Rye Schools Announce New Athletic Director

Ms. Susan Dullea, Rye High School, Director of Health, Physical Education and Athletics — Susan Dullea, the new Rye High School, Director of Health, Physical Education and Athletics. Courtesy: Carmel Schools

Rye schools announced Susan Dullea as the new Director of Health, Physical Education and Athletics late Friday afternoon.

A search was opened after the current AD Mike Arias announced in April he would be leaving.

Here is the official announcement:

“Dear RCSD Community,

I am pleased to share with you that the District will soon have a new Director of Athletics. I am recommending that the Board of Education appoint Ms. Susan Dullea as Director of Health, Physical Education and Athletics, effective July 1, 2020.

Over the past three months we conducted a rigorous search process, screening many candidates and conducting three levels of interviews with district administrators and a committee of stakeholders, including teachers, students, parents, and support staff. Throughout the process, Ms. Dullea demonstrated a strong skill set as an instructional leader and collaborative administrator with a great deal of experience in physical education, health, and athletics. Additionally, she has created leadership programming for student athletes working in partnership with teachers and staff to develop more opportunities for broad student participation in athletics. Along with the recommendation of our committee, I strongly believe that Ms. Dullea is the right person to lead a successful athletic program while ensuring outstanding educational experiences for student athletes.

Ms. Dullea comes to us as an experienced and successful athletics administrator. She has been the Director of Health, Physical Education, and Athletics in the Carmel Central School District since 2015. While at Carmel, she oversaw an athletic program of 60 interscholastic teams. She collaborated with and supported 75 coaches at an AA school while they worked with their program to create a strong culture of values. She provided leadership to coaches and students by working with student and parent athletic booster groups and a variety of focus groups to promote student leadership, citizenship, and support of core values.

Prior to working in Carmel, she was Director of Health, Physical Education, Athletics in the Croton-Harmon Union Free School District and the Director of Health, Physical Education, Athletics, and the Dean of Students for the Haldane Central School District in Cold Spring, N.Y. She spent the first 10 years of her career as a health and physical education teacher.

Ms. Dullea is involved at both the state and sectional levels, serving as Conference ONE VP, NYSAAA Chapter One President, Section One Football Chair, and on the NYSPHSAA At Large Committee. She is a member of the National Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association.

Ms. Dullea has a B.S. in Physical Education and Health Education from Ithaca College and an M.S. in Instructional Technology from SUNY Potsdam. She holds a certificate in School Administration and Supervision from St. Lawrence University.

We will be scheduling opportunities for parents, faculty, and staff to meet Ms. Dullea over the summer. Please be on the lookout for further information with details. Ms. Dullea will also implement an entry plan over the coming months as she works to learn all about the Rye City School District.

A heartfelt “thank you” to all the committee members for their time and effort in what turned out to be a remote hiring process. The insights and feedback of the committee were invaluable.

Please join me in welcoming Ms. Dullea to the Rye City School District family.

Sincerely,

Dr. Eric Byrne
Superintendent of Schools”