Gabrielle Gallina

Dr. Muscelli joined the administrative team at WTHS this year as the 9th grade assistant principal.

WTHS welcomed back a staff member in a new role this school year. Dr. Muscelli, former Assistant Principal at Bunker Hill Middle School, started his career in this district as a WTHS AP World History teacher. He has returned to WTHS this year as a 9/10 Assistant Principal.

“I’ve been in the district since 2005. It would be my 19^th year in education and 18^th here in the district,” he said.

Dr. Muscelli is grateful for the time he spent as a Middle School Assistant Principal, as it allows him to have a special connection with many of the current freshmen. His experiences with teaching also allow for him to better understand his students.

“Even though I am familiar with 9^th grade because I taught in 9^th grade for a number of years and I am familiar with the school, I was also away from it for about six years so there are new things that I have to learn. Especially, half of the staff is new,” Muscelli said. “So, I do feel that connection and also, I knew around a third of them because I was at Bunker Hill with them.”

In addition to coming back to a different environment at WTHS, Dr. Muscelli stated that another challenge that he occasionally struggles with is remembering names.

“I recognize faces, but with names I’m just horrible and I’ve been trying to say people’s names a lot,” Muscelli said.

For those students who are struggling with transitioning into this new school year, Dr. Muscelli advises them to be themselves and to try to meet as many people and do as many clubs and activities as possible.

“Try to join something whether it’s a club or a sport, some sort of activity. I think that it is a great way to meet people, to meet lifelong friends, and to share experiences with them,” said Muscelli. “All of us are a little uncomfortable because no one in the 9^th grade knows every single person in the 9^th grade, at most we would know a third of them, so a lot of students are just meeting new people. You just have to get out of your comfort zone a bit, try new things, and try to talk to different people.”

Dr. Muscelli finds many factors of the school extremely rewarding and believes it all to be worth it. He loves working with high school kids, specifically 9^th and 10^th graders. He also loves and admires the sense of community and pride students and staff all have in this school, and he hopes to help continue and improve it even more.