Page 6 THE VILLADOM TIMES I • July 25, 2012 Midland Park Two new administrators have joined the ranks of the Midland Park school system staff. Matthew Murphy will be the new principal at Godwin School as of Aug. 1, and Peter Galasso has assumed the combined position of athletic director/ assistant principal at Midland Park High School. “The Board is pleased with the two candidates that were brought forward by the superintendant and her search committee,” said board President William Sullivan. “I’m sure they will be very effective administrators and help the district to continually move forward in increasing student achievement.” Murphy, whose salary will be $95,000 pro-rated, was a guidance counselor in Upper Saddle River for the past two years after five years in the guidance department of the Bloomfield school district. He started his career as an elementary school teacher in Newark, followed by two years as a special education teacher at the Sage Day School in Boonton. Godwin School principal, athletic director appointed but took a job as a teacher in Newark and “was hooked on education.” He also holds a master’s degree in counseling and a postmaster’s certificate from MSU. “I’m really excited to be joining the administrative team in Midland Park. I’ve heard wonderful things about the district and the great things they are doing at Godwin School,” said Murphy. “I’m looking forward to working closely with the school community to insure that the students have the best academic and social experience possible,” he added. Galasso will function primarily as the head of the athletic program, with some responsibility as the seventh and eighth grade assistant principal. His salary will be $85,000. “I look forward to the challenge of developing the athletic program as well as getting to know the students in the school district,” Galasso said. “I’ve heard Midland Park is a wonderful community, and I’m happy to be a part of it.” A social studies teacher at New Milford High School for the past nine years, he also coached football and baseball and was the head wrestling coach. He was named teacher of the year for the district in 2011. Galasso played football while an undergraduate at Sienna College in Albany, and received his master’s in administration from St. Thomas Aquinas College in New York. He said his first order of business will be to evaluate the facilities and his goal will be to get the students to achieve at a high level in the classroom and on the field and as human beings. He added that while his focus is education, he sees sports as the Matthew Murphy After receiving a degree in sociology and criminal justice from Montclair State University, Murphy said he had every intention of going into law enforcement, Peter Galasso tool to make the students well rounded. Murphy replaces Michael Healy, who will retire as Godwin’s assistant principal as of Sept. 1. Galasso took over from long-time athletic director Ed Salvi, who had retired in June, 2010 but was acting as substitute AD since Ron Standridge resigned the position in March. Superintendent of Schools Dr. Marie Cirasella said the upgrade to a full principal at Godwin was made “to provide the early learners in the K-2 environment the benefit of the full-time efforts of a principal. Doing so further allows the principal at Highland to concentrate on the upper elementary grades in a period of intense focus on benchmark and formative assessments for grades 3-6, including the upcoming PARCC assessments mandated by the state.”