Valley Stream 13 Names New Superintendent

Since finding out that current Superintendent Elizabeth Lison will retire at the end of the school year, residents in Valley Stream 13 have been waiting and wondering for months about who will replace her.

At the recent Board of Education meeting, it was announced that Dr. Adrienne Robb-Fund will replace Lison at the end of this school year.

Parents were actively involved with the search for the new superintendent; they were able to fill out online surveys about what type of superintendent they would like to have for their school district.

Board of Education President Frank Chiaheire explained that through their long search, 60 people expressed interest in the position and then several candidates were interviewed over two days. After the interviews, four candidates were sent to the Board of Education for their consideration. The board discussed the merits of each and decided to select Dr. Adrienne Robb-Fund.

Dr. Robb-Fund brings a long list of experience in education and working with children. Her career started in Massachusetts, where she was a special education teacher in Winthrop, and then went on to become a reading specialist in Hingham.  

Upon coming to New York, she started work at the William Floyd School District as an administrator and then became the assistant principal and director of the William Floyd Kindergarten.

For 22 years Dr. Robb-Fund was the director of reading and an elementary school assistant principal in the Wantagh School District. For the past six years, Dr. Robb-Fund has served as the assistant superintendent for Elementary Education in the Commack School District.

She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Special Education from The University of Connecticut and a Master’s Degree in Reading from Boston University (BU), in addition to a doctorate in the study of reading and language.

Dr. Robb-Fund has also hosted workshops for teachers locally, throughout the state and nationally. She has also presented workshops for parents focusing on literacy and learning. Her work in this area recently earned her a scholarship to go to the District Leadership Summit that is sponsored by the District Leadership Magazine.

Dr. Robb-Fund will officially become the superintendent of the Valley Stream 13 School District on July 1, 2011. According to Newsday, she is starting with a salary of $195,000.

 “Dr. Robb-Fund has the talent, intellect, disposition and vision necessary to continue the legacy of leadership of Dr. Elizabeth Lison,” stated School Board President Frank Chiachiere, Ph. D.