Richard J. Terino (Courtesy of Southington Public Schools)
By TAYLOR HARTZ
STAFF WRITER
Southington Public Schools will start the new school year with three new administrators, appointed by the Board of Education in a special meeting on June 22.
Richard J. Terino will serve as the new principal of John F. Kennedy Middle School, following former principal Steven Madancy’s promotion to assistant superintendent.
Terino has been the assistant principal of Southington High School (SHS) since 2009 and has served as the president of the Southington Administrators Association, overseeing 26 administrators since 1991.
During his time at SHS Terino evaluated language arts, social studies, and library and media courses, and supervised custodial staff, building and grounds and the site budget.
He has been a facilitator of the Grades 8-9 Transition Committee since 2012 and the Professional Development and Evaluation Committee since 2010 and was the president of the Southington Education Association until 2012. He was the director of both the summer school program from 2003 to 2012, and the Head Start program from 1997-2003, through the Board of Education.
Terino received his Bachelor of Science in English and history from Central Connecticut State University (CCSU,) in 1975, his Master of Science in Special Education from CCSU in 1982, his MS +30 in educational foundations from Trinity College of Vermont in 1997, and his educational leadership degree from Sacred Heart University in 2009.
Terino’s move from SHS to JFK, along with the recent promotion of Brian Stranieri to principal, created two openings in the high school administration, and the BOE welcome two new assistant principals, R. Jeffrey Shaw and Richard Aroian.
Jeff Shaw (Courtesy of Southington Schools)
Shaw has been working for Southington Public Schools since 1990, has been a K-12 Music Specialist since 2005 and was the music curriculum chairman from 2002 to 2005. During his time in the Southington music department, Shaw has been responsible for developing and mapping the music curriculum, aligning all grades based on national and state standards, and overseeing staff evaluations and professional development for eleven schools.
Shaw has been the Director of Instrumental Music at SHS since 1990, where he has served as the director of the orchestra, wind ensemble, marching band and jazz ensemble, directing a total of more than 200 students.
In addition to maintaining the school district calendar for all music events, and developing an annual music budget for all music programs, Shaw has served as a coach for little league, American Legion Post 72 junior and senior league baseball teams, and Southington Youth Basketball.
Shaw received his Sixth Year Program degree from CCSU in 2012, following a master of arts in education for curriculum and instruction from the University of Connecticut (UConn) in 1992 and a Bachelor of Science in Music Education from UConn in 1982. He is a member of the American School Band Directors Association, Phi Beta Mu Honorary Music Educators Fraternity, Music Educators National Conference and Connecticut Music Educators Association.
Richard Arioan began his twenty-nine-year teaching career in Southington after receiving his Bachelor of Arts in History from UConn in 1986, a master’s degree in elementary education from CCSU in 1993 and his Seventh Year 092 administrative certification from CCSU in 2014.
Rich Aroian (File photo, 2014 Class LL softball championship game)
Aroian was a 10-year team leader and a curriculum area specialist for the Social Studies Department at DePaolo Middle School. He served as the Social Studies assistant chairperson and as an administrative intern at SHS where he has taught world history, international relations, and American culture since 2004, after teaching geography and American history at DePaolo since 1986.
Since 1986 Aroian has been active in the Southington athletic department. He coached soccer at DePaolo from 1986 to 2005, when he began coaching girls’ soccer at SHS and has been a softball coach at SHS since 1990.
Aroian is a member of the Connecticut High School Coaches Association, the National Council for History Education and Bill of Rights Institute, and the CT Education Association.
During his time at DePaolo and SHS he has planned and executed professional development days for the social studies teachers and supervised social studies lesson plan development. He served as the co-chair of the vertical alignment committee, developed a new teacher orientation program and developed school-wide argumentative and expository writing rubrics.
The Southington Board of Education appointed Terino, Shaw, and Aroian to fill the vacant positions last week, when they were welcomed by the board and Superintendent Connellan as the town’s newest principals.