Dear Wood-Ridge Jr/Sr High School Community,

It is such an honor to be appointed as the Principal for WRJSHS, and I am truly grateful for the opportunity to work with this wonderful community to move our school forward... together.  The welcome I have received has been heartwarming, and I am looking forward to becoming an active part of this dynamic community.  Thank you for your confidence in me, my administrative team and the wonderful staff we have here.

During my 17 years in education, I have had the opportunity to serve in varying capacities, and I have been successful in each role.  I believe that students come first each and every day, and that is not a responsibility to be taken lightly.  Students learn when they are fully engaged; they succeed when they are educationally-empowered.  Staff are able to move students forward when they are fully-prepared for classes with lessons that are rich, inviting, standards-based and truly rigorous.  When students and staff understand that education is more than just a lecture and homework, and more of an opportunity to make lasting educational impacts for all involved, schools move forward.  My role is to help everyone understand that if it doesn’t challenge you, it doesn’t change you.  Expectations should be high, and everyone should have equitable access to the best possible educational experience, day-in and day-out.  Our school has the potential to make measurable differences across the board.

I am taking some time now to fully-engage myself; I need to understand where we are so that we can understand how to get to where we need to be with establishing academic excellence.  I will be spending as much time as I can actively listening with my team, my staff, my students and all of our community stakeholders; everyone’s voice is important to me.  My hope is that we can work collectively, with a well-developed plan, to make great strides in curriculum, instruction and assessment.  The potential is here; together we can make it happen.

Please know that I will work everyday to make WRJSHS the absolute best that it can be.

All the Best,

Principal Suro