When the doors open for the first day of school on Sept. 5, students at the Eldridge Park School and the Lawrence Intermediate School will be greeted by four new administrators – three of who are long-time teachers or administrators in the Lawrence Township Public Schools.
Amy Amiet, a long-time music teacher and most recently an administrator at the Lawrence Intermediate School, will return to the Eldridge Park School as its principal. She is replacing former Principal Kathy Robbins, who has retired.
Amiet began her teaching career in the Lawrence Township Public Schools in 2006 as a music teacher at the Eldridge Park School. For the past four years, she has been the assistant principal at the Lawrence Intermediate School.
Meanwhile, a new administrative team will be in place at the Lawrence Intermediate School, which teaches students in grades 4-6. Instead of a principal and an assistant principal, the team will be made up of two co-principals and an assistant principal.
Alyson Fischer and Thomas Toohey will serve as the co-principals, and Sharin Rello will be the assistant principal. The former principal, Cindy Westhead, has retired, and Amiet, the former assistant principal, has been promoted to principal at the Eldridge Park School.
Fischer has worked for the Lawrence Township Public Schools since 2011, when she was named to be the athletic director at Lawrence High School. She was later appointed to become an assistant principal at the high school.
Toohey was most recently the director of special services in the Hazlet Township Public Schools. He began his teaching career at Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High School as a special education/history teacher.
Rello, who is the new assistant principal at the Lawrence Intermediate School, will be a familiar face to those students. She has worked for the school district for 15 years as the music teacher at the intermediate school.
Under the new administrative setup, Toohey will be the liaison to the 4th grade and Fischer will be the liaison to the 6th grade. Rello will be the liaison to the 5th grade.
The revised administrative setup grew out of a recent survey conducted by the school board, which sought comments on all matters in the school district, said Superintendent of Schools Ross Kasun.
“I have clearly heard from our school and the Lawrence community that more leadership is needed at the Lawrence Intermediate School at such a critical time for our students,” Kasun said.
Children from the four K-3 elementary schools are brought together at the Lawrence Intermediate School in the 4th grade. It is a “huge school,” Kasun said. Its enrollment of approximately 900 students trails the enrollment at Lawrence High School.
It is also a “huge” transition from four smaller elementary schools to one school, Kasun said. It’s a very challenging place for the students, who are all trying to find their place in the world as they grow up, he said.
