Sometimes the road to where you are meant to be takes an unexpected detour. For me, that detour was Texas. And I would not change a single mile of it.
Later this month, I will be returning to New York to step into my new role as the Director of Fine and Performing Arts for the Amityville Union Free School District. It is a role I am deeply honored to hold, and one I am walking into with fresh eyes, a full heart, and a vision that was sharpened by one extraordinary year spent inside one of the finest orchestral programs in the country.
The Journey
Katy ISD: A Masterclass in What's Possible
When I accepted the position of Assistant Orchestra Director in the Katy Independent School District, I knew I was entering something special. What I did not fully anticipate was just how profoundly it would reshape the way I see arts education, and what I now know is possible for every music program, everywhere.
Katy ISD is not simply well-regarded. It is a national benchmark. Their orchestras regularly perform at TMEA (the Texas Music Educators Association Conference), the Midwest Clinic International Band and Orchestra Festival, and the ASTA National Conference: stages that represent the absolute pinnacle of school music achievement.
But the performances are only the visible result. The real story is in the structure that makes them possible.
The Insight
The Model That Changes Everything
In Katy ISD, staffing is driven by enrollment. And that changes everything. Most high school programs have a Head Director supported by one, two, or even three assistant directors. This is not redundancy. It is intentional, strategic investment in students.
What this model allows is something remarkable: specialization. Directors are hired not just for their general musicianship, but for their specific expertise: woodwind and brass specialists, lower and upper string specialists, directors who specialize in men's or women's voice. These specialists work alongside the Head Director as co-teachers, bringing a depth and precision to instruction that simply cannot be replicated by a single educator stretched across an entire program.
Every young musician gets the opportunity to find their person: the director whose teaching style clicks, whose expertise speaks directly to their instrument, whose mentorship makes the difference between a student who participates and a student who is transformed.
Proper technique is taught. Deep relationships are built. And the result is not just better musicians. It produces more confident, more resilient, more inspired young people. I watched this happen in real time. And it changed me.
The Proof
The Moment That Said It All
Of all the things I witnessed this year, one stands above the rest.
Mayde Creek High School is a Title I school. For those unfamiliar, Title I designation means that a significant portion of the student population comes from low-income households. These are students who, by too many outdated assumptions, are not expected to compete at the highest levels.
This year, the Mayde Creek High School Orchestra made history.
For the first time ever, Mayde Creek earned UIL Sweepstakes in every single division: Varsity, Non-Varsity, and Sub-Non Varsity A. A clean sweep. A historic achievement. A proof of concept that should echo through every conversation we have about arts education funding, staffing, and equity.
Because here is what that moment told me, clearly and without question:
When students are well-supported, they can achieve incredible heights, regardless of socio-economic status.
Not some students. Not the students from affluent districts with unlimited budgets. All students. Given the right structure, the right mentorship, and the right investment, every student is capable of excellence.
What's Next
Coming Home with a New Vision
I am coming home to New York with something I did not have before: a firsthand understanding of what extraordinary looks like, and a deep belief that we can build it here.
As the Director of Fine and Performing Arts in Amityville UFSD, I am not arriving with a checklist. I am arriving with a vision, one rooted in equity, in excellence, and in the conviction that arts education is not a luxury. It is a necessity. It is, in fact, one of the most powerful tools we have for developing the whole child.
To the students, educators, families, and community members of Amityville: I am coming. And I am bringing everything I have learned, everything I have experienced, and everything I believe is possible, with me.
To my colleagues and friends at Katy ISD: thank you. You showed me what can be. I carry that with me always.
