Ahead of his first school year as the new superintendent of Herricks, Tony Sinanis said he is looking forward to sharing the pride the community has in the district. 

“I knew from people in the district that there was a tremendous amount of pride,” Sinanis said in an interview with Blank Slate Media. “This sense of community was very important and centered in Herricks.”

Sinanis joins Herricks with more than a quarter century of educational experience in New York under his belt. He most recently served as the assistant superintendent for human resources and leadership development in the Chappaqua Central School District, which serves Chappaqua, Millwood and parts of Pleasantville and Mount Kisco. Sinanis had been in that role since 2018.

Sinanis has 17 years’ worth of previous experience on Long Island and believes he is ready for the challenges leading the district will pose.

“I’ve had the fortune to work in different high-performing districts that are similar in some ways to Herricks,” Sinanis said. “If we’re sitting in a place where we are performing at a high level right now, it must be a result of all the systems and structures that are already in place from the administrators to the educators to the support staff. My job is to remove any barriers that might hinder that progress moving forward and continue to enhance it.”

His previous posts included superintendent of the Hastings-on-Hudson School District, assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction for Plainedge School District and principal in both the Jericho and Valley Stream Central districts.

During Sinanis’ eight years as principal at Jericho’s Cantiague Elementary, the school was named a 2012 National Blue Ribbon School and 2015 Model School.

He was named the 2014 New York State Elementary School Principal of the Year and the 2014 National Bammy Award Elementary School Principal of the Year.

Sinanis takes over for Fino Celano, the superintendent since 2015 who retired this summer. 

In Celano’s seven years, the district has been highly rated. 

In U.S. News & World Report’s 2022 list of best high schools, Herricks High School placed No. 38 in New York and No. 327 throughout the whole country among public high schools.

As a district, Herricks was ranked No. 7 on Niche.com’s list of best school districts in New York, according to its most recent rankings.

Sinanis said he appreciated Celano’s graciousness, patience and thoughtfulness in ensuring the transition period enabled him to be completely up to speed this fall. 

A big part of Sinanis’ educational philosophy is his commitment to the notion of servant leadership. Sinanis said he’s committed to serving the community, students, families, teachers and administrators in a way that allows Herricks to build on previous success and grow in unimaginable ways. 

“I’m excited to contribute my knowledge, experience and passion to a community that’s already so highly successful,” he said.

Outside of the classroom, Sinanis is the co-author of three books on branding, development and leadership while contributing chapters to different publications. 

“I’m very fortunate to have had the opportunity to bring my voice to the profession beyond the local context that I’ve been in,” Sinanis said. “I love that I can contribute in that way and share my experiences.”

With a few weeks to go until school starts, Sinanis said he is eagerly awaiting the first day of classes to publicly launch his new role at Herricks.

“Being a public educator is something I take tremendous pride in during my 26-year career,” Sinanis said. “I don’t know any other way to show up except to be excited and proud of the work that we get to do. I am so thrilled to bring that here and serve the Herricks community as superintendent.”