Brian Scalzo’s Journey to the Colonie Community

By Isabella Franchi

March 27, 2023

At Colonie Central High School, Assistant Principal Brian Scalzo leads the high school staff, students, and the Colonie community. It is Scalzo's commitment to making connections with everyone he encounters that makes him loved by so many. He is a walking example of what it looks like when you truly care for others. He goes out of his way to stop in classrooms, start conversations, joke with others, and keep the students motivated each day.

When he sat down for our interview, he was quick to talk about how grateful he was for his family. His modestly was revealed as he explained how he grew up with a two parent household and both sets of grandparents being very close to him. An only child, his parents never really talked about giving him siblings. He claims that he would want siblings more so now than when he was younger. “You don't know what you don't have," he replied.

Now, having twin daughters at home, he understands sibling dynamics. When talking about his daughters he tends to get emotional, feeling how proud he is to be their dad. He relates the students he has here to his own kids often. “Watching you guys grow up helps prepare me for when my two 11 year old girls get there.” He leaned back and explained how he can talk with us students about his daughters and receive feedback.

Scalzo spent his grade school time at Colonie’s neighboring school, CBA, where he enjoyed playing basketball. Throughout his childhood Scalzo attended a lot of games, specifically the Siena College basketball games, where he participated as a ball boy. His father was involved with Siena so much that he would even get to spend some time with the players at his home. He made sure to add that they came over when it was allowed, but now it is not.

With pride, he told me that he spent his four years after high school as a Siena Saint. He thought after his last high school basketball game, his career would come to an end. However, the men's head coach at Siena heard about him and asked him to come join the team. He eagerly accepted and became a walk-on. His days were scheduled and he missed out on a lot of vacations and breaks, and could not visit his friends as often as he would have liked. “It is not really your time to be honest with you. But I wouldn't have it any other way either.” He enjoyed his overall experience of traveling and being a part of the team. He believes playing at that level taught him lessons that he wouldn't have got from anything else.

During his sophomore year of college, he was able to observe a class, and he learned he wanted to be a part of the education system. Unfortunately, because of his lack of free time in college, he couldn't sit in on as many classes as he would have liked. However, he was able to observe a special education class. He decided to get his degree in English but his master’s is in special education. He became an administrator later after he was a teaching assistant at Sand Creek Middle School.

After college, he missed the feeling associated with being on a team, so he became a basketball coach. He stayed a coach for a little while, but then with starting a family and becoming an administrator, he did not have enough time to keep up. When he couldn’t coach anymore, he needed to find something outside of school to keep him occupied. He decided to become a volunteer firefighter. In talking to students and even staff members not many know about Scalzo's selfless life outside of school. “I like doing it, I get to help around the town and be on a team again,” Scalzo explained.

While is experience outside of school is noteworthy, he has the most impact in his administrative role at Colonie HIgh School. Brian Scalzo says that he “wears a lot of hats as an assistant principal.” One of his hats being head administrator of ICARE. He enjoys being involved in ICARE because it gives him the opportunity to reach a lot more students in the building and it helps put Colonie high school out to the community.

His colleagues admire his work ethic and how open he is to the kids. One of his colleagues, social worker Jessica Rippel, describes his constant need to do what is best for the kids. “He is continuously looking out for them and we as a school are lucky to have him around,” Rippel said.

Students also find themselves often opening up to Scalzo and hearing him out for his advice. Emily Terry, senior, very openly explained how different her high school experience would have been without Scalzo. “He is someone we all know who will always be there no matter what. “ Emily laughed and said, “Even with how corny that sounds, it's the truth and it is what makes him loved by everyone.”

For the past four years of my high school journey, I have found it very difficult to encounter a negative feeling about Scalzo. He finds a way to break down the walls people put up, he listens, he jokes, and more importantly, it is clear he loves his job. He treats the students in staff like his family and this school like his home. Any school would be lucky to have Brian Scalzo leading the charge.