If you get the opportunity to talk to the new chairperson of Floral Park Memorial’s Social Studies Department, Dr. Matthew Schwartz, you will be very impressed with the depth of his knowledge. Dr. Schwartz is capable of carrying on a discussion on global history, presidential politics, the New York Yankees and even the significance of Mrs. O’Leary’s cow.

Dr. Schwartz comes to Floral Park Memorial after serving as the chairperson of Sewanhaka High School for the past 14 years, seven as the district coordinator for social studies. He was also the advisor to the district’s award-winning Model United Nations club for one year. During his 24 years in education, he has also worked at I.S. 218 in East New York in Brooklyn and Dodd Middle School in Freeport. Dr. Schwartz completed in Ph.D. at St. John’s University in 2018. The title of his dissertation was “A Case Study on Teacher Perspectives on the Use of Tablet Technology and its Influence on Teacher Morale.”

He became a teacher with the primary purpose of helping students to succeed both academically and in life. This is why he loves being a chairperson as well, because he can help inspire teachers to do great work. He was excited to come to FPM because he knows this is another great school where students can excel.

Dr. Schwartz recognizes that the job of being an educator can be challenging at times, but the reward of watching kids move in the direction of success is well worth it. He hopes to be able to bring more elective courses to the department so students can be exposed to even more social studies offerings. Outside of his job, Dr. Schwartz loves to watch baseball and go scuba diving.

Floral Park Memorial is definitely a better place with Dr. Schwartz here. Hopefully you will get to know him. You might even find out about Mrs. O’Leary’s cow.