‘A SPECIAL PLACE IN MY HEART’

Although Danielle Cox has taken over as St. Pius X School’s new principal, she’s hardly new to the school.

Cox comes with over two decades of experience in Catho­lic schools, with 19 years spent at St. Pius X. In 1998, she began her teaching career as a maternity-leave substitute teacher, later becoming a fifth-grade teacher. Next she would become assistant principal for five years until 2016, when she left the school to take the principal position at St. Jude the Apostle School in Wynantskill. Now, after four years away from St. Pius X, she’s happy to be home.

“This place holds such a special place in my heart,” Cox said. “I feel like I can really come at this job with a true passion for what I think St. Pius needs and what St. Pius should be.”

Cox has taken over for Dennis Mullahy, who had been principal  for nearly 30 years. As a St. Pius X alum herself, she’s seen the school go through numerous transitions first hand. Amidst the pandemic, Cox says the school plans on giving students the most solid program possible while maintaining their health and safety. Another top priority involves student interaction and recess time to accommodate students’ social-emotional needs that they have missed out on for months.

The school will be following all of the state and CDC guidelines that have been put in place as well. Upon arriving at school, all students go through a health screening, with arrival and dismissal times varying to avoid overcrowding and allow social distancing. Face masks will be worn by students when they can’t maintain six feet of social distance, when they’re traveling throughout the building, going to the bathroom and for arrival and dismissal.

Students will be socially distant in classrooms, achieved through capping the amount of students per class based on the size of the room and the grade level in order to maintain six feet of space between students.

Traffic in the hallway will be decreased by teachers traveling to students, with the exception of gym class where students will be outside as much as possible and stay 12 feet apart from each other. While students remain in their homeroom for core classes, subjects such as foreign language and art will come to them. To accommodate for students’ limited movement throughout the day, Cox says the school plans on extending recess time and taking walks outside around the school campus throughout the day.

“It’s important that they get up and have movement breaks and get that fresh air,” Cox said.

One thing Cox has taken up over this period of quarantine and self-isolation has been health and fitness, specifically focusing on her own personal health and well-being, something she says has been huge.

“I think that spills over into so many other areas of my life, including my professional life as well,” Cox said.

Otherwise, she spends a lot of her free time watching sports with her two sons — 12-year-old Jackson and 17-year-old Tyler, who both attend Christian Brothers Academy.

Cox looks forward to reconnecting with families and meeting new members of the school community who arrived when she was principal at St. Jude the Apostle, while also making the school the safest place to learn.

“I’ve always considered this a home, you know, being a graduate, being an alum, having this be where I spent 19 years of my teaching and administrative career from professional life,” Cox said. “Having the opportunity to be back home has been such a blessing.”