David Mevs is Jericho High School’s new interim assistant principal. He joined the high school after working as an administrator at Edmund W. Miles Middle School in Amityville and a dean and social studies teacher at Maspeth High School.
Mevs is serving as an interim assistant principal after former co-principal David Cohen became an assistant superintendent and Brian Cummings moved from assistant principal to interim co-principal. Cummings is entitled to his assistant principal position if he is not appointed permanently to the co-principal position, hence the interim designation.
Mevs said he is committed to challenging himself as an administrator.
“Being in the classroom working with students in that capacity was very comfortable, but we don’t grow when we’re comfortable. We challenge ourselves, and I’m someone who faces challenges,” he said.
One of Mevs’ favorite aspects of being an administrator is engaging in discussions about teaching and student development. He loves the inviting atmosphere the high school offers, its sense of community and the ways we show school spirit, particularly jeans days fundraisers.
“One of my favorite aspects so far is the fact that I wear the jeans every Friday,” he said.
However, he faces some challenges in his new role such as balancing his administrative responsibilities while also establishing a strong leadership presence. He said he feels strongly that “being genuinely me while also getting the job done” is the most important part of being a leader.
Mevs loves spending time with his wife and two children in their very lively household. Mevs has two siblings who he humorously suspects may have been adopted because unlike him, they have full heads of hair. A fun fact about Mevs is how he is not allowed to ignore his brother’s phone calls. If he does, his brother will call their mom, who then calls Mevs to ask why he doesn’t love his brother.
The JerEcho welcomes Mevs whose dedication to challenging himself and supporting students makes him a strong addition to Jericho’s administrative team.
Annie Zhou is a writer for the JerEcho, the Jericho student newspaper
