South Huntington Launching In-House Summer School Program

SOUTH HUNTINGTON, NY — Two South Huntington educators have been chosen to lead the district’s new in-house summer school program, which will serve only South Huntington students, the district said.

Dylan Clifford will serve as summer school principal, and Danielle Rodrigues will serve as assistant principal.

The program, which begins July 6, will be held at Stimson Middle School and is expected to serve about 200 to 300 students, according to the district.

For the past decade, Western Suffolk BOCES ran a large, multi-district summer school program at Stimson Middle School, with as many as 800 students from across Western Suffolk attending classes there during July and August, the district said.

The smaller district-run program will allow South Huntington to keep summer school classes in one section of Stimson while construction and cleaning crews work on the rest of the building before the new school year begins, according to the district.

Clifford, South Huntington’s chairperson of special education and student services, has been teaching since 2015. He initially planned to teach physical education and health, earning a Bachelor of Arts in physical education and health from West Virginia Wesleyan College.

After completing his master’s degree in special education, Clifford began his career in that field, where he said he found a passion for supporting students.

“My experience in special education — understanding how to differentiate instruction, communicate differently, and identify strengths and weaknesses — is a skill I hope to pass on to the staff,” Clifford said. “It helps everyone become more empathetic toward the needs of our students.”

Clifford said the summer program is designed to help students stay on track academically.

“This is an opportunity to keep students on track to graduate,” Clifford said. “It provides a structured support system during the summer to help them earn credits and gain the skills they need to be successful adults.”

Rodrigues teaches English as a New Language life science and biology classes at Walt Whitman High School. She has been teaching since 2011, though education was not her original career path.

Rodrigues earned a Bachelor of Science in public relations from Syracuse University in 2006 and initially pursued a corporate career. She later worked in a pharmaceutical department and at an engineering firm before realizing she wanted a career with a more direct impact, the district said.

“Sitting in my cubicle, taking the 5:55 a.m. train and not getting home until 10:30 p.m., I asked myself, ‘Who am I really helping?’” Rodrigues said. “It wasn’t fulfilling. I wanted to touch young lives and give them a great foundation.”

Rodrigues returned to school and earned a Master of Science in adolescence education with a concentration in biology from LIU Post in 2011. Her ability to speak Portuguese helped her secure her teaching position with South Huntington, the district said.

“Teaching has fulfilled me in every way, especially working with the ENL bilingual population,” Rodrigues said. “That wasn’t my initial goal, but I grew up in a bilingual immigrant household. I practiced my Spanish before my job interview, and even though my accent was very Portuguese back then, I was hired.”

Rodrigues said she wants her students to know she is invested in their growth.

“My students know I am invested in them as people,” she said. “I want to help them find their potential and reach expectations they didn’t think they were capable of.”

South Huntington’s summer school program will run from July 6 through Aug. 13, with Regents exams scheduled for Aug. 18 and 19, the district said.

Classes will run from 7 a.m. to noon across three 90-minute periods. Students will be responsible for their own breakfast and lunch.

Busing will be provided for all three morning periods, with return busing available after periods one and two, the district said. Students attending the third and final period will need to arrange their own transportation home.

There is no cost to attend, according to the district.

The program will be supported by 20 to 25 certified teachers, including several from South Huntington’s faculty, as well as teacher aides, guidance counselors, an attendance teacher, English language learner support, support for students with disabilities and district security personnel.

“Our focus is staffing the program with highly qualified people — ideally our own district teachers,” Clifford said. “Since they know the students and the building’s expectations, they know the goal: ensuring students earn the credits they missed and are successful on their Regents Exams. We want people who are invested in this community.”