Groton — Philip Piazza said it’s an exciting time to be part of the Groton school district.

Piazza, who started last week as Groton’s new assistant superintendent, is joining the school district at a time when the district is engaged in ongoing Diversity, Equity and Inclusion work to have the schools’ teachers and curriculum reflect the community. The district also opened a new consolidated middle school this year and is preparing to open two new elementary schools next year under the Groton 2020 plan.

As Piazza visited schools and talked to people across the school district, he said the excitement was palpable.

“They’re so excited to talk about the different things that are happening in their buildings and where they’re able to go and where they want to go, so really I’m honored that I was chosen,” Piazza said.

Piazza, 49, has experience at all levels of education, including working at a magnet school in New Haven and being part of a new building initiative while principal at North Haven Middle School.

Piazza started his career teaching high school English in New Haven and then became assistant principal at Newington High School. He served as principal of North Haven Middle School and has been the principal at Green Acres Elementary School in North Haven for the past two years. He also teaches a class at Southern Connecticut State University.

Piazza traces his love of education back to when, at a young age, he visited the elementary school classroom where his aunt was teaching and was amazed how engaged the students were and how she was guiding and helping them.

Piazza, who always was fascinated by literature and writing, became an English major in college at the University of Rochester in New York. He decided in his junior year to pursue a special program to take extra classes to become a certified teacher, and said he had a great experience student teaching at a local high school during his senior year, which catapulted him into the profession after graduation.

He has earned a Master of Arts degree, sixth-year degree and doctorate degree from Southern Connecticut State University.

Piazza is filling the position vacated when Susan Austin, who formerly was assistant superintendent, became superintendent after former Superintendent Michael Graner retired.

As assistant superintendent, Piazza’s focus will be on supporting teaching and learning. He looks forward to working with school leadership teams and teachers and focusing on curriculum work, including working in conjunction with ongoing Diversity, Equity and Inclusion efforts to make the curriculum more inclusive and diverse, and on instruction.

He also will be helping the district plan for summer learning activities to help students re-engage with learning.

Piazza said he hopes to build connections throughout the district and be a visible member of the school community. He wants to have conversations with families to hear what they are looking for from their children’s school now and in the future.

Piazza lives in Branford with his wife of 21 years and son, 17, and daughter, 14. He enjoys listening to music and going to concerts and is an avid sports fan. 

Austin said Piazza was chosen out of “an amazing talent pool” of candidates. She said school officials were impressed with his varied background and appreciated that he had experience as the high, middle and elementary school levels, so he understands the PreK-12 experience. She also thought it would serve the district well to have someone who led a school during a building project.

“We really are welcoming him aboard and so happy to have him here in Groton,” Austin said.

When references were called, Austin said, his administrators and colleagues called him “the calm in the storm” and said he is “very thoughtful, caring and charismatic.” They also said he has served as “an anchor” in any school building where he has been.

“He’s going to be a wonderful addition to Groton Public Schools,” Austin said.

k.drelich@theday.com