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Schools

New Principal Proud to be at Cranford High

Rui Dionisio pledges to make the needs of students his priority.

Cranford High freshmen weren't the only ones suffering from back-to-school butterflies on the first day of school this year. In fact, their new principal says he was more nervous than they were.

But, like every newcomer, Rui Dionisio jumped right in and embraced the challenge. 

"Anything that's new gives you butterflies and that sense of excitement," said Dionisio, who is replaced interim principal Dr. Florence Senyk. Dionisio came to Cranford from the Ridgewood School District, where he was the assistant principal at George Washington Middle School.

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"I was at a point that I was really looking for the next step," Dionisio said. And once he took that leap, he began meeting with the Cranford High teachers and staff in July. He said everyone has been warm and welcoming.

"If I have a question they're right there. They roll up their sleeves and do whatever it takes," he said.

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Dionisio said he expects a productive, positive year for the school and said he will focus on making sure each student is engaged and feels connected to the learning process. He says he wants to foster a spirit of team work among teachers, staff and the administration to keep "on the same page" and strengthen the existing sense of community that exists at the high school. And he provided a pat-on-the-back moment for parents, when he said that he's been he's been "amazed at the kind and respectful demeanor" of all the students.

"We are in a really good place to start the school year off," Dionisio said.

Before his time as assistant principal at George Washington Middle Schoool, Dionisio was a teacher at West Essex High School, Bloomfield High School and at Our Lady of Mt. Carmel in Jersey City. He also served as the lead biomedical engineering teacher at New Jersey Institute of Technology. He's now studying to receive his Ph.D. in Educational Leadership from Seton Hall University.

Dionisio acknowledged that Cranford High is not immune to the ongoing pressure of budget constraints that many schools throughout the state are facing. But he praised the school administrators for minimizing the impact on students.

While Dionisio said he'll spend his first year analyzing every aspect of student life, the curriculum, the facilities and study the budget, he will never lose sight of  making the students his priority. His goal is "making sure that decisions are always made in the best interest of the students," Dionisio said.

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