National association honors North Las Vegas assistant principal

Derek Fialkiewicz is being honored for his love of math and assisting people.

The National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP) selected Fialkiewicz, 43, as Nevada’s Assistant Principal of the Year.

“(Being honored) feels overwhelming. It hasn’t fully sunk in, but it will when I’m in (Philadelphia) for four days,” said the assistant principal at Cram Middle School, 1900 Deer Springs Way. “I don’t do well with the whole recognition thing.”

The National Assistant Principal of the Year program acknowledges exceptional middle and high school assistant principals who contribute high quality learning moments for students.

One assistant principal is chosen from each state to attend the National Principals Conference in July, when three finalists will be named.

Fialkiewicz, whose father was a math teacher, said he always wanted to be a teacher and has been one in the Clark County School District for 21 years.

Cram Middle School Principal Gary Bugash nominated Fialkiewicz for the award, and Fialkiewicz will accept it in Philadelphia.

Bugash pinpointed some of Fialkiewicz’s innovative work that included Parent University, a math tutorial service for parents to learn directly from their children’s math teacher.

“The feedback we’ve received has been outstanding,” Fialkiewicz said.

The program was formed after he learned parents were having a difficult time helping their children with their math homework.

Every two weeks on a Saturday morning, there are six classes for parents.

“Parents learn what’s coming up in their children’s (math) class,” he said. “They learn the exact strategies that their children will be learning.”

“For the past four years, it has been my honor to work with Derek. Giving him the freedom to express his ideas led to Parent University,” Bugash said. “He involves the community and shares his ideas with curriculum and scheduling.”

For five years, Fialkiewicz has been Cram Middle School’s assistant principal. He previously taught math for 10 years at Green Valley High School and was a dean for 3 1/2 years at Bonanza High School.

Fialkiewicz is married with three children. He received a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from the State University of New York at Fredonia in 1996 and a master of education in educational computing and technology from UNLV in 2000.

He earned a second master’s degree in computing technology and administration from Nova Southeastern University in 2007. Fialkiewicz is currently studying math education to gain a Ph.D. from UNLV.

Originally from Buffalo, New York, Fialkiewicz enjoys spending time with his kids and family, tutoring and doing math problems: calculus to be precise.

“Calculus, it pulls everything together. It gives meaning to everything you’ve learned,” he said. “So, you know why you learned those things.”

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