District 30 names new Shaw Avenue principal

An elementary school principal from the Uniondale School District will take the helm at Shaw Avenue Elementary School, District 30 announced on Wednesday.

Alejandro Rivera will replace Bridgette Wilson, who was appointed as interim principal after Amy Pernick left the position for a job in the Hewlett-Woodmere school district in November. Rivera was identified during an extensive search that included community input gathered through an online survey.

Rivera has served as principal of Northern Parkway Elementary School, in Uniondale, since 2012. Before that, he served as assistant principal for grades 6 through 8 at PS 127Q, in East Elmhurst, Queens. Rivera has also served as an adjunct professor at Touro College’s Graduate School of Education since 2009.

Rivera has also held teaching, data specialist and testing coordinator roles at the Waterside School for Leadership, the New York City Department of Public Education and Public School 225, all in Rockaway Park. He holds a Post Master’s Advanced Graduation Certificate in educational leadership and an M.A. in liberal studies from Stony Brook University, and is currently a Doctorate in Education candidate in educational and policy leadership at Hofstra University.

Superintendent Nicholas Stirling thanked the community for taking an active role in the district’s search and said Rivera would be a “tremendous” addition to the Shaw Avenue School community. “I am thrilled to welcome Mr. Rivera to Valley Stream 30 and know he is already looking forward to meeting and working with our outstanding students, teachers, administrators and community,” he said.