Get to Know South Orange MS Principal 'Mr. U'

Even before the bell rang to begin the 2011-12 school year, had forged a strong partnership with the students, teachers, and parents of South Orange Middle School (SOMS). 

A transition program for incoming 6th grade students as well as an extremely well-attended "meet the principal barbeque" during the final weeks of summer were just a couple of ways that Mr. U. — as he is often called — illustrated his desire to work closely and meaningfully with the SOMS community. 

At the recent SOMS Back to School Night, this partnership was in evidence once again and there was a great deal of buzz about the new ideas and initiatives this school year will bring. 

And on Tuesday, October 18, from 7-9 p.m., Uglialoro will be introducing the first of his series of Parent Academies, which will provide an opportunity for parents to go into SOMS classrooms and participate in workshops on topics relevant to raising healthy and successful middle schoolers.

Hired late last spring, Uglialoro came to SOMS from the Matawan-Aberdeen Middle School where he served as Assistant Principal. Prior to that, he was a social studies teacher in Holmdel and an International Baccalaureate teacher at the Dwight School in New York.

As we all know from our own experiences, and from our own children if they’ve reached those tween/early teen years, middle school can be quite a challenging and uneasy period in a child’s life. This is exactly why Uglialoro is drawn to it. He’s devoted his career to middle level education and believes the middle school years are crucial to our children’s future academic success.

“We know middle school is a time when we lose many students who are becoming aware of learning gaps that might exist and who begin to struggle and disengage from increasingly rigorous work as a result," says Uglialoro.  "As middle level educators, we have the power to prevent this from happening by providing a stimulating and challenging, yet supportive setting, which will keep these students connected to their school and their education in a positive way.” 

When asked about the often confusing, at times overwhelming, social aspects of middle school life, Uglialoro points to the uniqueness of middle schoolers.

“They are increasingly curious about and interested in their own identity and the world around them, and are growing more independent by the day," said Uglialoro. "They are starting to act like adults, but retain much of the innocence and exuberance of elementary students. And, as you know, they are extremely social. Taking all of these qualities into account, we have a very exciting opportunity to engage students in a rich educational experience.”

Uglialoro approaches middle school education with a clear sense of the rapidly changing world in which students live. His innovative approach to technology is one of the ways in which this is apparent. Unhappy that schools have been slow in reacting to technology that has revolutionized the way that we “connect, compete, consume, and create on a daily basis,” Uglialoro is intent on “integrating technology to promote student innovation, to create individualized learning experiences, and to safely connect students with experts and other students around the globe.”

One new initiative implemented to achieve this goal is the use of Edmodo, a safe, social networking platform made specifically for schools. Mimicking Facebook in its look and structure, Edmodo is already quite popular with SOMS students and according to Uglialoro, "26 SOMS teachers are using Edmodo to facilitate online student collaboration beyond the walls of the classroom and to develop their own personal learning networks.”

Uglialoro has extremely positive things to say about his first few months at SOMS. Thrilled to be met by a “dedicated staff, talented, curious, and courteous students, and families whose support for the school is boundless,” he knows great things are ahead.

It is one of his goals to make South Orange Middle School a "New Jersey Middle School to Watch" — a recognition given by the National Forum to Accelerate Middle-Grades Reform as part of their nineteen state school improvement initiative. Beyond that, there is a National Middle School to Watch honor that he doesn’t rule out.  Not only is it one of his goals but it is a goal that has generated enthusiasm among the SOMS staff as well.

As a starting point Uglialoro says that he has been “working with teacher leaders to complete a school self assessment to identify our strengths as a school, and the areas in most need of growth. This self assessment will ultimately inform our school improvement plan and our path towards becoming an academically rigorous, developmentally responsible, and socially equitable environment.”

A dedicated and responsive leader who might even be found in his SOMS office on weekends, on those occasions he often has a couple of helpers, sons Joseph and Christopher, six and three-years old respectively, who “love running around the big hallways and communicating on the walkie-talkies.”

And Mr. U does save some time for pleasure reading (Jonathan Franzen’s Freedom has him completely engrossed at the moment), although he always simultaneously reads a book related to his own professional development (currently he is re-reading Disrupting Class by Clayton Christensen and Curtis Johnson).