Assistant Principal
At PS 8 since 2006
Mr. Mikos is PS 8’s troubleshooter, and he loves to work to solve tough problems. His history suggests why: he has a track record of more than 10 years of social counseling and administrative challenges within the Department of Education (DOE).
A native New Yorker, Mr. Mikos, who now lives in New Jersey with his French Bulldog Kasey, started his career as a paralegal for the Manhattan District Attorney but soon decided that law school was not for him. He earned a masters degree in Urban and Multicultural Education at the College of Mount Saint Vincent in Riverdale, New York. After graduating, he worked in DOE District 15 first as an attendance teacher, keeping track of children who were at risk of dropping out, and then as the Coordinator of Ancillary Services, overseeing attendance, health, and drug and violence prevention. He then moved into a position as the Health Director for Region 8, followed by time in Region 7 as the Director of Attendance and Director of Drug and Violence Prevention.
Mr. Mikos missed sharing a positive day-to-day experience with students, which is why he loves being at PS 8, where he is with children every day. “For the first time in my career, I am truly happy and satisfied,” he says. “I know 95% of the children by name.”
Mr. Mikos’s first encounter with PS 8 was in 2003, when he started helping Mr. Phillips as with attendance. His first impression, he says, was that the school needed work. “I sat down with crying parents, who were trying to get their children away from PS 8. And look at us now – people are begging to get in!”
This extraordinary development is sure to be credited in part to Mr. Mikos, who, together with Mr. Phillips, had a vision of a school that goes well beyond the basic reading and writing curriculum. “PS 8 is a model for the city; we are not all about test prep. Our philosophy is to explore all the talents of every child, to look at the child as a multifaceted individual.”
The focus on art at PS 8 is exceptional, and Mr. Mikos is responsible for all the enrichment programs that make the school so special, including residencies with the Guggenheim, Marquis Studios, Studio in a School, Bargemusic, and the Rotunda Gallery. He is also the school’s math coach, meeting with teachers individually and leading a “math vertical team” that regularly meets to evaluate the math curriculum across grades. “Math is something that is concrete but also something in which you can explore different ways of getting to the same answer,” Mr. Mikos says, explaining his interest in the math curriculum. “It’s about exploration for me.”
“What the kids like about me is that I am fair, and I’m still a big kid at heart,” Mr. Mikos says proudly, and this pays off when he’s working with the troublemakers. But luckily, the tough cases are rare at PS 8, and sometimes, you’ll find the assistant principal behind the counter in the office or stamping books in the library.
