Meet the new Locust Valley superintendent

The Locust Valley Central School District will soon welcome its new superintendent, Kristen Turnow, as she begins her tenure on July 1. Turnow has had a long and varied career that began in catering and eventually took her to Stony Brook University, where she was an adjunct professor. She said she was looking forward to spending the rest of her working years in Locust Valley.

Turnow never intended to go into teaching, having earned a degree in business management at Rutgers University. After running a catering company for Wall Street businesses for several years, however, she, her family and friends realized that academia was where she belonged.

Turnow, 54, who lives in Eastport with her husband, Thomas Heintz, said she grew up surrounded by educators, which gave her an appreciation for public education. Her grandparents’ best friend was Carl Padovano, the superintendent of the Hackensack City School District, and his wife, Kathryn, who was the dean of Dowling College, spent years convincing Turnow to look into teaching.

“She kind of just persuaded me, you know, when I was in 

catering,” Turnow recalled. “She just kept saying to me, ‘I know you’re serving people and everything, but you really need to be a teacher.’”

Turnow subsequently studied at Dowling, where she earned a master’s in elementary education and, later, a doctorate in education. She also began serving on the Board of Education in Center Moriches, where she raised her four children. 

Turnow described her time on the school board as “fantastic,” and even wrote her doctoral dissertation on school boards and school board trustees. Having served on one, she appreciated the phenomenal, and often unsung, effort required to keep a district running. 

“I really felt compelled to give back, and to really understand the depth of the volunteerism and the dedication that it takes to be a school board member,” she said. “Most board members are really there for the right reasons — they want to give back to the community.”

For the past two decades, Turnow has taught at Stony Brook, and served as director of guidance at the university’s School of Professional Development. She has also taught at the College of Saint Rose, in Albany, and at St. Joseph’s College, in Patchogue.

She explained that she gained experience in both administration and “teaching teachers how to be teachers,” as well as training them in special education. Over the years she had considered working for several school districts, but wanted to have time to raise her children.

“It just wouldn’t have been the right time before, because I would’ve had to juggle my kids versus the school district,” Turnow said. Now that her children are out of the house, she added, “I’m in a position where I can give 110 percent.”

Locust Valley was the only school district she applied to, she said, and she fell in love with the schools when she visited the campuses during the application process. The “place just felt right,” she said, and she intends to spend the rest of her career in the district.

“I’m hoping to finish out my whole career at Locust Valley and really get to know the children,” Turnow said. “I’ve met so many wonderful community members already. Every person I’ve met is nicer than the last.”

Her main focus initially, she said, will be “relationships, relationships, relationships.” She added that running a school district is really about working with a team, and that she looked forward to getting to know every aspect of district operations. 

The school board has expressed enthusiasm and faith in Turnow. In a statement, board President Margaret Marchand wrote that she felt there was no one more suited to the position.

“The Locust Valley School Board is thrilled that Dr. Turnow has accepted the superintendent position here,” Marchand wrote. “Locust Valley has always been a district that has held high standards of excellence for academic and extra-curricular activities, and we are confident that Dr. Turnow will not only continue that excellence but bring our district to the forefront of education.”