New Willard Assistant Principal 'Excited And Humbled'

Matthew A. Correia is just 31-years-old and has never held an administrative position in his career but his resume and interview were impressive enough to beat out more than 150 other candidates to be named the Assistant Principal at Willard Elementary School. 

"When I was sitting at the Board of Education meeting before being introduced I was excited and humbled to have Superintendent David Erwin say the nice things he said about me," Correia said. "I an extremely honored that Sal (Urso) and Dave made this commitment to me and when I got the phone call I was so excited. When they said they thought 'I could make a difference' that just added to the level of excitement. I have high expectations of myself and can't wait to get going."

Correia comes to Willard after teaching the last six years at Johnson Elementary School in Bethel. He is a department head and a leader in staff development. He earned his sixth year certificate from Sacred Heart University and is enrolled in a program in Institutional Leadership at Western Connecticut, which will lead to a Doctorate Degree. 

"The most attractive thing about the position is that I felt that my first administrative job should be at an elementary school," Correia said. "I have enjoyed my last nine years at the elementary level and knew this would be a good fit. I also see Berlin as an outstanding school district and Willard has an amazing staff. They are committed to doing what is right for the kids and it will be a great place for me to start my administrative career."

Correia said that he can bring something to the position that Berlin will need in the future.

"The biggest difference between Bethel and Berlin is that Bethel has already started doing things differently with the common core and we have implemented most of those standards," he said. "Berlin is getting there. From my experience last year I will help bring some support to Berlin and the teachers and instruction to them about how we did things."

Correia said his role would be multi-faceted. 

"I think this first year will involve a lot of learning with Sal," he said. "I will work on new initiatives like the new math program. I'll be supporting teachers and re-writing any new curriculum that needs to be done. I will also be doing staff evaluations and basically anything I'm asked to do."