Roanoke Avenue Elementary School will have a new principal in the coming school year.
Longtime principal Thomas Payton is retiring at the end of this school year and will pass the baton to Jessica Farmer, 36, who currently serves as assistant principal at Pulaski Street Intermediate School.
Farmer said her focus will be on building relationships, maintaining high expectations for students and continuing the work already underway at the school.
“I’m excited to join Roanoke and to continue the great work that they have put in place,” Farmer said in an interview Thursday morning. “They’ve made amazing gains, and it’s all because of the faculty and staff and the families there.”
The appointment marks another step in a career that has included experience in general education, special education, English as a New Language instruction and curriculum development.
A 2007 William Floyd High School graduate, Farmer earned her undergraduate degree in early childhood education from St. Joseph’s College in 2011. She began her career as a teacher assistant in the Eastport-South Manor School District before teaching at Riverhead Charter School, where she worked in both special education and general education classrooms in third and fourth grades.
She later joined the South Huntington school district, where she spent eight years as an ENL teacher before serving as a districtwide literacy coach working with kindergarten through sixth grade classrooms across five elementary buildings. She was named assistant principal at Pulaski two years ago.
Curriculum work has long been her passion, she said.
“That’s what I love,” she said. “It’s my drive.”
Her experience spans students from kindergarten through sixth grade, something she believes will help strengthen the transition for Roanoke students as they eventually move on to Pulaski.
“Coming from Pulaski, I have that knowledge now — what we expect students as they’re coming to Pulaski and the expectations that we want to set for them,” she said. “I think that will create that consistent alignment across elementary buildings for our students when they’re transitioning to Pulaski to be more seamless.”
Farmer said her background working with younger elementary students also gives her insight into the early educational experiences children bring into school.
“No matter what grade, I speak to students the same way,” she said. “It’s just their experiences are different.”
Roanoke Avenue Elementary School serves a predominantly Hispanic student population, similar to Pulaski, and Farmer said her experience as an ENL teacher will be especially valuable.
“We have a lot of English language learners,” she said. “Understanding that need and making sure that we’re meeting their needs in the classroom when they’re getting pulled out, and just supporting the families in that aspect, is definitely key.”
Though she said she relies on translators to ensure clear communication with families, particularly in leadership settings, Farmer said she has good comprehension of Spanish and is comfortable speaking the language.
Farmer also has longstanding ties to the Riverhead community outside the classroom. While attending college, she worked for about a decade at Riverhead Free Library in both the children’s and technology departments.
“So many people I see in the buildings are like, ‘I know you. How do I know you?’” she said with a laugh. “It’s just so nice to reconnect with the community in that way.”
She said the support she has received from staff at Pulaski helped prepare her for the next step in her career.
“They have made me understand what Riverhead is through an education lens,” she said. “Their dedication and their commitment has helped me drive to take this next step.”
Farmer will join a leadership team at Roanoke that also includes assistant principal Dr. Lopez, who started in the role last year.
For Farmer, the move represents both a professional milestone and a continuation of work she says is rooted in relationships with students, families and staff.
“It is important,” she said of her ties to the Riverhead community. “I’ve been in Riverhead the majority of my life.”
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