Doreen Buckley Takes Helm of Tuckahoe Common School District

Doreen Buckley, with her mane of blond hair and a bright, welcoming smile, is aware of how she appears at first glance.

On the surface, she is educated, has a home and has worked within the Tuckahoe Common School District for 15 years. But none of this she takes for granted. Her past is not so picture-perfect, she explained, and it is one that allows her to connect with some of her students and their parents in ways they may not expect.

She knows, from experience, what it means to be hungry. She knows what it means to be unhoused. She knows what it means to feel unsafe.

And as a child, school was the place she once found security.

As an administrator and educator, Buckley strives to make sure students feel that at Tuckahoe, as well, she said. Last Monday, she stepped into her new role as superintendent, replacing, Len Skuggevik, who retired. Most recently, she served as assistant superintendent.

“I feel so blessed about this promotion,” she said. “It’s just an amazing opportunity, and I am so honored to be able to serve this community in another capacity.”

Her journey toward a career in education began as a young girl. Growing up, Buckley and her family moved around a lot, she said. Her mother was a single parent and Buckley helped raise her younger brother, Joseph, who has autism.

“I actually grew up as a food insecure child and also a home insecure child,” she said. “I remember having to double up with different friends or family members because I didn’t have my own place to stay. I remember organizations coming to my house and giving us food. I remember this stuff like it was yesterday.”

She also watched as her brother lacked the support that he needed — “Back in those days, there weren’t many therapies or programs for students with autism,” she said — and, in those moments, found her calling.

“I knew that I wanted to help other families and help students who had disabilities, because I grew up with it,” she said. “I felt a lot of empathy and a lot of compassion, and I had that different understanding, besides schooling, of what it means to live with someone who has a disability.”

Her path began as, first, a teacher aide, then a teaching assistant, classroom teacher and special education teacher. She went on to work as a shared data expert and school improvement specialist for Eastern Suffolk BOCES before launching into administration.

While she was an assistant administrator for pupil personnel services at the Amityville School District, she saw a job posting for the director of special education and pupil personnel services at Tuckahoe.

“I looked at the school, I looked at the community, and I was, like, ‘Wow, this would be a really amazing place to be able to work at,’ because it’s small, it’s very community-driven, and I just felt that I could make an impact here,” she said.

Looking at the road ahead, Buckley anticipates that one of the biggest hurdles that not only Tuckahoe but all school districts will continue to face is declining student enrollment.

“I think that’s going to be challenging for all of us, to really take a look at how that’s going to be impacting our programs, our staffing and things like that,” she said. “But I don’t think it’s just Tuckahoe — I think it’s really everywhere.”

In the short term, the administrator said she aims to keep forward momentum with improving test scores and providing social-emotional learning for all staff and students, while always remembering her roots.

“I want students to be able to be successful, however it looks for them to be that way,” she said, “and my goal is to help them achieve that.”

Every morning, Buckley wakes up at 4 a.m. at home in Sound Beach, readying herself for the day. She’s on the road with enough time to allow for the one-hour-and-20-minute-long commute to school, where the best part of her day awaits her, she said: “Coming into this building every day and seeing everyone’s smiling faces.”

“It’s been my life mission to be able to work with students that have disabilities and all students, really, because I love them,” she said. “And, really, when I was younger, going to school for me was a safe place, because my mother worked all the time, and I didn’t have a father.

“I was pretty much alone a lot,” she continued. “So school was my safe place, and that’s why, when I work with students, I want to make sure that they know and feel that this is a safe place for them, as well. If I didn’t have my teachers, I don’t know what I would have done.”