Colorful drawings of fish on a whiteboard aren’t particularly rare in a science classroom, but a shark sitting at one of the desks is. Dr. Richard Zullo, the Honors Biology and Marine Science teacher, just laughed off the mention of his gilled student, originally bought for lab dissections. Starting his second year, Dr. Zullo aims to match the dynamic nature of the school with his curriculum. 

“Being a science teacher at an arts school, at first, sort of struck me as being on the outskirts of things,” Dr. Zullo said. “It seems like a contradiction, but it actually makes a lot of sense.”

After receiving a graduate degree from Loyola University in Chicago, Dr. Zullo practiced dentistry for 18 years before turning to teaching. His teaching journey began abroad, where he worked in an Italian elementary school as an English teacher. 

“The spark hit me that this is maybe something I want to do,” Dr. Zullo said.

He returned to the United States with this new spark in hand. Combining his background with his new career, Dr. Zullo returned to his educational roots in biology.  

“I liked math and science growing up,” Dr. Zullo said. “I loved the education leading up to my doctorate… I got a lot of hands-on experience at the graduate level.” 

This practical approach is something he values in his teaching and incorporates into his lessons. Last year, when the marine science position became available, Zullo decided to take on the challenge mid-semester. 

“I had to catch up in a hurry,” Dr. Zullo said. “The whole first semester involves oceanography, plate tectonics, courses I had never taken.”

Despite the challenge, he gratefully noted the strong support from his colleagues. 

Dr. Zullo said, “You get a lot of support from your team and your administration… I was able to succeed only because of the help of everybody else.”