NEW BETHLEHEM, Pa. by: John Gerow (RVO) – A small group of community members turned out Wednesday evening to meet Dr. John Mastillo the new Superintendent of the Redbank Valley Schools. Dr. Mastillo gave a brief biography of himself and then laid out his transition plans for the district.

                                                                        Photo Courtesy Google Maps

Dr. Mastillo was born in Johnstown, PA in 1967. He attended local schools and graduated from Conemaugh Township High School. Dr. Mastillo earned his BS degree from the University of Pittsburgh Johnstown and began his career in education upon graduation. In 1990, Dr. Mastillo was working as a full-time high school wrestling coach and as a substitute teacher. Unable to find a full-time teaching position in Western Pennsylvania, Dr. Mastillo looked for work elsewhere and moved to Texas in 1994 to take a position as an Elementary Math teacher. He met his future wife Regina in Texas and they were married in 1994. After several years of teaching, Dr. Mastillo worked in Elementary Administration. He completed his MEd at Stephen F. Astin University in 2000. Dr. Mastilo returned to Pennsylvania in 2010 to serve as Superintendent of the Black Lick Valley School District in Nanty Glo, Cambria County. After coming back to Pennsylvania, he completed his EdD at Steven F. Austin University. He held this position until 2017.

Dr. Mastillo introduced his primary role as being that of a communication facilitator. Using a strategic plan that he calls “Look, Listen, and Learn”, Dr. Mastillo outlined his primary areas of focus: School Board, Organizational Leadership, Instructional Leadership, Public Relations with the Community, Public Relations with Faculty, Staff and Students, and Facilities and Safe Schools. He told the group that he believes that a big part of his job is to visit each of the District’s campuses on a regular basis. It is his thinking that being visible in the various schools will help students, faculty and staff become comfortable with him, thereby making communication with him easier. He said, “I have told the School Board that my visits to the campuses are as important to me as the monthly School Board meetings.”

Along with visiting the District’s campuses, Dr. Mastillo reported that he has already begun meeting with stakeholder groups in the Redbank Valley Community. He said that he has met with the Chamber of Commerce and the Redbank Valley Church Association. It is his belief, he said, that all components of the community need to be involved collaboratively if the schools are going to be successful. Dr. Mastillo said that he is planning on meeting with other community groups in the near future, and intends to actively communicate with any community group that is interested. He would like to have an informal monthly “listening session” open to the public. He suggested this would be a regular “Coffee and Conversation” get together. Dr. Mastillo wants to give the public as much access and communication with the District as is possible.

The Transition Plan that Dr. Mastillo outlined breaks out into several broad areas. His focus on the School Board and Organizational Leadership include building a positive relationship with the Board and between the Board and the Community. He said that the Board needs assistance in identifying important issues and in developing direction and goals for the District.

The Organizational Leadership, as he sees it, means reviewing and analyzing the District’s recent income and expenses and is looking for ways to more effectively use financial resources. His vision of Instructional Leadership includes improving the academic performance of all students, analyze the curriculum and course offerings, develop curriculum maps, and ensure that performance is tracked with feedback that can be used.

Dr. Mastillo’s internal and external Public Relations goal is to work toward an environment where everyone involved is comfortable voicing their concerns and asking their questions. Internal Public Relations is intended to develop an atmosphere within the schools where students, faculty, and staff know that they can question, suggest, and generally make their thoughts known without fear of repercussion. Similarly, Dr. Mastillo wants parents, residents, and all stakeholders in the community to know that they are welcome to come and talk with him about anything school, student, or education related. Free, open, and trusting communication is essential to developing “community focused” schools.

In the realm of Facilities and Safe Schools, Dr. Mastillo wants to make sure that everyone involved, students, faculty, staff, parents and community members all know that Redbank Valley Schools are a “safe place”. None of these areas, Dr. Mastillo says, are going to require vast, sweeping changes, simply building on what is currently being done and doing it all just a bit better. Dr. Mastillo informed the group that his immediate concerns will be the budget, curriculum and safety issues.

In a brief question and answer session, Dr. Mastillo was asked if he could give specific examples of how he had dealt with issues in his last position. Dr. Mastillo told the group that he had an opportunity to talk with former students who were attending college. He asked the students what the school could have done better from their point of view. The students feedback led to curriculum changes in the schools. He was then asked what his opinion was about athletics in the high school. Dr. Mastillo said that as a former student-athlete, he liked high school sports. “Sports offer educational opportunities that cannot happen in the classroom. They are a vital part of our public education system,” he said.

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ABOUT:
Redbank Valley School District provides education services for the 165 square mile area of New Bethlehem and Hawthorn boroughs, and the townships of Mahoning, Madison, Porter, and Redbank of both Clarion and Armstrong counties.

MEETINGS:
The Redbank Valley School Board meetings the first Monday of every month at 7pm at the High School Library.

CONTACT:
For more information about the Redbank Valley School District, please call 814.275.2426 or visit RedbankValley.org/pg/biz/redbank-valley-school-district