On behalf of the administrative association at the Marlboro K-8 School District, it has been our great honor to have been colleagues of the late Dr. Sandra Morris.
Dr. Morris was a great friend and colleague, a model principal and an exemplary educator. Those of you who may have known Dr. Morris know of her quietly effective leadership, as an intense listener, as a collaborative colleague and problem solver, and as a woman with impeccable style.
Dr. Morris was a consummate educator, having served as a teacher, curriculum supervisor, vice principal and principal, and in mid-career she attended Temple University and earned her Ph.D. in educational administration.
Her professional and personal impact on us, her colleagues, the many teachers she mentored and influenced, and the countless thousands of students she positively impacted is a continuing legacy.
Above all, Dr. Morris loved her work as principal of the Frank Defino Central Elementary School. It is fitting that she served as principal in one of the oldest schools in the Marlboro school district.
During her tenure she oversaw and led this school through renovations, innovations in curriculum and instruction, and to the highest level of student academic achievement. Dr. Morris delighted in the company, achievements, and laughter of young children.
She guided, motivated and mentored her professional and support staff through natural leadership qualities that included her educational expertise with research-based best practices, a well-developed knowledge of her staff’s strengths and needs, her kind and caring manner, and sense of humor. Dr. Morris wanted the best education for her students and knowing that this happens through the adult staff, provided her teachers with the best in professional development. Her care and courtesies extended to everyone under her leadership – child, parent, support staff, teacher, and colleague.
Dr. Morris was well-known as a reflective listener. She actively heard many and disparate points of view before offering solutions to problems or making decisions that honored and best reflected those needs and concerns.
Most recently, Dr. Morris very effectively served as president of the Marlboro Township Administrators Association as well as serving on district committees responsible for innovations in the areas of teacher evaluation and professional development, and student grading and assessment.
She was also a strong advocate for the arts being integrated in education, world language instruction, Holocaust education, and honoring the many cultural heritages of her school and Marlboro Township.
And, she was a great friend to so many as well as a leader, always interested in the individual as well as in sharing in the discussion of how to best educate our students.
We will miss our dear and beloved colleague – an inspiration and a friend – and a strong advocate and example of all that is right with the Marlboro public schools and public education. We are enriched and buoyed by her example and her modest and unintended mentorship for all of us.
Jonathan Shutman
Vice President
Marlboro Township
Administrators Association
Marlboro