Students Meet New Principals at Mount, Setauket Schools

Three Village school officials have kept a promise they made to the students and parents of Setauket Elementary and Mount Elementary.

Earlier this week, students and parents of both schools attended a meet-and-greet to get to know Setauket's new principal, Dr. Nathalie Lilavois, and Mount's new principal, Kathryn White, along with Mount's incoming interim principal, Robert Harrington.

White was previously the principal at Setauket and Lilavois was previously the principal at Mount. The promise of a meet-and-greet came after outcry from many parents in June when they learned that the school district planned to swap the two schools' principals.

Having had the chance to meet White, who will soon be going on maternity leave, and Harrington, who will run Mount Elementary while she is away, at least one Mount parent said she felt more comfortable with the changes. Shari Fontana, who has two children in the school this year, said the principals appeared to be "well-received" by the parents and kids who were in attendance at the evening meet-and-greet.

"Both Mrs. White and Mr. Harrington were accepted very comfortably," Fontana said.

Although she said she had thought more parents and students would attend, Fontana said she was glad that White and Harrington took the time to introduce themselves, answer questions and solicit feedback from those who were present. She said the meet-and-greet opportunity made her children feel like real individuals rather than just another child or student.

"As a parent I don't have any concerns that my children aren't going to be in good hands," she said. "As a whole I can feel comfortable that Three Village hires good people."

In June, when parents were informed of the change, many took issue with the fact that they were not given an explanation of the reasoning behind the switch, as administrators were bound by legal constraints surrounding discussions of staff matters.