With Gratitude: Announcing My Retirement as Superintendent

Dear Wildcats,

It was during the 1993-1994 academic year that I began my career as a special education teacher on Long Island. Wide-eyed, eager, and hopeful to do good things for children, I set out on a journey as an educator that has led me to Mount Pleasant twice. Today, 33 years later, with that same eagerness and hopefulness, it is with mixed and complicated emotions that I write to you to announce my retirement as your Superintendent of Schools at the conclusion of the 2026-2027 academic year, wide-eyed for what lies ahead for both my family and me. The Board of Education will accept my resignation for retirement at its June 10, 2026, meeting.

I am blessed to have had the opportunity to be your Superintendent for six years. Together, we’ve accomplished much for our students, and I am enormously proud of our schools. Our Portrait of a Mount Pleasant Learner drives our work and serves as a unique hallmark of what is good in Mount Pleasant and public education. Of our many accomplishments, among the greatest has been the strength of our relationships, for which I am so grateful and proud. I am thankful to our Board of Education. They are seven outstanding individuals, and it has been nothing short of a dream to serve as their governance partner. They put children first, always, and care deeply for the community, our students, and our staff. We have also assembled a leadership team over the past several years that is second to none, and the continuity of that leadership will carry the District forward with precision and fortitude. Thank you to the teachers, administrators, clerical, custodial, nursing, security, and support staff for all you do to support our student body and families. 

While our staff and your children are everything to me, it is time for me to prepare for the next chapter in my journey. I am looking forward to more time with family and loved ones, experiencing life in ways that only more time can permit. You have treated me like family, and that has always meant so much to me. Mount Pleasant has always been my professional home, and it is true that once you’re a Wildcat, you’re a Wildcat for life. I look forward to closing out this year with strength, supporting a seamless transition to our next Superintendent of Schools, and continuing my work with all of you in the year ahead.

This has truly been an adventure of a lifetime, and I am grateful.

With Wildcat Pride,

Dr. Peter Giarrizzo
Superintendent of Schools