Dr. Martin G. Brooks took over as Superintendent for the Plainview-Old Bethpage School District on July 19.

His career began in the South Bronx where he was both a teacher and a guidance counselor. Prior to his start in Plainview-Old Bethpage, Brooks was the superintendent at the Valley Stream Central High School - District 13. He also worked in various administration capacities at Shoreham-Wading River. His doctorate is from Teacher's College - Columbia University.

"I love Plainview so far," said Brooks. "It has been welcoming and everybody has been so nice. People have made a real effort to reach out to me and make me feel welcome. I have had an opportunity to meet a lot of folks and I am trying to remember everyone's name."

Besides his duties as superintendent, Brooks is also the president of the Nassau County Council of Schools Superintendents. He was elected into this position by the 56 other superintendents throughout the county. "I began as treasurer a few years back and then I was vice president, president-elect and now president," said Brooks.

Brooks is just getting familiar with the Plainview community and school district, but knows that he has very significant challenges ahead of him. "We had a bond issue that passed and we have a lot of construction work that is going to be going on during the year," said Brooks.

As a result of the bond issue, work space will be added to existing rooms and some interior rooms will be renovated. New windows will also be put into Mattlin Elementary School. "That kind of work is what we want to be sure disrupts the education program as little as possible," said Brooks. "Trying to make that project unobtrusive is a high priority."

In addition to the bond issue work, a new school just opened in the district to accommodate for the soaring enrollment. Pasadena Elementary School, which is under the leadership of Principal Sylvia Rey, opened this school year as a result of a district-wide plan to address space shortages, approved by the voters in the community.

POB schools have owned the school for many years and it was rented out to BOCES. The school was taken back by the district on July 1 to accommodate the growing number of children in the district.

During the present school year, Pasadena will house grades one, two and three, as the district's fourth graders were "grandfathered" by the Board of Education and are being allowed to "graduate" at their current elementary school.

The school is fully staffed and the teachers worked all summer to decorate the rooms, making them welcoming for the new students.

"The custodial staff did a magnificent job of completely renovating the inside of the school and getting it ready for the first day of classes," said Brooks. The official ribbon cutting ceremony will take place on Sept. 19

The main educational challenges this year have to deal mainly with making sure that the students are prepared for the new exams that New York State will be putting into place, according to Brooks. Students in grades four and eight will be most affected by these tests. "We want to be sure that we do not spend the entire year teaching to that test," said Brooks. "That tends to narrow the curriculum that kids get exposed to and we do not want to do that. We want to teach a broad and rich curriculum to our kids while at the same time preparing them."

There are many changes for the POB School District this year. In addition to Dr. Brooks, the new superintendent, there are many new members of the district office and administration. There are a total of 53 new faculty members due to the 24 retirees last year and the new positions created by the elementary school. There are approximately 4,700 students enrolled throughout the district.

"There is a lot going on and it promises to be a very exciting and good year," concluded Brooks.