Welcome to New Rochelle Public Schools

 The City School District of New Rochelle Board of Education has appointed Dr. Laura Feijóo as the District's new Superintendent of Schools, effective November 1, 2019. Feijóo holds a bachelor’s degree in education, master’s degree in special education and specialist diploma in educational leadership all from Queens College. She earned her doctorate degree in educational leadership from New York University.

Dr. Feijóo currently serves the New York City Department of Education in the capacity of Senior Superintendent. In this role, she is directly responsible for supporting schools across all divisions in policy and labor management.Dr. Feijóo additionally was selected by her colleagues to serve as President of the New York State Councilof School Superintendents during the 2017-2018 school year.

Previously, she served for four years as the Senior Supervising Superintendent for the Chancellor’s Central Office, overseeing all of the superintendents in the city and their office operations. Prior to being promoted to 79’s Alternative Schools, Office of Adult and Continuing Education as well as a series of other undertakings within the Department. Her extensive experience also includes serving as Deputy Regional Superintendent, Deputy Senior Supervising Superintendent, Executive Officer for Instruction and Community Superintendent for School District 20, among others.

In all of these roles, Dr. Feijóo has supported the instructional and organizational practices of principals over the past 29 years, specifically in the areas of leadership, effective instructional goal setting, and leading teams to support individual school communities and student outcomes. Dr. Feijóo also served as the Principal of PS/MS 499, the Queens College School for Mathematics, Science and Technology. As the first appointed principal of this unique learning environment, she established a strong relationship with college faculty, teachers and parents. In partnership with the college, she enabled her teaching faculty to collaborate in the development of content planning, curriculum mapping and the design of professional development, especially in the areas of balanced literacy and an inquiry based approach to mathematics and science. Dr. Feijóo’s experience as an instructional leader at every level from building principal to superintendent will transform how we educate every child from pre-K to grade 12.

Dr. Feijóo’s professional and personal background are in support of our District’s larger strategic mission to have a pedagogical staff that is ethnically more reflective of the students we serve and knowledgeable of cultural differences and learning styles in our diverse population. As an educator, she has served in the Office of Equity and Access with a focus on ending long-standing racial, ethnic and socioeconomic disparities by addressing opportunity gaps that exist among historically underserved students. She supported several initiatives aimed at closing the achievement gap and fostered initiatives to support New York City’s most vulnerable students. Programs Dr. Feijóo supported included AP Expansion Program, Summer Quest and the DREAM Program. Personally, she has made blending cultures an important aspect of her children’s upbringing, teaching them both English and Spanish, and exposing them to various facets of their Ecuadorian and Italian heritage. To that end, her family, as a whole, is able to embrace their diverse backgrounds and engage more deeply with relatives’ native customs and cultures.

July 5, 2019 e-mail to the community on Dr. Feijóo

June 28, 2019 announcement of Dr. Feijóo's appointment 

Six New Rochelle High School seniors have been named National Merit Scholarship semifinalists, joining about 16,000 other students across the United States who received the distinction in the 65-year-old annual competition.  

The NRHS students are: Stephen A. Bartell, Aaron M. Cohen, Martina R. Freed, Abigail Kazakov, Maya S. Schloss and Kate M. Spillane. The academically skilled students have reached the first major step in competing for some 7,600 National Merit Scholarships worth more than $31 million that will be offered next spring.

“It’s nice to see our hard work rewarded,” said Bartell.

More than 1.5 million juniors in 21,000 high schools entered the 2020 National Merit Scholarship Program by taking the 2018 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test. The pool of semifinalists, representing less than 1% of U.S. high school seniors, includes the highest-scoring entrants in each state.

“These students are great examples of the high level of achievement we see from students in New Rochelle High School,” said NRHS Interim Principal Joseph Starvaggi. “We are incredibly proud of them for the hard work and dedication they have shown and continue to show.”

Bartell plans to major in math in college. He said NRHS has given him many opportunities to pursue his interests.

“There are a lot of academic resources here,” Bartell said. “There are a lot of courses to take and a variety of offerings if you know what you’re passionate about.”

Freed is also interested in math and echoed Bartell’s sentiments about opportunities at NRHS.

“There are a lot of options,” she said. “With the number of classes that you can take – some of them very specific in their topics – it’s almost like a college.”

The seniors are involved in a variety of organizations, clubs and activities, including the National Honor Society and the honor societies for specific subjects.

Cohen said the school’s clubs, such as the Robotics Team and Academic Team, complement the classes in preparing him for his plans to become a physicist.

“Physics is the backbone of all the sciences,” he said. “It explains everything that happens.”

Kazakov plans to become a doctor. She is deciding between adult internal medicine and dermatology.

“I’ve taken a lot of science classes here – physics, biology, chemistry – that will prepare me for medical school,” she said.

Schloss also plans to enter medicine, as a pediatric surgeon.

“I like working with kids and I find surgery very interesting,” she said. “I’m very detail oriented, so the field requires a lot of the skills I have.”

Spillane plans to be a mechanical engineer to seek solutions for some of the world’s challenging problems.

“There are many great teachers and guidance counselors who are willing to help you here, as well as amazing students who are willing to push you to do better,” Spillane said of NRHS.

Steps in the 2020 Competition

To become a finalist, a semifinalist, working with a high school official, must submit a scholarship application with information on the student’s academic record, participation in school and community activities, demonstrated leadership abilities and employment, as well as honors and awards earned. Most of the semifinalists – about 15,000 – are expected to advance to the finalist level in February 2020.

National Merit Scholarships

That spring, three types of National Merit Scholarships will be offered. National Merit will award 2,500 scholarships of $2,500 each on a state-representational basis. About 1,000 corporate-sponsored Merit Scholarship awards will be provided by approximately 220 corporations and business organizations. Those awards will be granted to finalists who meet their specific criteria, such as being a child of the grantor’s employees or residents of communities where sponsors are located. Finally, about 180 colleges and universities are expected to finance some 4,100 college-sponsored Merit Scholarship awards for finalists who will attend the sponsor institution.

National Merit Scholarship winners of 2020 will join more than 345,000 other distinguished young people who have earned the Merit Scholar title.

NMSC, a not-for-profit organization, was established in 1955 to conduct the annual National Merit Scholarship Program.

Pictured in photo, from left: Kate M. Spillane, Abigail Kazakov, Stephen A. Bartell, Martina Freed, Maya S. Schloss, Aaron M. Cohen.

Dear New Rochelle community,

This year continues to bring us many achievements and great news of our students, teachers and more.  

We’ve had teachers chosen to become STEM leaders; they will continue building on our creative inquiry-based lessons across our District that make use of everything from hot cocoa to an adult-sized robot. New Rochelle High School has chosen a valedictorian and salutatorian who are two great examples of our stellar student body.

Visitors to our District have included the head of the National Urban League, who taught us the importance of exploring our own histories and sharing in the celebration of others’ histories as well.

What a perfect message for our school district and its students, who come from virtually every corner of the world.

Our Black History Celebration was absolutely inspiring, our Science Research Program continues to grow and our PAVE arts students never fail to astound us with their boundless creativity. Our athletes continue to score honors near and far – even in Orlando, Florida, where our cheerleaders finished strong in a national competition.

In order to provide the best settings for our 11,000 students to experience the joy of learning and exploration, we must provide more than our incredible teachers and dedicated administrators and staff. We also must provide attractive, comfortable settings that stimulate the mind and imagination.

To that end, our $106.5 million construction program continues to restore our buildings to top condition.

As always, I invite you to get to know our schools, teachers and students better.

These are all crucial aspects of a system that provides a top-quality education for all.

Dr. Magda Parvey

Interim Superintendent of Schools

The District is providing answers to the questions submitted and raised at the February 25 Board of Education Town Hall meeting on Safety and Security, held in Isaac E. Young Middle School. Here you will find questions that were answered at the meeting as well as those that were submitted but were not addressed because of time constraints.

Questions and Answers 

Watch the meeting here. 

The District makes an effort to follow up on questions that are asked or submitted at Board of Education regular and Town Hall meetings but that remain unanswered in the meetings. Find the questions and answers here.

Board of Education Meeting, March 26, 2019 

Board of Education Meeting, Feb. 26, 2019 

Board of Education Meeting, Jan. 29, 2019 

Town Hall, Jan. 22, 2019 

Board of Education Meeting, Dec. 18, 2018 

Town Hall, Nov. 14, 2018 "Restorative Practices" 

Find questions and answers organized by category in the "Questions & Answers" section under "About Us"

Report issues with school buildings and facilities »

Please take this brief survey on the skills and experiences the next permanent New Rochelle High School principal should possess. The City School District of New Rochelle  has retained consultants School Leadership LLC to conduct a search for candidates. The results will help guide School Leadership and the District in the search.

Principal survey in English

Principal survey in Spanish