By linda denicola
Staff Writer
FREEHOLD TOWNSHIP — Andrew Mignano Jr., principal of the Laura Donovan School, Stonehurst Boulevard, is moving up to become the assistant superintendent of the township’s K-8 school district.
Assistant Superintendent Catherine Snyder has been promoted to the position of superintendent.
The Donovan School PTO hosted a breakfast for Mignano today and presented him with a plaque in recognition of his efforts on behalf of the school. The PTO members are planning to dedicate a brick in the courtyard to the educator who has served the school for five years.
It’s a bittersweet event for at least one parent, PTO President Maureen Spataro, whose daughter, Kayla, started kindergarten the same day that Mignano started in his position as principal of the K-5 school. Now, five years later, Mignano is leaving, Kayla is finishing fourth grade and Spataro is ending her three-year stint as PTO president.
She remembers Kayla’s first day of school and her first impression of Mignano on his first official day at work.
"As a new parent standing in front of the school, I watched him saying hello to the kids. I remember thinking, ‘This is going to be great,’ " Spataro said.
When her daughter came home from school that day she told her mother that she had met the principal.
"It was a big thing for a 5-year-old. When I was a kid the principal stayed behind the door. You never saw him," Spataro said, adding that Mignano’s door is always open. "It’s like a second home. You can always go in and talk to him. When I became [PTO] president, I didn’t realize how closely I would be working with the principal."
Spataro said she considers Mignano to be the "spirit of the school. He stressed character in our children and he helped put together a terrific curriculum. He’s really going to be missed for his kindness and for putting the children first. You can see that his priority is his school and the children and families within the school."