By Edwyn Calalpa and Stephanie Espinoza

The beginning of the year is not the only time that faces change in school. There is a new face in the halls. Osvaldo Matos is the newest member of the Passaic Indian family, serving as the newest assistant principal for the sophomore class. Having taught and served as a vice principal in many schools across New Jersey, and even in the Caribbean, Mr. Matos has found his way to PHS.

Raised in Camden, Mr. Matos has experienced a lifestyle similar to ours. He attended an urban school district, which in a lot of ways is like ours. He has always loved playing sports, playing baseball, football, and basketball, but says he was not good enough for an athletic scholarship. So, he focused on his higher education after high school, leaving home and attending Rider University. He went to school to be a lawyer, and came out aspiring to be a teacher.

While some people spend their lives finding what they want to do for their career, some find their goals before they graduate. Mr. Matos is one of those people. Originally, Mr. Matos was a law major at Rider, until his school sponsored a trip to Jamaica, to do a social project.

While in the Caribbean, Mr. Matos volunteered at a school. He was assigned to assist a Spanish teacher, who asked if he would like to teach the class for a day. He said of his first lesson, “I went home and threw together a lesson plan. I got in front of the classroom and they looked up at me and none of them knew that I was not a teacher. And that’s when it clicked for me.”

When he came back to NJ he started his studies as an education major. Since graduating from Rider University, Mr. Matos has taught various subjects including language arts, criminal justice, and history, in the grade schools of Jersey City and Newark. He has also been the dean and cooperation manager at small private schools in the same area. He has never worked at a facility as large as PHS.

The size of the PHS student body was most certainly one of the first things that caught Mr. Matos’s attention. The 3,000 students of PHS is a sharp contrast to the 850 students of schools in which he has worked in the past, but Indian hospitality proved us to be no threat.

“The staff was very warm and friendly. The students seem like a good group of kids. I would like to build a relationship with them,” he said.

He is excited to be working with students older than what he is used to; young adults with a dynamic mindset. He wants the staff to know that the teachers here have the potential to create a flourishing of minds in the youth of America. He was also very impressed by the variety of classes that PHS offers its students.

Mr. Matos is now trying to settle in and get familiar with all of the school policies before thinking of any ideas for change. But he is hopeful to see an even greater improvement with the communication between students, administration, and the staff. Matos said, “It should not be three different worlds living under one roof. We all have a connection. We all play off of each other’s successes.”

Mr. Matos thinks that students should be celebrated and rewarded. He thinks we would react better to incentives and positive reinforcement, rather than constant punishment. Whether we are motivated academically or just be informed what the possible outcome of our actions will be, he sees no harm in some incentive, to keep students on the right track. He wants to be as transparent as possible to both students and staff. Letting everyone know what is expected of them, and what he can do to help.

Mr. Matos is determined to see improvement in this school, and will help to the best of his ability. He sees PHS as home and there is no problem improving “home.” He wants to celebrate the people who spend days here all contributing to one goal which is education, fulfilling our schools mission and vision.

Now a new member of our faculty, also dedicated to teaching us and making PHS a better home for us, Mr. Matos will not only be a great sophomore vice principal but a great asset to the PHS family. He is a leader, he is experienced, he is now part of the family.