Three new principals join Freehold Regional staff
District's 6 high schools approaching total enrollment of 12,000
BY MARK ROSMAN Staff Writer
The word of the day in the Freehold Regional High School District at the dawn of the 2007-08 school year is "new."

That's new as in three new principals, a new business administrator and a new ROTC program director, among other positions.

Freshmen will report for orientation on Sept. 5 and all students will report to school on Sept. 6 to formally begin the 2007-08 school year. The district operates Colts Neck High School, Freehold High School, Freehold Township High School, Howell High School, Manalapan High School and Marlboro High School.

Superintendent of Schools James Wasser said enrollment has leveled off and the district remains under 12,000 students, and under capacity as a whole.

Three new principals are in place as the school year begins: Keith Land is the new principal at Colts Neck, Gerald North is the new principal at Marlboro and Jeff Simon is the new principal at Manalapan. All three have come to the FRHSD from other school districts.

Wasser sees the addition of the new personnel as a positive development.

"The new administrators bring me a sense of excitement because they will bring the experience and ideas they have developed in other districts. We have a nice blend of new people and experienced staff members," he said.

Anthony Procopio, who came out of retirement to serve as Manalapan's principal for the past year, helped out this summer to prepare Colts Neck, Marlboro and Manalapan high schools for the opening of the school year, according to the superintendent. Procopio will conclude his many years of service to the FRHSD at the end of the fall semester.

The principals who have returned to their schools are Linda Jewell at Freehold High School; Elizabeth Higley at Freehold Township High School; and Zina Duerbig at Howell High School.

Sean Boyce has joined the district's central administration as the business administrator/ board secretary. He replaces Joan Nesenkar Saylor, who retired.

One of the district's most popular courses over the past few years has been the ROTC program at Colts Neck, Wasser said, noting that students from throughout the FRHSD apply for one of the 200 or so available spaces in the four-year ROTC program.

The program's director, Lt. Col. James Sfayer, is taking a leave of absence for one year and the ROTC will be under the direction of Major Gregory Penczak.

Wasser said the ROTC program stresses leadership, character building and community activities. It is not a recruitment program for any branch of the U.S. armed forces and students in the program are not pushed to enter military service, he said, noting that some people may have misconceptions about the ROTC program which is geared toward what he called military dynamics.

An alternative school for students who are experiencing difficulties at their regular high school will begin its second year of operation at Freehold High School, Freehold Borough. The alternative school, which is known as Regional Alternative Instruction for Success in Education (RAISE), runs from 2-6 p.m. daily and serves between 50 and 60 students.

The students' progress at RAISE is reviewed by Wasser, who can recommend that a student be readmitted into his or her home high school or admitted to one of the district's specialized learning programs or academies.

As far as the district's students go, Wasser said they are continuing to excel in academics, athletics and extracurricular activities. Applications for the FRHSD's specialized learning centers continue to be submitted in record numbers to a point where, according to Wasser, "we probably could have doubled the size of those learning centers." A competitive system is used to determine which students are accepted into the specialized programs.

"We have a great blend of academics and activities, and in keeping with the requirements of the federal No Child Left Behind Act we are identifying areas where we need to make improvements. Our staff is working on that," Wasser said.

The district has a comprehensive Internet Web site at www.frhsd.com which provides information about each high school and the programs that are offered.