MANCHESTER – The summer is over and students are back in school but a lot of preparation went towards the opening of schools in the district and the school district held several orientation events.
A meet and greet session was held at the Manchester Middle School (MTMS) that featured Superintendent Diane Pedroza, new MTMS Principal Anthony Giaconia and new Early Childhood Education Administrator Michelle Nichol.
During the Cookies and Conversation event Principal Giaconia encouraged families to share their thoughts and feedback. Families also met Vice Principal Maureen McLaughlin, guidance counselors, the athletic director, the school nurse, and other key staff members.
Students learned about the importance of getting involved in activities, the process for submitting medical and athletic paperwork, and what to expect when they arrive on the first day. They also practiced how to use their lockers, a rite of passage that’s just as fun for students as it is nostalgic for parents.
Pedroza expressed excitement over the start of the new school year and the additions of Giaconia and Nichol in their roles within the district. “We have no major changes other than the fact that we are hiring quite a lot of staff and we are pleased with the staff that is coming in.”
“They are extremely qualified,” she added noting with some surrounding school districts having to cut staff, some of those who lost their positions sought jobs at Manchester schools.
Pedroza added that extensive work was done to ensure that the district’s schools were “safe, clean and welcoming to our students and staff. We have some enhancements. Whiting School has a new playground that will be enjoyed by a lot of students there. There was a major roofing project that was completed which was a long time coming. Teachers will appreciate that.”
“Our transportation department is working seamlessly with us to make sure that those (bus) routes are efficient and maximizing with minimal change for some of the families. I think we are in good shape and I feel very confident about our opening,” the superintendent said.
Giaconia lives in Toms River and he is very happy to be serving as the new leader of the middle school. “I started in a town called Demerest which is in Bergen County. I am from North Jersey originally. I started as an 8th grade social studies teacher and taught there for 13 years. I loved it there and got involved in lot of extracurricular events and was 8th grade team leader, advisor to student council, a track and field coach and a mentor to new teachers.”
The new principal was also an instructional coach for anybody “who was coming into the school system and I was also a curriculum writer as well.”
His superintendent recommended him for a master’s program in administration and he got his master’s degree at Seton Hall. His first administrative job was one town over from Demerest where he served as an assistant principal from kindergarten to 8th grade and was also “a K thru 12 supervisors of fine arts” which allowed him to get experience on the high school level.
“I worked closely with the high school band and helped facilitate some of their big events. We did some recruitment events between the high school and middle school so it was a great experience. I prefer to work with older students and that is why I moved on to Chatham in Morris County where I was for about eight years an assistant principal there. During my time there I was the lead disciplinarian for the building. I was the anti-bullying specialist, chairperson for the school safety team and school test coordinator,” he said.
While working in Chatham he moved to Toms River which became a long commute. He later became the principal of Millstone in Monmouth County where he was in charge of a 6th through 8th grade building with many supervisory responsibilities.
“I saw the opening here and I saw the opportunity to be closer to my family and the chance to get involved with the team here. I jumped on it and was very thankful for being given this opportunity. I am looking forward to it,” Giaconia added.
“We are looking at some goals to put in place for this year. These are approaches we are taking to improve student performance and to help the new teachers in the district as well,” Giaconia said.
One of those goals is to foster the academic growth of students in ELA (English Language Arts) and math. “We are going to do that through focus analysis of some benchmark data. We are going to take a close look at that data in our departments within the building and find ways to reach the students and help support them along the way and incorporate some skill building activities across the curriculum using document-based questions and software programs that are designed to help students in math and ELA as well.”
Giaconia also wants to foster a more positive school culture by “incorporating regular school spirit events and community building events into our day.”
An article covering The Manchester Times’ interview with new Early Childhood Education Administrator Michelle Nichol will be featured in next week’s edition.
