To many in the community, former J-DHS Principal Paul Gasparini\u2019s retirement marked the end of an era. Famous for his hallway fist bumps and his implementation of the school\u2019s Constitutional Convention, Gasparini was universally loved by students and staff. Over the past year, Gasparini has brought his trademark positive attitude and engagement with students to the nearby Christian Brothers Academy (CBA). At Gasparini\u2019s new school, both students and staff happily report that he has been an effective leader and a tremendous addition to the school.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In his first year as the principal at CBA, Gasparini reports that his goal was to acclimate to the new school rather than making sweeping changes right away. \u201cThe first year is really getting to know people and getting to know processes and procedures here. It\u2019s a faith-based school, so getting used to that, getting used to the schedule as I said. Getting used to the courses \u2013 they\u2019re generally pretty much the same, but there are some nuances and some differences. So just generally getting the lay of the land of the courses, the schedule, and the people.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One key issue that Gasparini has addressed in his first year is the dress code. Students have been dissatisfied for years with CBA\u2019s strict dress code, so Gasparini played a part in creating a dress code committee with students and faculty. According to CBA sophomore Harriet Dweh, \u201cSomething new [Gasparini] has implemented is the dress code committee, which I\u2019m apart of. The dress code has been something that has been very students versus faculty and teachers. He\u2019s kind of diffused that by making a committee with teachers and students on it. Our last principal \u2013 not to talk bad about her \u2013 she was very strict on the dress code, whereas Mr. Gasparini is willing to listen to what we think. But he\u2019s not letting us go wild.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Additionally, CBA students have expressed concern about having their break period switches from tenth period \u2014 the final period of the day \u2013 to fourth period. Junior Julia DeBottis reports, \u201cIt\u2019s very unproductive if we have a break in the middle of the day and then we go until 2:51. The rising seniors are going to present to Mr. Gasparini and the department heads. We\u2019re having a meeting tomorrow to plan, \u2018What are we gonna do? How are we gonna present this?\u2019 Next week, after senior graduation, we\u2019re gonna have a meeting with everyone and propose [our plan]. The department heads and administration are the people pushing for it and we\u2019re the people pushing against it. So we want to make our case before everything is final.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A common sentiment among CBA students and staff is that Gasparini has created a positive environment in the school. Math teacher Patrick Wiese says, \u201cMy favorite thing about Mr. Gasparini is that he\u2019s always happy and he\u2019s always supportive. Whenever you have an issue arise and you go to him, he\u2019s the first one to build you up and support you rather than tell you what you could have done in that situation. He relates really well to everybody, and he\u2019s approachable. Everyone knows that they can approach him and not feel guilty when they leave. They know that they can talk to him and leave a better person.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Junior Billy Assaf particularly enjoys Gasparini\u2019s legendary ability to remember every student\u2019s name. \u201cMy favorite thing is definitely how much he communicates with the students. He\u2019s in the hallways all the time between periods giving everybody fist bumps. He knows everybody by name. Even though this is his first year here, he\u2019s very CBA proud.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In regard to his departure from J-D, Gasparini shares a funny story. \u201cI will say that I\u2019ve worn CBA gear over at Wegmans and I\u2019ve seen J-D kids. One J-D kid yelled at me once, \u2018Wrong color!\u2019 I really root very, very hard and I still have J-D swag. When the baseball team won the Sectional Championship, I texted Coach Dera and I was so happy. When the softball team won Sectionals, I texted Coach Cantor and I was so happy. I was really sad last night when our girls\u2019 lacrosse team lost. It made me very sad, because I really wanted them to win, and I know Coach. I think tonight the boys lacrosse team plays in the Sectional Championship.” He explained the school switch in terms of MLB teams, Gasparini quotes, “If I was on the Red Sox and I was traded to the Yankees, I\u2019d play hard for the Yankees. So I was traded to the Yankees.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While countless students miss Gasparini\u2019s presence at J-D, he is equally appreciated in his new position at CBA. At the heart of Gasparini\u2019s leadership style is his student-centric approach. When asked what his favorite part of the job was, Gasparini stated, \u201cThe students. Always has been, always will be. Period.\u201d Regardless of his current position, Gasparini reiterates that he cares most about the students he gets to interact with. Addressing J-D students, Gasparini stated, \u201cI miss you. I love J-D.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ultimately, Gasparini reflects fondly on his time at J-DHS. \u201cJ-D was my home. I miss my home.\u201d Just remember, Mr. Gasparini: you will always need red to make purple.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By Isaiah Steinberg (’23) and Sophia Caputo (’24) To many in the community, former J-DHS Principal Paul Gasparini\u2019s retirement marked the end of an era. Famous for his hallway fist bumps and his implementation of the school\u2019s Constitutional Convention, Gasparini was universally loved by students and staff. Over the past year, Gasparini has brought his […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":50,"featured_media":20894,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,26,34],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jdrampage.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20893"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jdrampage.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jdrampage.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jdrampage.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/50"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jdrampage.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20893"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/jdrampage.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20893\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20909,"href":"https:\/\/jdrampage.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20893\/revisions\/20909"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jdrampage.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20894"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jdrampage.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20893"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jdrampage.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20893"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jdrampage.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20893"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}