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MANVILLE: Superintendent Facendo jumps right in

She takes over reins of district schools system

By Gene Robbins, Managing Editor
Anne Facendo’s first calendar appointment on her first day as superintendent of Manville schools had her jumping right in with the kids.
She visited the Extended School Year program at Weston Elementary School, where students were visited by 4H Club therapy dogs.
"Our young students were thrilled with the visit and it was a delight to meet both our students and their outstanding teachers. The 4H dogs were a lot of fun, too," she said.
Ms. Facendo succeeds Johanna Ruberto, who retired effective July 31 after serving for five years as Manville’s schools chief. Ms. Facendo comes to the 1,400-student Manville district from the Sayreville school system, where she was assistant superintendent.
Her background includes 12 years as an elementary education teacher, with dual certification as a teacher of the handicapped, but she taught on the high school level, and as a literacy coach. She has been a building principal at both an elementary and middle school and a district director of curriculum and instruction.
Ms. Facendo said she and Dr. Ruberto used vacation time and met over multiple dates this summer to guarantee a smooth transition. On Friday morning there were flowers on the desk from administrative assistant Valerie Lewis and a whole box of "extremely useful resources," like procedures and protocols for the district and a binder of important contact information, from Dr. Ruberto.
"Dr. Ruberto’s friendship and willingness to give hours of personal time to answer every question has been an incredible gift," she said.
Ms. Facendo had met with the administrative staff back in July, but reconvened again.
"We shared our collective thoughts about our transition together," she said. "My message to our administrators is that we are a team. As a team, we are going to continue to enhance and expand the excellent, research-based work that was begun by my predecessor."
Among the first things she noticed, she said, was that "Manville is a hard-working town and the people here are all-heart. There is a sense of diligence in Manville — people work very hard and take pride in excellence. It’s an exciting prospect to belong to a district such as this."
Ms. Facendo said she would be a "diligent, detail-oriented, hands-on, and open door" manager.
"I want to be involved in every aspect of our district right down to daily participation in our classrooms," she said. "I want to know our students, their families and our staff members. I am here to serve and I am excited to begin."
The new superintendent said the community will notice "a sustained and tireless effort towards problem-based learning, authentic use of technology and the improvement of literacy skills across all subject areas. These are the key building blocks for success in college and career and it’s a fundamental foundation of the new Common Core standards."