SAYREVILLE – The next principal of the Sayreville War Memorial High School has been named for the 2019-20 school year.
Dale Rubino was approved by the Sayreville School District Board of Education as the high school’s principal on April 9. His appointment will become effective on July 1 for the beginning of the 2019-20 school year, and run through June 30, 2020, the end of the school year, after which he may be re-appointed by the board. For 2019-20, Rubino’s salary will be $138,145, according to district administrators.
Rubino will succeed James Brown, who retired as the principal of SWMHS on Jan. 1. Superintendent of Schools Richard Labbe has been serving as interim principal following Brown’s retirement.
Prior to being named principal, Rubino served as the high school’s vice principal. He resigned from the district in 2018 to become principal of Spotswood High School, but is now returning to lead Sayreville High.
“I made a point of expressing to our board and our community that we [the administrators] would turn over every stone and we would take we needed to find who we believe is the perfect person for this position,” Labbe said. “Having had the privilege to work with Mr. Rubino for four years before he left us to go to Spotswood to be the high school principal there, I have always been impressed by his hard work, meticulous attention to detail and his leadership style.
“Moreover, I’ve been inspired by his dedication, his compassion, his flexibility and, of course, the sacrifices that he makes on any given day to promote the success of his students, whether they were his students here in Sayreville or his students in Spotswood,” the superintendent continued. “I really believe that we are very fortunate to be able to find a professional of his caliber, a leader of his quality and, of course, a human being who possesses the amazing abilities that Dale has.”
Before board members approved Rubino, Board President Kevin Ciak said, “Mr. Rubino, I know you’re a Spotswood graduate, I know you’re the Spotswood High School principal, but welcome home. We’re very glad to have you back here in Sayreville. As we talked earlier, I know from your time here in Sayreville what I’m most excited about is the cultural fit, being a Bomber and that piece that you’re going to bring to Sayreville.
“As you can tell from our superintendent, your arrival is long-awaited,” Ciak said. “He’s been two jobs for a while and it’s getting challenging, so we’re definitely looking forward to having you back and we know that you’re going to do a great job. The big asset that you bring is the fact that you were here, you know what our school is about, you know the values that we have [and] you know the culture. You’ve also had the chance to go out, see other districts and be a principal. Hopefully, you’ll also come back with some additional ideas from outside of Sayreville that would be a fit here as well.
“In all seriousness, you’ve definitely got a tough act to follow because Dr. Labbe has done a tremendous job with the high school over the last four months and I know he’ll continue to do so through June 30. But we look forward to having you back,” Ciak said.
