SAYREVILLE – The Sayreville School District is bidding farewell to two longtime staff members who have both served the district for more than two decades.
On Oct. 16, the Board of Education honored the retirements of Susan Bythell, a Grade 7 mathematics teacher at Sayreville Middle School, and Barbara Morris, a full-time paraprofessional at Dwight D. Eisenhower Elementary School. Both retirements will become effective on Jan. 1.
According to Superintendent of Schools Richard Labbe, Bythell has worked as a teacher for 34 years and spent 30 of those years teaching at the middle school.
“While employed in Sayreville, she taught Grade 7 mathematics to both the honors level and the intermediate level to about 700 students,” Labbe said. “She has never hesitated to assist the staff with informal mentoring, yet she has served the Sayreville Middle School as a formal mentor at our new teacher mentor program.
“Ms. Bythell’s husband has been retired and upon their retirement, they plan to share residency between Florida and Pennsylvania,” the superintendent said. “Needless to say, Ms. Bythell has much to look forward to in her retirement years. She has notably added a great deal to the middle school staff over the years and to the students who she has taught. We thank Ms. Bythell to her service to the district and we wish her a very happy and healthy retirement as well.”
According to Labbe, Morris has served Sayreville for 26 years after joining in 1992 when she worked as a classroom paraprofessional at Eisenhower and the Sayreville Middle School.
“We are very happy for Ms. Barbara Morris, but very sad for ourselves, because she will be leaving us,” Labbe said. “Over that period of time from 1992, she has demonstrated her versatility and commitment to our students by working in our pull-out resource center and learning disability and behavioral disability classrooms. Barbara was recognized for her hard work, knowledge of students with disabilities and willingness to go above and beyond when she was named ESP [education support professional] of the Year for the 2011-12 school year.
“Although Barbara has proven to be exceptional in many facets of her job, she will be most missed for the personal relationships she has formed with her colleagues over the many years,” he continued. “We wish Barbara a very happy and healthy retirement and we thank her for the incredible service that she has provided to our district and, more importantly, to the students that she has served.”
