Contreras Brings Smile to Climate And Culture Role

POUGHKEEPSIE – Poughkeepsie High School’s assistant principal for climate and culture is juggling more than most.

Felix Contreras relies on schedules to make all the activities work: volleyball, basketball, soccer, dance, karate.

And, that’s only his life after work, raising two sets of tweenage twins with his wife.

“It takes a lot of organization and structure to do many of the things I’ve done,” he said.

“And, it’s definitely important to understand the village that you have. That support system – I try to do that with the students here. Who’s your support system? Who’s your village?”

Contreras started in the role in July. It didn’t take long for him to ingratiate himself to the school community and win over students. Go to any school event and you’ll see him there, taking photos and talking with students, generally wearing a wide smile.

“I do it with a smile,” Contreras said of balancing life, in general. “I try not to allow what we might be carrying on to deter me from the goal of interacting with students and being professional.”

As the Climate and Culture Assistant Principal, Contreras’ responsibilities are broad, with one or two of his fingerprints on many of the school’s events. But, he boils his role down simply:

“I want students to be able to say, ‘I want to go to school. I love being here,’” he said. “I think if we offer everything we can in that avenue, for students to feel this is a place they want to be, then they’ll never leave.”

Getting to know the student body, he said, has been a highlight so far. He praised the students for being vocal with what they want out of their activities and student experience, citing the Homecoming rally held in October as largely student-led. Getting more students to be involved, though, is one of his goals.

“How do we uplift everyone around us?” he said. “That’s one of my challenges.”

Contreras calls himself a “lifelong learner,” which has been needed given the twists and turns of his career.

Contreras was an Accounting and Finance major who later earned his MBA, both from SUNY New Paltz. His first job out of college was for the Hertz Corporation, where he was a branch manager. He spent more than a year as an assistant manager at Wal-Mart. As recently as eight years ago, he was a tax auditor for the New York City Department of Finance.

“I wasn’t fulfilled,” Contreras said. “I felt like I was lacking the humanistic side of the things I like to do, like helping out people.”

He was inspired to go into education by, of all people, the daughter of someone he was auditing, who suggested he become a teacher after he walked her through the audit.

After a summer program through NYC Teaching Fellows, he was certified as an English as a New Language teacher; as an Italian minor in college, many of those credits transferred to his qualification.

“I felt like my calling came much later, and it came at the perfect time. I think the universe conspired to make it work for me,” Contreras said.

He spent seven years as an ENL teacher with the New York City Department of Education, commuting from the Hudson Valley every day, before coming to work in Poughkeepsie. His experience teaching the language and giving back to his native Bronx community has informed his approach here.

“Building relationships with students is super important. That opens the door to anything – learning, you getting them to be involved with the community – you have to have that relationship with the student,” he said.

In addition to family life with twins ages 14 and 12, Contreras enjoys reading books and hiking. He credits his wife, the Multilingual Language Learner Coordinator for the Hyde Park school district, for helping them balance it all and create structures needed to thrive.

“I felt like my training and my background is perfect for this role,” Contreras said. “Every day is unique in Poughkeepsie High School.”