It’s not yet July but Paul Giansanti is ready to go to work. “"I'd like to start coming in on Saturdays and opening up the school for meetings with the community," Giansanti said. “I’d like to come in and be a shadow at least one day.” On Wednesday night Giansanti, a 34-year-old Oxford resident, who taught high school history in Bridgeport and Norwalk, was named the new principal of Ansonia High School beginning July 1. The position pays about $144,000.

 "He's a home run for us," said Chris Phipps, a Board of Education member. "He brings intelligence, energy and has a desire to get out in the community. He is going to lead by example and you're going to see things get done here."One of the first things Giansanti will have to do is some mending with the city’s minority community. He is a first-generation Italian-American replacing a popular, black city native.