SAYREVILLE – Following nearly two decades of service to the Sayreville School District, the principal of Sayreville War Memorial High School (SWMHS) is retiring from his position.
James Brown was honored by the Board of Education on Nov. 20. His retirement will become effective Jan. 1, 2019.
According to Superintendent of Schools Richard Labbe, Brown joined the district in 2000 as the vice principal of SWMHS and became principal in 2001. Prior to his 18 years in Sayreville and 17 years as SWMHS principal, he began his educational career in 1977 at the Ridgefield Park School District as a grade 1-5 reading and mathematics teacher. He held his first administrative position as the supervisor of practical arts at the Lacey Township School District in 1983 and became an assistant principal at the Keansburg School District in 1992.
Brown’s first tenure as a principal was in 1995 at the High Bridge Middle School in the High Bridge K-8 School District and he later served as principal of the Millstone Township Middle School in the Millstone Township K-8 School District the following year before joining Sayreville, according to Labbe.
“During the best and the most trying times, Mr. Brown has always served as the educational leader of the building, providing guidance, strength in leadership to administrators, teachers, parents and, of course, his students,” the superintendent said. “Some of his proudest accomplishments are the selection and training of 19 vice principals, most of whom have gone on to become education leaders in their own right, both in and outside of the district.”
Labbe added that when Brown was promoted from SWMHS vice principal to principal, he interviewed for the open vice principal position under Brown.
“For one reason or another, maybe it’s because I was hit too many times in the head playing football, I decided to go to Edison to be their assistant principal rather than come here,” Labbe said. “It’s something that Mr. Brown and I joke about all the time. But it’s a memory that I still hold near and dear to my heart. Meeting Mr. Brown and discussing with him his plans for being the principal at SWMHS and the potential opportunity to be on his staff is just a memory. Again, that is near and dear to me.”
During his 17 years at SWMHS, the superintendent stated that Brown worked with the Sayreville Police Department to implement the first School Resource Officer program at the high school; led the process of receiving accreditation from the Middle States Commission on Higher Education twice; created the honors societies in music, French, business, science and history; executed a multi-year construction project that increased high school facilities; increased advanced placement offerings, including the first online courses; increased rigor for all students by working to increase the graduation requirements from 120 credits to 130 credits; and helped establish the high school’s first Reserve Officers’ Training Corps.
“Of course, who could forget his favorite program – the yearly senior trip to Walt Disney World?” Labbe said. “Finally, in 2006, he worked with the television news program ’20/20′ to bring Sayreville’s own Jon Bon Jovi back to Sayreville to film a segment and speak with the students at SWMHS.
“These are just a few of the selected items, as the full list of his accomplishments is too extensive to discuss here this evening. While we are saddened by his departure, we are hopeful that the next stage of his life is as successful and as fulfilling as his time here in Sayreville has been.
“Having had the opportunity to work with Mr. Brown for the past several years, I must say that while I worked with a lot of administrators and a lot of educators, what I find most defining about Mr. Brown is his love and adoration for the students whom he serves,” he continued. “If you spend any time with him at the high school, you see that adoration not only by him to his students, but by his students to him. It’s remarkable the amount of students whom he knows by first name and greets every time that I’m in that school.
“And finally, if you also had the opportunity to work with Mr. Brown at the high school or if you’ve had the experience of watching him plan an event like graduation, you’ll respect the fact that Mr. Brown is very structured and is a very disciplined man. He ran this school in a very structured, organized fashion, as well as every activity that he had the opportunity to lead and supervise as the principal of this school. That is very defining about him. This school, among its many educational, athletic and programmatic accomplishments, is a very well-run school. And that is a tribute to Mr. Brown and the 19 administrators whom he worked very closely with over his 17 years here at the high school,” Labbe said.
The board is expected to name a replacement after Brown’s retirement.
