Paul Tryon was born in Tokyo, Japan, and until recently had spent his entire professional career working in schools in New York City. But when he was announced last week as the principal of Riccardi Elementary School in the Saugerties Central School District (SCSD), he was, in a way, returning home.
“I grew up in the Hudson Valley,” Tryon said in an interview with Hudson Valley One. “I grew up in Poughkeepsie.”
Tryon was an undergrad at SUNY Potsdam, majoring in childhood education before earning his masters degree at New York University. His career began primarily as a third grade teacher and literacy specialist at schools in low-income communities in Brooklyn and the Bronx. During that time, he also founded a literacy consulting business, supporting families and schools in helping children with reading-based challenges. Tryon’s work in literacy will inform his role as principal of Riccardi.
“About 40 percent of our kids in this country are unable to meet basic expectations when it comes to reading, and it’s not that much better here in Saugerties,” Tryon said. “Obviously all of that happens at the elementary level. We need to ensure that kids are meeting benchmarks at the end of kindergarten, first (grade), second (grade), etc…before they are even given the chance to fall behind.”
For the past four years, Tryon was principal of a Blue Ribbon award-winning K-8 South Bronx school, before, during and after the COVID-19 pandemic, which in a letter to the Riccardi community this week he called “a life-changing experience that reinforced for me the importance of safety, equity, and excellence in our schools.”
As of press time, Tryon has been in Saugerties for a little over a week, and he’s just getting the lay of the land, meeting staff at his new school and administrators at the district level, along with students from all three of the SCSD’s elementary schools at the district’s Riccardi-based summer school program.
“What I want to do, first of all, is take a look at what is going well with regard to our literacy program and what instruction looks like,” he said. “I’m really excited to get in the classrooms and see all the great things that teachers are already doing. And from there, to just identify the opportunities that do exist, the best practices that we know from decades of research that could be implemented within the structure and the schedule that that exists here in Saugerties.”
Tryon said he’s been very encouraged by everyone he’s met, and buoyed by a young and enthusiastic central office.
“Everyone’s been really supportive,” Tryon said. “It’s a relatively new and younger, uh, perhaps, administrative team. We’ve got a new superintendent, Dan Erceg. (Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction) Gwendolyn (Rorabach) has some great ideas, and she’s relatively new to the district. And the other principals just stepped in the last couple years. So I think everyone is, is really energized to actually make change happen.”
Tryon acknowledged that change can be difficult in public schools, but there are opportunities in the SCSD, which recently underwent a significant change when it closed Mt. Marion Elementary School.
“Culturally, I think there’s an opportunity to kind of bridge that divide if there is one among staff that exists at all three elementary schools,” he said. “Instructionally, we have a really wonderful coaching team, which is unique to Saugerties. I don’t know, at least in my experience, too many other public schools that have coaches that come in and observe the teachers. I want to make sure I’m setting time aside to work with these coaches.”
There’s a lot about Saugerties that appealed to Tryon, not just its close proximity to where he grew up.
“My family is all here, and I wanted to move back and be closer,” he said. “But Saugerties specifically, there’s some really exciting things are going on in the district at this point in time. I was drawn personally to their commitment to excellence. And they’re focused on the right things, they’re asking the right questions, and there’s a high level of focus on achievement and culture.”
Erceg said he was looking forward to welcoming Tryon to the district.
“We are excited to have Mr. Tryon take the helm of Riccardi Elementary School with his strong literacy background,” Erceg said.
Riccardi Elementary School will host an informal meet-and-greet with Principal Tryon on Wednesday, August 2 from 9-10:00 a.m. Interested parties should RSVP by e-mailing ameier@saugerties.k12.ny.us.
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