by Sue Roy
The recent flurry of personnel changes occurring in the West Windsor-Plainsboro school district continued at the May 14 Board of education meeting. The meeting began with a moving community tribute to retiring board vice president Robert Johnson, leaving the board after nearly a decade of service.
After the tribute to Johnson (see page 12), the board approved several additional personnel decisions. Louisa Ho was officially appointed to the board by a vote of 8-0, and was given the oath of office.
Yingchao Zhang, one of the four West Windsor residents who asked to be considered as a replacement for Johnson, congratulated Ho on her appointment. “I am also looking forward to becoming more involved with the school district. I will be running in November,” he announced.
Hemant Marathe was re-confirmed as board president. Rachel Feldman Hurwitz then nominated Anthony Fleres for board vice president, filling Johnson’s spot. “I wanted to nominate a Plainsboro resident to the VP spot, and return balance to our board.” Fleres was unanimously approved.
In addition, Community Middle School principal Gerard Dalton was appointed as the assistant superintendent for pupil planning and services, filling the position previously held by incoming superintendent David Aderhold. And Brian Harris, from the Edison school district, was appointed to be the incoming principal of Grover Middle School. See separate stories, below.
Within the district, the following people were reappointed to their positions:
Andrea Bean, supervisor of K-12 Mathematics; Shauna Carter, assistant principal, Community Middle School; Erin Falk, special services supervisor; Penny Fisher, supervisor of K-5 Language Arts & ESL; Nicole Foulks, assistant principal, Village School; and Rebecca McLelland-Crawley, supervisor of K-12 Science.
Also Carla Royster, assistant principal, Grover Middle School; Lori Skibiniski, assistant principal, Millstone River; Martin Smith, assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction; Barbara Soares, assistant principal, Community Middle School; Samantha Tognela, supervisor, special services; and James (Russell) Wray, K-12 supervisor of K-12 instructional technology.
The board also accepted the resignation of Martin Flynn Jr., athletics director of K-12, after 15 years with the district; Mary Atlas, art teacher, High School South, after 14 years with the district; and Gina Ferrara, special education teacher at Millstone River, after one year with the district.
Finally, a leave of absence for Nicole Baldo, assistant principal at Dutch Neck Elementary School, was granted from September 19, 2013, to June 30, 2014.
Community’s Loss Is District’s Gain
Just as the quest to find one middle school principal comes to an end, another one begins. On the same night that Brian Harris became the new principal at Grover, Gerard Dalton, the current Community Middle School principal, was appointed to the position of assistant superintendent for pupil services. Dalton, who has served as CMS’s principal for three years, will be filling the position left vacant by David Aderhold, who becomes the District’s new superintendent on July 1.
Said Dalton: “I was looking for new challenges, new ways to contribute to the WW-P district. I enjoy working with others in the district, and wanted to work in a more global position in order to continue the district’s mission. I will definitely miss working one-on-one with the students and teachers, but I think it is a balancing act. It is important that superintendents stay involved — we shouldn’t remove ourselves too far from the classrooms. I will continue to participate in instructional programs, visit the classrooms, and interact with the students and staff, in both formal and informal ways.”
“I have some experience already with the departments I will be overseeing, such as guidance and special services, especially at the middle school level. But I will need to learn about these from the high school level. Same with athletics — I am familiar with the programs from K to 8th grade, but high school athletics is completely different. I will be utilizing all of the experts around me to increase my knowledge,” Dalton said.
Although Dalton has been involved in education for many years, he didn’t start out that way. He grew up in Hudson County and attended St. Peter’s University, where he earned a degree in business, focusing on finance. He went into finance, working at Paine Weber (now UBS) in Weehawken.
“I had a great career in finance, I was doing well, but it didn’t have any meaning for me. When I was in high school, I worked at an after-school program at a Catholic high school. Eventually I was put in charge of the program, overseeing 180 kids. That was much more meaningful than finance. I believe that was the catalyst behind my decision to go into teaching.”
Dalton then went back to St. Peter’s for a master’s degree in education administration, while working through the alternate route teaching network. He taught for four and a half years at Avon Avenue School in Newark, and then accepted a teaching position in Chester, where he became an assistant principal. He then transferred to the Lebanon school district, where he became principal. “That was completely different than what we have here in WW-P,” said Dalton. “There were 83 students total in the entire district, and they were all taught in one school. I reported to a superintendent in another district.”
That superintendent transferred Dalton to a school in Clinton, where he was an assistant principal and principal at one school for eight years, while they built another school. Once that school opened, Dalton became the principal of the new middle school. “So I have experience opening a new school, starting from the very beginning. That was quite an experience,” said Dalton.
Dalton offered some advice for the incoming principal of Community Middle School, whoever that may be. “You need to do everything you can to build relationships to create trust with the staff, the students, and the parents, to work together to get the work done. It is a big school, with 1,100 students, so you all need to work together. You need to enjoy challenges, and most of all, you need to enjoy working with people.”
Speaking at the May 14 meeting resident Catherine Foley, president of the Community PTSA, commented on Dalton’s appointment: “I am very sad for the school and very happy for the District. Gerard genuinely has the best interests of students at hearts and is truly a visionary administrator.”
