DR ANAEL ALSTON

Election: Quogue School Board

Profession: Principal Glen Cove Middle School

Dr. Alston, 41, has been employed at his current job for the past seven years. Last May, he was named the 2011-12 New York State Middle School Principal of the Year after ...more being nominated by teachers and administrators in his district.

Additionally, his middle school won the MetLife Foundation’s National Association of Secondary School Principals Breakthrough School Award last year. Dr. Alston said his school was one of just 10 across the nation selected for the honor, which recognizes dramatic turnarounds in student achievements and testing.

“As an accomplished educator and a resident with a daughter in the [Quogue] school, obviously, I’m very happy with the quality of the public schools, and quality public schools don’t happen by default,” Dr. Alston said. “It happens with proactive people, policy-making and decision-making.”

Dr. Alston, who is married, noted that his 8-year-old daughter, Rebecca, is a second-grader at Quogue School.

If elected next week, Dr. Alston said his primary goal will be to make sure that students at Quogue School continue to get the best education possible.

“One of my goals is to make sure that the quality of education in Quogue School is not diminished by state mandates and common core standards, which I believe are good and will help some districts,” he said. “But some districts are already high-performance and high-achieving, and I think the teachers and superintendent/principal need the support so they don’t get lost in this wave of education reform that really isn’t one size fits all.”

Dr. Alston earned his bachelor’s degree in sociology with an English minor from Hofstra University, and his master’s degree in education administration from the College of New Rochelle. He holds a second master’s degree in gifted education from Teachers College at Columbia University in Manhattan, and later earned his doctorate in curriculum and teaching from there.

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