The start of a new school year welcomes new principal, Brandon Manzella, 

“I’m excited to have the opportunity to work with high school students and make sure we get them ready for not only a great year, but to prepare them for their post secondary education,” Manzella said.  

Along with preparing students for after high school, a few items on his agenda he plans to accomplish over the next few months. The first item focuses on mental health awareness for not only students but faculty members, as well. He wants to implement wellness checks and better identify struggling students. 

“We’ve done quite a bit of professional development with the staff on how to identify when students are struggling.” Manzella said. “I have some tools in the toolbox to help all individuals  with their wellness.”

Another subject of interest is to improve the students’ overall test taking strategies. While the school historically produced some of the highest test scores in the state. One of the main goals for this school year is to strengthen test taking strategies so students can continue down a path of excellence. 

“That’s going to be a very heavy focus,” Manzella said, “on how to work through becoming better test takers.”

Additionally, the new administrator’s last area of focus is to increase communication with the community. This includes weekly televised announcements and newsletters emailed to parents. Manzella also created an Instagram account, @ikeprincipal, as a fun and less formal way to showcase the school’s events.

“The idea behind that Instagram account is really to take a look at how we can show off everything we do here at Ike.”