Jamestown Public Schools welcomes a few new faces to its family. New principals, assistant principals, and director and coordinator of student support services, are all excited to start the new school year to help students achieve their goals.

With 75% of Jamestown Public School students in poverty, the district has created a new department, Student Support Services, to help students and their families navigate public services that can improve the likelihood of student success. JPS appointed a Director of Student Support Services, Chad Bongiovanni, and a Coordinator of Student Support Services, Maureen Diehl, whose goal is to provide every student with the support they need and, to eliminate barriers to academic success.

Bongiovanni is responsible for developing and implementing a vision that encompasses a comprehensive student services plan in accordance with laws and regulations that lead to academic, social, and emotional success for all students. Prior to becoming Director of Student Support Services, Bongiovanni was Jefferson Middle School’s principal and assistant principal. He was also a district-wide instructional coach collaborating with educators in third through eight grades and a Love Elementary School teacher. Prior to becoming Coordinator of Student Support Services, Diehl was the district’s Behavior Analyst and PBIS Consultant. In that position and her current one, she supports JPS teams with the implementation of multi-tiered systems of support for students. She supports developing systems to monitor students’ social-emotional and behavioral well-being, identifying students in needs of supports, and implementing the right intervention for those students.

New in the schools is Jamestown High School Principal, Dr. Rosemary Bradley, a new Jefferson Middle School Principal, Leslie Melquist, and two new Assistant Principals, Kate Benson at Washington Middle School and Traci Thompson at Jamestown High School.

Bradley took over the reins of Jamestown High School from Dr. Mike McElrath, the principal of the JPS Success Academy. Bradley has over 23 years experience as an educator, mostly recently as an assistant principal of the Alternative Education Program and Special Education Program at the Sullivan County BOCES. She was a science teacher for 19 years in grades 6 to 12 in the Rochester School District. While at Rochester Schools, she was also a curriculum writer for ELA and science, served as a literacy coach and new teacher mentor, and helped facilitate professional development for staff.

Joining Bradley and current JHS assistant principals, Dana Williams and Tom Langworthy, is new JHS Assistant Principal, Thompson, who is entering her 16th year in education. Prior to becoming an assistant principal, Thompson was a middle and high school science teacher for 13 years. For the past two years, Thompson was the JPS STEAM Curriculum Coordinator.

New Jefferson Middle School Principal, Melquist, has been the assistant principal at Jamestown High School since 2014. She is taking the reins at Jefferson Middle School from Bongiovanni. Melquist was previously the assistant principal at Persell Middle School, a biology teacher at Jamestown High School and a science teacher at Jefferson and Persell Schools.

Washington Middle School’s new assistant principal, Benson, is taking over for Brent Sutter who retired. Benson spent the last 12 years teaching secondary math, mostly recently at Corning-Painted Post Middle School. At the middle school level, she gained team leadership experience collaborating with teachers, administrators, parents and students to make decisions for the building. Benson is trained in, and a proponent of Responsibility Centered Discipline, a restorative justice program that focuses on adults coaching students through challenging moments by providing students support and reminding them of the benefit of making good choices.