The Oyster Bay-East Norwich Central School District is pleased to announce that Jessica Bader has been named principal and Anastasia Smith has been named assistant principal of James H. Vernon School. Both were appointed during the district’s board of education meeting on July 11. 

Ms. Bader replaces Vernon’s former principal Dr. Valerie Vacchio who retired at the end of the 2022-2023 school year. She is a familiar face to the district, previously serving as the Director of Humanities K-12. In this administrative role, Ms. Bader held many responsibilities such as piloting the district’s Seal of Civic Readiness Program, creating and leading the Oyster Bay Instructional Team and spearheading the creation of the ELA curriculum for grades 7-11. Under her leadership, 100% of Oyster Bay High School participants earned the Seal of Civic Readiness last year and the English Regents passing rate increased from 89% to 95%. Prior to coming to Oyster Bay, Ms. Bader was the assistant principal of George J. Ryan Middle School 216 in Fresh Meadows, NY for nine years. In addition, she has served as a literacy coach and a staff developer. 

Ms. Bader received her bachelor’s degree in secondary education in English from SUNY Oneonta. She then earned her master’s degree in secondary education in English and her educational administration and supervision diploma from Queens College. 

Ms. Smith joins the Oyster Bay-East Norwich School District from Long Island City where she was previously a dual language/ENL teacher at P.S. 166Q. Aside from being in the classroom, she fulfilled administrative duties for the school as an ally in the CAHN Leadership Program for Distinguished Principals. Ms. Smith was also a STARS programmer, school liaison, acting ENL coordinator and a member of the school leadership and attendance teams. She earned her bachelor’s degree from Fairfield University and her master’s degree in childhood education and TESOL (Teacher of English to Speakers of Other Languages) from St. John’s University. She also received her certificate in school building/district leader from the College of Saint Rose.

The Oyster Bay-East Norwich Central School District welcomes both administrators to James H. Vernon School and looks forward to a great school year ahead. 

 

Date Added: 7/18/2023