WEST MILFORD—The district approved the appointment of Jennifer Miller as the new principal for Paradise Knoll Elementary School at the Board of Education Special Meeting on July 8.
Miller is now actively serving in the position, replacing former Principal Jennifer Cenatiempo, whose contract was not renewed by the district.
Miller may look familiar to some, as she most recently held in the position of supervisor of English-Language Arts K-12 for the district this past year under her maiden name, Jennifer Viti.
According to a press release from the district, Miller earned her BA in Secondary Education-English from Clemson University and later earned her MA in Education Leadership, Management, and Policy from Seton Hall University. She taught English and Journalism at Wallkill Valley High School for six years. In 2007, Miller was the recipient of the “Inspiring Teacher Award.”
Miller left the classroom to accept a position as Assistant Principal of Student Management in Fort Lee High School and was then given the additional responsibility of serving as Supervisor of Special Education for the Fort Lee High School Special Education teachers.
Miller also has experience as a former Middle School Assistant Principal for Franklin Lakes, as well as an Elementary Principal also in Franklin Lakes.
Before coming to West Milford, Miller served as Supervisor of the Humanities including the English, history, music, and art departments for Clark public schools, in addition to concurrently holding the positions of Anti-Bullying Coordinator and Advanced Placement Testing Coordinator at the Clark School District’s high school.
Miller was hired in West Milford in the summer of 2012 to assume the position of K-12 Supervisor of English-Language Arts.
Superintendent James McLaughlin stated in his release, “During the 2012-2013 school year, Miller has engaged the elementary school teachers in continued balanced literacy training with consultant Shelly Klein, readied the first and second grade teachers to implement Reading and Writing Workshop next school year, adopted a new K-6 Spelling program, partnered with groups of teachers from grades K-12 to truly align the English-Language Arts curriculum to the Common Core Standards, and in concert with teachers and the West Milford Library, revised the Summer Reading Program.”
Enthusiastic about new position, McLaughlin added, “Mrs. Miller is enthusiastic about continuing her dedicated work with the English-Language Arts programming in West Milford in her new role as Principal of Paradise Knoll Elementary School.”
Paradise Knoll PTA President Lori Eckhart said, “I am excited to hear that we hired our new principal from within the West Milford School district. As Language Arts Supervisor, Jennifer Viti-Miller already has the experience of working with our teachers at PK. She is enthusiastic about the kids and will be a valuable asset to our school community. The PK PTA will be working closely with Mrs. Miller to continue providing wonderful after school clubs and activities for our children. We look forward continuing the strong bond between the parents and staff at PK.”
Miller responded via email to the Messenger, “I'm thrilled to be working at Paradise as the new Principal.” Miller said she believes all students can learn and that “the best instruction is differentiated in recognition of different modalities of learning and is authentic, engaging, and exciting.” In her new role as Principal, Miller said she “will be dedicated to the students, staff and the Paradise Knoll community in order to put great ideas and programs into practice to best benefit all students.”
Miller’s appointment and contract were approved by the Board effective July 9 through June 30, 2014, at the prorated salary of $98,000.00, with health benefits per Board of Education/WMAAS Agreement.