Edward Salina Jr. was given one of the highest honors for a superintendent in the state last year, earning the Superintendent of the Year 2024 award by the New York State Association for Computers and Technologies in Education.
The Plainedge Union Free High School Superintendent was announced as the winner of the award which recognizes a superintendent who has implemented or demonstrated the use of technology to improve education in an outstanding manner.
The board of education and other staff members had recommended him. The district posted a video congratulating Salina on Dec. 6, 2024, and showing him as a panelist at a forum hosted by Canon.
“To be able to have an impact on children’s lives on a daily basis with the appropriate use of educational technology to move forward in their universe, which is going to be very different than ours, nothing makes me prouder to be able to contribute back to society in this manner,” Salina said.
He also said that he comes from a family of educators and this award was the first of its kind for the district.
“Dr. Salina has embraced a philosophy that encourages students to seek and attain their fullest potential,” Town of Oyster Bay Supervisor Joseph Saladino said about Salina when he was honored by the town board at its Feb. 11 meeting.
Salina has been the superintendent in Plainedge since 2011. He began his career as a teacher in the New York City Public School system in 1992. He then became an assistant principal in the Shoreham School District in 1996 before moving to Lindenhurst, where he became the district coordinator of instructional technology.
Salina joined the Roslyn School District in 2001, and he became the principal of East Hills Elementary School two years later. In 2007, Salina was promoted to assistant superintendent. He has also worked as an adjunct professor in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction for Touro College and LIU.
Salina’s technological roots date back to before he was an administrator. He earned a bachelor of technology from Farmingdale State College in 1988 and then received further education from LIU, Colombia University, and Harvard University.
According to its website, the New York State Association for Computers and Technologies in Education is a non-profit, professional organization representing more than 29,000 technology-using educators and administrators in the state. The organization has existed since 1965 and hosts multiple workshops and conferences throughout the year.
