Hamden Asst. Schools Superintendent Plans To Leave District

Four months after Hamden schools’ superintendent announced his retirement, one of the town’s assistant superintendents is also planning a move out of the district — to become the new leader of Newtown’s schools.

The assistant superintendent, Chris Melillo, who has spent 27 of his 29 years in education serving the town of Hamden, told the Independent Tuesday that he expects to step down from his position at the end of the school year to begin work as Newtown’s superintendent. 

He is scheduled to have his appointment come before Newtown’s school board Tuesday night.

That takes Melillo — who has worked for ten years as the assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction — out of the running to become Hamden’s new superintendent following Jody Goeler’s departure. 

Melillo was legally named interim superintendent when Goeler’s retirement was made effective in January, though Goeler has ultimately stayed on to oversee the district through June. The Board of Education voted to perform a national search for an official replacement. Now the BOE has to determine how to go about finding not just a new superintendent, but an assistant superintendent as well. 

That means Gary Highsmith, who works as the assistant superintendent for human resources and administration, is the last top administrator currently left in place in Hamden for the coming academic year.

“It was a difficult decision to make,” Melillo said of leaving Hamden. ​“I certainly would have applied for the position.

“But the opportunity in Hamden wasn’t a sure thing, and I don’t take anything for granted.”

Melillo said he has yet to finalize negotiations with Newtown, but is expected to start the new job on July 1 pending contract approval.

Melillo taught at Church Street and Bear Path elementary schools, serving as Shepard Glen’s principal, then working as the director of elementary education, and finally becoming the district’s assistant superintendent, a role he filled for 10 years. He took a two-year hiatus from Hamden during the middle of his career to work as an assistant principal in Meriden.

In his time in town, Melillo said he has seen the public’s access to preschool grow, with 11 classrooms throughout the district devoted to early childhood education today compared to four classrooms ten years ago. He said he is proud of the high school’s new dual enrollment program, which allows students to achieve associate’s degrees while completing their GEDs, and of equity initiatives that have been launched across schools — like free meals and summer programming for all students and efforts to diversify Hamden schools’ workforce.

He said he hopes the projects continue to expand after he leaves. 

“The 3R plan I think is something that needs to happen,” he said, referring to the complicated and ever-evolving map to sliding-scale pre‑K that Hamden has drawn up.

Melillo concluded: ​“I’m very excited to start this new endeavor. Of course, it’s always going to be bittersweet when you leave a place. I love the community and the people I work with on a daily basis.

“I wouldn’t trade my experiences for the world.”