It was hard to tell on Tuesday who was more excited about starting school in Stafford, the preschoolers racing about their classrooms or the district’s new superintendent George J. Chidiac.
Chidiac and his staff, along with the teachers, were hosting a parents-teacher open house at the at the Oxycocus School, which houses the Pre-K and Special Services students and his administrative offices.
“This is great, we all worked real hard for this day and now we get to see it come together,” he said.
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Chidiac had a long career in the nearby Barnegat School District starting as a teacher and eventually becoming a principal before being selected to head the Stafford District this year.
Over the summer he and his staff along with teachers have “aligned our curriculum to the new Common Core State Standards" as well as exploring new curriculum that aligns to the Common Core State Standards that "best fits the needs of all our learners,” according to his message on the district’s Web site.
He said they also plan to add more 21st Century technology into the classrooms. This was apparent even at the Pre-K level with computer workstations equipped with working keyboards that looked more like toys in each classroom.
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Earlier in the day Chidiac was at the district’s other schools to welcome back older students and their parents.
Chidiac said they now have new equipment, new ideas, and new standards all geared towards the mission of his office, "the children’s academic achievement, safety, and well-being will be at the core of every decision," said the superintendent in his Web message
