Medford Memorial School’s new assistant principal Christopher Curto hails from Mercer County, but he will head back to a familiar area beginning in December as he jumps into his new administrative role.
In a small town such as Medford, Curto said he’s looking forward to getting involved with the community. He grew up in Hainesport and is familiar with the commonality of middle schools in Burlington County being of a significantly smaller size than Mercer County, where he is currently a middle school social studies teacher in the Hamilton Township School District.
“I’m looking forward to being a part of their team and working with the kids as they’re growing up and getting ready for high school and interacting with their parents and families when they come to the school’s events,” he said.
For the past 15 years, Curto was a teacher and, as he’s stepping into a new role, he said he will miss having the student-teacher relationship and being able to relate or interact with students on a daily basis as he used to.
“It might be more informal ways in the hallways or cafeterias, or whatever they’re doing,” he said. “It might take a bit more effort to do because I don’t have that ability of being in the classroom with them everyday.”
Despite extending his commute from being half an hour to a full hour, Curto said it’s not a problem for him as he was exposed to the district’s culture during his interview process. Following his confirmation, Curto said he was flooded with messages from teachers and other administrators welcoming him on board.
“When Joseph Del Rossi offered me the job and after the board approved me, he sent a letter to teachers introducing me to everyone and a lot of teachers reached out to me to say ‘congrats’ and every elementary school principal did the same thing,” he said.
In the letter sent out to staffers, Del Rossi described Curto as a personable, positive and student-centered professional. He went on to say Curto is knowledgeable and has a “work ethic second to none.”
“I’m looking forward to being a part of their culture whether it’s sports, activities or things they do throughout the school,” Curto added.
