Eric Contreras Appointed to Principal of Stuyvesant

Former Interim Acting Principal Eric Contreras was confirmed as the Principal of Stuyvesant High School on Friday, March 31. He served as the Interim Acting Principal for seven months following former Principal Jie Zhang’s retirement from the Department of Education (DOE) last year.

Contreras has an extensive background in the education field. He originally worked as a social studies teacher in the Bronx and Queens and moved on to become the Assistant Principal and Principal of the Queens High School of Teaching for seven years. Contreras also served as the Executive Director of Social Studies for New York City’s DOE.

After Contreras went through the C-30 process and became Interim Acting Principal, the DOE issued a posting for the permanent Principal position, to which Contreas and many others applied for.

The application for principal consisted of two main stages. In the first, a panel consisting of parents, students, and faculty interviewed applicants and selected the person whom they felt was the most qualified. In the second stage, the superintendent had to vet the chosen person.

“Frequently people would ask me, you know, are you anxious [for the interview], and the answer was actually, no I wasn’t. [...] So many great things and exciting things happen at Stuyvesant daily, [so] I never really had time to think [about] the interview process,” Contreras said. The superintendent named Contreras as the principal on March 31, after he passed through both stages of the application.

Contreras feels ecstatic to be appointed as principal, but also feels the same sense of mission he felt as an Interim Acting Principal. “I was extremely excited, happy, and honored, but [the confirmation] didn’t change my work. I was waking up with a sense of obligation before I became appointed, and I was waking up with a sense of obligation after I became appointed. [...] The initiatives I’m working on [...] [didn’t change] from the day before I got appointed to the day after,” he said.

Contreras is currently undertaking many initiatives to improve Stuyvesant, including an effort to strengthen the research program. “One thing I did was bringing together research coordinators, alumni, and teachers [who] had some input on what had worked in the past and we had developed a very strategic plan around strengthening our research program,” he said. “We had a research panel event, we put together parent research night, we collaborated with a number of nonprofits, and I held meetings with labs to see if they would open up space for our [students].”

Additionally, Contreras plans on improving the technology and engineering programs at Stuyvesant. Amongst the proposed changes are plans to expand current courses and create new ones tailored around subjects such as aerospace engineering, engineering design, and mechanical engineering.

Contreras is also actively working with Parent Coordinator Dina Ingram to foster a sense of community amongst the parents. “We have put together a series of parent events, wellness events, and parent meetings,” he said. In addition, Ingram is also working to create a bi-weekly publication that covers day-to-day activities and student events for parents to read.

Contreras hopes that his changes help bring about a unique and versatile experience to each student. “There is a complexity to a [Stuyvesant] student that is second to none so the formula to [create] a great STEM school [is] to allow learning across all disciplines,” he said. “ If you want complex thinkers, you need to create a complex experience.”