Everyone remembers Mr. DiClemente as the friendly principal from their days at Ames often seen engaging with students on a daily basis during their freshman year.  As the high school administration team changes this year, Mr.  DiClemente will now be the principal of the main campus.  

As a teacher from 1994 to 2003, DiClemente taught five years of middle school English and four years of high school English, working in three school districts besides Massapequa: Three Village, Patchogue-Medford, and Brentwood.  Mr. DiClemente enjoyed his six years as the principal of Ames and is now looking forward to the challenges and excitement being the main campus principal will bring.  He looks forward to what he calls “the idea of a full-scale high school.”

“One, I’m excited about working with multiple grades- tenth, eleventh, and twelfth, varying grades and ages of people.  Two, I’m excited to be able to walk down the hall and see a theater performance or a basketball game or a football game.”

Mr. DiClemente knew that he wanted to be a teacher from a young age because he “likes the idea of being part of a team and working towards a common goal.”  While he admires people who go into a variety of other professions, the idea of being a team player attracted him to education.  “There’s no other job where you’re surrounded by so many people and working together so often each day,” Mr. DiClemente said.  

However, the ambition to be a principal came later.

“Once I got into teaching, I was very impressed with people who take leadership roles.  It’s less about what you stand for and more about how you go about it.  Regardless of what somebody is leading in, I admire people who are organized, influential, supportive of others, and able to gather people.”

Mr. DiClemente looks forward to coming to MHS.  “Spending time with quality people, successful people, young and old, that are hard working, proud, and committed to the community.  I’m excited about joining a really talented group of educators.”

He is thrilled to work alongside the terrific staff and get to know the hard-working students at MHS.  “In the first month that I’ve worked here, people have been very kind.  I’ve been able to meet with students, I’ve been able to meet with PTA, the Hall of Fame, the Chamber of Commerce, retired people.  I think the more people I talk to, I realize more and more how proud people are of Massapequa High School and I would saw that it’s important for people to realize that we have a special opportunity to be part of and to make a great school.”

Mr. DiClemente wants to encourage everyone in the community, and especially students, to become involved in the school.

“I’m excited about being able to help create an outstanding high school experience.  You get to go to high school once and I’m involved with you and other people to make it an enjoyable, challenging, and supportive place for you- making  a  school inviting and working with others to affect the community.”

Mr. DiClemente wants to help students create the high school experience they want while encouraging students to take on an active role in improving the community in their own ways.  “If there’s something that’s not going well, let’s address it together.  I think students have a lot of opportunity to affect things in the community.  I think we all have a great opportunity to affect things that happen outside of the school.”

Though Mr. DiClemente anticipates a challenge associated with  the sheer number of students who learn at MHS, he looks forward to confronting it head on.    

“I know that it will be a lot more challenging here than it was at Ames to meet all the people.  How do you meet 1800 students?  I think when you work in such a big place, you don’t always have the opportunity to connect and get familiar with people- that’s going to be something new to me.  I’m going to try to do a great job of getting to know as many people as possible early. ”

Mr. DiClemente seeks to encourage students to challenge themselves on a daily basis.  

“In many ways, I feel that we’re doing the wrong thing if we’re in a place where we’re not challenged.  I definitely want to be challenged and I think that if we’re not being challenged, we’re not improving.  I think the high school experience is just very challenging for all of us.  The demands change, we’re always trying to reflect on being better, and we’re being evaluated every day.  It is a challenging atmosphere in general.”

Mr. DiClemente advises everyone involved in the school community to ask for his participation in solving any problems they see.  

“What I want all students, teachers, staff members, parents to know is I think the school that we have reflects who we are, so if someone feels we’re not doing something right, I would always invite people to come in and to talk about it so that we can adjust it.”

Mr. DiClemente chooses to focus on constant improvement and thus advises students to “get better every day at whatever you’re doing- at being a student, at being a son or daughter, being a friend.  Get better at your job and become a better student.”  He also wishes to highlight the importance of being willing to ask for help when necessary.  

Finally, in the carpe diem spirit, Mr. DiClemente counsels students to “Commit to success because you only get one chance at high school, so make the most of it.