Some students at Stamford High remember Raymond Manka as the assistant principal who patrolled the hallways a few years back, and those same students could now potentially see him again in the next year taking on a very important task as the new principal.

Manka’s  resume begins as follows: He worked as a teacher for over ten years, primarily in the sciences. He taught biology in schools in Bridgeport, teaching in middle school for six years and high school for another four. His first year teaching was 5^th grade mathematics, but he then continued on to subjects such as astronomy and environmental issues in science.

He worked at Stamford High for only two years (2011-2013) coming from our neighboring school Westhill High School, where he also worked for two years. Manka said that SHS had higher “energy towards sports and after-school activities” than  WHS. He found that SHS students “wore more spirit wear” and generally had more school spirit in his time working here. He stated that now as principal, he believes the school should continue to maintain this school spirit and “continue to create a family-like environment at SHS, where every student and faculty member collectively works together” to support each other outside of the classroom. He even mentions that it can start from the teacher perspective by maybe watching their students in sports activities for 15 minutes after school, which will bring a lot of professional intimacy between students and teachers.

Because Manka worked at Norwalk High School for the past school year, he has seen many things that he wishes to introduce at Stamford High. Manka described events  at NHS that helped to establish a lot of school culture and sense of community among everyone involved. Lots of money for charities was raised, and now the school helps out the environment and is a more well-rounded institution.

How did Manka get his job as assistant principal in the first place? He originally thought about being a department head in 2009, but because of other circumstances, it didn’t work out well. One day, however, one of the assistant principals (and Manka’s former football coach from when he was in high school) suggested to him that he should become an assistant principal at a school in Stamford. The rest, as they say, is history.

His vision, if it was not clear earlier, is to make the school overall very engaging in the classrooms so that each student will work creatively and collaboratively to produce work of the highest quality, and to develop skills that can be used to tackle real world and relevant problems. Manka is very excited about taking on the position as principal at Stamford High School. “It is a great responsibility. There are lots of challenges, but they will be overcome with a collaborative effort.” He already met with the freshman class at their orientation, and is already starting to get to know the incoming senior class. To end our interview, he acknowledged all of the staff currently at Stamford High, and said he believes that “there is a light at the end of this tunnel,” and that “Stamford High will come back to gain its trust and be seen as it should be seen” with the help and collaboration of students and faculty.