Dr. Jessica Nuzzi is the new Pascack Valley Regional High School District’s Supervisor of Instruction of Mathematics and Computer Science.
Nuzzi began working at PV on July 1. She spent the summer working to place students in the correct math levels and courses, and meeting with teachers along with the Director of Curriculum, Dr. Mark Russo, to communicate departmental requirements
“Dr. Nuzzi was in the classroom but also has some experience… serving as an instructional coach,” said Russo. “So having both of those experiences is really nice and helpful for us.”
Despite being new to the PVRHSD, Nuzzi is no stranger to the educational world. With 20 years of math education experience under her belt, she is excited for this new chapter in her life.
“I look forward to really working with the different teachers… and supporting them in the way that they need to be supported,” said Nuzzi.
Nuzzi’s career began when she had to decide what to do after college.
“I graduated college and knew I wanted to go into education, and math… was always a strong area [for me],” Nuzzi said. ”I enjoyed the type of thinking that goes into math, not just that it’s algorithmic, but that we can problem solve, and there are so many connections to the real world. And so, I did a master’s program in order to become a math teacher.”
After completing the master’s program, Nuzzi taught at West Orange High School for three years, where she then decided she wanted to pursue a doctorate degree.
“I left teaching for four years to go full-time to NYU [New York University] in order to study math education research,” said Nuzzi. “It’s a whole other world that a lot of people don’t really know about: that there are researchers at universities who focus in on how we can best teach and learn in each of the subject areas.”
Ultimately, Nuzzi decided she wanted to return to teaching, but she didn’t give up on her doctorate.
“I went back to teaching, [but] I didn’t graduate at that time from NYU,” said Nuzzi. “I was ultimately able to transfer everything to Montclair State, where I did finish my degree and my dissertation.”
While earning her Ph.D. in Mathematics Education, she also earned a master’s degree in Educational Leadership.
“When I got that master’s in Educational Leadership, it was really because of my colleagues in West Orange, who said ‘I wish you were my supervisor or my boss’,” said Nuzzi.
Due to one colleague’s encouragement, Nuzzi decided to seek out a supervising job.
“A couple of school years ago, I did a part-time supervising job in [the] Caldwell School District, and it was kind of my test run to make sure I wanted to be a supervisor to move into administration outside of the classroom, and I really enjoyed the work,” explained Nuzzi.
The part-time supervisor position guided Nuzzi to where she is now.
“Now that I’m here, I’m lucky enough to be part of the Pascack Valley Regional High School District [and to do] the work that I’ve been doing with teachers to support them,” said Nuzzi. “I know it’s the right job for me.”
