Ian Bernstein ’18 & Amelia Brown ’18
*The student James D’Amico will be referred to as James, while Principal James D’Amico will be referred to as D’Amico.
Moving from a private school in California to a public school in Connecticut seems like a pretty big shift. The town, the weather and school size are drastically different. So the last thing James D’Amico ’20 could have anticipated was running into someone with the exact same name.
James* moved to Staples from Huntington Beach, California in August. It only took a day of school for him to realize he shared the same name as Principal James D’Amico.
“It is a little weird and a lot of people either say, ‘are you the principal’s son’ or ‘wait, you have the same name as the principal,’’’ James said.
Beyond the initial confusion, James was sent emails intended for D’Amico.
“The first day of school the librarian said you have the same email as the principal, so you might get some of his emails by accident if someone isn’t paying attention,” James said.
One day, James was taken out of class and brought to the AP’s office, where he was informed that he received a “classified” email from a teacher.
“I hadn’t [read it] because I just don’t check my email every class, and she seemed really nervous because she didn’t want to get in trouble for it,” James said.
Despite sharing the same name, love of the beach and affinity for history as D’Amico, James is trying to forge his own path at Staples, a hard task coming in new sophomore year.
“First it was obviously a culture shock, I didn’t know a single person at the school, so the first couple days I felt by myself,” James admitted. “But, then mostly because of soccer and meeting new people, […] I feel like I’m part of the group.”
Since he was five, James has had a love for sports, mainly soccer and baseball. While he didn’t play soccer in high school last year, James made the Staples junior varsity boys’ soccer team this year, which has helped him transition. “Here the teams are good and the kids are cool, so it’s been fun,” he said.
Back home, James played baseball year-round and looks forward to continue on with his baseball career as a Wrecker.
“I’ve met some of the kids on the baseball team and I hope to meet more,” James said. “They won state tournament last year so obviously they’re really good.”
Although moving across the country might seem like a huge adjustment, James explained the process has been easier than one might expect. “There hasn’t been that much of a change; the school doesn’t even feel that big even though when you look at it, it is pretty big,” he said.
According to Ann Neary, James’ Intro. to Journalism teacher, “[James] gets along well with people and has a good sense of humor,” making his transition into Staples that much easier.
