Everyone knows him as “Head Coach Greene,” but earlier this school year Jamar Greene was officially named the new Dean of Students at Stamford High School.
Greene has been within Stamford Public Schools for 18 years now. He most recently taught at Cloonan Middle School and before that at Julia A. Stark Elementary School. He also taught at the Bridgeport Juvenile Detention Center for eight years over the summers.
When Greene was asked why he decided to take the jump to become an administrator at Stamford High School, he said, “I’m at the point where I want to get out of the classroom and take the next step in my professional career.” He added that he had been applying for other leadership roles in the district, hoping that he could possibly take that next step.
Greene was on his way to a football game when he got the call about the job offer. “I felt relieved,” he said. Taking over this position is part of his learning process to achieve his ultimate goal: to become an assistant principal.
For the past three years our dean of students was Thomas Agosto. Earlier this year, Agosto took an assistant principal position at Dolan Middle School, creating a job opening for the dean at SHS. Agosto was a big help in Greene’s transition into Stamford High. In the short amount of time they spent together, Greene said he learned a lot from Agosto. Greene added that he doesn’t want to eliminate what Agosto has done for this school; rather, he wants to build on it.
In that spirit, Greene said one of his biggest goals in this new role is “to grow as a professional and to be a visible liaison to students and staff so I can help in any way I can.” Once Greene is settled in this new position he will start to pick up where Agosto left off with future plans. He also has some objectives to add some new innovative programs to enhance the school’s climate and culture.
“I’m trying to stay positive and to not think about the bad parts this job can entail,” Greene said (being that Greene has only been in this role for a few months, he had no complaints). So far his favorite part of this job is interacting with students and building relationships with both students and staff. “All I want is to get better on a daily basis and learn everything I can,” Greene said.
Being both the dean of students and the head football coach at Stamford High is a lot to handle. Greene has an extensive background with football; besides playing his whole life (including being a former wide receiver and cornerback for the Black Knights), while in college he assisted at one of the local high schools in Virginia. From there he has been coaching for about 10 years. For two years he was the freshman coach at SHS, where he focused on improving the team as a whole and led them to have a great record. For a year he coached at Westhill as an offensive coordinator, then came back to Stamford High, and for the past eight years he has been the head coach of our football team.
Greene said that now, being in the same building as his players, he feels that he is definitely closer to the team. With such a young team, Greene feels this bond he is building with being involved in their daily interactions is important.
Greene is always thinking about the future and is excited to see what this new role holds for him. “So far so good,” he said.