Page 33 - JOHN DIPAULA POY APPLICATION 2021

DR. JOHN DIPAULA
PRINCIPAL
HAMMOND HIGH SCHOOL
BIOGRAPHY
Dr. John DiPaula has spent the last 25 years supporting
educator, counselor, coach, principal, central
children as an
office administrator, and
professor. As a former school
counselor, DiPaula understands that
students’ physiological,
safety, and belonging needs must be met before
students are
able to focus on maximizing their learning. Over his last four
years
as principal of Hammond High School, DiPaula has supported
development of a food pantry, coat, hat, and glove drives, focused professional learning and programming around intentionally building student-staff relationships, and increased academic rigor in every
classroom.
the
DiPaula spends the majority of his days in classrooms observing
and in hallways modeling relationship-building with
learning
students. He believes
firmly in the need to model the behavior
that he expects from staff and
students. Under his leadership,
Hammond High School has shown
significant increases in
graduation rate, SAT scores, and college and
career readiness,
as well as massive decreases in student suspension
rates.
DiPaula credits relationships and quality, engaging instruction for these
critical gains.
Hammond High School gained national recognition in 2018 as a
School
of Opportunity by the National Educational Policy
Center. This
recognition is given to schools who are
significantly impacted by poverty,
yet are successful in using
research-based instructional practices to close
the achievement
gap.