Ferris Bueller famously said, “life moves pretty fast, if you don’t stop and look around once in a while you could miss it”. Such could be said about Great Neck Union Free School District given the significant number of recent administrative changes. Students today at Great Neck North High School (NHS) should notice that, in Corey McNamara, Great Neck North High School (NHS) has its successor for the recently departed principal, Dr. Dan Holtzman. The search for Holtzman’s permanent replacement began in March 2025 when he was appointed to become Assistant Superintendent for Secondary Education. After a multi-month
search process, during which time Tom DePaolo served as Acting Principal, the Board of Education appointed McNamara as NHS Principal in May 2025, effective July 1.

 

McNamara’s record as an accomplished educator and administrator along with his
previous working relationship with Great Neck Superintendent, Dr. Ken Bossert, makes him highly qualified to be NHS’s principal. McNamara arrives here after serving the last three years as Principal at Elwood’s John Glenn High School, a position he secured as a result of a promotion granted by Bossert when Bossert was superintendent at the Elwood School District. Prior to that, he spent thirteen years in Valley Stream Central High School District. McNamara’s career at Valley Stream Central began as a substitute teacher, where he eventually became a
health education teacher. He also served as Driver Education coordinator and Dean and Assistant Principal at their high school. In addition, McNamara coached modified, junior varsity and varsity football, wrestling and softball.

Bossert “was not surprised to see [McNamara] emerge as the top choice of the election committee” after a lengthy and rigorous selection process. “I was fortunate enough to hire him as a dynamic assistant principal and then privileged to promote him to building principal after that”, said Bossert. “Having the chance to personally witness his ability to form positive relationships with students, staff and parents while supporting all aspects of high school leadership, I knew he would be a great fit for what we need at NHS”. Bossert wants District
families to know that McNamara is an “exceptional person, always focused on doing what is in the best interests of his students, school and community”.

McNamara himself is very excited to be here. “Great Neck is and has always been a prestigious school district”. Even more, the opportunity to work with Dr. Bossert again, a mentor of mine, made me give this opportunity serious consideration”. McNamara’s persistence and hard work make him a valuable role model. Growing up in Massapequa, NY his mother raised him and his brother in a single parent household “with little support”. His mother, brother and his sports coaches were his role models “helping me both on and off the field”. When not studying
or playing sports, McNamara worked in restaurants, as a waiter and in the kitchen. At times, he also worked with contractors on various jobs such as installing kitchen cabinets, painting and molding and concrete work. McNamara initially studied accounting, while attending Long Island University- CW Post. Finding it boring, however, he switched to criminal justice and ultimately to physical education. Afterwards, he earned a Masters Degree, with distinction, in health education, from Hofstra University and completed a post-graduate program in Educational Leadership at Stony Brook University.

McNamara didn’t initially view himself as a potential administrator. “I always saw myself as a health teacher, one day taking over the varsity wrestling program in Valley Stream”. McNamara, however, became interested in administration after becoming Dean of the Summer School, where he got involved with the functioning of the school, not just the classroom.
McNamara believes he will succeed at NHS because of his ability to form strong relationships with students, faculty, administrators and parents. “My strength is bringing people together to provide the best opportunity for success” and “that success is the success of our students”. Integral to forming and fostering these relationships is making “myself as visible as possible, engaging in dialogue often and embracing collaborative efforts wherever possible”.

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According to McNamara, his first year will be successful if he “follows through with established goals, hearing and implementing feedback from those who supervise me, working to build trusting and collaborative relationships with my colleagues, our students and our families and continuing the race for excellence that Great Neck has been on for many years”. To this end, McNamara does not have any new initiatives planned, preferring, instead, to focus on
“communication with all stakeholders. My plan is to learn as much as possible and then identify areas where I might offer suggestions for improvement”. McNamara has already made significant efforts to know the NHS community by attending many staff, student and parent events. McNamara is thankful that so many individuals have been so generous with their time in willing to assist with his transition to this important role. He encourages everyone to visit him in
his office to both talk and check out its new design.

 

McNamara has a full team of people assisting his transition. According to Bossert, “NHS has experienced faculty and two veteran leaders, Mr. [Ron] Levine and Mrs. [Kathy] Snyder to assist with the day to day”. In addition, NHS’s last two principals, DePaolo and Holtzman “remain in the district and always just a phone call away should he need to rely upon past experiences and insights”. So far, McNamara says he has been well received with students “very interested to shake my hand and introduce themselves”. Jaden Maze, a student, agrees saying “Mr. Mac is everywhere meeting students where we are, whether on the front step,
classrooms, and playing fields and I am looking forward to getting to know him better”. Ava Ruderman says “he brings a new energy to the building and it feels good”.

 

McNamara’s colleagues, Assistant Principals Kathy Snyder and Ron Levine, also say he has been well received by administrators and teachers sharing “at a meeting he shared a funny video of himself being startled by a spider. It was perfect to see him react the way we all do and it instantly made him one of us”. Bossert, too, says all the feedback he has received “has been overwhelmingly positive as students, parents and teachers all seem to realize quickly what a
genuine person he is”. NHS should also know that McNamara is married with two children, both of whom are middle school students in another district, has two cats and enjoys traveling around Long Island and elsewhere. Even more, he wants the community to know that outside of school he is involved in worthy causes (he and has brother have raised over $15,000 for the American

Foundation for Suicide Prevention) and “likes to pretend that [he is] a chef”. So NHS, consider yourself warned and don’t be surprised if a mysterious person shows up in your cooking class pretending to know how to cook!