New superintendent of Newfane schools takes lessons learned as an educator into top district post

Along the way of his educational journey, James Lupini has been learning lessons.

The former Depew High School principal-turned-superintendent for Newfane Central School District is continuing to do just that as his first school year in the new post has gotten underway.

"I think any experience that you have is a great experience because as educators, we need to be lifelong learners," Lupini said.

Lupini, a Blakely, Pennsylvania, native, began his journey in the field of education in 2001 as a middle school science teacher at Public School 43 in Buffalo following his graduation from Canisius University.

During his stint in the Buffalo schools, he learned one of his first important lessons as an educator.

"What I learned there is the power of making relationships with kids, and that you have to give respect to earn respect. You just don't have respect because you have certificates and diplomas on the wall. The kids really need to know that you care about them and want to learn about them," Lupini said.

After being involved in multiple leadership committees, he took an interest in moving up into administrative roles, which led him to Erie 2 BOCES where he worked in a variety of administrative roles including supervisor of instructional programs and eventually as a principal of its alternative and special education program.

Being in that post, gave him the opportunity to expand his work with a wide variety of different students.

"It's certainly a challenging position when you're dealing with some of the reluctant learners, but it was a great experience. And the graduations of seeing that population of students who many have given up on or may have given up on themselves, to see them succeed, was pretty powerful," Lupini said.

Following his stint with Erie BOCES, Lupini began his decade-long run in administration with Depew Schools.

The lesson he learned as principal at its middle school and eventually its high school was "the power of collaboration."

"We had good organizational systems in place, starting with our comprehensive District Education Planning Team and then going to building level teams, down to departments and the individual teachers and kind of having everybody work toward the same educational goals, which I thought was pretty powerful," he said.

When the opportunity presented itself with the superintendent opening in Newfane, Lupini believed it was an ideal fit.

In many ways, Newfane reminded him of his hometown right outside of Scranton, Pennsylvania.

"It is such an important imperative, relationship," he said. "So I was looking for communities that kind of mirrored the small town type values of where I grew up, in Blakely, Pennsylvania, and I felt that Newfane was a really good fit (with) my upbringing, my values, how I was raised, the values, the hard work and family-first values that we're trying to instill in our children and our own family."

"I truly felt like I was able to get over the humps of being nervous and just really be my authentic self," Lupini said.

It was that sense of authenticity that struck a chord during the interview process with the board of education, especially for board president Santo Tomasine.

"The night before his first interview, the senior class at Depew did a senior prank with him where they camped out in his front yard," Tomasine recalled. "That was the night before his interview with us. So he shared that story with us during the interview, and he shared that story again for his opening day remarks with the staff here at Newfane, and that speaks volumes to him as a leader and the rapport and trust he builds with his students."

Since starting on Aug. 1, Lupini has been taken by the amount of collaborations between the community and the district.

"The school motto is 'Together, we can' and it certainly seems that the community embraces that," Lupini said.

During his first school year in the new post, Lupini said it would be all about learning the ins and outs of the district.

"My focus is going to be working with all of (the district) committees, meeting people, interviewing them, getting their perspectives and trying to put it together to see what those perspectives are and then work collaboratively to shape some vision or goals for the district moving forward," he said.