School bell sounds end of administrators' careers
Two elementary school principals retire after 36 years
BY SARAH SULLIVAN
Correspondent

OCEAN TOWNSHIP - When the final bell of the school year rings later this month, two veteran administrators in the Ocean Township School District will end their careers.

William J. Galatro, principal of Ocean Township Elementary School, and Margaret Grilli, principal of the Wanamassa School, will both retire, each after serving the district for 36 years.

Galatro, Oakhurst, has been principal of the K-5 elementary school since 2002. He began his career in Ocean Township in 1971 as a social studies teacher at the high school.

He later became a guidance counselor at the high school and the intermediate school and went on to become the assistant principal at the intermediate school before moving to Ocean Township Elementary. He was also the assistant football coach at the high school from 1972-1989.

"I couldn't ask for more. I don't remember a day when I didn't want to go to work. I really love what I did. Of course I'll miss it," Galatro said recently.

"I purposely put my paperwork in to the Board of Education in December. Dr. Doreen Ryan was hired in February, and I felt really good about that because this retirement - it's just not about me.

"I wanted to leave this school in good hands. I wanted my staff to be taken care of, and of course my students to be taken care of.

"I am very happy that a new principal has been hired. She has been coming over and the transition has been going very well. I feel great about that because I know that when I leave here, my people will be taken care of. That's what it's all about. It's not about me - it's about the kids in the school."

Grilli was a sixth-grade teacher and then worked at the intermediate school as a social studies teacher eventually becoming an adviser in the department.

With obvious pride she explained, "I have assembled a strong teaching staff, a learning environment that is warm and nurturing [where] each child feels that they are respected and that they have value, and they are important to us. My primary objective was to do that for children.

PHOTOS BY ERIC SUCAR staff Top to bottom: Ocean Township Elementary School Principal William Galatro watches as a plane towing a banner with a goodbye message flies overhead. Like the entire student body, this group of first graders wears T-shirts printed with Galatro's oft-repeated maxim: "Do the Right Thing." Galatro, along with teachers and students, waves as the plane departs the celebration which was organized by the elementary school PTA.

"I was basically here for them. Whatever I could do to help them succeed and make their school experience a positive one. I have accomplished my goal."

District Superintendent Thomas Pagano praised Galatro and Grilli.

"I think that the loyalty that both of them have shown to the town over the years - because opportunities come for all of us to go to other places because Ocean Township happens to be a place that is well respected around the county and around the region - so they are always trying to recruit our administrators.

"These were two that worked hard and waited their turn, and when it came, they took advantage of it."

Galatro said his decision to retire involved some introspection about his career.

"When I decided to retire, I sat down and reflected on my life," he said. "I have had an interesting life and I've always worked. I worked summers since I was 8 years old. My father, uncle and grandfather had a wholesale fruit and produce business in Red Bank and I worked there as a boy.

"I am looking forward to chilling out this summer and relaxing and enjoying myself. Last year I was certified by the state of New Jersey to mentor new principals. That is something I may do, adding that his wife, a student counselor in Freehold, will also retire shortly.

Grilli attributed her professional success, in part to the focus she was able to bring to her work because she had no family constraints.

"These are my children," she said. "Whenever anybody asks me how many children I have, I always answer whatever the number of children is in this school."

"I don't believe that if I had children that I would ever have become a principal," she added. "Because you couldn't devote the time that you need to your family and the time you need to devote here if you want to do the job the way I felt the job had to be done."

Grilli plans to travel as well as continue teaching religious education at her church where she is also actively involved as the president of the parish council.

"You become so emotionally involved with everybody," she said. "This is like your family - all the children, all the teachers. Many of the teachers have had their children while they have worked for me, and so you become involved in their personal lives and they become a big part of your life.

"Certainly that's going to be difficult to walk away from all the people you have had contact with over the years," she said. "We've always been supportive of one another and we've always been there for each other. It was a difficult decision to come to. For 36 years this is all I have done."

On May 30, the Ocean Township Elementary School (OTES) PTA held a surprise farewell celebration for Galatro, known to his students as "Mr. G."

As principal, Mr. G inspired students to be their best with his leadership, experience and words of encouragement, "Do the right thing."

The celebration kicked off with the students marching out to the field waving American flags and wearing red T-shirts imprinted with Mr. G's familiar words, "Do the right thing".

Excitement mounted when an airplane flew overhead pulling a banner that read: "As Mr. G rides off into the sunset, OTES says farewell."

Galatro was presented with a memory book containing almost 500 letters written by the students.

It was apparent that Mr. Galatro will definitely be missed!

Melinda Greiner contributed to this story