{"id":107017,"date":"2026-01-21T10:50:09","date_gmt":"2026-01-21T10:50:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/107017\/"},"modified":"2026-01-21T10:50:09","modified_gmt":"2026-01-21T10:50:09","slug":"curtis-high-school-principal-retires-after-38-years-in-education-ive-been-blessed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/107017\/","title":{"rendered":"Curtis High School principal retires after 38 years in education: \u2018I\u2019ve been blessed\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. \u2014 After nearly 40 years working in education, Curtis High School Principal Gregory Jaenicke will retire at the end of the month. <\/p>\n

It marks a full-circle moment for Jaenicke, whose interest in education didn\u2019t start in the classroom \u2014 but on the basketball court as an assistant coach at Curtis High School, St. George.<\/p>\n

After he graduated from Moore Catholic High School in Bulls Head, Jaenicke enrolled in Baruch College, Manhattan, intending to receive a business degree. During his freshman year, his former high school basketball coach and teacher asked Jaenicke to serve as a volunteer assistant basketball coach at Curtis. <\/p>\n

\u201cThat was what sparked my interest in education,\u201d he said. \u201cSo I had gone to college with the intention of pursuing business and quickly, coaching turned my attention to education.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"GregoryA grad fist bumps Jaenicke at the Curtis High School’s commencement ceremony on the school’s athletic field in St. George. June 25, 2021.(Advance\/SILive.com | Jan Somma-Hammel)<\/p>\n

After graduation, Jaenicke began his career teaching at Notre Dame Academy on Grymes Hill while coaching basketball at Monsignor Farrell High School, Oakwood. After four years at Notre Dame, he was offered the head basketball coach job and a full-time teaching position at Farrell, where he stayed for six years.<\/p>\n

In 1998, he started teaching at Curtis High School. By 2003, he left the high school to serve in various roles at the district level for Staten Island\u2019s District 31. During that time, he was able to see elementary schools, middle schools, and high schools across Staten Island and New York City. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt really gave me a good idea of the different leadership styles at the different grade levels and the different school communities across New York City. But all that said, the action happens at the school level. That\u2019s where the teaching and learning happens, so I always felt like there would be a time where I would be back at schools. I\u2019ll take the experience that I had and the things that I learned in my travels throughout New York City and beyond,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s when the opportunity presented itself for Jaenicke to become principal of Curtis High School in 2015. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been blessed with that opportunity \u2026,\u201d he said. \u201cWhen I retire at the end of the month, it will be a total of 38-and-a-half years working in education.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jaenicke said it was a \u201creally hard decision\u201d when it came to retiring and he still feels some mixed emotions. He said he doesn\u2019t have any particular plans after he retires.<\/p>\n

But he said he knows he\u2019ll miss being at Curtis High School \u2014 stopping to see students perform, practice, or play a basketball game, and, of course, seeing students in the hallway, and talking to teachers. <\/p>\n

His final day as principal will be on Monday, Jan. 26.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think ahead what\u2019s going to happen on Tuesday, Jan. 27, when I wake up and I don\u2019t have to report to Curtis. It\u2019s a little bit of, \u2018Oh, that sounds like it\u2019ll be pretty exciting,\u2019 but I don\u2019t know how long that will last,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He recalled key moments he\u2019ll always remember during his time at Curtis High School, and they mostly involve celebrating students.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would remember the graduations, the multicultural celebrations, the dances, the theater productions, the athletic events \u2014 those will all stand out to me,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He pointed to significant moments that occurred during his time as principal, like addressing the challenges of the pandemic as a school leader. He also remembered navigating construction when parts of the building were closed before the new school\u2019s wing opened in 2017. <\/p>\n

\"GregoryIn this 2017 photo, Jaenicke stands with teacher Sarah McCoy, Mayor Bill de Blasio and New York City Schools Chancellor Carmen Farina.(Advance\/SILive.com | Erik Bascome)<\/p>\n

He also recalled accomplishments like expanding the International Baccalaureate program and raising the school\u2019s four-year graduation rates.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust the effort, dedication, and commitment that the staff made, through the introduction of the 2017 wing, the pandemic, keeping our eyes on the graduation rate, and always, always trying to serve our students and families in the best way that we can,\u201d said Jaenicke.<\/p>\n

He said he hopes Curtis High School will continue to serve the community for another 120 years. Like the previous appointed principals, Jaenicke\u2019s own portrait will soon grace the wall of the school\u2019s main lobby.<\/p>\n

\u201cI hope my legacy is that I just tried as hard as I could, I did as good a job as I possibly could in the time that I was here,\u201d said Jaenicke.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. \u2014 After nearly 40 years working in education, Curtis High School Principal Gregory Jaenicke will…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":107018,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[9,24,63,134,136,135],"class_list":{"0":"post-107017","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-staten-island","8":"tag-new-york","9":"tag-new-york-city","10":"tag-nyc","11":"tag-staten-island","12":"tag-staten-island-headlines","13":"tag-staten-island-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107017","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=107017"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107017\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/107018"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=107017"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=107017"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=107017"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}