Albion vice principal retiring March 31; Dan Monacelli to return as interim

ALBION – Katharine Waite, Albion’s high school vice principal, will be retiring on March 31. She was worked at Albion for nearly eight years, after 10 years as a principal at Perry Central School.

The Board of Education on Monday appointed Dan Monacelli to fill in as interim vice principal, beginning after spring recess on April 10 until the end of the school year in late June.

Monacelli, an Albion resident, retired as the middle school principal in 2017. He also has filled in as an interim junior-senior high school principal in Holley for three months in late 2018 and early 2019.

Mickey Edwards, the Albion district superintendent, said he reached out across Western New York and there weren’t any other candidates for the position to close out the school year. He said he appreciated Monacelli’s willingness to come back to the district in the interim position.

In other action during the board meeting on Monday:

• School resource officer Matthew Prawel, a deputy with the Orleans County Sheriff’s Office, outlined how his first year has been going with the district so far. Prawel said his main focus is the security of the campus. He has connected with other law enforcement agencies, giving them a color-coded map showing different zones of the school buildings.

Prawel said he would welcome more chances to connect with students and staff but most of his time is dedicated to security and safety.

He recommended the board add a second school resource officer, either through the Sheriff’s Office or Albion Police Department. That would increase a safety response and also allow for more positive connections between students and the school resource officers, Prawel said.

• Brad Pritchard, the middle school principal, gave a presentation to the board on how the middle school is doing more computer based testing, which he said not only measures academics but familiarizes students with keyboarding, software and using Google Docs and other software.

• Approved a trip to Boston from May 26-28 for 18 students from minority backgrounds. The trip for the Girls Leadership Group is covered through a Community Schools grant.

• Changed the date of the Honors Convocation for graduating seniors with GPAs at 90 percent or higher from May 11 to May 4. The date was changed so some of the seniors can be a part of the “Stars of Tomorrow” program featuring students in the musical. They will be able to perform at the Rochester Broadway Theatre League.

• Julianna Kuntz was recognized with the elementary student leadership award and Brody Furness was honored with the elementary school character award.