He succeeds Pat Coats, who will become the district’s director of curriculum and instruction. She replaces Kate Napolitano, who has resigned
By John Tredrea, Staff Writer
Anthony J. Suozzo was appointed principal of Timberlane Middle School (TMS) by the Hopewell Valley Regional Board of Education Monday night.
Mr. Suozzo, who has served as a vice principal at the 950-student school since 2004, will start his new job Aug. 1. He succeeds Pat Coats, who starts in August as the district’s director of curriculum and instruction. She replaces Kate Napolitano, who has resigned.
Mr. Suozzo will make $121,100 in his new post.
Superintendent Judith A. Ferguson enthusiastically endorsed Mr. Suozzo’s appointment. “Tony is ready to take the helm,” she said. “He has a vision for TMS that will continue to move this excellent middle school to even greater heights in the future. He has the full support of staff and together they will do great things.”
Mr. Suozzo started his career in Hopewell Valley in 1997 as a physical education teacher at Hopewell Elementary and Central High schools. In 2004 he served briefly as an assistant to the high school principal when then-principal John Bach held the dual positions of principal and assistant superintendent for six months. Later that year he was named vice principal at TMS.
Mr. Suozzo coached varsity boys soccer at CHS from 2000 until August 2004, when he resigned to take the job of supervisor of wellness for grades K-12. During his four years of coaching, he and his teams compiled a record of 65-17-3. He guided the Bulldogs to two state championship appearances, two state sectional titles and two conference crowns.
During his tenure at the middle school, Mr. Suozzo has made character education a focus of his office. He introduced TMS students to the “Six Pillars of Character” project, an initiative of the national “Character Counts” program developed by the Josephson Institute. Working with classroom teachers, Mr. Suozzo helped to build a climate that recognized and rewarded the character traits known as the Six Pillars: trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, caring, citizenship and fairness.
He brought best-selling author and girl-on-girl bullying researcher Rachel Simmons to TMS in 2006. “Girls Against Bullying,” an all-student group organized to raise awareness of female aggression at TMS, was formed in the wake of Ms. Simmons’ public appearance and workshops with students.
Mr. Suozzo helped develop and implement the district’s middle and high school peer mediation program and led the effort to create a new code of conduct for TMS that was consistent with the one used at Central High School.
Mr. Suozzo served as the school’s point person with contractors building a major wing at TMS last year. Working with faculty and the project’s on-site managers, he was credited with helping the 10-classroom addition open on time and at minimal disruption to students and programming.
Mr. Suozzo was also instrumental in the development of the middle school’s new class schedule, implemented this year, and has been a key facilitator of TMS’ sister-school relationship with the Usizolwethu Primary School in South Africa, begun in 2005.
Mr. Suozzo holds a bachelor’s degree from Elizabethtown College in Lancaster, Pa., and a master’s degree in education administration from Rider University. He and his family live in Flemington
Also on Monday, Christine Abrahams was appointed grades K-12 guidance supervisor in a unanimous vote. She comes to Hopewell Valley from Hunterdon Central High School, where she was a guidance counselor for five years. She has a master’s degree in counseling from The College of New Jersey. She also has a master’s in teaching English as a second language. She will make $100,000 per year. She replaces Fay Rappaport, who is retiring July 1.