By Carol P. Bartold

Aug. 31, 2016: On the eve of his final academic year as Bronxville School Superintendent, Dr. David Quattrone reflected on the start of his tenure in 2005. “I think the Board of Education, to my great advantage, wanted to have a superintendent come in and focus on teaching and learning. Looking back, that was a good setting for me,” he said.

When Quattrone arrived at the school the troubled C-Wing project, although complete, had embroiled the district in a multi-million-dollar lawsuit involving construction related issues. “The board wanted to take the litigation burden off the shoulders of the superintendent and be able to move ahead,” he noted.

Quattrone would have to deal with further facilities matters resulting from two major flooding incidents, one in 2007 that left the building with $22 million in damages and rendered the building’s first floor unusable for a year, and another in 2011 that resulted in $8 million in damage.

“When we had the first flood,” he said, “it was an example of how events shape what you have to do and sometimes shape your legacy.” At the time the school was “clearing the decks” from earlier construction woes, the district was faced with a whole new set. Quattrone noted that doing a better job of anticipating future needs has become a major theme of his years at the helm of the school. “It’s not what I came here to do,” he said, “but I feel good that the staff was able to rise above those occasions and keep the focus on teaching and learning.”

Pressures to keep that focus arose from areas other than facilities. Quattrone reflected that, when he assumed his duties, annual budget increases lay in the 3-to 5 percent range. The 2008 recession, combined with the state-mandated maximum 2 percent tax levy increase forced all school districts to take a harder look at their annual budgets.

He said that, because the Bronxville district operated from a position of financial strength, the school has continued to thrive and was even able to offer an expanded offering of electives for high school students. “These pressures are not going away,” Quattrone said, “but we have a capacity to adapt because of strong community support.”

Among the hallmarks of his years at Bronxville that Quattrone is most pleased with, are:   the strong administration; the steps the district has taken to upgrade technology throughout the school and with the curriculum; the clarity and definition of the teacher evaluation process; an overall professional climate of collaboration and trust among the staff, and the completion of the auditorium project.

“I don’t worry that everything will crumble when I leave,” Quattrone said, in speaking of the school’s administrative staff. “They’re good communicators, committed and thoughtful.” He added that the administration is strong and was strengthened with the addition of positions for a Director of Curriculum and Director of Technology. His only regret, he noted, is that he will not be on hand to witness how their long-range plans play out.

On the technology front, Quattrone feels that the district is in a position to be proactive rather than reactive. “We have a much better planning capacity,” he said. “The recession made it difficult to get ahead of that curve.”

With state mandates for teacher evaluation becoming much more challenging, Quattrone feels the Bronxville district is in a good position to comply with them without compromising any of its larger purposes. Teacher evaluations, he noted, have become consistent across all teaching groups.

During the 2016-2017 academic year, Quattrone said, he expects to see additional, visible signs of progress in implementing The Bronxville Promise, measures to evaluate steps that will be taken to support the dispositions of innovation, leadership, critical thinking, and engaging the larger world. “I think that will be a major focus of this coming year and I hope we see some interesting results from that work before I leave,” he said.

In speaking of his legacy, Quattrone said he hopes “the capacity of the community, staff, and students to say that the external pressures by themselves will not, by themselves, define the school will continue. We have larger purposes in mind and together we will achieve them.”

Pictured here:  Bronxville School superintendent, Dr. David Quattrone.

Photo by A. Warner