Sameera Pasha and Jonathan Too

On Friday, Dec. 8,  four of Cardozo High School’s assistant principals (APs) sat down at a press conference in order to address questions that the students had in the building. Mr. Georgatos, Ms. Millen, Ms. Rothenberg, and Ms. Kierez were among the panel of admin. During this press conference, students received insight on some of the things that the admin do that may go unnoticed by students.

Mr. Georgatos

Mr. Georgatos, who is the AP of social studies, music, and Naval sciences, divulged in what he does day-to-do. Outside of what students see, Mr. Georgatos does many things such as supervising over 40 teachers in the Navy, social studies, and music department. He also teaches a course, as well. He controls the trips and budget of the music, social studies program, and NJROTC program. As well, he is one of the three administrators in charge of the Cardozo’s new Annex Building.

“Every period I am walking around, I am everywhere,” Mr. Georgatos shared. “I meet with teachers after their observations to see what they can improve on. I get the teachers whatever they need, such as supplies but I do have assistants that help me with that.” Mr. Georgatos also shared that he is part of the BRT, which is the building response team, which is a huge responsibility and oversees safety in the school during drills and lockdowns.

While speaking about the changes he wishes to see in the school, Mr. Georgatos said one thing that schools in New York City can focus on is bringing shops back. “We should bring back things like auto body, lift down in the basement, show kids how to change oil. We can teach kids how to work on cars. Why can’t we bring things that they are interested in,” he questioned. The AP feels that schools should offer CTE programs, or career in technical education. This way, students would get a more “hands on” experience and find something they are good at.

Despite wanting these changes, Mr. Georgatos finds Cardozo to be a “good school with a lot of good kids.” However, he still believes that schools have to go back to old school education.

“I think that we do a lot of good things with these programs but I think we should start looking in different ways to give them better opportunities,” he explained.

Ms. Kierez

Ms. Kierez, another AP, oversees four different departments in Cardozo. She is the AP of English, ENL, dance, and the library. She also teaches a class, as well. Her departments that she oversees requires a lot of work, for example, the ENL program requires a lot of paperwork, including reports, plans, and tutoring. Kierez aims to meet the request of students, and acquire funding to implement these requests.

In addition to this, she also has other duties being one of the other admin in charge of the Annex Building, such as regulating the halls and observing teachers. These responsibilities keep her busy for many hours in the school.

“We’re here sometimes until 5:30 p.m. and on,” Ms. Kierez shared. Other duties include holding meetings and ordering supplies. Kierez stated, “I look at the funding we have, I ask the teachers what they need, I see what I can afford, and I see what can be used.”

When asked why she still teaches a class on top of all of her admin duties, Kierez simply replied, “You’re a teacher first, no matter if you decide to move up to administration.”

Something that Ms. Kierez would change about her job by adding more hours to the day, which many people can relate to. “Trying to get things done doesn’t always come easy in high school,” she explained. “Things like fire drills, fights, and figuring out things for other students. It’s really about prioritizing what’s important, which are the students.”

Ms. Millen

Ms.Millen is the AP of climate and culture, as well as the athletic director, at Cardozo. While many people assume that she is a dean, Ms. Millen is actually the one who supervises the other deans. “Most kids just think I’m a dean too, but I make a schedule for them and I’m in charge of where they go,” Millen explained.

In addition to this, Ms. Millen is the one who approves suspensions, and does classroom observations. “I run a program here called the Dozo Connect, which helps students get mentors in school.” A normal day for Ms. Millen consists of emails, paperwork, building walkthroughs, checking the absence list to see how many teachers are out, and to let the deans know if they should be on the lookout for students roaming the halls.

However, Ms. Millen’s day doesn’t end there. After the school day ends, the duty of an athletic director begins, which involves ordering equipment and filing records. Ms. Millen has to oversee all of the PSAL rules and regulations, and check each student athlete’s academic standing to ensure they are meeting the PSAL standards. When asked if she would change anything about her job, she replied, “If I had three other deans it would be a perfect world.”

Ms. Rothenberg

Ms. Rothenberg is an admin that not many students know, but should. She is the AP of data and testing at Cardozo. Ms. Rothenberg oversees all of the testing done at Cardozo such as PSATs, SATs, and all Regents Exams.

A normal day to Ms.Rothenberg consists of keeping track of everything the students need in the building academically for their transcripts. She makes sure that the students that take exams get registered for the exams that they have to take. As well, Ms. Rothenberg is in charge of keeping track of the Title 1 funding that Cardozo has, which involves the submission of student the lunch forms.

Ms. Rothenberg controls all of the standardized testing that goes on throughout the school. She sets the goals, such as how many students are passing and the milestones that the school hits. Ms. Rothenberg also observes teachers in their classrooms, like many other APs.

If she would want to change anything about her job she shared that she wouldn’t. “ One of the things that I love about my job is that it’s one of the few positions that I get to be involved in every aspect of the school,” she shared.

“I get to work with Ms.Millen on safety numbers, I work with Ms. Clark for graduation, I work with the other APs to make sure the students take the regents so they get to graduate. I feel like this is one of the few positions where I get to work with everyone so I would not change anything.” 

Many do not know that Ms. Rothenberg used to be an attorney before she began working in schools. “My biggest piece of advice is don’t commit to a mistake because you spend a lot of time making it. You can always change course. It’s okay to not have it figured out and it’s okay to change course,” she shared.

It’s easy to make assumptions about the admin at Cardozo High School, because they are always on the move. Many think that they are just here to teach, or observe, but if you take a walk in their shoes, it is much, much more.