Seaford Harbor principal bids farewell

Donna DeLucia-Troisi, Seaford Harbor Elementary School’s principal, always knew in her heart that she was born to be an educator. As a child, she remembers lining up her dolls to form a classroom of “students” and dressing as a nun to play the role of a parochial school teacher.

A leader by nature, when she started kindergarten, she remembers taking the hand of a crying young boy to comfort him on the first day of school. Now, after 33 years as an educator, DeLucia-Troisi reflects on her career as she prepares to retire on June 30.

“I’ve worked with great people here; wonderful teachers and administrators,” she said as she sat at the conference table in her office. “I feel we all grew up together and emerged as administrators; we went through the same steps together; learned from each other. The whole team is a great team.”

DeLucia-Troisi became principal of the Harbor School 10 years ago after serving six years as assistant principal under both Philip Goldstein and John Striffolino. Throughout her journey, she gained advice from her colleagues that molded her into the formidable administrator she is today. She can still hear the voice of Goldstein advising her to, “Listen first, think things through, then react.”

Her husband, Thomas, whom she met during her first teaching job at her alma mater, St. Mary’s School in Woodside, has been her mentor throughout her administrative career. He always reminds her to “not take things too seriously! Some people are never happy.”

DeLucia-Troisi taught second grade at St. Mary’s and started its full-day kindergarten program. She then went on to teach pre-K and kindergarten in the Elmont School District. She left a tenure-track position in Elmont to teach the primary grades in the Lawrence School District and was promoted to curriculum coordinator, a position that tackled the challenges of state testing, ESL and staff development, before coming to Seaford.

Along the way, she was also guided by these words of wisdom: “Respect everyone equally,” “Model what you want others to see in you,” “Don’t be afraid to ask for advice,” and “Every day is a new day.” The last one, written on a plaque that hangs behind her desk, is what she would consider her mantra. “I tell this to my students all the time,” she said. “What’s done is done. Today is a new day; start fresh. It gives them the strength to shake things off and move on.”

DeLucia-Troisi and her husband, an assistant superintendent in the Valley Stream Central High School District, settled in Seaford in 1991, where Thomas lived for part of his childhood. They raised two sons, Daniel, 27, a special education teacher, and John, 22, an accountant. Her parents, Cornelius, 90, and Emily, 84, moved from Queens to Seaford as well, 15 years ago.

“Seaford is a very tight community; people support each other,” DeLucia-Troisi said. “I was very impressed by the community’s strong response after Superstorm Sandy. Everyone donated to those families in need. This was not the first time that I experienced the generosity of the community. At other times, I have attended fundraisers for different families who were suffering through a tragic loss or the high cost of medical care.”

Reminiscing about her teaching days, DeLucia-Troisi flipped through a photo album and pointed to a picture of herself with a former student, Christine Reilly, who had just published her first book, “Sunday’s on the Phone to Monday.”

“When a student achieves success, it is so thrilling,” she said. “You feel like their mother; that you helped nurture their success.”

If she could have done anything differently as an administrator, she would have spent more time in the classrooms, if time permitted.

“Being a principal can be like heading a triage unit; there are always issues that come up and you have to prioritize what needs the most attention,” she explained. “I used to have checklists and would feel bad if I didn’t get through them, but I learned that you can’t plan your entire day; that there are always things that come up that will derail those lists. You just have to be able to balance that and have patience.”

Her successor will be middle school Assistant Principal Thomas Burke. Her advice for him: “Make sure you listen and observe, especially during the first year, and then include the faculty in decisions involving making changes or adjustments to the school.”

As she gets closer to a new beginning in her life, she looks forward to relaxing, spending time with family, traveling, bike-riding and, perhaps, going back to school or taking singing lessons as she did years ago. “I love to sing,” she said with a smile. But without a doubt, she says, what she will miss the most when she retires are “my kids.”

“First and foremost my career has been about the children,” she said. “I hope I am remembered as a fair but friendly and caring principal that put the children first.”