When Valentina DeSantis walks the halls of Pascack Valley High School each morning, she’s not just headed to work— she’s returning to an important place from her past. A 2010 graduate of Pascack Valley, DeSantis has earned a new role within the walls she roamed as a student: Secretary of the Guidance Department.
“It’s very weird…It’s bittersweet,” said DeSantis about returning to Pascack Valley. “I used to…walk these hallways as a student, so coming back as an employee is just strange.”
What makes the transition even more surreal is seeing familiar faces from when she attended high school.
“I actually had Mr. Puccio, Mr. Gallione, and Ms. Petaccia all as [administrators and] teachers…it’s just funny to just be here working for them,” DeSantis said. “Mrs. Callanan was my guidance counselor!”
It’s not only her former teachers that bring a sense of familiarity to her new role; in fact, DeSantis went to school with other teachers, such as Mr. Moran and Mrs. Culvert.
However, DeSantis’s path back to Pascack Valley wasn’t straight. DeSantis brings a wide range of experiences to her new job.
At first, she studied graphic design in college, but finding a job in the field proved difficult. DeSantis then spent eight years waitressing and bartending before meeting someone who gave her a job as an executive assistant. When the company she worked for was sold during the COVID-19 pandemic, she began working for her dad’s mechanic business, where she stayed for a few years.
Meanwhile, she kept one foot in the Pascack Valley community; DeSantis has been coaching the Pascack Valley Regional Dance Team for 12 years now.
“As soon as I graduated [college], I came back to start coaching,” DeSantis explained. “I feel like I’ve always been here and I never really left.”
Although she always had some type of connection to the school, sometimes DeSantis felt a disconnect.
“I came here at 3:30 every day, rather than coming first thing in the morning. Mrs. Noone, who I also coach with, works here, so it was always weird,” said DeSantis. “She would be here with the dancers all day, they’d know everything that’s going on, and then I would show up.”
Now, DeSantis feels more a part of the community.
Her longtime coaching partner Dena Noone has seen how much DeSantis has grown.
Noone has been coaching the Pascack Valley Regional Dance Team for 32 years, meaning she coached DeSantis when she was at Pascack Valley.
“She danced under me, and she was captain with my team. I couldn’t coach without her,” Noone joked. “Sometimes we’ll say she’s like the frosting to my cupcake or the Yin to my Yang.”
Now that DeSantis holds a full-time job at Pascack Valley, it is easier to maintain the cohesiveness of the dance team.
“I feel like if the dancers… need her, she is [there for] emotional support or just a question,” Noone said. “She’s just easy to get a hold of. It’s definitely a support they feel.”
A typical day for DeSantis begins at 7:45 a.m., when she gets right into her work— including her daily tasks and guidance projects. Her job includes a variety of different projects depending on the season.
“During college fair/college admission time we get really busy, [and] during graduation [there are] a lot of diplomas, transcripts, all those kinds of things [to do],” DeSantis said.
Despite her winding journey to her new role, DeSantis is exactly where she wants to be.
“I do it…because I love the school. I love being here. I love the people that work here,” DeSantis remarked.
