Meet the new Hastings-on-Hudson school district superintendent

Rockland/Westchester Journal News

Several school districts in Westchester County welcomed new superintendents over the summer. The Journal News/lohud is sitting down with each of them to talk about their new role.

Tony Sinanis started his new job as superintendent of the Hastings-on-Hudson Union Free School District on July 1.

Tony Sinanis started his new job as superintendent of the Hastings-on-Hudson schools on July 1.

Sinanis, whose annual salary is $230,000, took over for Roy Montesano who left for the Bronxville Union Free School District. He was chosen from a pool of about 50 applicants, and with input from the community.

His previous roles include assistant superintendent for curriculum at Plainedge Public Schools on Long Island and a teacher in New York City public schools in Manhattan and Queens.

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Question: Where are you from?

Answer: I grew up in Queens, so I am a New York City boy. My parents are immigrants to this country from Greece, so I grew up in Woodside and that’s where I spent a good chunk of my life, and lived in Queens in different spots. My partner and I moved to Pelham a couple of years ago, so this whole Westchester thing is something I’m still getting used to a little bit. Loving it so far, but definitely different than living in Queens.

Q: Why did you get into education?

A: Somewhere along the line I was a theater major, and my dad was like that’s not really going to work for a job and stuff, so think about that. But as part of the major, we had to do community service, and my community service assignment was tutoring middle school kids twice a week in Schenectady; I was in school at Union College. And I loved it. It was a thing I looked forward to the most — going to work with these kids — so I started researching an education major. If I had stayed at Union it would have been a fifth year, I would have gotten my master’s which was great, but I didn’t really want to be there that long. I missed the city, so I transferred to NYU and I transferred because I wanted to be in their school of education. And that was it, tutoring those kids just hooked me.

Q: What was it about that experience that hooked you?

A: I did not love school when I was a student. We were not even sure I would graduate high school. So, it’s great that I managed that, but I think it just showed me the other end of it. So, school wasn’t really awesome for me, but it could be pretty powerful ... because these exchanges with these kids, it left such a mark on me and they had me thinking and reflecting and it was pretty powerful, so I knew I wanted to do something with kids.

Q: Do you think you’ve been able to change the experience for students who didn’t like school?

A: Consciously or subconsciously, that’s been a huge motivator for me to try to reimagine what school can be. And certainly not in isolation because I’ve been blessed to work with incredible teachers and administrators and families and kids, so it’s been a pretty informative journey for me. But I think the impetus was, how can we make school different than what it was for me? The other thing that really changed my view and my lens was becoming a dad and really being motivated to support, nurture and create a school environment that I’d want him to be in that he would love. I think that my experiences for me as a dad really informed my thinking as an educator. My son also was born with some physical needs and has an IEP (individualized education program) in school, so it just helped me understand where our parents were coming from when they were advocating for their kids, special ed or not.

Q: What interested you in applying for the job at Hastings-on-Hudson?

A: There’s a certain comfort that I felt just from meeting the community, and then as I started to go through the process and I interviewed with the board and I interviewed with the board again, and I interviewed with a committee of people — I loved it, I loved every minute of it. There was no anxiety going on the interview, there was no stress about it being the right answer because I felt like I was engaged in a professional conversation about what’s best for kids. So, I was like, this is fun, I genuinely enjoyed it. They’re not just looking for a superintendent, they’re looking for someone who is going to take care of their kids, who’s going to support their staff, who’s going to connect with the community, who’s going to work with the principals. So, it’s not just a title that you’re filling, you’re looking for a person the people can relate to and can be accessible.