Superintendent's Messages and Information
2011-2012 School Year
Superintendent of Schools Daniel A. Teplesky
Monticello schools chief takes reins: He's gone from 'drumstick to drumstick'
September 2, 2011 - by Victor Whitman from the Times Herald-Record
MONTICELLO— The new superintendent of Sullivan County's largest school district, Daniel Teplesky, is seated around a small conference table in his office in a converted home in Monticello near the high school.
Teplesky, 62, has been on the job
in the Monticello School District for one month.
Teplesky promises to be open and return telephone calls, and get the opinions of parents, teachers and students before making decisions. He describes his style as "collaboration."
He formally will lay out the district's challenges and his vision Thursday. There will be challenges.
Teplesky hinted Monticello, which has roughly 3,400 students and 470 employees, is in danger of being put on a list of districts in need of improvement. Several administrators have retired or are leaving for other jobs.
He calls these changes an opportunity.
Teplesky has a four-year contract at $173,500 annually to lead the district. Off the cuff, Teplesky mentions public schools superintendents always get hammered for making big money, but then he smiles.
"I am at the office at 6 a.m., probably leave at 10 tonight."
Here's a little more about him: He comes from Buffalo, and yes, he's a Bills fan.
Long before he worried over budget lines and federal testing guidelines, Teplesky played the drums. Says he didn't pick up the sticks to be a rock star, though. He did get a music education degree from the University of Wisconsin, parlaying that into a job as a band director in the mid-70s in upstate New York schools. He also has a master's in education from Niagara University.
He left education altogether in 1981 and co-owned a poultry distribution company that peaked at 75 employees.
"I went from drumstick to drumstick," he says.
Ba-da-dum.
After his company closed in 1999, Teplesky was certified to be an administrator, holding jobs as a principal; he has seven years' experience as a superintendent in two upstate districts, recently the Ravena-Coeymans-Selkirk district.
He says family — his wife and adult son and daughter — is the most important thing to him. Without prompting, Teplesky mentions his 29-year-old son, Jacob, a captain in the U.S. Army, is serving his third tour; twice having served in Iraq, he was deployed this winter to Afghanistan. They flew up to North Pole, Alaska, when he deployed. It was about minus 30 degrees near Fairbanks, but they couldn't miss a chance to see their son off again.
CLICK HERE for this story on the Times Herald-Record website.
Monticello Appoints Superintendent of Schools: Daniel A. Teplesky
June 29, 2011 - SC BOCES press release
The Monticello Board of Education is
pleased to announce the appointment of Daniel A. Teplesky, of
Granville, NY, as the Superintendent of Schools for the Monticello
Central School District.
Mr. Teplesky was officially appointed at the June 28 Board of Education meeting to fill the position currently held by Interim Superintendent Edward Rhine. Mr. Rhine has been at the helm since February 2011, when Dr. Patrick Michel left to take a new position at Hamilton, Fulton, Montgomery (HFM) BOCES.
Mr. Teplesky comes to the district with seven years of experience as a Superintendent of Schools. In addition, he served for five years as the principal of the Churchville-Chili Central School, Royalton-Hartland Central School and Niagara Catholic Junior Senior High School.
Mr. Teplesky currently serves as the Superintendent of Schools for the Ravena-Coeymans-Selkirk (RCS) Central School District in Ravena, NY, where he has been since 2009. During his time at RCS, Mr. Teplesky was instrumental in moving the district forward in a number of ways, including using data-driven instructional methods to help improve student achievement. He was also instrumental in helping the Pieter B. Coeymans Elementary School increase student achievement enough to be removed from the School in Need of Improvement (SINI) list.
From 2004-2009, Mr. Teplesky served as Superintendent of the Granville Central School District. Mr. Teplesky brings with him a strong commitment and dedication to communication and working with the community to create an environment that will positively influence the district and promote student success.
"The Board of Education is looking forward to working with Mr. Teplesky and welcome him into our entire educational community. He will begin August 1," stated Board of Education President Susan Purcell.
CLICK HERE to read an interview with Daniel Teplesky by Sullivan County Democrat reporter Dan Hust. (courtesy of the SC Democrat)
CLICK HERE to read the article, "Monticello School District selects new superintendent" in the Times Herald-Record.