecondary doors of opportunity,” stated Barshay. “We welcome Dr. O’Hara back home and are pleased to partner with him on our collective mission to develop a strong synergy that will make Hauppauge School District stand out among the best schools in the nation.”