Pearl River Schools Director of Community Relations Announces Retirement

Sandra Cokeley first worked in public relations at the Rockland Psychiatric Center.

Part of her job was to interview people who had been there for a long time for the retirement and service awards dinner. They often told of beginning there as a part-time employee, then finding themselves staying for 30 or 40 years. Cokeley had started there working part-time in high school and she promised herself she wouldn't be like those people.

“I thought, 'Oh my gosh, I don’t want to be one of those people. I don’t want to spend my whole life in an institution,'” Cokeley said. “So I decided it was time for me to be de-institutionalized."

She later found a place she did want to spend 23 years -- the Pearl River School District -- but she remembered her promise to herself.

Cokeley, Pearl River's director of quality and community relations announced her plans to retire from the position this December at the board of education meeting Tuesday night.

"My plan was to leave some time during this year," Cokeley said. "The logical time to go is either at the half-way point or at the end of the school year and when we saw how the budget was going to be, the agreement I reached with the board was that it would be better for me to go earlier, which is fine. My plan is to move on to something else and to take all that I’ve learned here and the places that I’ve worked before and try them in a new arena."

Cokeley started handling community relations for the district in 1989, when it was still a part-time job focused entirely on putting out newsletters and press releases. She has seen the job grow to include all forms of community relations. She also runs the district's adult eduation program.

Pearl River Superintendent of Schools Dr. Frank Auriemma took the time to list all of the jobs Cokeley does for the district. The adult education program alone offers 100 courses each year to over 600 people including 20 courses for senior citizens. He also pointed to putting together six Parent University presentations per year and parenting surveys that she heads up for the district.

"I can’t say that we’re going to be hiring a person to take her place because I suspect we will not, but taking all of those hats and dispersing them out among the people who will be taking those responsibilities will be a heck of a task," Auriemma said. "Sandy, thank you for all that you have done we want you to know how much we appreciate it."

Cokeley's primary focus is communication with the parents, staff and residents of the district.

"It’s about cultivating relationships with all of the people that are important to us, so they do understand what we are doing and they trust us," Cokeley said. "Those people are certainly our own staff, No. 1. Every single one of our staff serve as ambassadors for us.

"They certainly include parents. A big part of this job is communicating with parents through the PTAs and directly."

Cokeley initially planned to be part of a school staff as a teacher. She graduated from Dominican  College and earned her preliminary certification in elementary education and special education. She had worked at Rockland Psych part-time through high school and college and took a full-time position there when she couldn't find a teaching job. She was moved to public relations, as she tells it, because the more senior staff members turned it down. She worked there with Terry Goldstein, now the publisher of Hudson Valley Parent Magazine.

"(I thought), it’s really not the direction I went to school for. If anything, I’m farther away," Cokeley said. "But it sounded exciting to me, so I tried it. And I absolutely loved it."

She moved onto a sales position with Wellcare, an HMO, because she did not want to spend her entire career at Rockland Psych, but the demands the job put on her time became an issue. She decided to to go back into education before luck brought her to Pearl River. She had actually applied for a part-time public relations job at the Rockland County BOCES, but never heard back from them. But she did hear from Pearl River.

"They went to BOCES and asked BOCES for all the resumes they didn’t hire and that’s how they found me," Cokeley said, laughing.

She eventually moved into the district so her children could go to Pearl River schools, just as her son was starting high school and her daughter was beginning fifth grade. Her son Jesse, 27, is now a senior engineer with Maser Consulting in Chestnut Ridge. Her daughter Cassidy, 25, is certified in early childhood and special education and working at the Helen Hayes TLC Learning Center.

Along the way, Cokeley became deeply involved in the Pearl River community. She is a long-time member and past president of the Rotary Club of Pearl River.

She is also active in the New York School Public Relations Association and the National School Public Relations Association

"I’ve served as president of both of those," Cokeley said. I have relied very heavily on that network of people for my own professional development. I have also learned that I’m very lucky to be where I am.

"I had the good fortune here to be part of an organization that truly, truly cared about being the best and truly cared about the role of communications in that process. I was very, very fortunate."

Cokeley laughs about looking at her resume for the first time in 23 years, though she said it is too early to begin her job search.

"While it’s exciting for me, it’s also bittersweet," Cokeley said. "I have learned so much here and I have had the opportunity to do so much, so I’m very grateful. The people that work here are among the best. They are true professionals and they really care about what they do and about the kids."