Board appoints district veteran to lead Giffen

The City School District of Albany has appointed veteran district teacher and administrator Nicole L. Newman to serve as the next principal of Giffen Memorial Elementary School.

Newman, currently an assistant principal at North Albany Middle School, officially will begin at Giffen on July 1.

The board approved Newman’s appointment at its meeting Thursday night.

Following 11 years as a math teacher in the East Greenbush and Schenectady school districts, Newman started in Albany in the same capacity in 2003 at the former Philip Livingston Magnet Academy. She began her path toward building leadership with administrative internships at Tony Clement Center for Education and Pine Hills Elementary School in 2016-17.

Newman served as an assistant academy principal at Albany High School from 2018-22 before joining the leadership team at North Albany at the start of the 2022-23 school year. 

She earned a bachelor’s from Russell Sage College and a master’s from the University at Albany, both in math education. She also earned an advanced graduate certificate in school building leadership from UAlbany, and also holds state school building leadership professional certification.

Newman takes over at Giffen for Jasmine Brown, who was appointed earlier this school year as the district’s assistant superintendent for elementary instruction.