Longtime Hoboken Educator Will Retire: Hudson School Bids Suellen Newman Farewell

Hoboken, NJ - Suellen Newman, the founder and director of The Hudson School in Hoboken, will retire at the end of this month after almost four decades as a local educator.

According to a school news release, Newman helped to oversee The Hudson School’s growth from a shared space at the Hoboken Public Library to a private institution that serves middle and high school students in its own facility.

Newman oversaw the academic and social development of thousands of students, while raising millions of dollars in scholarship funds to support qualified students in need of financial aid, school officials stated.

The former educator was honored at a June 17 celebration of her work at Our Lady of Grace in Hoboken.

“Suellen Newman is a special person who has had a lasting impact on so many students, families, teachers and residents of Hoboken,” said Daniel Gans, Chairman of the Hudson Board of Trustees. “We will never be able to accurately measure her impact or truly thank her for her work on behalf of her students and the larger community.”

The following biography comes courtesy of The Hudson School:

“Suellen Newman is the Director of The Hudson School and middle school French teacher. She received her Bachelor of Arts degree from Oberlin College in French and Elementary Education and her Master of Arts degree in Comparative Education from the University of Chicago. Mrs. Newman did post-graduate work in Curriculum Development, Linguistics and Bilingual Education at the University of Chicago and later at Columbia University Teachers College, where she studied under Dr. Pearl Kane at the Klingenstein Institute. She also studied in Paris at the Alliance Francaise.

“Mrs. Newman was in the first group of United States Peace Corps Volunteers to serve in Cote d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast). It was there while living in a small fishing village with an African family that she first became interested in the study of nutrition, bilingual education and cross-cultural studies. Mrs. Newman founded The Hudson School in 1978 and has continued to serve as the director of the school for the past 38 years. "No less important than my overseas experience has been my journey as a parent of five and grandmother of nine. I have followed my children's and grandchildren's physical, emotional, social and linguistic development as well as their moral development and, to a limited extent, that of their friends."

“Suellen continues to be awed by the delicate balance between the influence of heredity and environment on them as they grow and learn. She feels privileged to work with a talented and unique faculty and staff and a dedicated board of trustees on whose guidance and support she relies and cherishes. Mrs. Newman believes that no matter where or what one teaches, the goal to which all efforts should be aimed is helping students lead good lives, lives that include finding one's passion and sharing one's knowledge, skills and talents with others to improve the quality of life for all. Posted on her office bulletin board is this quotation by Theodore Roosevelt ‘Do what you can, where you are, with what you have.’”

Sign up for Patch NJ email newsletters here.

Send local news tips, photos and press releases to eric.kiefer@patch.com

Photo courtesy of The Hudson School