Bloomfield Educator Named Essex County Teacher Of The Year

The New Jersey Department of Education announced the selection of this year’s New Jersey’s 21 County Teachers of the Year for the 2015-2016 school year.

Taking home the honors in Essex County was Jessica Picciuto, a 4th grade teacher at Oak View Elementary School in Bloomfield.

According to a release, the recognition program honors some of the state’s “most dynamic educators” for their contributions to their school communities at the local level.

The County Teachers of the Year were recently honored at an orientation ceremony at the Department of Education in Trenton.

“I’m pleased to congratulate all of our County Teachers of the Year for 2015-16,” Education Commissioner David Hespe stated. “I consider this award a tribute to the talent, dedication, professionalism and success of these educators. They not only inspire the children they teach, they inspire us all.”

County Teachers of the Year are first selected at the school level through the Governor’s Educator of the Year program. They then go on to compete at the county level and are selected by panels representing a cross-section of administrators, teachers, parents, and county education association representatives convened by the NJ Department of Education’s executive county superintendents.