Back to High School 2012-13 at R-FH

When the bell rings, or buzzer buzzes, at 7:45 a.m. Thursday at , it will be signaling the start of the 2012-13 school year in what has been deemed by New Jersey Monthly as the top high school in Monmouth County.

Statewide, R-FH ranked number 10. Cinching such a title is all in an innovative day's work, as Superintendent Peter Righi sees it.

The school day may end at 2:40 p.m., but Righi said that the year, in and out of the classroom, promises to be one that is full of academic creativity and student and staff enthusiasm.

“We’re very excited about this school year,” the superintendent said Wednesday afternoon. “The whole tone for the start of the year the last two days in staff meetings has been very upbeat. All the teachers have been doing action research projects to improve instruction, football starts Friday, tennis starts the same day, there’s volleyball the next day … We have a lot of cool stuff going on.”

Among the exciting start of the school year happenings, Righi said, a roster of 15 new staff members who came to the school highly recommended and full of new ideas.

The list of new employees, sent by the high school, is as follows:

Employee

Position

Berg, Christine

Teacher of French

Buffa, Thomas

Supervisor of Buildings, Grounds & Operations

Clarke, Donna

Teacher of

Special Education

Componile, Alexander

Teacher of

Special Education

Connor, Ian

Long Term Substitute

Special Ed Teacher

Demornex, Agnes

Long Term Substitute

Teacher of French

Flanagan, Caitlin

Teacher of
Special Education

Flecca, Stefania

Teacher of English

Grato, Kristin

Long Term Substitute

Special Ed Teacher

Green, Samantha

Teacher of Science

Hansen, Lauren

Teacher of Math

Kramer, Jun

Teacher of Chinese

(part-time)

Lane, James

Social Studies Teacher

Mahon, Kristen

Teacher of Math

Marco, Marisa

Long Term Substitute

English Teacher

Mazza, Enza

Long Term Substitute

School Social Worker

McBain, Molly

Teacher of

Special Education

Orrok, Robert

Teacher of PE & Health

Quinn, Christopher

Instructional Aide

Racanelli, Fidelina

Teacher of Spanish

Salzman, Gina

Instructional Aide

Stein, Alex

Athletic Trainer

The superintendent said he was especially enthused about the staff’s eager participation in independent action research projects and the process of sharing the results with fellow staffers.

While the independent research projects are standard protocol for most educators, the sharing process, he said, is more unique to Rumson-Fair Haven. “Most others don’t do it,” Righi said. “It’s something that is not commonly done (elsewhere). There is a lot of innovative academic thinking going on among our staff members and it’s truly motivating and invigorating.”

As far as back-to-school basics are concerned, Righi pointed out a few particulars he felt parents and students may want to be reminded of:

• The first football game of the year will be played against Shore Regional High School’s team and held at R-FH at the Borden stadium at 7 p.m. Friday.
• The stadium was given a makeover during the summer with what Righi called marked improvements.
• Technical infrastructure in the school was completely upgraded for maximum efficiency and productivity.
•  The email system has been overhauled. Parents and students, who rely heavily on email communications with staff and administration are reminded that they can find any staff member by using the person’s first initial and last name, no punctuation in the middle, followed by @rumsonfairhaven.org. It used to be rfh and rfhrhs.org. Note the change.

“It was just too confusing that way,” Righi said.

• Changes to the homecoming are underway. Nothing is official yet, but expect something new, Righi said. Patch will keep you posted.

“It’s been a very busy summer, but we are really looking forward to a great year,” Righi said.