Once a Teacher, Now a Leader: Mr. Mendonis Returns to Jericho High School as Assistant Principal

BY ISTAFA RAZVI ’26

Welcome back to Mr. Demetrios Mendonis, Jericho’s new assistant principal. Previously a history teacher here at Jericho, Mr. Mendonis returns to Jericho with a burning passion to help our students, staff, and teachers in any way he can.

Mr. Mendonis’s story didn’t start with teaching, but rather began in music. In the 1990s, Mr. Mendonis worked for a record company doing retail marketing. 

After four to five years of working at the company, he began to question his career path. “I started to realize that it wasn’t as fun and exciting as I thought it was going to be,” said Mendonis. With a fresh mindset and determination, he decided to go back to school. 

Inspired by his college professors, Mr. Mendonis decided to get his degree in teaching. “The idea that I liked about [teaching] was that [the professors] were getting to talk to students about things that they really felt passionately about and really interested them.”

Mr. Mendonis began his teaching career as a social studies teacher at Aviation High School in Queens. After marrying his wife and teaching there for two years, they decided to move to Arizona for a fresh perspective and an adventurous atmosphere.

“I ended up getting a job at a really nice middle school in Arizona,” Mendonis said. However, after three years away from New York, his family started to feel homesick. “We decided we missed New York too much, we missed our friends, we missed our family. So we moved back,” he added.

In July 2002, after returning to New York, Mr. Mendonis started his job as a social studies teacher here at Jericho High School. He continued to teach here for the next 12 years. “It was the best job I’ve ever had,” Mendonis said.

However, Mr. Mendonis wanted more; he wanted to provide more to the students, the staff, and the entire school community. He knew he could achieve this in an administrative role.

With no openings in Jericho, Mr. Mendonis took his dreams to North Shore High School, where he was Social Studies Chairperson, overseeing the curriculum for four years. He then became the Social Studies Director of the East Meadow School district, overseeing the curriculum in nine buildings from kindergarten to 12th grade.

With many titles and skills under his belt, Mr. Mendonis’s educational journey brought him back here, to Jericho, where he is excited to lead through supportive example in a new role as Assistant Principal.

“I think probably the most important thing is to be a good listener and a good communicator,” Mendonis said. “We deal with students, we deal with parents, we deal with teachers. So you have to be a real people-person.”

Mr. Mendonis is not just an administrator; he views himself as a support pillar for Jericho High School, as he plans to put all his years of experience into keeping this school an awesome place for the students, teachers, and staff.