On Tuesday night, the Rye City School District board approved the appointment of two District-level administrators – Lauren Santabarbara as the RCSD Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment, and Seth Busching as the RCSD Director of School Counseling and Student Wellness.
Lauren Santabarbara
Lauren Santabarbara was selected as the District’s new Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment. She will assume her position on September 3, 2025. The District’s current Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment, Dr. Tricia Murray, is becoming the new Superintendent of Schools.
Santabarbara comes to Rye from the Carmel Central School District where she has served as the Assistant Superintendent of Instruction since 2022. In this position, she oversaw K-12 instruction for nearly 3,700 students and professional learning for over 700 faculty and staff. Before becoming Assistant Superintendent, she spent two years as Principal of Carmel High School, and seven years prior as Assistant Principal. She began her career as a high school English teacher at Essex Street Academy on the Lower East Side of Manhattan and then at Pearl River High School.
Ms. Santabarbara has a B.A. in English Literature from the University of Scranton and an M.A. in Secondary English Instruction from NYU. Ms. Santabarbara, her husband Todd, and their three children live in Somers, NY.
Seth Busching
Seth Busching was appointed to the newly-created role of RCSD Director of School Counseling and Student Wellness and will assume the position on July 1. The RCSD Director of School Counseling and Student Wellness will be responsible for overseeing the District’s 12 school counselors: 6 at RHS, 3 at RMS, and one at each of the elementary schools. He will also head up the District’s social-emotional education efforts.
Mr. Busching comes to Rye from New Rochelle High School, where has been a House Principal since 2019. Prior to working in New Rochelle, he was Assistant Dean and then Dean of Students and School Culture at the Antonia Pantoja Preparatory Academy in the Bronx. Before becoming an administrator, he taught English, grades 7-12, and was team leader for 5 years, also at Antonia Pantoja Prep. Academy.
Mr. Busching has a B.A. in English from Stony Brook University and an M.A. in Liberal Studies from Queens College.
