Education
South Park Principal looking to change public’s perception of its High School.
By Cindy Gauthier
Sep 27, 2005, 15:56

New Principal and former teacher at South Park High School, Mr. Paul Casseri has the hope of recapturing the lost tradition of South Buffalo’s only public high school. Saying with community support and more parental involvement, positive things can happen at South Park.

Mr. Casseri said he has been speaking at area block clubs and neighborhood to inform the residents of whom he is and what he’d like to do in turning South Park HS around.

Admitting at the South Buffalo Block Club Coalition yesterday evening that the public’s outlook of the school has not very positive, he said that (view) comes from many, many years of neglect; and the attitude towards it. Over the passed two years, he said he has been working to change the people’s perception.

After having taught at the school for 11 years, he left to advance a career at Rochester, Sweet Home, Amherst and Frontier Central districts, but returned to his educational foundation at South Park.

“I was very honored to come back, the school’s been around since 1915, it has an unbelievable tradition is South Buffalo.”
Casseri said.

Stating the school is starting to move into a positive direction, but said the heart and soul comes with the community and with parental involvement.

One positive aspect of the Buffalo Public Schools is that they are “schools of choice” Casseri stated the Choice Program at South Park High is a graphics communication program with a (estimated) $600,000 printing lab. With having just over 150 students still in that program, the graphics communication is one that he’d like emphasize further on with attracting new students to the school.

In addition, South Park HS also has a JROTC (Jr. Reserve Officer Training Corp) program, a Marching Band, and looking to expand on a choral program within the next year.

South Park HS also established a $35,000 grant for advanced placement courses, to where students can earn college credits. Saying at the end of next year, the school will have nine advance placement courses, and will be offering more of such courses than Hutch Tech.
Principal Casseri would like to see South Park High School as a school of choice with the confidence of being successful as the students continue on into college.

The changing process, he said has only been taking place over the past year, with a significantly reduced number of suspensions and fights, the school itself encourages the students to be good neighbors and give back to the community.

Of the concerns at South Park, test scores like many other public schools are low; he said there would be stress to improve literacy; without good reading skills subjects like Mathematics and Language Arts may not recover.

South Park, due to budget cuts is at the loss of an Assistant Principal and a student Counselor, has eleven hundred students, Mr. Casseri remains positive in bringing back a longstanding tradition in South Buffalo with an improved South park High School.


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