Wantagh High School Principal Dr. Paul Guzzone was recognized with the Administrator of the Year award by the Nassau Counselors’ Association for his support of the guidance program. He was nominated by Wantagh’s director of guidance, Frank Muzio, and was honored at the association’s end-of-the-year dinner on June 6.

The award is presented to school administrators who are not directly involved with guidance but provide valuable support to the program. In Dr. Guzzone’s two years as principal of the high school, he has worked with the guidance department on numerous initiatives, including the freshmen experience and a revamped course catalog. Additionally, his open door policy for students provides them with a trusted adult they can turn to for help and support. 

Wantagh High School launched the freshmen experience program this year. Once per six-day cycle, ninth graders receive lessons delivered by the school’s guidance counselors on relevant topics such as college and career planning, effective communication, social and emotional learning, social media awareness and time management and organizational skills. 

Dr. Guzzone noted that these lessons replaced a ninth grade study hall, so no instructional time was lost.  

“We’ve taken advantage of that gap and filled it with something meaningful for our freshmen,” he said.

Freshmen also benefited from a redesigned ninth grade orientation program, which is held in late August. Dr. Guzzone said that it is more engaging, with students divided into smaller groups so they have more opportunities to ask questions as they prepare for the transition to high school.

The redesigned online course catalog, which is accessed by all incoming ninth through 12th graders, is more interactive with links and videos. This allows students to truly get a feel for classes they might be interested in taking.