By Donald Gilpin
It may seem a bit quiet around the Princeton Public Schools (PPS) with almost a month before the start of classes for the new school year, but there’s more going on than meets the eye. Several construction projects are wrapping up, top administrators’ contracts were recently signed, and the district recently received national recognition for innovation in school meal preparation from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food and Nutrition Service in partnership with Action for Healthy Kids.
The Healthy Meals Incentives Recognition Award cited the district’s “creative and collaborative efforts to improve the quality and nutrition of school meals — especially through the use of fresh, local ingredients, and scratch cooking,” according to a PPS press release.
The district noted the work of the PPS food services, school staff, students, families, and community partners in creating “meals that were not only nutritious and delicious — but also rooted in community and care.”
Among the PPS initiatives that contributed to the award-winning evaluation were: locally inspired menu items such as street corn, meatball parmesan made with local crushed tomatoes, and fried rice with local peas and spinach; a partnership with the school gardens; participation in the Garden State on Your Plate program bringing local foods to students; hands-on student involvement; collaboration with Pomptonian Food Service to create newsletters, videos, and other educational information for the community; and nutrition advisory meetings to give students a voice in shaping school menus.
Construction projects are all expected to be complete before the first day of school on September 2. In an August 5 phone conversation, new Business Administrator Andrew Harris, who joined the district on July 1, said he was quickly “getting up to speed on the systems and procedures and how we do everything and where everything is, but it’s been great so far.”
Praising his “fantastic staff,” he reported that “right now everything is on schedule” for completion of construction projects in the coming weeks.
“The heating upgrades at the middle school are underway and on schedule to be wrapped up this month,” he said, “and we’re replacing the boilers at all the elementary schools. That work is also on track to be completed by the end of August.”
At Princeton High School (PHS) work on the multi-use field is 98 percent complete, Harris said, and should be finished this week, and the track resurfacing project is also expected to be completed before the first day of school.
Also on schedule for completion this month at PHS is the replacement of tennis courts and the renovation of a basin and retaining wall.
New bleachers have been installed, just needing the final electrical hookup, Harris added, and all should be ready later this month with no disruptions in store for students or teachers.
“There are always things that are out of your control that can occur and throw a wrench in things, but I think we’re in good shape,” he said. He gave much of the credit to “a lot of hard work from people here before I came,” and added “I was handed the baton to keep on running.”
Additional construction projects funded by the referendum that passed in January of this year are currently in the planning and design stages, with new classrooms and other additions at Princeton Middle School, Community Park, and Littlebrook; HVAC improvements at PHS scheduled to start next spring; and other renovation projects starting in 2027 and later.
At their July meeting the Board of Education approved a five-year contract for new Superintendent Mike LaSusa and one-year contracts for three other top administrators.
LaSusa will receive a salary of $295,000 in the first year of his contract with a two percent increase each year through June 30, 2030.
Also approved by the Board were one-year contracts for Angela Siso Stentz, assistant superintendent of human resources, at $195,700; Kimberly Tew, assistant superintendent of curriculum and instruction, at $200,908; and Harris at $190,000.
LaSusa, who was hired as PPS superintendent in January and officially started work on July 1, most recently served for 13 years as superintendent of the School District of the Chathams. He has been introducing himself to the Princeton community this summer in a series of “meet-and-greet” sessions around town, with the last scheduled for this Thursday at the Princeton Farmers Market in Hinds Plaza at 10 a.m.
Harris also officially signed on with PPS on July 1, replacing former Business Administrator Matthew Bouldin. Harris was most recently the business administrator and board secretary in the South Hunterdon Regional School District, and before that served in South Hunterdon as a math teacher, then supervisor of STEM.
Tew has been assistant superintendent for curriculum and development at PPS since 2022. She began her career as a sixth-grade social studies teacher in the West Windsor-Plainsboro Regional School District, then served as K-8 supervisor of curriculum and professional development in the Robbinsville Public School District, then assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction in Robbinsville before coming to PPS.
Siso Stentz became PPS assistant superintendent for human resources in 2024, and during her career has also served as classroom teacher at Johnson Park Elementary School, PPS supervisor of guidance, assistant principal at Princeton High School, and principal at Johnson Park.