Get ready for the start of a busy school year in Ocean City.
The first day of school in Ocean City is on Sept. 3 and school officials say the buildings are ready, the teachers and administration are ready and they are eager to welcome students back for what they expect will be “a wonderful school year.”
“I want to thank everybody, from the administrators and the teachers, the support personnel, the parents and the children, for their efforts in gearing up for what is going to work out to be a wonderful school year,” Board of Education President Kevin Barnes said during a school board meeting Thursday night. “I have a lot of confidence in a lot of good things that are about to happen. Thank you to everyone for all of your efforts. The countdown is on.”
The nearly 2,000-student district includes the high school, intermediate school and primary school. Sending districts are Sea Isle City, Upper Township, Corbin City and Longport.
This fall, when the school doors open, the students will be greeted by new Schools Superintendent Dr. Christian Angelillo. He began on Aug. 1.
He said the overarching theme of the year is “new beginnings.” On the first day of school, there will be celebratory activities at each of the buildings, along with commemorating the 20th year since the high school was built.
Angelillo told the school board that a lot has been accomplished in just three weeks since he started in the district. He also thanked the community for making him feel welcome.
“It’s been three weeks now that I’ve been here and quite frankly I couldn’t be more pleased with the work we are doing early on in my tenure,” Angelillo said. “Thanks to everyone for making me feel welcome – that goes for the central office staff, the administrators, the teachers and the community at large.”
He said that he has heard from “so many people.”
New School Superintendent Christian Angelillo began Aug. 1.“I really appreciate it and I am grateful. As we move forward into the new school year, I want to recap some of our activities and focus areas over the past three weeks,” he said. “Over the past three weeks, I’ve been able to hold one-on-one meetings with the administration, central office staff, Chief of Police Bill Campbell, school board members and the entire administrative team.”
Angelillo also has reached out and spoken with officials in the Upper Township school district and would like to continue to improve an open dialogue between the districts.
“I’ve held individual meetings with other community members,” he continued. “I will continue meeting with key stakeholders as we move into the beginning of the school year.”
The district has not had a long-term leader since former Superintendent Kathleen Taylor retired in August 2021 after 15 years of service. Since then, there have been three superintendent searches over roughly three years.
Interim Superintendent Tom Baruffi filled the void until the district hired Matthew Friedman as superintendent in June 2022. Friedman resigned at the end of March in 2023 to become superintendent of the Quakertown Community School District in Bucks County, Pa.
Retired longtime educator Dr. Scott McCartney, of Egg Harbor Township, stepped in and served from June through Dec. 31, 2023. Interim Superintendent Terrence Crowley Sr. replaced McCartney and served as interim superintendent until Angelillo began Aug. 1.
During public comment, Daniel Del Vecchio, of Ocean City, spoke as a resident, but also in his role as superintendent at the Camden County Educational Services Commission in Clementon, N.J.
He welcomed Angelillo to the district and offered some advice to the school board and the community.
“As a new leader, it will probably take a year to get his arms around a place,” Del Vecchio said.
He told the district to be patient. “I ask you to give him the opportunity to get his arms around the organization and then to establish the culture that he feels is the right culture, and the board agrees to,” he continued.
Del Vecchio said that Angelillo should be able to operate “independently of decisions that are political or religion-based.”
“Let him do his job. Give him the opportunity and the time. It will not happen overnight,” he said to the board.
Then he addressed Angelillo.
“I hope you will have the opportunity to create a vision and a culture for this district that will give it the leadership that it hasn’t had for – I don’t know how many years.”
For more information about the Ocean City School district visit, https://www.ocsdnj.org/
