Oxford High VP to Become Principal at Seymour High

Anyone who spends enough time at is bound to run into Assistant Principal/Athletic Director Glenn Lungarini.

He’s at the school early in the morning greeting students and often remains at the building until late in the evenings for athletic events, at which he often leads the Pledge of Allegiance and announces the names of players from both teams.

But Lungarini will no longer be a familiar face inside the walls of the young Oxford High School, where he has been second-in-command since the building opened to students in the fall of 2007. That’s because Lungarini is seizing an opportunity to become a building principal in neighboring Seymour.

Late Monday evening, the Seymour Board of Education voted 8-0 to hire Lungarini as principal of Seymour High School, where he will officially take the reigns on July 1. Lungarini is expected to resign from Oxford High School, effective at the end of this school year, at tonight’s Oxford Board of Education meeting.

“I’m very excited for the opportunity that lies ahead,” Lungarini said following Monday's meeting at Seymour Middle School. “At the same time, it’s going to be bittersweet leaving Oxford. Over the last five years, I’ve put a lot into that town and into the school system. I care very much for the staff there. I care very much for the students and the parents who are there. While it is bittersweet, I’m very excited about the opportunity and the challenge that lies ahead, and the next step of my professional journey.”

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Lungarini, 36, who grew up in Oxford and lives in Naugatuck, has a bachelor's degree in physical education from Eastern Connecticut State University and a master's degree in excercise science from Southern Connecticut State University. He also holds an intermediate administrators certification from Sacred Heart University.

Lungarini began working at Oxford High School in 2007; he had previously been a physical education teacher for eight years at Pomperaug High School in Southbury.

In Oxford, he currently has the administrative titles of assistant principal and athletic director, while also holding responsibilities as interim English Department Chair and Health and Physical Education Department chair. He oversees day-to-day operations, all athletic events, discipline, scheduling and parental communication while developing the annual OHS budget and conducting teacher evaluations. He also redesigned the physical education curriculum, redesigned the English curriculum in 2010 and is an active member in the OHS Booster Club, which is directly responsible for raising more than $50,000 for the high school.

“When you become an assistant principal, I think you’re interested in and you look to become a principal in the future,” he said. “And for me that opportunity lies here (in Seymour). I’m very appreciative that the Seymour community is willing to invest in me, and I will invest in them, likewise. I look forward to the relationships I will build in this community, just as I have in Oxford.”

Lungarini was one of 20 applicants for the Seymour High School job. The school board-led committee overseeing the selection process interviewed seven people and brought forth three names to the full Board of Ed.

Seymour Board of Ed. Chairman Yashu Putorti said Lungarini was the first choice. Some of the reasons Lungarini stood out was because he’s outgoing, intelligent and speaks well on his feet, Putorti said.

“We’re very excited to have Mr. Lungarini,” he said. “I think he knows administration very well. His answers to our questions were really stellar. He’s got some really good ideas. He has ways to deal with people, treat people and talk to people.”

Christine Syriac, associate superintendent of Seymour Public Schools who will become the superintendent in that town on July 1, said it was extremely important for the committee and the Board of Ed. to find the right fit for Seymour High School.

“And it became clear through the interview process that Glenn was also looking for the right fit for the place where he was going to be the high school principal,” she said. “I believe he is very well balanced and that he will fit what it is that the community, the students, the parents and the teachers are looking for in a high school principal.”