Schools Chief Takes New Job

Olzacki Heading To Region 14

BLOOMFIELD — Joseph Olzacki, who was the director of performing and visual arts for Bloomfield’s public schools from 2001 to 2013, has been named superintendent of schools for Regional School District 14, which includes the towns of Bethlehem and Woodbury.

Olzacki was hired following a four-month national search that included multiple community forums, focus meetings and a stakeholder survey that guided the actions of the hiring committee.

Region 14 Board of Education Chairwoman Janet Morgan said in a release that Olzacki represented the best candidate of the search.

“The board of education is both pleased and proud that Dr. Olzacki will be working with Region 14 students and staff as we believe he will be an extraordinary fit for our school community,” Morgan said in the release.

During his time in Bloomfield, Olzacki restored the district’s performing and visual arts program to its former stature and also founded the Identity Project, which taught students about the Holocaust and genocide.

He also advocated for mandating that the Holocaust be taught in Connecticut’s public schools, which was unanimously adopted by legislators in June.

After leaving Bloomfield schools, Olzacki, 57, became director of the Rwandan Teacher Education Program at the University of Hartford. The goal of the project was to improve the skill levels of Rwandan educators, including their teaching methods, an understanding of learning, computer skills and conflict resolution.

Olzacki, whose salary in the first year of his three-year contract will be $162,000, said the position appealed to him because it mirrors his educational career mostly spent in small and mid-sized towns and it allows him to return to teaching kids.

“It’s all about the kids,” Olzacki said.

Bloomfield Superintendent James Thompson wished Olzacki “well in his new endeavor” Wednesday.