Arlene Besner, longtime principal of Howitt Middle School, will officially retire as of Feb. 1. Until that time, she will continue to work with new principal Luis Pena - whose first day on the job was Dec. 2 - to ease the transition of leadership. When Pena first heard about the impending vacancy at Howitt, he began researching the district, from the website to state education information. While he found all this research helpful, Pena felt he still needed to "meet" Farmingdale.

"I called a friend who lives in Farmingdale and we took a two-and-a-half hour drive through the town - we went everywhere," Pena said. "I saw that it has such a strong community bond and I wanted to be a part of it." Pena comes to Howitt from Bay Shore Middle School, where for the past four years he has served as an assistant principal.

A high school All-American hurdler, Pena continued to compete at the University of Georgia, even qualifying for the National Championships, but returned to Bay Shore to help his family through a difficult illness. He earned both his bachelor's and master's degrees from CW Post, where his interest in track remained so strong that he started a women's team at the college.

Pena brought pilot special education programs from Suffolk BOCES into school districts, then returned to Bay Shore about 10 years ago, serving as coordinator of curriculum for the district, as dean of students and girls' track coach at the high school, and finally as assistant principal at the middle school.

"There are very few places for which I would've left Bay Shore because it was a very comfortable, happy place for me," Pena said. "I have a very positive feeling about Howitt, especially about the sixth grade coming because I truly believe it belongs in the middle school. I'm really ecstatic about being a part of the Farmingdale family."