A warm welcome for Seaford’s Pupil Personnel Services assistant directors

The Seaford School District announced the appointment of two administrators in the Pupil Personnel Services department. Dana Battaglia is the elementary assistant director and Jamie Hermel has been named secondary assistant director.

Together, Battaglia and Hermel will serve about 425 students across the district’s four schools. They both bring a wealth of experience and knowledge to their positions, and strive to make a positive difference for students who receive special services.

Battaglia comes to Seaford from the Westbury School District, where she was the committee on special education chair for the past two years. Prior to that, she spent 11 years as a faculty member and department chair of Adelphi University’s department of Communication Sciences and Disorders. Her first position was in 1998 as teacher of speech and hearing handicapped at Nassau BOCES, followed by five years as a speech-language pathologist in the Northport-East Northport School District.

During her career as an educator, Battaglia has also worked with the Eden II programs at Genesis School in East Meadow to support children with autism. She holds a bachelor’s degree in speech language pathology from LIU Post, a master’s degree in speech language pathology from St. John’s University, a doctorate in philosophy in speech language hearing sciences from the CUNY Graduate Center and school building and district leadership certificates from Adelphi University.

In her previous position, Battaglia became familiar with Seaford’s special education programs, as Westbury cross-contracted with Seaford for student placements. She looks forward to supporting teachers, students and their families at Harbor and Manor elementary schools, including overseeing the launch of a new K-1 class at Manor.

“It’s such an honor to help enhance the great programs that are already in place,” Battaglia said. “I want to work collaboratively with the building administrators and pupil personnel services educators to continue to grow inclusive opportunities for all students.”

Hermel joins Seaford from the Jericho School District, where she was the curriculum associate of secondary pupil personnel services for two years. She previously worked in New York City schools as an administrator for special education at Bayside High School for eight years. Her career began as a grades 6-8 special education teacher at Robert F. Kennedy Middle School in Queens.

She holds a bachelor’s degree in sociology and English from Queens College, and master’s degrees in middle childhood general and special education from Touro College, educational leadership and administration from Touro College, and school and family counseling from Mercy College.

Hermel will support students at the high school and middle school. Her goal is to partner with building administrators and teachers to prepare students for their post-secondary lives using the Seaford Scholar skills. She wants to ensure that students have a wide range of pathways to meet success. In making these important decisions, it is essential to include parents as “thought partners,” she explained.

Seaford not only offers strong academic programs for special education students, Hermel noted, but there are many additional supports such as Best Buddies, Challenger athletics and the high school and middle school wellness centers. She said the comprehensive program is a testament to the collective vision of district leadership.

“We offer a broad spectrum of services here in Seaford schools and we’re so lucky to be in a district has so many pupil personnel services structures,” Hermel said. “I’m really excited to be here.”

Hermel is particularly looking forward to working for Executive Director for Student Support Services Mary Catherine Culella-Sun, who she has met at several conferences. She and Battaglia both emphasized the warm welcome they have received since joining the administrative team at the beginning of the summer.