This school year, Glen Rock welcomes Mr. Michael Pasciuto, the new assistant principal at the high school.

Mr. Steve Purciello previously held the position for over a decade until his retirement in the winter of 2014. To fill his position for the remainder of the school year, Mr. Daniel Di Guglielmo stepped in as interim assistant principal.

The position was filled by Pasciuto, who is a full time replacement.

Pasciuto knew he wanted to work in the education field since he was fifteen years old when his football and track coach at Demarest High School was also his history teacher. The following year, Pasciuto had Mr. Kevin Walter as a teacher. Coincidentally, Walter’s wife, Mrs. Kathleen Walter, is an AP United States History teacher at Glen Rock.

“Him and I became very close and I said, ‘this is what I want to do’,” Pasciuto said. “He was a profound influence on me.”

Pasciuto attended Dickinson College as an undergraduate and studied history. He also went through an education certification program there. He got his first Master’s degree from University of Missouri in curriculum and his second Master’s degree in administration from an online school in New Jersey, Thomas Edison State College.

He spent one year working at Demarest Middle School and the last 13 years at Cresskill High School. Along with being a teacher, he has spent the last four years as the district supervisor for social studies.

“I love to teach students,” Pasciuto said. “Teaching them valuable lessons is very important as well as having students learn as much as possible.”

Before applying for the position in Glen Rock, Pasciuto knew it was a nice area because he is from Bergen County and he and his wife looked in the town when they were in the process of buying a house. He knew it had a reputation for academics, athletics and for being a strong community.

“When the job was posted, I thought it would be great because it is very similar to Cresskill for a lot of reasons including the sense and pride of the community,” he explained. “One thing in Glen Rock that is similar to Cresskill is that a lot of kids do a lot of things because of the size of the school. So, you may have kids in band who also have varsity letters or are in the fall drama.”

Starting a new job can be daunting, however, Pasciuto has found the new atmosphere to be welcoming.

“I’m adjusting well to the new school,” Pasciuto said. “The administration has been very helpful in the transition to the new school.”

Pasciuto has many responsibilities as vice principal including dealing with scheduling, lates and tardies, disciplining and working with the staff.