Maple Place Principal's Imminent Departure 'A Great Loss'

Ask Cory Radisch, principal at Oceanport's , what he'll miss most when he leaves his post next month for another school district, and he doesn't even hesitate when he answers, "The kids."

Janet Wallace, a paraprofessional at the middle school, isn't surprised.

"It's one thing to know all the kids' names," she says of Radisch's releationship with students. "It's another to know who they are in here," she says, tapping her fist to her heart.

"Where do I start?" asks 8th grader Ryan King of what Radisch has meant to him as a principal.

His friend and fellow 8th grader Sean Marelli jumps in and explains that his grades had been lagging and he hadn't been doing the required work in school.

"Mr. Radisch said straight up, 'I'm not giving up on you,'" Marelli explains of how the principal made sure he and his friends had lunches where they did their work and started meeting classroom expectations.

Basic skills teacher Theresa Finnegan thinks it's "very sad" that Radisch, who's been at Maple Place since 2010, is leaving to take over as principal of the Matawan-Aberdeen Middle School. "He's an amazing principal," she says. "He eats his lunch with the students every day and calls certain kids in the morning to make sure they make it to school."

"He has big shoes to replace," says Finnegan.

Radisch tells Patch that making the decision to leave Maple Place was "painstaking" and he hope the momentum he feels he and his staff has created continues after his departure some time in July.

He's particularly proud of the professional learning communities and the support of positive student behavior that have been implemented during his tenure at Maple Place. He digs up a copy of the "Charger's Creed" and explains all the different incentives the school offers students to be respectful, responsible and ready to learn.

"We kind of changed the culture," he says of his and the staff's efforts to embrace the idea that "success is our only option."

"That's what makes me proud," says Radisch," that we have a staff truly committed to the kids."

Patty Cooper, who not only works as a paraprofessional at Maple Place but also lives in Oceanport and has a child at the school, tells Patch, "We're so sad."

"As a parent, employee and friend, this is a great loss for us."