By Philip Sean Curran, Staff Writer
A career educator was named Tuesday the principal of Riverside Elementary School starting next month.
Valerie Ulrich was one of 175 applicants vying for the job, said Superintendent of Schools Stephen C. Cochrane after the school board meeting where she was appointed.
She starts July 11, paid at a prorated annual salary of $144,000. She could not be reached for comment Wednesday.
Ms. Ulrich comes to Princeton from the Matawan-Aberdeen Regional school district, where she has been the principal at the K-3 Cliffwood School for five years.
She began her career as a special education teacher at Southern Regional Middle School, in Ocean County, later to become a social studies teacher in Chatham, in Morris County, and eventually an assistant principal in the Bridgewater-Raritan Regional school district, according to her biography on the Cliffwood School web site.
She tried for the Riverside job as part of a large field of candidates. The job seekers eventually were winnowed to three finalists, with Ms. Ulrich the choice to lead a school of around 250 pupils and around 35 to 40 staff members.
She succeeds Bill Cirullo, who died Feb.15, after spending 30 years as school principal in a career in the district that began in 1970. Riverside has been led by interim-principal Paul Chapin.
