Aliscia Krecisz is the new principal of Roy B. Kelley School and is set to take the reins Jan. 22 as interim principal Barbara Converso steps down after eight months at the helm.
Upon her appointment Tuesday night by the Lockport Board of Education, superintendent Mathis Calvin III said the district is “delighted to welcome Mrs. Krecisz.”
“Her impressive background and dedication to education make her the ideal candidate to lead Roy B. Kelley Elementary.”
Krecisz is leaving her current job as the elementary school coordinator in the Lewiston-Porter district, which she likened to an assistant principal. Throughout her 25 years in the education field, she has stayed at the elementary school level, saying that is where her “heart and soul” reside.
“I like to put them on the right path,” she said.
Krecisz’s move to Kelley Elementary marks an anniversary of sorts. Twenty-five years ago, she left the school after completing her last month as a student teacher. She said the principal at the time took her to the Fieldstone restaurant, neither of them knowing that one day she’d be stepping into those shoes.
And the path towards that, while requiring hard work, began simply.
“I really started because I love children,” Krecisz said.
After Krecisz got a general education degree, she went back to school to get a master’s degree in teaching reading. She said this brought her into contact with students with disabilities.
“I was always the classroom that had special education students and students who had English as a new language and I loved it,” Krecisz said. “From there I got my certification for special education and I became a special education teacher for about 10 years in Grand Island.”
“I love seeing the differences in kids and then bringing out (their) best qualities,” she said. “School can sometimes be tricky and we’re used to a system that works a certain way. And not everybody fits in that system. But they all have great skills and abilities, so, how can we look past that system to bring out those skills?”
Former Kelley principal Heather Walton resigned her post Oct. 25, following her August guilty plea on a charge of driving while ability impaired by alcohol, in connection with a May 22 incident on Davison Road. Converso stepped in as substitute principal after Walton’s arrest.