New Hampton Bays school chief attended district schools

The Hampton Bays Middle School is barely 2 years old, a "green" building with a replica of a lighthouse above its entrance, evidence of the influence of its South Shore surroundings.

The man who helped launch the school is also a youthful newcomer of sorts: Lars Clemensen, 30, is the newly hired superintendent and one of the youngest school leaders on Long Island.

As students across Long Island return to school this week - nearly 90 public school districts report back Tuesday - Clemensen is starting his first school year as top administrator. Classes in Hampton Bays begin Wednesday.

And Clemensen, like the middle school he helped develop, is clearly influenced by his hometown.

"I live in Hampton Bays. My family has lived in Hampton Bays for 30-plus years. Not only was this a job for me, but a strong Hampton Bays school system is a strong Hampton Bays," said Clemensen, adding about his new post, "I approach it with a great deal of humility. The world that I enter, the average age is 45-plus. That world has a lot of experience and a lot of wisdom. . . . At the same time, I bring a new perspective."

The Hampton Bays board of education named Clemensen superintendent in February, after narrowing the search to three candidates.

He signed a five-year contract at an annual salary of $170,000.

"Lars was able to have great support within the community and great support with our existing administrative team. They all share the same vision," said board vice president George Leeman.

Clemensen had been the middle school principal, named to that post in his mid-20s, and before that worked for Teach for America, the program that provides teachers for low-income areas. He was an educator and executive director of the New Jersey region, which includes Newark and Camden.

He attended Hampton Bays schools as a child, but his family moved to Texas when he was in eighth grade. Throughout college at the University of Texas and at Seton Hall University, where he got his master's degree, he continued to visit Hampton Bays. At the local beach one summer while he was working for Teach for America, he ran into then-superintendent Joanne Loewenthal, who asked him about working for the district.

Clemensen joined the school system in 2006, first as assistant middle school principal, and was named founding principal in 2008 when the new building opened. When the superintendent announced her retirement last year, he sought the position.

Wendell Chu, superintendent of the East Islip school district and past president of the Suffolk County Superintendents Association, said it might be unusual on Long Island to have such a young superintendent, but not uncommon in other parts of the state.

"The closeness of various different school districts in this area makes it easier to find people and for people to be mobile," said Chu, whose term as president expired in June. "You tend to see a lot more experienced administrators applying for superintendencies in our region."

Clemensen said he would never want to work anywhere else.

"If I was going to be a principal, it was going to be in Hampton Bays, and if I was going to be a superintendent, it was going to be in Hampton Bays," he said.

About Hampton Bays school system

Located: Town of Southampton

Students: 1,961

Physical plant: Three school buildings and one administrative building

Annual budget: More than $43 million

Number of staff: 160 teachers, 100 additional staff

School team: The Baymen