South Huntington principal named state's best

James Polansky, principal of Walt Whitman High School in South Huntington, has been named the state's top principal of the year.

Polansky, 44, won the 2010 New York State High School Principal of the Year Award from the School Administration Association of New York State, an organization that represents more than 7,000 school administrators. The award is given to an administrator who has set the "pace, character and quality of education for the students in his or her school."

When Polansky arrived at the district, the high school was on the state's list of schools that needed improvement. It is now off that list and cited as a high-performing school.

Polansky said the success is due to the school's staff, who believes in children's emotional well-being as well as their academic success.

"Our first priority - and I say 'our' because I don't do this alone - was a safe and secure environment where children could attain any academic goal they set for themselves," he said.

Walt Whitman High School was the site of a gang-related fight in 2004 that caused the ouster of its principal at the time, Geoffrey Touretz, and the arrest of two students.

Polansky has been principal at Walt Whitman High School for six years and spent two years prior as assistant principal. He began teaching at Holy Child High School in Old Westbury, then spent most of his career as a science teacher at Syosset High School. His administrative career began as a Kindergarten to Grade 12 director of science in the Oyster Bay-East Norwich school district.

An awards ceremony will be held May 7 in upstate Saratoga Springs.

The award makes Polansky a candidate for the National High School Principal of the Year Award, sponsored by the National Association of Secondary School Principals and the Metropolitan Life Insurance Co., which will be given in Washington D.C in the fall.