Colts Neck representative Vincent Accettola and Freehold Township representative Samuel Carollo participated in their first meeting as members of the Freehold Regional High School District Board of Education. JEREMY GROSSMAN/STAFF The Freehold Regional High School District Board of Education has welcomed two new members — one with a background of 40 years in education and one who recently left high school.
At the board’s Jan. 5 reorganization meeting held at the district’s offices in Englishtown, Samuel Carollo was sworn in as Freehold Township’s representative and Vincent Accettola was sworn in as Colts Neck’s representative. They will serve three-year terms.
Carollo succeeds Maryanne Tomazic, and Accettola succeeds his father, Carl Accetola.
Carollo worked in the Essex County Vocational School District for 25 years, where he taught English, history and special education before becoming principal of the district’s Newark Tech High School. He also worked as an assistant principal at Howell High School for 14 years.
Following his first meeting as a board member, Carollo described it as “a learning experience.”
“I learned the executive sessions are really important,” he said. “A lot of stuff going on in there. The superintendent gives us a report on everything that happens [in the district] and I have got to fully congratulate him because he is on top of everything.
“I think these schools are the best in New Jersey and my goal is just to keep them that way. We have such great teachers, great administrators, and I think our kids are so successful. And that is the most important thing — everybody working for those kids,” he said.
Vincent Accettola, 20, is a junior at Yale University, New Haven, Conn., and a graduate of Biotechnology High School, Freehold Township.
Accettola, who was home for winter break when the board held its reorganization meeting, said he will be able to attend all board meetings. He said that on the morning after each meeting he will catch a train to Connecticut in order to make it to his morning class.
“It will transform me into a morning person, which can be very helpful,” Accettola said.
He outlined his goals for the year ahead.
“It is always nice when you have a few key areas of focus — areas where I feel like I might be able to say a little bit more, just because of the unique place of being a current college student and a very former high school student,” he said.
Accettola said he wants to help implement ways for students and teachers to interact virtually with the school district, such as putting a new user interface on the district website.
Michael Messinger, who has been the Marlboro representative since 2011, also began serving a new three-year term.
In addition to welcoming the new members, the board members voted for Heshy Moses of Freehold Borough and Jennifer Sutera of Manalapan to retain their positions as president and vice president, respectively.
The other members of the regional school board are Bill Bruno and Amy Fankhauser of Howell, Kathie Lavin of Farmingdale and Elizabeth Canario of Englishtown.