Superintendent Dr. Kwame Morton appointed three new principals at the recent board of education meeting on May 28. Starting July 1, Alison McCartney who was serving as Rosa Middle School’s assistant principal will be serving as Woodcrest Elementary School’s principal. Beginning July 29, Christina Collazo-Franco will be Carusi’s new principal and Daniel Finkle will be Cherry Hill East’s new principal.
Morton spoke highly of all three and introduced their backgrounds.
McCartney has been involved with the district as supervisor of curriculum and instruction for several years and “knows the district inside and out, as a parent, community member and as an employee for a very long time.”
Collazo-Franco, the new principal of Carusi, is coming from Buena Regional High School where served as principal. She has also served as principal of Pennsville Middle School and assistant principal at Highland Regional High School, and has experience as a former English teacher.
Finkle has served as principal of Delran High School for the past 12 years and also has experience previously as principal of Denville Township School District and as an assistant principal at Livingston Public Schools. He also has taught mathematics in both the public and private sectors.
“I spent 30 years in this business and cannot imagine having the opportunity to come to East and I’m excited to start and become a part of the family and ultimately see what we can do together with all the students, all the parents, all the staff and continue to embrace the traditions of East and make it the best possible experience for our kids,” Finkle said.
Student board of education representatives Matthew Rentezelas and Gia Gupta from Cherry Hill East, Collin Duckett and LaTasha Bailey from Cherry Hill West were honored at the May 28 board of education meeting.
“You have served this community, not just your own schools, your high schools that you represented, but also this entire community of students in the most professional and courageous manner, truly elevating student voice again and again and again and you’ve gone above and beyond so many times,” said Board of Education President Miriam Stern, recounting how they had gone to Trenton to advocate for more state aid and how they had spoken up as individuals before the board in throughout the year.
” …I’ve learned from all of you and I will say on behalf of the entire board of education, I’m amazed, so proud, and we cannot wait to see what’s next for all of you.”
During public comments, students continued to advocate for Cherry Hill High School West Music Teacher Blaze Dalio to continue in his position at West rather than being reassigned to teach music at Harte and Sharpe elementary schools. Although they were very passionate and shared many encouraging testimonies about Dalio’s impact on the West’s choir program, ultimately the board continued to move forward and approve of the transfer.
Morton shared that he was happy to hear that the interactions have been so positive, but also reiterated that their responsibility as a board was to allocate resources appropriately.
“In this instance, the quality of the program won’t diminish based on the numbers and based upon the assignment of one person during the day and an additional person coming over to provide small group instruction and to provide events,” Morton added.
Even with the transfers, Dalio would be working with West students in small groups and instructions and with future concerts.
” … The thinking is, and the strategy behind the move as well with him is that we need to start a grassroots effort to increase quantity and the number of kids who are interested (in choir) and starting at the elementary schools gives us an opportunity to do just that.
“By having him work in the elementary schools, it gives him the opportunity to do just that, to expose children to love of music and hopefully, as the years succeed, we can see the program grow and it would be fantastic for him to return to West.”
In other news;
- The use of the state aid the district received back from the state will be discussed at the next Business and Finances committee meeting.
