Diana Rich has been appointed to serve as the Huntington School District’s director of special education and student support services. The appointment is effective May 8.
Huntington School Board members unanimously approved the appointment during a public meeting of trustees this past Monday night in the Jack Abrams STEM Magnet School auditorium. Ms. Rich is taking over from current department director Nancy Wilson, who is resigning effective at the close of business on May 5 to assume an administrative position at Western Suffolk BOCES.
“I’d like to congratulate Nancy Wilson on her new position, within which she’ll have a direct impact on policy-making at the state level, as well as thank her for her long-time dedicated service and commitment to Huntington,” Superintendent James W. Polansky said. “While the person herself can never truly be replaced, I am thrilled to welcome Diana Rich to the director position. Diana is a proven entity in Huntington, known and well respected by all for her knowledge, work ethic, detail orientation, love of children and affinity for the district. I wish her many years of success in this new capacity.”
Ms. Rich has been serving as Huntington’s K-6 chairperson of special education and student support services. She earned a BA degree in education at Niagara University in 1998 and a master’s degree in special education at CUNY-Queens College in 2001. She obtained state administrator’s certificate in 2005 after studying at CUNY-Hunter College.
Prior to coming to Huntington, Ms. Rich worked for AHRC (Assn. for the Help of Retarded Children) July 2000 to March 2012 as a special education program curriculum coordinator, director of early intervention and universal pre-kindergarten, director of special education pre-school and center based early intervention program and principal of a special education pre-school. Earlier in her career, she worked as a special education administrator in the New York City public schools.
Ms. Wilson became the Huntington’s director of special education and student support services on July 1, 2012. She had been serving as the department’s assistant director. A member of Huntington’s faculty since 1995, she began her career here as a special education teacher at J. Taylor Finley Middle School.
A 1992 graduate of Acadia University (BA in psychology/special education), Ms. Wilson earned a Master of Science degree in 1995 at Long Island University’s C.W. Post campus in special education. In addition to her work as a Huntington teacher and administrator, she coached girls’ lacrosse and field hockey on the high school and middle school levels and served as an advisor for the J. Taylor Finley Middle School yearbook and environmental clubs.