Richard D. Biondi

​Richard Biondi brings the learning to his students and his athletes. He is a History teacher in the Horizons program and has taught there since 1995 and he has been coaching track and Cross Country since 1992. He takes the learning of history and makes it personal and relevant for his students by taking them on walking tours of Branford cemeteries, historical town center, monuments and places of visit in New Haven. He has written 3 books on New Haven and the Wooster Square area, which are in the Branford Town Library and high school collections. He has been named Coach of the Year twice by the New Haven Register, he is a member of the Branford Sports Hall Of Fame, he co organizes the Branford Veterans Appreciation event each year and is the advisor to the Branford High School Italian Club. He is often the calming voice in the lives of our At-Risk students by providing them with guidance and weekly brings in food from our ethnic neighborhoods to share with the students and teach them why these items are historically significant to their culture. He does not lecture to the students, but instead engages them in meaningful dialog about topics of the day and historically. Students are respected and free to state their thoughts and opinions in his class knowing that their ideas are valued. He is the kind of teacher that improves people’s lives and they will remember.