From Student Athlete to Athletic Director

As new students each year walk through the NHS doors, getting ready to begin their first day of high school, they are prepared to experience what it is like to get more work, have different class selections, and meet new classmates and make new friends. While some students are focused on completing all of their academic duties, some students are prepared for what sports they hope to play for the next four years of their high school life. The Director of Athletics for the Nutley Public Schools, Mr. Joe Piro, is always ready to help out his students as they begin getting ready to play one or more of the many  sports that NHS offers.

“From a philosophical standpoint, my main role is to put the coaches where student athletes in my department are in the best position,” says Piro. “It is to make sure the students, the coaches, and the support people, are put in the best position they possibly can be in, in order to succeed.”

Piro has been the Director of Athletics for the Nutley Public Schools for 12 years. He was born and raised in Nutley, and he attended NHS. The two sports Piro played in high school were football and wrestling. After high school, he went to Millersville University, Pennsylvania, for his degree in communications.

Being an Athletic Director for NHS was not Piro’s first option for his career. He originally wanted to be in the communications field; journalism, news broadcasting, radio. Now, he enjoys working as the Athletic Director, and watching students in NHS succeed as they play throughout their NHS experience.

“I had some really influential coaches. My college coach, my high school coaches, and my father, who is the most intellectual man in my life,” says Piro. “Instead, I switched gears and became a teacher, and it was kind of a calling.”

With the 2018 school year coming to an end, Piro says one of the best things about his role is seeing the seniors of NHS get ready to take their success into the future. However, as new students come, he is always prepared to teach another class of students what it is really like to be part of NHS and help them flourish and develop as high school student-athletes.