fbpx
  • Subscribe & Support
  • Print Edition
    • Get Home Delivery
    • Read ePaper Online
    • Newsstand Locations
  • HV1 Magazines
  • Contact
    • Advertise
    • Submit Your Event
    • Customer Support
    • Submit A News Tip
    • Send Letter to the Editor
    • Where’s My Paper?
  • Our Newsletters
  • Manage HV1 Account
  • Free HV1 Trial
Hudson Valley One
  • News
    • Schools
    • Business
    • Sports
    • Crime
    • Politics & Government
  • What’s UP
    • Calendar Of Events
    • Subscribe to the What’s UP newsletter
  • Opinion
    • Letters
    • Columns
  • Local
    • Special Sections
    • Local History
  • Marketplace
    • All Classified Ads
    • Post a Classified Ad
  • Obituaries
  • Log Out
No Result
View All Result
  • News
    • Schools
    • Business
    • Sports
    • Crime
    • Politics & Government
  • What’s UP
    • Calendar Of Events
    • Subscribe to the What’s UP newsletter
  • Opinion
    • Letters
    • Columns
  • Local
    • Special Sections
    • Local History
  • Marketplace
    • All Classified Ads
    • Post a Classified Ad
  • Obituaries
  • Log Out
No Result
View All Result
Hudson Valley One
No Result
View All Result

New KHS principal looks to lead wave of innovation

by Crispin Kott
April 18, 2016
in Community, Entertainment, News
2

The future and the past came together at Kingston High School this week when Adrian Manuel officially took over as the building principal. Manuel, a Class of 1996 KHS alum, had spent his entire professional career in the South Bronx, an experience he said was rewarding enough that the only reason he left was because he wanted to make a positive impact in the community where he grew up.

“When I took this job, there was no reason to leave my school and every reason to stay,” Manuel said on his second day on the KHS campus. “I have given 10 years of blood, sweat, tears, passion and hard work to kids in the South Bronx, but I never grew up there. I adopted the community and they adopted me. To give back here when I know I’ve been giving to other communities is priceless.”

New Kingston High Principal Adrian Manuel. (Photo by Dan Barton)

Manuel was sitting in his new office during the nearly hour-long interview, a base of operations recently vacated by Marie Anderson, who decided to step down from Kingston High to take over as principal at Crosby Elementary. Boxes yet to be unpacked were stacked neatly in the corner in a room Manuel said he planned on spending little time in as principal, a practice he adopted at during his tenure at Accion Academy in the Bronx. It was, he said, at least partly inspired by his own time as a student at Kingston High.

“When I was a student here, in my four years I couldn’t tell you who the principal was,” he said. “I remember passing this office and thinking, ‘He’s in there somewhere.’ Unless you were going to get in deep trouble, you didn’t know who the principal was. But you’re going to see me around the campus.”

Manuel, the son of former alderman Clint Brown, grew up in Kingston. He spent time at Meagher, Chambers and Edson elementary schools before transferring to George Washington Elementary in the 3rd grade and staying there until attending J. W. Bailey Middle School. He spent his formative years living on Franklin Street right down from the public library, a building in which he first came onto the radar of the Kingston City School District.

It was during a forum on education and charter schools four years ago where Manuel spoke of his formative years in the district as a student, and how he was able to overcome obstacles faced by many kids in the district today to become a success.

“I wasn’t going there to promote the idea of a charter school; I was there to promote the idea of education empowering kids who were disadvantaged,” said Manuel. “Often times in the papers, these are the same kids who are being arrested. These are the kids who are dropping out. And I think what came out of it was that, and this is sad for me to say, but there’s a uniqueness in a young boy having biracial parents who had their own struggles, growing up in Kingston, seeing my friends go through issues like gangs and violence and making it through.”

 

Turnaround specialist

After graduating from Kingston High, Manuel earned his bachelor’s in social studies from New York University, his master’s in secondary education from Lehman College and his master’s in educational leadership from Baruch College. He’s currently enrolled in the University of Pennsylvania to earn his doctorate in educational leadership.

Page 1 of 4
12...4Next
Tags: Gerard GretzingerKingston High Schoolmidtown
Join the family! Grab a free month of HV1 from the folks who have brought you substantive local news since 1972. We made it 50 years thanks to support from readers like you. Help us keep real journalism alive.
- Geddy Sveikauskas, Publisher

Crispin Kott

Crispin Kott was born in Chicago, raised in New York and has called everywhere from San Francisco to Los Angeles to Atlanta home. A music historian and failed drummer, he’s written for numerous print and online publications and has shared with his son Ian and daughter Marguerite a love of reading, writing and record collecting.

 Crispin Kott is the co-author of the Rock and Roll Explorer Guide to New York City (Globe Pequot Press, June 2018), the Little Book of Rock and Roll Wisdom (Lyons Press, October 2018), and the Rock and Roll Explorer Guide to San Francisco and the Bay Area (Globe Pequot Press, May 2021).

Related Posts

Fewer prisoners, fewer guards? Staff levels at Ulster jail questioned
Crime

Ulster County man jailed for his part in large retail theft ring

July 7, 2025
Gun fired in Saugerties deli parking lot leads to more felony charges for Monroe County man
Crime

Gun fired in Saugerties deli parking lot leads to more felony charges for Monroe County man

July 7, 2025
Party with Congolese dance music in Kingston this Saturday
Community

Party with Congolese dance music in Kingston this Saturday

July 4, 2025
Macroburst: How the county handled the storm
News

Hail storm knocks out power across Hudson Valley

July 3, 2025
Rhinebeck fire department rookie charged with five felonies for alleged false incident reports
News

Update: Arrest made after illegal fireworks cause structure fire in Kingston

July 3, 2025
Police departments, rescue squads reorganize for socially distanced first response
Politics & Government

Eminent-domain powers tested in appellate court

July 3, 2025
Next Post

Letters (Aug. 18 - 25)

Please login to join discussion

Weather

Kingston, NY
79°
Light Rain
5:26 am8:35 pm EDT
Feels like: 84°F
Wind: 6mph S
Humidity: 82%
Pressure: 29.9"Hg
UV index: 0
TueWedThu
86°F / 68°F
86°F / 70°F
82°F / 68°F
powered by Weather Atlas

Subscribe

Independent. Local. Substantive. Subscribe now.

  • Subscribe & Support
  • Print Edition
  • HV1 Magazines
  • Contact
  • Our Newsletters
  • Manage HV1 Account
  • Free HV1 Trial

© 2022 Ulster Publishing

No Result
View All Result
  • News
    • Schools
    • Business
    • Sports
    • Crime
    • Politics & Government
  • What’s Happening
    • Calendar Of Events
    • Art
    • Books
    • Kids
    • Lifestyle & Wellness
    • Food & Drink
    • Music
    • Nature
    • Stage & Screen
  • Opinions
    • Letters
    • Columns
  • Local
    • Special Sections
    • Local History
  • Marketplace
    • All Classified Ads
    • Post a Classified Ad
  • Obituaries
  • Subscribe & Support
  • Contact Us
    • Customer Support
    • Advertise
    • Submit A News Tip
  • Print Edition
    • Read ePaper Online
    • Newsstand Locations
    • Where’s My Paper
  • HV1 Magazines
  • Manage HV1 Account
  • Log In
  • Free HV1 Trial
  • Subscribe to Our Newsletters
    • Hey Kingston
    • New Paltz Times
    • Woodstock Times
    • Week in Review

© 2022 Ulster Publishing