As an assistant principal at Edward Little High School, Steve Galway wears many hats: disciplinarian, attendance-taker, hall monitor, instructional leader — and traffic director.

At the end of each day, he dons white gloves, a safety vest and Blues Brothers shades to direct traffic in front of the main entrances.

“It’s very congested up at the circle where there are three buses picking up students with special needs, as well as many parents jostling to find a spot to wait,” he says.

Being a sworn-in constable allows him to enforce certain orders such as “no trespassing.”

Galway has been at EL since 1980, most of those years as an assistant principal. He arrives at 6 a.m. each day and opens the school, sometimes letting in students whose parents have dropped them off on their way to work.

He checks the previous day’s attendance records and makes calls to parents of students who missed one or more classes. “Sometimes, it’s the only time of day to catch them,” he says.

Walking the building, he makes sure the doors are secure and that there’s no sign of new damage, vandalism or “things out of place.” By 6:45 a.m., as students begin to arrive more regularly, he heads down to unlock the gym, turn on the lights and get out the basketballs. He supervises “open gym” until 7:30 or later.

“We have anywhere from 75 to 100 students taking advantage of the opportunity,” he says. “This keeps them out of the hallways and interacting with each other in a positive atmosphere. Some play basketball, some socialize, others complete homework or review for tests.”

The rest of his day is spent handling student-related issues and activities, connecting with social workers and counselors, attending parent and student meetings, supervising the cafeteria and monitoring the hallways for errant students.

“When I first became an assistant principal, I was primarily involved in discipline and taking stock of the buildings and grounds, but the role has evolved to include being an instructional leader,” he says.

“In the meantime, we haven’t dropped bus duty or discipline.”