UPPER DELAWARE RIVER VALLEY, NY and PA — As the new school season approaches, the River Reporter caught up with four superintendents at school districts along the river valley. Snippets of two of these conversations are reproduced below; you can find the full interviews at https://riverreporter.com/stories/welcome-back-to-school,271936.

Sullivan West Central School District

Superintendent Kathleen Bressler

By PATRICK KELLY

What are you most excited about this upcoming school year?

“I am excited to see what our new strategic plan looks like and where those priorities really fall for the community,” said Bressler. “We have a great administrative team that has been working hard this summer, so I’m excited to see what they do with priorities and goals set with a community partnership.”

What is your school’s phone policy?

“Our policy is for students to store their devices in their lockers during the day, and then we have a progressive disciplinary actions that are taken if you have them,” Bressler said.

“What our faculty and staff have reported is that students are paying more attention in their classrooms. We actually did a little internal survey 10 or 15 weeks into the policy to kind of see how this was affecting our classrooms and we certainly felt that our student engagement has increased,” she said. 

What’s your favorite place in the district?

“In the school building, my office is in the elementary school, and I have to say, nothing does your heart more good if it’s a gloomy day, then visiting a pre-K classroom,” Bressler said. “I enjoy going down that hallway in particular. I enjoy just walking the halls if I can buy the time, or walking outside.”

What is your favorite school event?

“Our concerts are unbelievable,” said Bressler. “I just need to give a shout out to our entire musical department. Our elementary school concerts have been practically standing room only because they are so well attended, and our high school select choir and jazz band.”

“I love all that stuff,” she said. “Anytime I see kids that are connected and involved, and seeing their passion, I have like a huge smile on my face.”

Wallenpaupack Area School District

Superintendent Keith Gunuskey

By SONIA AHMED

What are you most excited about this upcoming school year?

“This is my 29th year in education, and [at] the start of the school year, I still get the same butterflies that I had when I was a student,” Gunuskey said. “Those butterflies represent excitement, just the hope of what the school year possesses.” 

Gunuskey added that he is also excited for the creation of the Wayne-Pike Career and Technical Center (CTC), a hub where Wayne and Pike’s career and technical programs can exist separately from the high schools. “The sky’s the limit with that.” 

What is your school’s phone policy?

Gunuskey said that Wallenpaupack has a no-phone rule for middle school, similar to that of other districts. “From the time you walk in to the time you leave school, no cell phones,” he said. “That feeling of confidence that they can learn without that distraction in the back of their mind has helped immensely.”

For the high school students, Gunuskey said that the policy was to not have phones out during class, but between classes is fine. For the 2028-2029 school year, a new policy will be put in place to align with state guidelines.

What’s your favorite place in the district?

“My favorite spot is any place that there are students,” Gunuskey said. “I love to see students’ success, and you can’t see that in your office.”

What is your favorite school event?

“Gosh, I have so many,” Gunuskey said. “I love the winter concerts; I love the spring concerts,” he said. “They’re off the charts—it’s like mini Broadway in our auditorium.”