New Principal, Robert Foster, Takes Reigns at Brooklake Elementary School

10-year classroom English-Language Arts teacher and district administrator ascends to higher post

BY JEFF GARRETT STAFF WRITER

FLORHAM PARK - A new school principal usually starts the job at the beginning of the school year - in late summer before August or September hits, when the grounds are flush with students and teachers. Even mid-year transitions as such happen.

But at Brooklake Elementary School, principal Robert Foster is settling in to a big chair -- as the cherry blossoms bloom, field trips abound and kids start getting spring fever. Foster hopes to make quite an impact guiding Florham Park Elementary School to academic excellence for years to come.

He succeeds former principal Kerri Waibel and served as a District Administrator, Dean of Students and English-Language Arts teacher before taking up his new role. Foster is an educational leader at his core. For him the change is bittersweet, but welcome. “I leave a role where I was helping 60 to 70 students,” in the classroom, “but here I can help 360 students,” as well as assist teachers and fellow administrators, he says.

Foster started officially on April 17. He liked this.

Why? So he can listen for a few months in the beginning, since listening is an unspoken pre-requisite for anyone in Education.

“I can use the time to get to know people in the building.

Winners From April’s “Find Hank The Hornet Mascot” Contest

AREA - The winners from April’s “Find Hank the Hornet Mascot” are Jodie Kruis; East Hanover, Elizabeth Arias; Florham Park, Vance Melillo, East Hanover, Deepthi Govindaraj; Florham Park.

The ads that “Hank the Hornet” were in: Kidz World, Magnolia, Kam Man, Jag Paving, Everest and Viking Pest. Thanks to everyone who enter and congratulations to our winners!

Robert Foster

I was a Union V.P. for teachers before,” so he’s had some practice listening on top of his 10 years in various school roles.

“I’d like to hear what they are saying as well as what parents have to say and support what works and try to address some frustrations some may be having.”

Becoming Principal seems like the natural progression for Foster, 33, who has always sought to do more outside the classroom to know students and faculty better. He coached Cross Country and was co-founder of the Ridgedale Middle School National Junior

PLEASE SEE NEW PRINCIPAL, PAGE 2 compatriots to escape an enemy ambush and save their own lives.

Some World War II stories of New Jersey soldiers have made it to the big screen, as was the case with John “Manila” Basilone, depicted in the critically acclaimed The Pacific. Yet, there are countless others that, although requiring a bit more research, are just as extraordinary. Captain Carlton R. Routh, buried in Berlin Cemetery in Berlin, New

Jersey, first stormed an enemy machine gun nest, then lurched at a Japanese grenade thrown amidst his wounded men and placed his body between them and the explosion. An event he would miraculously survive.

Stories such as these apply to the Korean War, Vietnam, and the more recent wars in the Middle East, reminding us that behind each little American flag wavering in the wind near a grave this Memorial Day is a deed once noble yet sometimes forgotten. Let this year’s holiday, and the ones that follow, be a reminder of a sentiment once shared by American President Abraham Lincoln; “Any nation that does not honor its heroes will not long endure.”

Peter Zablocki is the author of the upcoming New Jersey and the Medal of Honor (November 2023) and the cohost of the History Teachers Talking podcast. For more information, visit www.peterzablocki.com