Keshish settles in as new school superintendent

BY SUE MORGAN
Staff Writer

Elizabeth Keshish WEST LONG BRANCH - To the district's newest top educator, good things do come in small packages.

The small package in this case is West Long Branch's two-building, K-8 district, which allows teachers and staff to focus more on the needs of each student, according to Superintendent of Schools Dr. Elizabeth Keshish.

"In a district of less than 800 students, you have more flexibility," Keshish said in an interview Monday at her office at Frank Antonides School.

"You can pay attention to individual needs so you can provide the best education for the student," she continued. "You can meet the needs of each child."

Three weeks into her tenure, Keshish likes what she sees - two school buildings connected via an indoor walkway, an outdoor courtyard with a fish pond and "wireless classrooms" and several brand-new amenities courtesy of a $7.6 construction referendum completed last year.

Yet, it is the people who travel the hallways of Antonides and the neighboring Betty McElmon School - teachers, staff, students, parents and West Long Branch Board of Education members - that have helped ease Keshish's transition into her new post.

Many district employees and, of course, the children might be on vacation from the two schools, which take up the corner of Locust Avenue and Parker Road, but they are not far from Keshish's mind.

After having met a number of teachers, students and parents just days before school recessed in June, the Holmdel resident says she looks forward to working with the entire district community when classes resume in September.

"I met the staff, and during the summer I've been meeting other people," Keshish said. "I'm getting an understanding of what West Long Branch is all about."

In most schools, students have little if any contact with a superintendent.

Keshish, who last worked as an assistant superintendent in the Red Bank public schools, hopes to change that by getting to know the students and their parents.

To accomplish that, she visited each classroom at both McElmon, a prekindergarten through third-grade school, and Antonides, which houses grades four through eight, to introduce herself.

Much to her surprise and delight, many of the students, with their teachers' guidance, greeted Keshish with handmade posters welcoming her to her new job and to West Long Branch.

Before working for almost three years in the Red Bank district, Keshish was principal at Holmdel High School and an assistant principal in Mountainside. She was also a language arts supervisor in Old Bridge, a K-12 district, and an English teacher at North Plainfield High School.

The academic success achieved by students and teachers attracted Keshish, who has held a variety of teaching and administrative posts, to the top educational job.

"We have a stable, committed faculty and involved parents," she said.

The school board that hired her to replace former Superintendent Joan A. Kelly, who retired effective June 30, has been impressive, she said.

"We have a very cohesive board. They approach their responsibilities in a very professional manner," Keshish said. "It's important to me to have a good, successful relationship with the board."

Though she is still new in town, Keshish feels that she has been embraced by the two building principals and other administrators who she is working with closely.

"I have a good group of people to help me," she said.

That group includes veteran Business Administrator Dayton Faunce, District Curriculum Coordinator Lois Kiley, Child Study Team Supervisor Lolly Yacona, Larry Farley, principal at Antonides, and Maureen O'Reilly, principal at McElmon.

Going forward, Keshish is aiming to build on the district's achievements, an initiative that she believes must involve staff, parents and the community at large.

"I hope to establish a learning community," said Keshish, who earned both her master's and doctoral degrees from Rutgers University in New Brunswick.

Seniors involved in the Retired Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP) reader program will continue coming into schools to read to students as they have in the past.

Having Peter Cooper Village, a senior housing complex in close proximity, has allowed seniors to interact with students when they come in to substitute or volunteer, she added.

"We're fortunate to have some seniors who contribute their efforts," she said.

It is never too early to begin thinking about the school budget for academic year 2007-08, something Keshish has already begun planning for that process.

This year's $10.5 million school budget was defeated at the polls by a mere 12 votes, a scenario that Keshish hopes will not repeat itself come April.

"I think we had a very sound budget within cap," Keshish said of the defeated budget. "I can pledge that we will have another fiscally sound budget."

Through creating public awareness of the budget vote, and particularly of the availability of voting by absentee ballots, Keshish hopes to see more participation in the next school board election.

In short, the schools are an essential part of West Long Branch, but so too are town leaders, police and first-responders, volunteers and all residents, with or without school-age children, Keshish said.

To that end, the superintendent plans to maintain an open-door policy and invites citizen input.

"The schools are an important part of the community, but they are a part of the community," Keshish said. "They don't stand on their own."