The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
DiCorpo named superintendent
NEW MILFORD— Alisha DiCorpo was named superintendent for New Milford Public Schools Wednesday night after a unanimous vote at a Board of Education special meeting.
“I am humbled, honored and grateful for the opportunity to continue to lead the New Milford Public School District,” DiCorpo wrote in a press release.
DiCorpo served as the interim superintendent starting in October of 2020, taking over after the departure of interim superintendent Paul Smotas.
Prior to that, she was the district’s assistant superintendent for four years, arriving in New Milford from Thomastown Public Schools, where she was director of curriculum, instruction and assessment.
DiCorpo has worked in education for more than 20 years, and has, among other teaching credentials, a bachelor’s degree in education
“I am looking forward to continuing to work in partnership with our dedicated administrators, teachers, staff, Board of Education members, families, students, community and town agencies in order to help the district continue to grow and thrive.” Alisha DiCorpo
and a master’s in educational leadership from Central Connecticut State University.
Much of her work since taking over as interim superintendent has been to rethink schooling in the age of COVID, including re-entry plans for running hybrid and distanced learning plans. DiCorpo has also worked with the district to monitor and contain the spread of COVID in local schools, and has plans to re-open K-5 schools for inperson learning in March.
New Milford has had various school chiefs since long-time superintendent JeanAnn Paddyfote retired in 2016.
Joshua Smith served as interim, then permanent, superintendent after her, until leaving for Region 15 in 2018. Stephen Tracy held the position in the interim from August 2018 until Kerry Parker became the permanent superintendent in June 2019.
Parker resigned after a year to work for a district in Colorado, with Smotas becoming interim school chief for a few months.
A press release from the school district says the search for a new superintendent began in November using HYA Associates to help with the process. After two months of interviews, DiCorpo was the top contender.
The board stated that they believed DiCorpo “has devoted significant amount of dedication and energy working for the New Milford school district” and that “her enthusiasm and passion to New Milford’s students and schools is outstanding.”
“I am looking forward to continuing to work in partnership with our dedicated administrators, teachers, staff, Board of Education members, families, students, community and town agencies in order to help the district continue to grow and thrive,” DiCorpo wrote.