Former Pittsford teacher retires from ER

Howard Maffucci is proud of what he’s accomplished as the superintendent of East Rochester schools over the past 14 years.

The district has expanded its universal preschool program. It offers all-day kindergarten, small class sizes, 12 advanced-placement classes and numerous extracurricular activities for students.

Maffucci, who got his start in teaching in Pittsford, worked his last day June 30 and retired from the district. Ray Giamartino Jr., who served as the Rochester City School District’s chief of schools and superintendent for the northeast zone, started Thursday.

“I want to thank the  community for allowing me to work here,” Maffucci said. “I’ve enjoyed my time here immensely. It’s a wonderful community. It has been a pleasure to serve the school and community of East Rochester.”

A native of New York City who later moved to Long Island, where he graduated from Smithtown High School, Maffucci said he knew he wanted to go into education at a young age.

“I just really liked school,” he said. “I played a lot of sports, was involved in a lot of activities, and teachers and coaches were my role models. I never thought about doing anything else.”

After high school, Maffucci moved upstate. He earned a bachelor’s degree in political science in 1973 at SUNY Brockport, where he started to do tutoring.

His first teaching job was as a middle school social studies teacher in Pittsford, where he also coached ice hockey and football.

Maffucci received a master’s degree in education from the University of Rochester and stayed in Pittsford for 14 years. He then worked as an assistant principal at Gates Chili schools for three years before being hired as a principal in East Rochester in 1991 by Superintendent Lorenzo Benati.

“(Lorenzo) believed that education was the great equalizer and that all students, including students with special needs, need to get the best education they could get,” Maffucci said. “I’ve used that as my mission to create programs that engage all students.”

Benati died in 1996, and Maffucci was named his successor.

Jody Siegle, executive director of the Monroe County School Boards Association, has known Maffucci since he became superintendent. She said he was a public advocate with the state Board of Regents and with government representatives.

“Howard cares passionately about public education and the children in his district,” she said. “He was a very innovative leader and was always looking for ways to strengthen the educational program.”

East Rochester assistant principal Chris Bennett has only worked with Maffucci for two years, but said the superintendent had a big influence on him.

“He is as genuine a person as I’ve met,” Bennett said. “He taught me what it means to find the balance between work and personal relations with people. I have found him just an absolute pleasure to work with. I think very highly of him.”

Maffucci is familiar with his successor, as they both pursued their doctoral degrees at the University of Rochester. He said it should be a smooth transition.

“The really good news is that the district is in very good shape financially and programmatically, so that he can come in and spend lots of time getting to know people without having to make any major changes or face any major challenges,” Maffucci said.

Maffucci wants to spend more time with his family. He and his wife, Tina, now live in Pittsford, where she taught for 20 years until retiring a few years ago. They have two children: a son, Steven, who is a lieutenant serving as a cavalry officer in the 101st Airborne in Afghanistan; and a daughter, Amy, who is working as a lawyer for a firm in New York City.

“Where I’m at personally, I can’t devote 60 hours a week to the superintendency anymore,” he said. “You can be out at some kind of an event almost any night. I don’t want to be in a situation where I can’t get the job done when I don’t have the time.”

Maffucci said he wants to continue promoting education in the future, and that’s no surprise to Siegle.

“I’m counting on him continuing it for a long time,” Siegle said. “Just because he’s retiring doesn’t mean he won’t still care about these same issues. We have him speaking at a presentation for our members next fall. He has so much knowledge and experience; we don’t want to lose access to it, and we’re grateful that he still wants to stay involved.”